Monday, May 11, 2009

Key Largo/Butternut Key 05/09/09



A "complication" in scheduling at work resulted in me getting a paid day off...so I went fishing, my mother celebrates mothers day earlier in the month so I had no obligations!
Decided to head to the keys, Key Largo on the bayside from the Carribean Club. Hit the water at 7am with a bucketful of shrimp and my wife in tow. We headed out towards butternut key and fished Little Buttonwood Sound on the way out. There were fish biting all day but everything was small: 8'' Mangroves, 13'' trout, and even short grouper (red and gags).

We relaxed on Butternut Key before heading back, The engine ran great all day, we ran about 25 miles without a problem when a 1/4 mile from the ramp the engine cut-out. It would restart but only run for a second before stalling out again. There was pressure in the fuel hose, fuel, oil mix was good, it didn't seem overly hot.

When I first got the engine it stalling out but I found that it was a air leak from one of the fuel hoses, I clamped them with cable clamps and didn't have a problem again...till now. When I got home I figured it should be okay but I couldn't get it running to flush the engine. I finally did by gunning the motor everytime it sounded like it was dying, I did it long enough to flush and noticed that the water coming out of the motor was much warmer than usual...could this have been a simple over-heating? This was the longest I continually ran the motor as previously I was making short runs and stopping for a bit as opposed to running 5-7 miles at a time and idling at fishing spots instead of shutting her down. I'm clueless at this point and I haven't had a chance to mess with since, hopefully tomorrow I can get a break and troubleshoot a little more.

despite the frustration I felt at the end of the trip it was another great day on the water...I just hope it isn't my last for a while.

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