Schindler always gets the bad guy….. (which in Engineering means RCA + CA)
Root Cause Analysis
+
Corrective Action
We achieved the following goals
Triggered Known Bugs in Googles Automated Mass-Censorship Program (AMCP)
Moved Platforms in under 24hrs without a lapse in coverage
Demonstrated Reliability & Safety with the usual boating exercises
Demonstrated Precision and Accuracy with the usual firearms exercises
Demonstrated Fire Fighting with the usual patch-job exercieses
Demonstrated Family Values with the usual exercieses
Demonstrated Diversity by forwarding counter-culture ideas
Demonstrated Alternative Energy with the usual exercises
Demonstrated Public Speaking with the usual exercises
Asserted my presence and clearly identified myself as Unique and Real
Demonstrated methods and ways using “affordable and available methods”
Openly fought for Gun Rights… remember we are here because I was censored
As usual… I have shown you how to be a Bad-Ass and the only thing I expect in return is that you develop your bad-ass’i’tude. Raise your kids, provide for your family, and take no shit off anybody.
….
I am heading back to Youtube
I am caught in a false dilemma where:
If I put all my Firearms content on this site (off Youtube) it will concentrate and I will look like a gun nut
If I put any of my Firearms content on Youtube I risk additional strikes and loss of investment
If I allow myself to be muzzled by inexperienced cowards… we have lost the fight
The largest return on investment was pressure washing the engine bay. It was gross…. But… Oddly not with the usual grease and dirt you find under a truck.
There was some kind of light coating of “Marine Muck” that blew off instantly and showed no signs of oil (rainbows). It was almost like mold, and may have been.
The engine block and components came back SPARKLING! I MEAN LIKE-NEW APPEARANCE …
The gray engine block paint is shiny
The individual components look modern
There is no sign rats were ever there….
ah – I know what it was. It was “Rat fur belly grease”
yep. That was the pivotal difference and how I felt about the system.
If you trust that Android software we averaged 18mph and did not exceed 42mph over a 24min window.
Wind was blowing, fog was in, tide was coming up, choppy but no huge swells.
As usual, the sun broke thru as we were loading the boat back into the trailer. Fine by me, this was just a test run. No matter how strong the urge…. I keep the first day of the season short so we can
Look for leaks
Check the gear fluid
Check the oil
Check the coolant
Check the bilge pump again
Check the vent again
…..
Starter was hesitant twice. Both times First Turn after letting the engine cool off from completely warm.
First we puttered the harbor up and back. Made a stop to do some Magnet Fishing, the usual. Tyler is now a member of the Yacht Club, so we now have access to the doc and hoist on the other side of the harbor (!)
After we got our “hair did” with some ocean spray we performed the first radio check at 1 mile out. You know it’s a mile out…. Because there’s a large buoy called “Mile Buoy”.
On this drive I pull no punches while describing the pivotal difference between good engineering and poor engineering.
I describe the difference between Accuracy and Precision…. and I show that Precision is a Requirement (required precursor) of Accuracy.
I relate key words like RELIABILITY to key words like PRECISION and explain again why (anything) in the absence of Reliability is of low value.
We talk about the importance of employing the scientific method, and I come to some unwavering conclusions that I can exhaustively argue (to a Logical and Reasonable end…. ) In the run-on-sentence style of Debate.
Where
I don’t have to commit any logical fallacies or come to any incorrect conclusions to win the argument, win the debate, etc. I am closer to “self evident proof” than “exhaustive argument” – …..
You will likely find that anyone who wants to argue the contrary, will have to employ many logical fallacies, including exhaustive argument (lol)
I try not to argue until I know I’m right. Usually I don’t have to.
They are not as good as they used to be. Both Clive Cussler and Lee Child cashed out when they started “co-writing”. It’s a manifestation of the “Coleman Effect”
Build a Good Name
Over Monetize it
Oh well, I still paid $19 at the airport for it didn’t I????
Already knew that was too big, I have a smaller one and they go by weight. They offer them at the boat ramp, you can use one for free.
Goose and I made the usual rounds. Watched people launching and pulling out. Got down to the water line, etc.
Bait Shop
We picked up a redundant lead acid marine battery. We found out that channel 11 is good for doing radio checks. Channel 16 is Coast guard only. Local fishermen are hurting for the delayed season.
Harbor Master
$18 to park your boat trailer till 9pm, $30 for overnight, $42 to park wet (20′ boat), 15min posted up at the dock
Coast Guard
There were 5 of them in a dingy, all looked capable. Dingy is rated for 6′ surf and had a pair of Honda outboards. I would say the thing could take 12-ft surf easy. Don’t fuck with those guys…. (Is what I’m told).
Harbor Police
Property Crime has not been in a spike. A few calls here and there, usually cold cases where someone was gone for a very long time and came back to find things amiss.
Volleyball Girls
I checked them all out
…. We ran down the checklist on the boat.
Put ropes on all four corners
got the mooring bubbles out
pressure washed all the interior surfaces
applied protectant to all the exposed fasteners
serviced the tongue so it works well again
broke the handle off the trailer jack
Checked the tire pressure
Clear a clog in the butt plug
Abraded/greased the terminals, installed lead
inspected all the life jackets
Test of the air horn unintentionally again
dried everything in the sun
squared all the gear again
Make sure the radio had a full battery, it did
……
The Open Water has many authorities. The one to fear most is Mother Nature. Fog just rolled in like a smoke show.
Mother Nature and the Sea
Daily Fishermen / Locals
The Coast Guard
The Game Warden
The State Officers
The Harbor Patrol
The City Cops
The Country Sheriff
….
You could mouth off to any of them…. But one has no bounds. Mother Nature and the Sea will destroy you without giving it a second thought… Respect and Fear the Open Water.
… Do not attempt to break any rules of Physics or Common Sense. Double down on Safety and Redundant Solutions.
On Topic-Specific Internet Forums everybody plays Pappa-Bird. Each man shares what he can and feeds whoever is hungry. Some men have infinite knowledge and they answer in a few paragraphs. Some men have less knowledge and a camera, so they provide useful footage.
Here below is some non-useful footage of our wild pet birds. This is the skinny pappa-bird feeding the babies. Mamma just took off to go find more grub. If you get hungry enough you will eat them…. so let them roost is what I say.
That hook above, made of 1/2″ PVC Electrical Conduit and 10AWG wire, was used to grab a balloon 20′ up in the power lines. Dont ask how that turned out.
Onward to the footage
DEPICTED BELOW
Removal of the beauty plate, fastener was rusted on
Removal of the crank case vent and flame arrestor
Finding the dead lead acid batteries
Nothing of note so far Later on we show WHY you need that flame arrestor. I caught a nice backfire on camera. If you do that with an engine compartment full of gasoline fumes you WILL find out the hard way.
DETICTED BELOW
Proving that the Lead Acid is shot
Proving that the Safety-Chargers are Obnoxious
Attaching the IP63 Lithium Jumpers
Low Current Electrical Checks (Trim etc)
DEPICTED BELOW
Very first crank, and pretty sure it has been 2 seasons, not 1
No starter spray used, priming the bowl by cranking
Choke starts closed, starter actually bumps!
Throttle cracks the choke and Accelerator pump works
Jumper Pack turns S T R O N G!
The goal above was not to start the engine, but to prime the carb. We dont even have water hooked up at that point. When I prime with the throttle I disengage the prop by pressing in on the button at the pivot. If you dont do this… well… THEN CLEAR THE FUCKING PROP.
Shit gets real super quick Dont be that guy…. chopping up the dogs and such
DEPICTED BELOW
Water muffs are attached
Fuel bowl may or may not be full by now (likely is)
Tries to light on second turn (great!)
Choke appears to be working
Engine Lights, CHOKE IS WORKING
Engine displays expected cold running performance
Engine stabilizes and starts warming up
CHOKE STARTS TO LET GO AROUND TIME 2:50
By time 3:40 the Choke opens wide
By time 4:20 the Choke is totally open
By 4:40 the Choke stays open across Starting Cycle
By time 5:00 I see no excess fuel pouring in
Fucking Great!
Wow… Appears to be perfect operation. Someone must have come in the night and finished my half-ass carb rebuild.
DEPICTED BELOW
Zooming in on the Carb
Operation at ~140F
Around 2:15 the thermostat opens
Alternator making 14.5V
Impeller moving plenty of water
Repeat proof that the Lead is Dead
Lithium Packs CHARGE FAST to full (<——–)
Lithium Packs starting like a champ, even over clamps
DEPICTED BELOW
Normally I am inclined to SLAM the throttle forward (Step Response) and BLIP the throttle full and back to Idle (Impulse Response). I do a soft job of it below… but we do get a backfire. These backfires can beat the crap out of components inside the carb (what is it called, the Power Valve?) and of course they can ignite trapped fumes that are of an A/F ratio suitable for ignition (like 3:1 to 20:1 and anything in between)
TL;DR
Avoid Creating Backfires up thru the Carburetor
Use the Coast Guard Approved Arrestor
Time 1:00 visible backfire up out of carb
DEPICTED BELOW
Starts on 1st turn with no prime after sitting 30 min (THE GOAL!)
We aint there yet tho… hold off on celebration
DEPICTED BELOW
Trailering Safety Disclaimer
Visually Check your pin and pin lock
Visually Check your chains, both of them, with a clip
Visually Check your rims and measure your tire pressure
Keep the speed down, I run in compound low
REMEMBER THAT FUCKING THING IS BACK THERE!
Dont clip corners
Dont drive fast
AND WHAT ABOUT YOUR BRAKES MAN !!!!
Dont tow on soft brakes!
Worry more about your Mission Critical Systems and less about your Lights and Tags
Humph
I live at the Harbor (I can see the boat ramp from my porch) and almost DAILY some sap pulls a major fuckup towing his boat
Dragging the stag
Rolling the rear wheels into the water between swells
Dropping the boat on the ramp above the water line!
Losing the hitch a mile from the ramp
Setting the boat too far back on the trailer
Setting the boat crooked as hell on the trailer
Not using the rear straps
Grossly over-loading the trailer with weight
Running with weight aft of the axle (light tongue)
Miss-adjusted ball tongue
Ball attached with a nut and no washer
Undersized Vehicle for the load
Small ball with a 2″ trailer
On and on and on… YES… Boats DO get wrecked around here regularly
Captain Schindler
Lets close with the 3 ways a man can become a Captain
You can Earn It by working every single station and being a strong and experienced leader
You can Stumble into a half working boat with half baked advice and learn as you go
You can build your own boat from scratch and learn EVERY hard lesson
The first is the best… you are ready. The second is most common, call it “half cocked”. The third… sigh… may just be better than the second. A little bit of knowledge can be VERY DANGEROUS boating in open water.
THIS BOAT?
Can take you 20 miles out into open water in under half an hour
Can take you vertical in high surf
It is probably the most scary and dangerous toy I own, so… TAKE IT SERIOUS. This thing is more of a Death Machine than my guns, high voltage power supplies, giant batteries, ebikes, etc. Voted most likely to cause Death and Destruction of Property.
A man figures that if he puts a 32 year old carbureted engine out to pasture (for at least 1 season. . .) that he will have trouble starting it when he returns.
You approach the machine on the ASSUMPTION that there will be a laundry list of issues including chewed wires, rats nests, rotted hoses, clogged jets, stuck needles, stuck floats, rusted fasteners, clotted ethanol gas, hungry spiders, wet rot, corroded electrical, dead batteries, parts missing, flat tires, rusted bearings, etc ………….
What you dont expect is that some bandit came in the night and repaired your carburetor. Lol… right? Like, the one thing you can count on in life…. is that nobody is going to rebuild your 4bbl carburetor under cover of darkness without consent. I mean, it happens, but only in hippy communes and military bases. Anywhere else a man can safely assume that if he puts something away fucked… that it will be fucked when he brings it back out.
I guess the Roulette wheel rolls 00 sometimes.
Boat Started with no issues
Choke appeared to work perfectly (on camera)
Idle Fuel Adjustment no longer shows waterfall
I have been around long enough to be more BAFFLED than Pleased. A man who is pleased by such a thing has yet to encounter the hardest lesson available….
INTERMITENT FAILURE MODES
So lets review
How I stored the Engine I dont recall with great clarity but I did stow it knowing that it would be 2 years until next service. I am positive that I got 2 year stabilizer in the 1/4 tank of gas. I am positive that the cooling system was washed out with fresh water (but not coated, my conditioner spilt out).
I cant remember if I ran the carb dry, probably not. I can remember that I did not shoot any oil down the carb. I am positive the boat got swamped by rain at least once (before we built the frame above). I am positive the plug was out and draining properly.
I approached the engine as I always do… with a can of Spider Killer and skepticism. I checked all the fluids, even those I cant identify. All fluids were at the top of the stick (this one cold) and I saw no immediate indication of water ingress.
That’s the Power Steering Pump, FYI
Even tho we had a Rats Nest on the rear deck. . . no rats got into the boat! I am pretty sure it has been TWO seasons… because Season 1 I had rat traps set. Season 2 I did not. So … 2 years and no rats. That is Double Zero for certain.
Bilge Pump turns on
Engine Cabin Vent turns on
Trim goes up and down…..
So Suspicious….
Two Two Marine Batteries (wired parallel) were resting around 7V but totally sulfated. The system was set to OFF and there was a 4.5A trickle on there, but… nobody plugged it in. No power where the boat was parked (sigh)… and I had not yet built a Solar Charger for it.
The spiders left us exactly this much silk (above). Most of them were hiding in the Engine Compartment. I dispatched with them immediately. NOBODY wants to take a ride in a boat that has random large spiders crawling out at full clip. The spiders around here get big… like… See it in your pocket big.
Hmmm… No rat traps yet no rats in the boat
A singular STARTING of a nest outside of the boat…. but not complete. In fact, that does not even look right. Looks like it came from somewhere else and was placed there. No idea. Animals in the woods do strange shit.
Coolant was good….. even Green?
Oil was good…. even clear?
Its not all perfect. The ratted out 12V electrical is still waiting for my loving touch.
Somehow water is getting past the Engine Compartment and pooling on the top of the engine. Usually I suspect rat piss, but this time condensation. Only thing it could be… unless some how it is soaking thru the engine compartment and following something down.
Could be
There are a few decroded turds from Yester-Year. I am positive that at one point I pressure washed ALL TURDS from the engine. Those look to be quite seasoned.
Above you can spot standing water with brown rust below the Main Coil.
There is that Power Steering stick, right up to the cold line
Hmmm… Something must be wrong. There is always something wrong….
That above looks awful but its not as bad as it looks. 4 years back I removed all that, cleaned the contacts, and over-coated with grease. It now attracts particulates but it performs its duty well.
Long story short I fired it up, it ran, and now its time to learn a lesson out in the open water.
Below is a trick I learned while helping a man who lost a $70k boat at a stop sign. Pin fell out. He made it almost a mile, up a steep hill, … then Crack. Saw it happen in real time. Boat came off the back, gave two wags, then harpooned the back of his SUV.
He had a floor jack but no stick. While he brought the boat up with his finger, I ran home and got him a hitch pin. The lesson I learned is to keep a FLOOR JACK with your Boat Trailer for when you have to park on uneven ground. The scene below is all too common! You cant get an aftermarket trailer jack to stand up with this little clearance.
