Woody Boating At 15 Degrees! What Could Go Wrong? And It Did!

The Trawler and her sisters. All at Reedville Marine Railway. Look at the lines on that little deadrise. Wow!

While the globe was downloading the New App, and watching it crash over China and having Android issues, we decided to see if we could get the Boatres’s New Trawler started and get her to our dock, her new home. Hey, a boat ride helps everything… Right? Now, this was not for the faint of heart. It was cold as crap.. in a Virginia way. And it was around 3PM once we built up the courage to try.

Come on! you can start!

Mind you, its all new stuff. Fuel cocks, water systems, battery switches, diesel? 15 degrees and what the hell are we doing?

You sure dont want that sucker hitting you in the head

Well, she started right up after some messing around. And no drama, ran nice, and then it happened. Cough cough dead! Right in the middle of the creek, wind blowing and getting dark. Now, we are not the kind to panic, especially since I sterred her to slowler run into shallow water so we could focus on the issue.

Photo – Boatress. Wondering what in the hell we are doing!

Turns out we had changed the fuel tanks while not running and that caused an air pocket in the line. So a little patience, and praying, VROOM.. Just as my neighbor showed up to tow us in. Its a very tight neigborhood, and fun people around that are used to this sort of stuff.

her current name is SEAGAL

She is parked at the outside since our tides are so low over the winter

Then to the dock, and let the engine run for about 30 minutes, no issues, did a little antifreeze fill and winterized her again. All good and her next adventure is a clean up, paint and interior. Then in the spring, she gets pulled and fresh bottom paint and topside painted! No name yet!

All alone!

She has power running through her now

Looks cold.. and it is

the Guest house looks great from the house

But will make a great hang out over the warm months!

 

HERE IS AN APPDATE! For those interested in more than boats. YA.. HAHAHAHA

Also for those who helped find some glitches in the APP, they are being worked on this week. Here is some of what we heard.

1. Loading images on Android

2. Map crashing

3. Edit copy as boat description in profile, and loading stuff.

The country is loading up nice

We are all ready working on the next chapter based on your feedback. We together with you, want to build the best tool to help you all get more out of classic boating, and keep connected to the community. Some features will include a way to recommend your favorite hang outs, editing more stuff, and a way for you to be notified when someone reaches out to you.  We are also working on a way for local businesses to be part of our sponsorship program in an economical way in your area. Like most things in this culture its a work in progress and by spring will be running smooth…ish..

 

25 replies
  1. Rick
    Rick says:

    Running out in 15 degrees and starting at 3pm? Not sure if you have big cohones or just crazy. Surprised no ice. Our bays on Long Island are frozen over.

    • Matt
      Matt says:

      Its a fine line of course, but acording to the boatress, she would argu that I am in the bat ship crazy spectrum

  2. Dan T
    Dan T says:

    Love your new boat! She has that classic tug/rugged reliable look to her. Gonna look real nice with a fresh coat of paint. Cool addition to the fleet.

  3. m-fine
    m-fine says:

    Its been so damn cold, Hell froze over and the Bills made the playoffs. And now it is forecasted to get even colder. There will be no boating for a LONG time.

  4. Greg Lewandowski
    Greg Lewandowski says:

    Once again, you have really moved up to the big league. Great boat. I’m glad correcting the issue with that old diesel was easier than your phone app! Old school comes through again!

  5. Jim Staib
    Jim Staib says:

    Went out to the shop yesterday and turned the heat on. Two hours later it hit 30°. Changed plans. Sent in my check for the St. John’s river cruise. Gave me something to look forward to.

  6. Jim Staib
    Jim Staib says:

    Another Android issue. When accessing through the app and trying to fill in the details below the screen goes to the header and you can not see what you are typing.

    • Matt
      Matt says:

      HA! We ad it aproved on the android site right away, months ago. The itunes store made us rebuild it so it worked better, so we are rebuilding now android issues. To say this has been an easy process is an understatement. We have teams of people fixing a crappy code that started the job, and we had to change people working on it. The current team is far far better and making things work. I will add, that we are already working on the next phase. Its like working on a bottom. You remove one thing, and another thing pops us. Thanks for all the feedback.

  7. Troy in ANE
    Troy in ANE says:

    That is one great looking boat.

    You are fortunate! Many diesels are a real pain to restart once they get air bound. Glad you got her going again.

    As far as Suzy knowing that you are “bat ship crazy”. It takes one to know one.

  8. Mike K
    Mike K says:

    since its january would that be “first gasp” (and i bet there was a gasp!) instead of “last gasp”?

    also why is there a mast? is that part of the integrity of the boat? or is a sail available?

    being a sailor with a diesel, they ll run forever until you get alittle air in the system!!

  9. John Rothert
    John Rothert says:

    Great boat…..the mast is to haul stuff on and off and some used it for steading sail. But even I would have thought twice about firing up the diesel in those temps and heading out. That is ..heading out with Matt….I would have gone with the boatress…

    I am still trying to remember the folks that owned that trawler about 15+ years ago….great boat. Never ending projects.
    John in Va. NOT going boating

  10. Wilson
    Wilson says:

    Hark ! 29 degrees here in Tallahassee this morning and it snowed. Thanks to global warming or it would have been colder.

    Trawler looks good… Wonder if we could hang nets on her and go shrimping ?

  11. Briant
    Briant says:

    Hey, are you going to have another competition to rename the new trawler.????

    May I suggest….

    “Sputter “

  12. Dick Dow
    Dick Dow says:

    Let me know when the Android issues are resolved – then I’ll give it a try! The trawler looks great! Being a Seattle area boater I have no issue with the name – SeaGals are pretty special around here… I’m sure Troy has a picture somewhere! 🙂 As for winterizing – with the storm you have coming in – I would close the sea-cocks, drain the freshwater system and holding tanks if you haven’t already and put some heat in the boat.

  13. Richard Daley
    Richard Daley says:

    The mast is so you can load and unload your Tender.
    A boat of this type requires a tender so you can anchor in an unfamiliar harbour and go ashore for chicken on a stick.
    May I suggest a sunshine yacht tender,it seems to be everyone’s all-time favorite, and they say there is no way to improve on it.
    The original was built on the east coast in 1911. They are what yacht tenders are supposed to be-you can dump nearly any load into it and it will still row easily and will track on the end of a line without running down on the towing vessel in a following sea, or so they say. I love mine built by a gentlemen in Los Angeles. Rows like a dream for such a short boat Loa 10’6” beam 4’1”. They are currently being built in boat shop all over North America
    Great Boat Have Fun

  14. WoodyGal
    WoodyGal says:

    Sounds like a 3 hour tour? In the cold and almost dark? No thank you.

    She does have great lines and cool local history. Can’t wasi to see her new paint, surely orange will be involved? And she will be gorgeous.

  15. Allen
    Allen says:

    Nice attempt on app. Wouldn’t allow me to add boats without pictures. Just kinda froze….know you’ll figure it out but you need it senior proof since most of us ARE …..lol

Comments are closed.