Saving Old Seagulls

Packed up the three smaller Gulls and an inflatable and set off to catch the tide. The inflatable was a freebie from Tams part of the world! (Not a sentence you hear very often!)
The idea was to give all three gulls a good run and decide which was the more suitable for a proposed adventure involving some French people.
The Forty Plus is the most likely one so took that for a longer run and ended up at the Lawrenny Arms On the way back I met up with the Tenby Lugger "Heritage" and they mentioned that the Pembroke River Rally was the next day so I decided to go along. Arrival at the Pembroke barrier Under the Castle I wasn’t the only Seagull on the rally this was a Featherweight on the back of a Wayfarer.

The 40+ stoped as I came out of the river, at first I thought it had run out of fuel and refilled it. But when I tried to start again it was very tight, nothing on the prop and nothing to be seen externally. It looked like it was going to be a long pull back against the wind and tide.
Then the Tenby Lugger came into view so I held up my Painter and they came along side, took me aboard, then I streambed the dingy behind. They had to catch the tide at the Dock Yard so could not take me all the way back and I ended rowwing for the last mile.

More when I find out what went wrong with the engine.

Dave.

The inflatable was a freebie from Tams part of the world! (Not a sentence you hear very often!)

You can say that again or mybe best not too.
I'd be looking for the blue light behind me...

If it was red I'd be very worried!

Hi Tam, picked the inflatable up while crossing the North Channel last year on the way to the Hebrides.
No blue lights, the Coast Guard was not interested once I assured them there was noone in it and no bodies! Though if I had asked for a freebie in Greenock I might have got more than Blue Lights!

No sign of any thing amiss. But here is the reason the Gull ceased to proceed! She had managed to draw in all the fishing line filled the back of the prop without any showing on the outside. A lot of it had got between the collar and the gear box eventually it melted and the melted line jammed the shaft but left the prop free.

Even if I had found it I could not have fixed it on the water as I needed to remove the pin to take the collar off and clear the jam, what a mess.
Has anyone come up with a solution to stop this hapening? By the way after three trips the oil was nicely emulsified, so I can recommend Castrol “D”

Dave.

PS the Line was Red Charles thank fully that is all that was red!
PPS Talking of red Charles the plug electrode was a nice Tan colour and further down on the insulator it was bright red, I’m assuming that this was from some additive in the TC-W3, what do you think?

 I had asked for a freebie in Greenock I might have got more than Blue Lights!

Greenock .there's no way you got that for a freebie there I'd double check the vin plate on your car . I once went out on the razz in Greenock and bought a lurcher pup turned out to be a monkey in a wrangler jacket no more buckfast for Thomas good look with that gearbox.

No the inflatable did not come from Greenock Tam but I was happy to take the ferry out of there to Kilcreggan. To many monkeys at that place up on the hill for me

The motor is all back together with new oil and tested this afternoon, ready for the next adventure.

Dave.