learnt a lesson today (another) and thanks to Rockingham Sea Rescue
Well I headed out early and was on the water at 4:45 with the Girlfriend as my deckie and 40 litres of fuel in the boat. Well that's what the digital gauges said anyway. Got out from Point Peron ramp and was just going through the channel between GI and Point Peron and the engine dies. WTF i'm saying in a loud and disturbed manner to the GF. I dropped the anchor and tried and tried to get her started again and then the GF pumps the fuel bulb and it kicks over.
No bloody fuel!!!!
So we sat there until 6am (when Sea Rescue opens) with the GF leaning over the side turning all shades of green and periodically cursing me in language that shouldn't come out of a lady. I gave Sea Rescue a call and out they came and towed us back to the ramp. Thanks fellas..
I got the boat home and thought bugger it, i'll get some fuel and test the boat and go and pull the cray pots. I put a 100 litres in, adjusted the gauges and off we went again giving the Sea Rescue guys a shout not to go home just yet..
Pulled our two pots for ZERO crays, put them on the boat and headed home with my cray season done and even more cursing from my GF who was completely cheesed off about being seasick, late for work and no crays to show for her effort.
Definitely a lesson learnt for me, don't completely trust the digital gauges.
Tight lines and safe boating folks
karlos 22
Posts: 52
Date Joined: 10/11/11
I thought your partner was
I thought your partner was looking abit worse for wear when I pulled up alongside you, lucky you didn't ask us how we went got our limit - 16 from 4 pots in 10-15m actually had 12 in the last pot so threw 4 back,was going to shift them out deep but might hold off one more week. Occy's are still a problem so might set the traps again for some fresh dhu bait.
rigpig
Posts: 508
Date Joined: 21/11/12
hey Karlos, thanks for stopping
Cheers for stopping to see how were were. Much appreciated mate. oh and thanks for rubbing it in also. We have done well on the crays so far (first year with pots) but time to give the very early mornings a miss for a while.
D_d_001
Posts: 1522
Date Joined: 09/03/13
Main lesson learnt :
don't take the GF to pull the pots.
haha just joke....seriously though 40l in a 6.7m boat with a 200hp on the back.
as long as the lesson learnt.
:)....hope the sea rescue gets half a carton out of it !
rigpig
Posts: 508
Date Joined: 21/11/12
was going to give them some crays.
My pots were not far out and have been only using 10 - 15 litres per trip out (driving conservatively). I was a bit sheepish when Sea Rescue pulled up and they asked me what the drama was. had to laugh though, they are good blokes.
I intend to drop the coldies off to them for xmas.
Peko
Posts: 185
Date Joined: 01/10/14
Must admit that 40L does
Must admit that 40L does sound a little too skimpy to be heading out. Knowing your boat I would also concur that you shouldn't rely on the digital gauge. At times mine will be perfect and at others not within 30 - 50 litres.
If it makes you feel any better I also went from hero to zero on the crays today.
rigpig
Posts: 508
Date Joined: 21/11/12
I'm learning every time I go out Peko
The new beast certainly has me guessing at times with all the gadgets. Maybe I should read some of the instructions over the Xmas break.
crowie
Posts: 91
Date Joined: 16/11/14
ha
Instructions are un-australian
crowie
Posts: 91
Date Joined: 16/11/14
Im
always thinking the opposite with the fuel, Always a full tank, any fuel used gets replaced after coming in that way im ready for the next trip. Was a decent outlay originally but peace of mind whenever i want to go, and no delays for getting lines wet.
Belly Fish
Posts: 499
Date Joined: 09/03/12
Hmmmm
Exactly the same thing happened to us on Monday.
After pulling 5 pots, motor splutters and dies. I pump the bulb and theres nothing there!!!
My skipper says...look, digital guage says 47 litres left.
Called Sea Rescue at 5:30am....they got us under tow at 8am. Got to work a bit late!!!
Lesson there for my skipper, but I would never trust a digital guage
Guardy
Posts: 381
Date Joined: 09/08/12
Same happened to us
Went for a fish with my mate in Lagos Nigeria. As we were heading out my mate was tapping his fuel gauges (two tanks) and saying I know the tanks are full as my boat boy had filled them lastnight. No further checks done and off we went for a fish around the platforms in Benin waters (45 Miles away). Fished there for an hour and then headed back but went further offshore to the marlin grounds 30 miles offshore from Nigeria. Hey, ho one motor spluttered and died so we started to check the reason why when the second motor spluttered and died. No fuel, bugger!!! No Sea Rescue in Nigeria or Benin. What to do. No EPIRB, no flares - nothing. My mate says I'll call up on the radio and see if any of my other mates from the fishing club are out here and see if they can come and tow us in. Oh, can you hold on to the aerial as it's not making contact properly. F*ck me dead I thought, whats next. Whats next was his mate came over but not a decent rope amongst both boats for towing. Juried rigged what we had and proceeded back in with the rope(s) breaking several times. After that whenever I went out with him I brought my own safety equipment including a sat phone and double checked the fuel. All I can say is thank f*ck it was fine weather at the time.
D_d_001
Posts: 1522
Date Joined: 09/03/13
damn boat boys !
damn boat boys !
Guardy
Posts: 381
Date Joined: 09/08/12
Further to this
On my own boat, a 25ft Century centre console, and due to the having no one around to carry out a rescue in Nigeria unless you are damned lucky I added a 40HP auxillary motor along with a seperate couple of 25 litre fuel cans to get me back in, at least closer if not all the way. As the fuel was not premixed (two stroke engine) I would empty those into the main tank after each trip and refill so that the fuel wouldn't get stagnate. Also as the auxillary wasn't kept on the transom due to possible theft I would take it out and run it at least once a month so that I knew I could rely on it when needed. Better to be safe than sorry thats for sure.
ASD14
Posts: 18
Date Joined: 11/11/15
Glad it all worked out in the
Glad it all worked out in the end mate. With my bar crusher I just fill up the tank deadfull, re-set my Yamaha digital gauges (as it tells me total fuel used), when I get back to the ramp I fill the tank back up again and its always spot on to what gauge "total fuel used" says.
I don't trust any other gauge, they seems to be all over the joint...
Cheers.
sunshine
Posts: 2627
Date Joined: 03/03/09
Yup yammy fuel use guage is brilliant
I read the fuel used and slow down the pump as it nears the reading and the weep always blows fuel as that reading is reached. Mind you had a full tank siphoned by some mongrel when boat stored at a mates place - only reason I knew was that they left the cap off, thankful for small mercies as regularly out by myself well out to sea but I do always call in and log on
little johnny
Posts: 5362
Date Joined: 04/12/11
2 words
Dumb ass. Lol
Moking
Posts: 1252
Date Joined: 30/05/12
Be "Nice" Little
Be "Nice" Little Johnny....You will be on holidays soon
My Dad taught me how to Fish-Thanks Dad.(RIP)
rigpig
Posts: 508
Date Joined: 21/11/12
yep
for sure mate, when I got home I went straight to the hall of mirrors and had a good hard look at myself lol.... my first cray pot season has been full of adventures that's for sure.. oh and thanks for picking up my glove that was floating around out there today hahaha
hooty
Posts: 198
Date Joined: 25/05/10
Is that a full stop I see.
Is that a full stop I see. You on the piss Johnny.
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
Always top tank up
I always top up the tank on the way home. Twice I've run out of fuel when I trusted the Yamaha fuel gauge. Very embarrassing, and dangerous.
carnarvonite
Posts: 8673
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Top half
Get in the habit of running on the top half of your tank, if no gauge when you think is down to half way then fill it up.
This is not just for your boat but car as well, nothing worse than getting an urgent call in the middle of the night to head off in a hurry but can't go until the servo opens
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8156
Date Joined: 07/05/12
Just on this, I thought I was
Just on this, I thought I was running with a full tank as I filled it up but my analouge gauge was saying I was at around half to two thirds but I put this down to the angle of the boat. I went to fill it up next time after a trip of about 10nm and fuel just keeps going and going. I check inside the hull for leaks and nothing there so I keep filling and she takes 50l into a 90l tank and fuel spurts out the breathers. Good thing I didn'e decide to do a big trip.
Seems I wasn't sticking the nozzle in far enough when filling her up and was getting some splash back which was clicking off the pump as it thought my tank was full. Just another tip for young players that I luckily didn't learn the hard way.
Officially off the Pies bandwagon
uncle
Posts: 9506
Date Joined: 10/02/07
I always carry a 25 l
Yamy tank as spare just incase I come across someone in trouble as you were rigpig and its peace of mind
all aggressive fish love bigjohnsjigs
Dale
Posts: 7930
Date Joined: 13/09/05
"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."
Mr Wolf
morgs
Posts: 109
Date Joined: 25/10/11
Carry a spare
Being a volunteer, i have it ingrained to me that i fuel up from every return trip so its ready to go anytime (If we need a smaller vessel its setup ready to go). Every few weeks i do a big trip to empty the tank and put fresh stuff in. People think you would spend a fortune in fuel but your only ever putting the $20-$30 at a time which is easy as i refuse to buy bait so its my only cost. I've also got a jerry just in case i go that little bit further if the weathers good (to start with) then turns to poo.
sandbar
Posts: 704
Date Joined: 25/10/09
Heard your call, got close,
went to pull up and the rescue boat was within 500mtrs, so i kept going. Good to hear it wasnt much of a problem.
Kal
Posts: 160
Date Joined: 30/04/07
I always fuel up my boat
I always fuel up my boat after use stops condensation in the tank , more air in tank the more water ,that it will make.
hezzy
Posts: 1521
Date Joined: 27/11/09
yep , dont rely solely on
yep , dont rely solely on fuel gauges ime
just keep the tank full every time before you go out , of the capes thats always been my motto ,
knowing your leaving shore with a full tank gives confidence in assessing usage over the day combined with the gauges reading
hezzy
OFW 11
evil flourishes when good men do nothing
kirky79
Posts: 1356
Date Joined: 13/01/12
I always keep mine topped up
I always keep mine topped up for the same reasons as above but also because my boat has a 320 l tank. I'd need a loan to fill it up!!
Gray
Posts: 140
Date Joined: 10/02/11
My yamaha digital guage is
My yamaha digital guage is dodgy aswell, but the opposite way around.
Meant to be a 225 litre tank but when full states 180 litres
crasny1
Posts: 7006
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Cant you reprogram it
I suspect that it was preset to record "fill" as 180 l. All I think you have to do is set the full amount to 225. The gage only reads whats programmed into it.
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk