FV3048 - Overboard!

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Gannet
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Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:47 pm
Location: Cirencester

FV3048 - Overboard!

Post by Gannet »

Last week, I had the excitement of FV3048 jumping off the transom of my dinghy and into the water!
I had just closed the fuel tap and vent before coming alongside after a short trip. I turned hard to starboard and the next thing I knew was the engine was in the estuary! Fortunately, I always tie a lanyard from the dinghy to the engine, so it only went down a foot or two. I pulled it on board, water poured out of the carb, and I wondered what damage had been done, especially as it was running when it took the dive overboard.
Anyway, after plug removal and flushing the magneto with fresh water, squirting lots of WD40 into the engine and the points box, I put it into the boot of the car to examine it at home. A few days later, after drying it out a bit and some plug and points cleaning it fired into life in my tub. It has now had many first pull starts and appears quite ok.

I am very surprised that it was not damaged, due to it being suddenly immersed when running. I half expected the conrod to have suffered. But perhaps 2 strokes are less likely to suffer bent conrods due to water intake into the carb than 4 strokes.
Lessons learnt:- 1. Tighten the thumbscrews properly!!!!! 2. Always tie a lanyard onto the engine. 3. Ideally there should be a lip on the transom top to prevent this event.

Has anybody else been as stupid as i have been?

Jeremy
tambikeboy
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Re: FV3048 - Overboard!

Post by tambikeboy »

Loved that story Jeremy yes I remember my ls doing the same after a neighbour borrowed it unfortunately it's lanyard was unsecured to transom which meant it went plummeting to about 20ft managed to retrieve it some day's later and yes with a clean up and some wd40 it fired up and never suffered any lasting effect except the tank was a little too close to the flywheel slight adjustment sorted that there was another time I actually throw a wee burd from the boat her father is still looking for me to this day :lol:
Roll me up and smoke me when I die
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Chris B
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Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2019 2:37 pm
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Re: FV3048 - Overboard!

Post by Chris B »

Yep - I'll raise my hand and own up to that one.

Once dropped a Seagull in the river Medway while passing it from dry land across to someone on the boat. Still, at least I was only 50% to blame.

Perhaps fortunate that the scene of the incident was upstream from Maidstone, so it was fresh water. As the engine wasn't on the transom it (obviously) wasn't running when it went in, and was only submerged for a minute or two at most, in about 5ft depth of water.

I recall it was a baking hot Easter weekend. Having got the profanity etc. over and done with I removed the spark plug, cranked it over and shook most of the water out. Then chucked some oil in the various holes and let the sun dry it out on the river bank for a couple of hours.

I'm afraid that it didn't start with the oft-mentioned "second or third pull," but after a dozen or so energetic yanks it coughed and chugged - albeit a bit half-heartedly - and then suddenly fired up properly.

Thereafter it seemed none the worse for its adventure.

C
Gannet
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Re: FV3048 - Overboard!

Post by Gannet »

Tam,
I am glad that you also have had fun with a submerged Seagull. I guess the skill is not having too much fun that way!

Chris,
I like the idea that you managed to claim that you were only 50% to blame! I will have to remember that after my next accident and ensure that somebody else can be partially blamed. Anyway, I am glad it ended well - these Seagulls can be quite forgiving (sometimes!).

Jeremy
Chris B
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Re: FV3048 - Overboard!

Post by Chris B »

Jeremy - In my defence I have to assert that I was being uncommonly generous when I admitted 50% liability for that Seagull getting a dunking.

I mean, when you say to somebody "Have you got it?" and they answer "Yes" and you're at full stretch over water, then there seems no point in hanging on any longer.

So I didn't...

Ergo, my 50% liability was incurred through naively believing what I was told.

There were also other extenuating circumstances which I respectfully offer in my defence. I was young and didn't know any better. I was hopelessly confused. The dog had just died. And the previous night my girlfriend had eloped with a Mercury owner...

C
Gannet
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Re: FV3048 - Overboard!

Post by Gannet »

Chris,
A sad tale of human frailty, aggravated by your age and emotional turmoil of recent events!

I really laughed at your description of the underlying reasons. Perhaps my failure to fully tighten my engine's thumbscrews was possibly down to psychological issues!

Jeremy
Chris B
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Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2019 2:37 pm
Location: England

Re: FV3048 - Overboard!

Post by Chris B »

Jeremy - re. slack thumbscrews.

As my cousin is a professor of psychiatry (albeit ret'd) I shall seek his learned interpretation of the underlying reason for leaving thumbscrews loose.

Being a shrink, I suspect he might gleefully home in on it being a dark and analogous escape from a wife / partner who likes to be in charge. But like all psychiatrists he's as mad as a hatter, so it's as well to take most of his professional opinions with a pillar of salt.

My own professional interpretation, which I should perhaps qualify by informing you that it's based on 32 years at sea, is that you simply forgot to tighten the damned things up! Distinctly in your favour, however, is the fact that at least you managed to get the thing mounted on the transom.

The one which I temporarily lost in the river Medway didn't even make it onto the damned boat.

So at the moment you're ahead on points.

C
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Robin Anderson
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Re: FV3048 - Overboard!

Post by Robin Anderson »

Never actually had a bird flit the transom but have had over the years several drowned birds when my dingies have capsized in salt water - either under tow or at the mooring in a gale or in surf on the beach. In all cases the engines were started and running within about 20 minutes with a can of WD 40. However...…..that is not to say there was no lasting adverse effect. I have found that ingress of salt water into the flywheel - either Mk 1 Silver or Mk 2 Bronze variants has knackered the electrics many months after the drowning on the occasions when I did not flush out the engine in fresh water asp - particularly when the engineswere left unused for a few months. So I would always flush in fresh as soon as possible to clear salt and keep using them. Not drowned a later Wipac set up …. yet....- they are supposed to be breakerless and waterproof so may be more tolerant.
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Sandro Picchio
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Re: FV3048 - Overboard!

Post by Sandro Picchio »

Non Seagull.
When i was about ten (more than 70 years ago) our Johnson 5 hp (Seahorse was the model name) jumped ship in a lake in about three metre of water.
I don't remeber the season, anyway my Father undressed, dived and recovered it. I can't remember the after immersion treatement but we kept on using the motor for many years.

Sandro
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