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My Mackenzie River adventure for this year didn't quite turn out the way I had planned it. I had planned a 4 day trip along the Mackenzie starting at Fort Simpson then traveling upstream to Rabbitskin River and then onto Jean Marie River.
The trip started out good with a 270 mile drive to Fort Simpson (about 200 of that was on a gravel road). Along the way I lost a dust cap on my trailer wheel but fixed it with a beer can and duct tape. 6 hours later I arrive at my destination and bunker down for the night.
I launch in the morning take the old boat for a spin and all seems well. I dock and load it full of gear fuel and people (wife and father-in-law). I point it up stream and hit the throttle.
Well. I went nowhere fast. I had just bought a new prop and used the pitch from my spare prop when I ordered it (always check the pitch on the prop that you're using). I went from 13 to 15 pitch. The end result was I got a little more speed when I was unloaded but as soon as I loaded up the boat I lost a lot of power. It took about 10 minutes just to cross over to the other side of the river.
Normally I have a my spare prop with me which would have had the proper pitch seeing as I threw my old spare out and replaced it with the one I pulled off, but my spare ended up staying at home. I had it all ready to go but forgot to bring it. Had I been thinking straight and not fuming over my forgetfulness I could have called my co-worker and had him put it on the bus which would have arrived later the same day (it runs once a week).
My whole trip went down the drain. Going 5 mph up a river is not fun. So for the next 3 days we just did little trips to some small creeks and fished. ( I forgot my fishing rod also so I had to buy another one). It was still good in the end with the short trips it could have just been a lot better in my mind.
I have ordered another prop with the proper pitch and now have a fairly new barely used prop for sale cheap that fits a mid '80s 50 hp Mariner. I am also making a checklist of things not to forget so this doesn't happen again.
Next adventure the East Arm of The Great Slave Lake.
The trip started out good with a 270 mile drive to Fort Simpson (about 200 of that was on a gravel road). Along the way I lost a dust cap on my trailer wheel but fixed it with a beer can and duct tape. 6 hours later I arrive at my destination and bunker down for the night.
I launch in the morning take the old boat for a spin and all seems well. I dock and load it full of gear fuel and people (wife and father-in-law). I point it up stream and hit the throttle.
Well. I went nowhere fast. I had just bought a new prop and used the pitch from my spare prop when I ordered it (always check the pitch on the prop that you're using). I went from 13 to 15 pitch. The end result was I got a little more speed when I was unloaded but as soon as I loaded up the boat I lost a lot of power. It took about 10 minutes just to cross over to the other side of the river.
Normally I have a my spare prop with me which would have had the proper pitch seeing as I threw my old spare out and replaced it with the one I pulled off, but my spare ended up staying at home. I had it all ready to go but forgot to bring it. Had I been thinking straight and not fuming over my forgetfulness I could have called my co-worker and had him put it on the bus which would have arrived later the same day (it runs once a week).
My whole trip went down the drain. Going 5 mph up a river is not fun. So for the next 3 days we just did little trips to some small creeks and fished. ( I forgot my fishing rod also so I had to buy another one). It was still good in the end with the short trips it could have just been a lot better in my mind.
I have ordered another prop with the proper pitch and now have a fairly new barely used prop for sale cheap that fits a mid '80s 50 hp Mariner. I am also making a checklist of things not to forget so this doesn't happen again.
Next adventure the East Arm of The Great Slave Lake.
That was good one Wonky.
Luckily I was at a resort that rented life jackets. So ten bucks later, I was on the water legally.
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