So today we hit the lake, but that wasn’t until a hand full of gremlins poked out while doing a first run precheck. Trailer lights proved to be inop. That was due to some loose crimps. Batteries were not in the best shape, so I threw them on the charger this morning. Also fried something in the battery switch, so that will need replacement.
But after those were handled, it appeared we were ready for the lake.
Once we got everyone loaded up, we decided to go for a short buzz around the corner to a calm cove and cool off with a dip.
Well…..
After about 4 minutes of 50% throttle, the girls yelled that they smelled fumes (Real ones, not Rob). I peeked down at the temp gauge and it was creeping towards 240 degrees. Right as I turned around, they all started yelling “smoke”! I immediately shut the boat down and disconnected the batteries. When I opened the sun deck smoke came rolling out and there were popping noises that sounded like more electrical issues.
Once the smoke cleared, I could see that the noise was rubber burning and popping on the manifold. After a few minutes of inspection, I found a coupler had split. Not sure when, or how, but it was definitely the end of our maiden voyage for the year. Once the engine cooled down and I reconnected the batteries, the boat fired right up and we calmly cruised back to the ramp.
View attachment IMG_3844.mov
I’ll be replacing the coupler, and hopefully there won’t be any other issues that were caused by the overheating.