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« on: October 30, 2012, 08:27:10 AM »
My wife says I shouldn't tell on myself, but I can't help it. It was too funny not too share. So we go out to the Power Tour last Saturday. I just finished squaring away fuel system on Friday night (swapped carb out, then needle and seat went bad, then blew out power valve, and finally mechanical fuel pump took a screamer!) and start up-river when boat acts like it's running out of fuel which is impossible since I made sure both tanks were full. Pop hatch, turn on ignition, new fuel pump buzzing, but no fuel in filter. Switch tanks and all is working good. Great, pick up is plugged something new to fix. Luckily sand bar is only about 5 miles up-river so I can still salvage the day. Get to sand bar and all is cool. Pop hatch and steering tube is leaking. No big deal, pull bilge pump switch. Hear pump spinning, but water is barely trickling out of dump. Uh oh, not good. Pull bilge pump and check it for debris. All clear, stick it back in. Turn on switch, still trickling out. Text my friend Marc who hasn't arrived yet to see if he has a spare. He doesn't. Luckily Don show's up and he has a spare. By now the bilge has water in front of the motor. You know Don as "Your Mom" and my wife knows him as Your Mom so as I came back from Don's boat with his spare she says "Your Mom is my hero!". My wife asks did you check the pump for junk? I say yes, but I'll look at it again. I pull it out and have her pull the switch. I hear a motor but it's not this pump. What the H??? Then it hits me. YOU BONEHEAD!!! I say to myself, you've been turning on the wrong pump.
I drop it back into the bilge and pull the center pump switch and water comes squirting out of the dump! I have 3 bilge pumps, one in the main bilge and one in each of the sponson bilges. I returned Don's spare pump to him and had a laugh telling him my gray hair moment.
Sam