The maiden voyage

[cassidyta]

I finally got her out on the water today. I made some rookie mistakes, but I came back with all of my body parts.
While it was unplanned, the first launch became a solo adventure. The buddy who was supposed to go bailed on me at the last minute. I figure that I will be doing several solo launches so I might as well start now.

Rookie mistake number 1.
I pushed the boat off the trailer and jumped in. Too bad I had left the keys for the boat in the car. I got to test out my trolling motor sooner than I had planned.

I tied off the boat, parked the car, and was officially boating.

Rookie mistake number 2.
I am sure most of you know what causes your torlling motor to go backwards. For those that don't this happens when you swap the red and black wires. A couple of wire nuts later and I am boating again.

I fished for an hour or so. In the begining, I had a hard time making delecate adjustments with the trolling motor. This cost me two missed hits. Not a big deal, today was about learning the boat and as such will not consider that a true rookie mistake.

Rookie mistakes number 3 and 4.

While switching spots it dawned on me. Maybe I shouldn't leave the trolling motor down..LOL I killed the engine and pulled the TM back up. I laughed at this one because I knew better.
But then the darn boat wouldn't start up. I checked that it was primed, made sure I had fuel and confirmed that it was vented. After a minute of trouble shooting, I then noticed the kill switch lanyard on my PDF. Hmm...Pull the switch and boat no start.

The final event of the day was getting the boat back on the trailer. My boat has a jet propulsion instead of a prop. These need throttle to turn at all. They do not react to subtle adjustments at low speeds. I figured this out after 5 or 6 failed attempts to put it on the trailer. Finally I made a wide swinging turn, lined it up, and gave it the gas.

It was a good day. I learned a few things about my boat and caught a few fish.

No pics from today, but here are a few from yesterday.