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Bertram31.com General Bulletin Board
Re: The Ubiquitous Docking Committee
Posted By: Vic Roy In Response To: Re: The Ubiquitous Docking Committee (Dug)
Date: Thursday, 16 June 2005, at 4:33 p.m.
Guys - guess my best one was about 10 years ago we were marlin fishing off Port Eads on AJ. Trolling a rip about 20 miles out and the SeaStar steering went out - turned out a busted hose and we did not have the repair parts on board (do now)and it was real rough. So, no problem, just drove her with the thottles. Got rougher and rougher, and no fish biting, so we picked up and ran inshore to try some oil rigs for snapper and amberjack. No steering, so I jockeyed AJ up to the downsea side of the rig, had two guys on the bow ready to use a rig hook to tie us up, and the stb. shift cable broke with the gear in forward. Quickly shut the stb. down, backed down hard on the port, and just barely kept from going under the rig pipes in 6' seas. Sooooooo, now we gotta run back in the South Pass of the Miss. River and into Port Eads harbor to tie up to Andre's houseboat. No problem getting into the Pass, then a hard 90 degree turn into a bayou, then another hard 90 into the narrow harbor, then another 90 to Andre's houseboat. All with a few beers under my belt, and with the old B28 style tiny rudders. Anyway, just kept shutting the std. down and starting it up as needed to give some forward thrust now and then. Talk about thinking ahead - I was planning moves three moves ahead. Worked fine, then the next morning we spun her around and headed back up the river, again, just steering with throttles. Now backing into my slip at Venice Marina was a train wreck with no steering and only one engine that would reverse, but had some good hands on board and we crabbed her in.
The B31 in diesel configuration, and all that low slung deep v, is the easist boat to manuver in tight quarters I've ever operated. The big props and diesel torque move her right now, and the wide spacing of the wheels makes her turn on a dime, but as always, you gonna think about two or three moves ahead, and don't get in a hurry.
UV
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