Maiden Voyage - Take II - A success ! - A Few Photos Added
Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 3:43 pm
So, I decided I needed a sick day...especially after my wife was gone all weekend (Fri-Sat-Sun) to some scrap-booking event CROPTopia....anyway....I decided I would try launching myself, again, this time at Clay Bank. As I am packing up the SUV and getting the boat ready, my 3-yr old comes running out saying he wants to go fishing too. Thanks the the generosity of a fellow F-H member (Tim C. -- thanks neighbour ) my little guy has a new Spiderman fishing rod....and he is actually getting quite good at casting the little rubber red fish around the house. He has these big sad puppy dog eyes that I couldn't resist, even though I knew this would mean a short fishing/boating trip. So I figure why not ! He is all excited.
As we drive over, I see one boat driving down the lauch road before me...I think to myself, I hope it is not to busy. The boat ahead of me is some kind of Chinese/Japanese Junk sorta pontoon boat....at least that's what the guy in the truck said as he watched it drift away with the guy trying to get it started...
So now it's my turn....I back up a couple of times...still trying to get the hang of it....and finally make it down to the waters edge. I get out to check and see that my back tires are just in the water, the boat still on the trailer and not even close to being able to float....not wanting a repeat of the Maiden Voyage I, I decided to take the advice of some fellow Hawkers and push the boat off the trailer-thank god for the tilt feature... . I'm in the water to my knees (not to cold at all)...I grab the rope and bring it back to shore and the pieces of wood that appear to be some sort of dock.... I go park the truck, grab my little man, grab the gear, rods, tackle and life jackets and walk back down to the boat. My little guy is singing "I'm going fishing, my daddy is going fishing, I'm going fishing too..." I get him in the boat, and he wants to immediatly go to the back and sit in the driver's seat....I said no way....sit in the middle until daddy get the boat going. I put the motor down, give it a pull, nothing, then another pull...nothing....I think WTF....then realized the safety cord was not attached to the run/stop switch...it must have come loose when I put the cooler in the back. So I put the cord back on, flip the switch to run, give it a pull and we're good to go !
I throw my line out as we troll around the bay area...any my little guy keeps casting his rubber fish in the water and reeling it back in....throwing it out and reeling in back it....he asks daddy, did you get a fish yet...I said nope, did you? He said, yup, a red one...
So after about an hour, he wants to go back home. So we head back to the launch. As we get closer to shore, I slow down try to line myself up and shut off the motor and lift it up out of the water...all of a sudden the wind blows and spins us around...heading the wrong way. So I get the oars and try to roar to shore, but that's not working, so I put the motor down, start it up and drive it in....All this time there are two guys in a Hydro One truck watching us as they eat their lunch. One guys comes down to help me land the boat. I go get the SUV, back it down and the other guy asks if I need some help, so I replied, sure, I can always use a hand. We get the boat winched on and drive away...no problems
All the way home, he was singing "I was the fist one in daddy's boat, I was the first one fishing in daddy boat..." He couldn't wait to get home to tell his two big sisters....
No fish caught for me, and my little man kept catching the red one
All in all it was a short but good time.
I'll post some pictures shortly...even took a photo of a loon - just for BA!
As we drive over, I see one boat driving down the lauch road before me...I think to myself, I hope it is not to busy. The boat ahead of me is some kind of Chinese/Japanese Junk sorta pontoon boat....at least that's what the guy in the truck said as he watched it drift away with the guy trying to get it started...
So now it's my turn....I back up a couple of times...still trying to get the hang of it....and finally make it down to the waters edge. I get out to check and see that my back tires are just in the water, the boat still on the trailer and not even close to being able to float....not wanting a repeat of the Maiden Voyage I, I decided to take the advice of some fellow Hawkers and push the boat off the trailer-thank god for the tilt feature... . I'm in the water to my knees (not to cold at all)...I grab the rope and bring it back to shore and the pieces of wood that appear to be some sort of dock.... I go park the truck, grab my little man, grab the gear, rods, tackle and life jackets and walk back down to the boat. My little guy is singing "I'm going fishing, my daddy is going fishing, I'm going fishing too..." I get him in the boat, and he wants to immediatly go to the back and sit in the driver's seat....I said no way....sit in the middle until daddy get the boat going. I put the motor down, give it a pull, nothing, then another pull...nothing....I think WTF....then realized the safety cord was not attached to the run/stop switch...it must have come loose when I put the cooler in the back. So I put the cord back on, flip the switch to run, give it a pull and we're good to go !
I throw my line out as we troll around the bay area...any my little guy keeps casting his rubber fish in the water and reeling it back in....throwing it out and reeling in back it....he asks daddy, did you get a fish yet...I said nope, did you? He said, yup, a red one...
So after about an hour, he wants to go back home. So we head back to the launch. As we get closer to shore, I slow down try to line myself up and shut off the motor and lift it up out of the water...all of a sudden the wind blows and spins us around...heading the wrong way. So I get the oars and try to roar to shore, but that's not working, so I put the motor down, start it up and drive it in....All this time there are two guys in a Hydro One truck watching us as they eat their lunch. One guys comes down to help me land the boat. I go get the SUV, back it down and the other guy asks if I need some help, so I replied, sure, I can always use a hand. We get the boat winched on and drive away...no problems
All the way home, he was singing "I was the fist one in daddy's boat, I was the first one fishing in daddy boat..." He couldn't wait to get home to tell his two big sisters....
No fish caught for me, and my little man kept catching the red one
All in all it was a short but good time.
I'll post some pictures shortly...even took a photo of a loon - just for BA!