Went fluking today and did you know...

[IrishAyes]

That it is a two hour tow from the Sandy Hook Reef to the Shark River inlet? Yup, it's true.

Went out fishing today. Had the usual suspects on board. Fished the rocks all day. Had no wind, therefore, no drift. Bounced around at different spots and did catch four keeper fluke and 14 keeper seabass. A lot of short seabass were returned to the sea. A good amount of shorts fluke were caught and release also.

Near the end of the day we called for one more drift. Started the motor and moved to redrift the spot we were on as we had some nice seabass there. Near the end of that drift I noticed a biggggggg barge being pushed by a tug heading in our direction. Wanting to be safe I went inside the pilot house to crank up the motor just to be ready in case we had to move out of his way. Well, the batteries wanted no part of that. Cranked the motor over real slow. I put the switch to # 2 battery and was greeted with the same result. Put the switch on 'both' and still the same. Got out the battery box and tried that, still no good. Called Capt Jerry who was nearby on the Monger and asked if he had a battery box. Negative. (Thanks for hanging out with us until we got TowBoatUS Jerry. It was appreciated.  ) I kept an eye on the tug and barge and saw that it was not going to be an issue. That was somewhat of a relief. Would have called on the radio but now there was no need to.

Got in contact with TowBoatUS and they ran down from Manasquan to get us. That was an hour trip for them, quit a distance you know. They arrived on scene and told us that he would tow us to Shark River inlet and once we were inside, in calm water, he would try the jumper cables. He did not want to take a chance to damage either his boat or mine with the wave action. Good call, not a problem with that. Once inside SR inlet he put us alongside him and we threw on the jumper cables. Started right up. Gotta see what the probem is with the batteries/electric systerm. Both new batteries this year. Did have a problem with the shore power a few weeks ago and I am thinking that is the cause of today's problems. Hope to find out tomorrow.

[Bucktail]

That stinks Joe!   Hopefully it's something small and you can get back on the water soon.

Awfully nice of Capt Jerry to hang with you until you got the tow.

[Pfishingruven]

Well that certainly is something I never knew...I don't think you wanted to find out either.  Nice catch and hope it's a quick and easy fix so you can get back out there.  Boating is always testing your knowledge and abilities, Capt Joe.

Nice thing to do Capt Jerry...wouldn't expect anything different from him !! Certainly a testament to his character!

 

[Hotrod]

Wow Joe..  Not Good..   Really Something I'm always afraid of.. with the electronics and such always running..  That's why I very rarely turn her off

Glad it all worked out for yu

[Luna Sea 5]

i got hit with the same thing earlier this season..

[Kenny]

Tough Day Joe, Glad you got in safe and hope it's a quick and inexpensive fix.

Kudos to Jerry also............

[kezsr]

was a good day of fishing until the problem,Joe I hope it's an easy fix,myself always on the lookout and starting up and moving way before something is near,always have a freighter or tanker coming up the channels at least once during a trip.nice thing Capt Jerry hanging with you until ok.   Kez

[Reel Class]

Joe, glad ya made it back OK..  Did you check all of the connections???

[Capt -Jerry P]

Joe Glad to hear you got in OK

Sorry i couldnt be more of a help!!!

Wish i had the charger pack on board... Was thinking of giving ya a battery but those deep cycle d are just to big n heavy

[IrishAyes]

Allen, removed all the connections. They looked clean. Cleaned them off anyway, just in case. Made no difference. Hope to find the problem and more important, the solution tomorrow.  

Thanks all for the concern that I was able to get back with minimal problems.

No problem Jerry. Nothing more you could have done. Thanks again for hangin out. 

[PeggyLee]

Glad everyone is safe.  Joe, Why both batteries dead? Something in the ground wires???

[ped579]

I bet you forgot to put in the kifnin pin into the fratzits which caused your electrons to become watered down and well that is just not good when you try to turn the retzits to start the reamus to turn the engine over.

Well there you have it problem solved...

[Still Running]

Glad it all worked out safe Joe. You have my number if you need and help.

[Salty Dog]

Know the feeling.The one where theres a hole in the pit of your stomach.Sorry to hear.Hope you have it solved.

[Luna Sea 5]

Glad everyone is safe.  Joe, Why both batteries dead? Something in the ground wires???

I had the same problem, both batteries dead, couldn't even get a jump on them.  I replaced them both and the boat is running perfect, including my electronics.  I had a gps problem early in the season (losing the satalite), and no longer a problem after the batteries were replaced. I couldn't figure it out either.. but once replaced, all became good again.

[Pops Soul]

At least you got most of your fishing day in Joe, and you were able to stay out of harms way. Towed from the hook back to SR makes for a long ride back, should have tossed out a trolling rod 

[sealife]

I had the same problem several years ago while on the Rocks as well.  Both batteries were dead.  Turned out the voltage regulator had shorted out and killed both batteries as soon as they were connected.  Marina felt I was lucky there was not fire and smoke from unter the engine cover.

[wb]

TowBoat membership is definitely a necessity. Scary to think what what that tow would have cost at pay-as-you-go rates.

Sounds like an OK day fishin' at least, hope you get yer all figured out soon Joe. With both batts going out at the same time definitely check to ensure the isolator is isolating.

[sperzonkers2]

Whoa!! Glad all worked out to get in Capt Joe. Now you have me really thinking as I only have one battery!!!

[IrishAyes]

Got to the boat early today. Pulled both batteries. One battery found to have a shorted cell. The other battery was reading 7 volts.

Got two new batteries (second set of new batteries this year  ). Installed the new batteries and all ran well.

Checked further and found that my on board charger (from shore power) was not turning off when it should. It continued to charge the batteries when it should have turned off and just been putting in a trickle charge as needed. This apparently 'cooked' my batteries to a point where they were useless.

Electric problems are the pits. When the batteries first gave me trouble and the motor would not start, my am/fm radio would turn on when I released the ignition key. It would not pull in a station, just all static thru the speakers. I tried to turn off my GPS to to remove any drain on the battery (have portable for back up) and it would not turn off. Freaky thing, electicity. 

Any way, after the battery replacement and check of electric system, etc, I called the guys and they came down late in the morning so we could test the repair. 

Fished one spot out from the red church and brought back five fluke, a small blue fish and three sea bass. Had many short fluke and seabass along with several smooth dogs and sea robins.

With all systems back to normal we will be out again tomorrow.