First Day Out With First Grady. BIG SURPRISES

[johnnyboy]

Hello to all. Finally took my new grady sailfish 272 our for the first time today with 3 other friends on board. After 10 minutes of driving, woop woop Alarms go off, engines come down on their own and I shut her down. To my surprise, no oil in the boat. Dealer who sold me bought stated he topped them off, well I guess "theyre all the same". After we picked up some oil from a friend, went to the fishing grounds. Dropper anchor, one problem, anchor line wouldn't lock, had to tie it off. Not only that, then when retrieving it would not bring the line in. Its a winlass system, anyone ever encounter these problems. Then I wanted to run my salt water nozzle by the stern, hit the switch and nada. Where is this valve located if that was my issue. Other than that getting used to the grady, I was very happy fishing on her today. Pulled in to dock much better than I had hoped.

If anyone has suggestions or answers to these questions please post, I REALLY APPRECIATE IT!!!

Oh and btw fishing report for any new york guys.. Rockaway inlet, flounder fishing is hot!


:-|

 

[ahill]

Dealer should be shot!
Windlass problem is due to using windlass to anchor without cleating off and holding anchor in pulpit with windlass, not chain tensioner. I learned the hard way.
Disassemble the windlass pull the compound gear assemby, wrap shaft in cloth and put in a vice. Use vice grips to clamp the gear and rotate on the shaft in each direction. This should free it. The bearings are one direction, had me stumped 'til I called Horizon.
If not you're looking at a $370 part.
Go to Horizon/Lewmar & download manual.
http://www.lewmar.com/%5Cassets%5Cimg%5 ... on_500.pdf
Wash down & baitwell seacocks are under aft pieplate. First 2 are fuel tanks, aft is pump supply access.
Raise hell with dealer.
Good Luck!

 

[ElyseM]

is this a new boat? if so, the windlass problem belongs to the dealer. also, sop to tie off with a windlass. ron

 

[johnnyboy]

No sir its a 99 sailfish. Also i had no choice but to tie off, the clutch wasnt catching. :hmm

 

[seasick]

Personally, I don't think you were ready to go out. You should have done a pre-check and that would have identified the oil issue as well as the washdown issue. I give you a pass on the windlass, you probably needed some depth to try it.
So get up to speed on all the systems and make sure you are prepared boat.

 

[jellyfish]

Personally, I don't think you were ready to go out. You should have done a pre-check and that would have identified the oil issue as well as the washdown issue. I give you a pass on the windlass, you probably needed some depth to try it.
So get up to speed on all the systems and make sure you are prepared boat.

you always need to do a pre check BEFORE you leave the dock. Always check the oil.

 

[ocnslr]

I'll start with a "Congrats" on the 'new' Grady, and welcome to the web site.

I will, however, have to add my voice to those suggesting that your first real time onboard after delivery might have been better spent learning the systems on your boat. e.g. the raw water sea cock was probably closed - as it should be when not actually in use - so no washdown when you turned the breaker on. Hopefully, no damage from running the pump dry.

So, take some time to learn where everything on the boat is located. Every switch, every pump, every tank, and every hull penetration. Make sure that all the sea cocks move freely, etc.

Did you have the boat surveyed before purchase?

And, I have to add my vote to those above regarding the anchor rode. It should always be cleated off, and not allowed to "ride to the windlass". That's why the clutch is shot on your windlass now.

Brian

 

[CWOT]

agree with all. Here is a suggestion for you, when we fly we allow time to do a preflight and time to do a shut down. If you plan the time into your schedule it will become second nature.

1- We have a list of things to check before we go, we do not trust to memory, the Captain checks and the Admiral confirms. We do a walk around and look at all the visible stuff such as the structural things, than we check all the systems such as controls, etc. and last we confirm what we need for the trip such as fuel, flight plan, charts, etc..

2- When we return we do a repeat adding a shutdown list, check and confirm. It becomes a habit,

We carried it over to boating, check, check, check. It doesn't take long but if you follow a written check list you will save your bacon more than one time.

 

[Curmudgeon]

Some good advice here, Johnny. Take solace in the manner some of these guys come across, however, they have the benefit of experience ... which is what one gains immediately after learning the hard way! You're not the first to gain valuable experience, and won't be the last ... :uhm

 

[georgemjr]

The windlass issue might be a simple adjustment. My windlass acted the same way, I just had to tighten it a bit. There should be a tool to do this with. Hopefully that is all it will need.

 

[JUMPNJACK]

Oh johnnyboy, I am glad that everyone spokeup with some constructive criticism. Don't be dismayed, they are concerned with the safety of you and your boat! CWOT this reminds me of a time long ago during my flying career when I witnessed a freshly soloed student pilot transition himself from the Cessna 150 that he had just soloed in a few days earlier to a fairly high performance and very unforgiving Aero Commander A9B because the idiotic owner of the ag plane thought it would be funny. It was not! Miraculously both survived! "The sky much like the sea is terribly unforgiving of any incapacity or neglect". Oh johnnyboy, these boats are serious business! Follow this valuable advice that these other fellows have given you and you will do well! 8)

Ken

 

[CWOT]

Oh johnnyboy, I am glad that everyone spokeup with some constructive criticism. Don't be dismayed, they are concerned with the safety of you and your boat! CWOT this reminds me of a time long ago during my flying career when I witnessed a freshly soloed student pilot transition himself from the Cessna 150 that he had just soloed in a few days earlier to a fairly high performance and very unforgiving Aero Commander A9B because the idiotic owner of the ag plane thought it would be funny. It was not! Miraculously both survived! "The sky much like the sea is terribly unforgiving of any incapacity or neglect". Oh johnnyboy, these boats are serious business! Follow this valuable advice that these other fellows have given you and you will do well! 8)

Ken

Throwing your friend into an Aero Commander A9B with very few hours is not funny, I agree. People who put friends into harms way as a joke may have a bigger problem with themselves. How many times have you seen someone take a friend down a ski trail that is beyond their skill level just to show off their skills or send someone out of the marina when they know that the weather might be a very scary experience for a novice boater. Boating is an adult sport. just my thoughts.

 

[johnnyboy]

Thanks to all the replies. Yes I know i should have checked the oil, unfortunately i took the word of someone else. And like we all have had it done in the past, learned a hard lesson. So whats everyones verdict, tie off the winlass or dont, my personal opinion is to tie it off because like someone else stated, it can put wear on the clutch holding the line if the current is ripping and theres hard tension.

Thanks for all the suggestions and comments. :bang

 

[ElyseM]

i think everyone is advising that the rode be secured to a cleat to remove the stress from the windlass. it's pretty much sop and my manual actually had it highlighted in bold print. i've seen comments that some mfgs profess that you do not need to tie-off with their product, but i would like to see how long the warranty is and how it would react to a busted clutch/motor because of "excess stress"!! even the big boats running all chain rode use chain stoppers, and i would imagine that those windlass' are "super heavy duty". ron

 

[Tucker]

Ok Johnny what engines do you have? Hmmm '99 if not repowered you have either 225 or 250 OX66's. Buying a boat and motors 12-years old is going to need some heavy maintenance. If the dealer didn't top off the oil tanks, safe to assume he probably didn't even look in the mechanical compartments let-alone prep the boat for it's new owner. The oiler needs to be going over. You have external oil fills and the O-rings on the the fill caps as probably shot; better check the fuel fill caps too. The oil tanks should come out, cleaned, lines flushed, and the little filters on the back of the tank replaced. Cheez, they probably didn't even replace the fuel water sep. Suggest using a 2-micron filter and replacing it every 100-hrs or you'll be into the VST before you know it. You're running Startron & Ring Free right? I'd do a search on the forum, "272 Sailfish", should be tons of posts and read them all. Most guys that own that boat have lived every problem you're going to have and you will certainly learn from their experiences. Good luck with the boat! Nice rig! How 'bout some braggin' pics?

 

[Grog]

In addition to the above, replace the fuel filters on the motors too (there's a few), I wouldn't trust the maintenance of the previous owner. Before the oil alarms go off, you should have gotten a low oil condition for the remote tank on the gauge. The level sensor definitely works on the motors but the on the remote tanks it may not. It's odd that both motors ran low on oil at the same time. The dealer may have had someone drain and clean the tanks but forgot to fill them.

 

[johnnyboy]

I do have yamaha 225's on their, not sure if their the ox66 or 76 if that even exists, i forget. This is my first outboard, do you recommend I have a tech come down, do some service and learn hands on? Also how do you guys go about finding a tech? :-|