"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
Garbage is in the eye of the beholder but I (and you) have just as
much right to throw it on the table as anyone else.
I don't agree Wayne. Usenet is set up like a newspaper. It has "sections"
that the contents should be on-topic. This is the intent of Usenet. People
who post off-topic, is like listing the obituaries in the sports section.
Any posts that are not discussion about this group, or boating, are
off-topic, hence, garbage.
I actually like
Harry in many respects and would rather try to gently reform him than
to kill file.
The problem I have with Krause, is that he was the main contributor of
off-topic posts. He has been caught in many lies...even about his boating.
He also calls people immature names, and its known that he goes out of his
way (like contacting peoples ISP) to go against people who don't agree with
him. I dont respect him in any way.
There were a sharp few here, who used to mice poor Harry to bits, and it
*was* fun to watch him fall apart, but that got old rather quickly. It was
apparent he was too slow to even realize how stupid he looked, thus, the fun
watching him dissolve became rather pathetic. He spends his whole life
here...I have no desire to "reform" him...I have better things to do. One of
them, going out on my real boats, in real water.
I only kill file those who never post on topic.
When I kill filed Krause, the only 1% of on-topic posts he was making,
turned out to be lies. Sorry, but considering he posts hundreds of times per
week, that's just too much garbage.
Frankly, you might be a candidate if not for the cool pictures of your
jet boat.
Ill admit I post little here, but I still have contributed more than Krause.
And that's saying something given the fact that he posts 1000 times more
than I.
Why not post something about it once in a while?
I usually just read here, and keep to myself. I like to help others get a
good read here, and if I can help someone, I do, but since you ask...here's
a humbling story...
This past summer, I was up at the reservoir in the early am, getting ready
to spool her up for a high speed pass. A nice cool morning...about 62, and
no wind....the water was like glass.
I had a work friend named Jim with me, and didn't have the chase boat in the
water. (I usually don't make speed runs without it in, but the boat has been
rock solid for 4 years now).
Anywho, spun her up to about 75%...running a nice solid 105 mph.
Nice...water like glass, smooth as silk, and the wheels whistling away in
that sweet high pitch. Decided to punch her down pretty
hard...110...115...120...125...and all of a sudden, I saw this speck on the
water horizon. As soon as I saw it, it rushed towards me in what seemed like
a nana-second. At the exact time I recognized it as a Seagull roosting in
the water (Id say it was about 100 feet), it disappeared under the bow.
I had no time to react. A loud "CHERRRUNCK" came from the stern, the turbine
hic-cupped, and the bow settled down hard. We probably lost 30 mph in a
second. Our heads went forward, and Jims helmet even glanced the dash. I
noticed the power stage down at 70% while the compressor was at 90%, and the
fuel pressure going up real fast...I pulled the e-fuel shut-off, and as the
turbine wound down, a fitting on the fuel rail split, spitting fuel over the
port-stern. This all happened in about a second and a half.
As we gathered ourselves, removed our helmets, and made sure each was ok, we
quickly surveyed the boat. No fire.hull was intact...no water coming
in...drive-line seemed ok...other than the blown fitting, everything on the
inside seemed ok. We made a cell call to my brother, who said he would start
that way ASAP. I told him will were going to try to put the fitting back on,
and get back to the ramp.
We got the fitting on ok, and after a systems check (everything ok) decided
to start her up. Spun up fine...everything looks good...fuel and oil
pressure on queue, so at 40% I hit the igniters. "POOF"...she comes to life.
Sounds fine...nice 42% idle, and all instruments look good. So I brake the
output shaft, shove the gearbox into forward, and as I let out the brake,
the boat shudders badly. I mean badly. Its almost as if the back end is
jumping out of the water...something is wrong...really wrong...we shut down.
We start paddling towards shore, and my bro meets me half way back, and tows
us the rest of the way in. Once at the dock, we trailer the boat, and the
problem is apparent. One of the 3 blades of the 24" NIBRAL screw was 80%
gone, and a second blade damaged badly...50% of it, however, the drive and
control cylinders (which we checked in the water) seemed ok.
On the way home we concluded that the sheer high-speed impact of the blades,
against the rather solid mass of the large gull, did all the damage. We
laughed as we speculated what the last thing that poor gull was thinking
before his rather horrific demise...albeit quick. And no...we did t see any
remains in the water...we were a few hundred yards away from the impact
sight by the time we stopped, and while we did look back, we saw
nothing...and I'm guessing that's about how much of my flying friend was
left too, and truth be known, I don't care for seagulls much anyway.
Anyway, a new screw later, and we are back in business, but, it made me
ponder two things...
1. It's hard to have a good reference of "speed" when in open smooth water.
To this day, I am astounded how damn fast that "speck" turned into a 7lb
bird right in front of me, in that very short time.
And 2. I have never hit a bird before. In all my years of boating, any gull,
duck, or goose has never failed to remove itself from my path. To this day,
I wonder if it was the sheer speed that killed the gull, or that he may have
died in his sleep...