The Curse of Somebody Or Other

SHIP'S LOG:

There are all sorts of stories about haunted ships and cursed ships in nautical folklore. I am beginning to think that the TYC launch is one of them, at least the "cursed" kind. Already this year, she has had the transmission go, making her inoperable for almost two weeks at the start of her summer operating schedule. It wasn't anything supernatural but simply a worn out part that finally "gave up the ghost" as it were. Of course, it is also true that the reason for the two week delay is that nobody could find a replacement part for the tranny. Every vendor claimed to have one but when they looked, they could not be found. Eventually it was found and installed and the launch was again operable.

Then there is the vibration. Any boat vibrates when the engine is running, especially at idle, and diesel powered boat more than most. The launch does to but get the engine up over a certain rpm and it literally hums! The shaft is straight, the alignment correct but still it vibrates. After several weeks of head scratching and wonderment, it was discovered that the prop was slightly out of skew. Evidently, somewhere at some time, it had made sufficient contact with something hard enough to warp the edge of one of the blades. " Re-true-ing" the prop will take awhile and so we have to live with it.

And then there was the steering cable that let loose a week or so ago. Again it took several days to find the "right cable" and even then it wasn't installed right the first time, nor the second, not even the third. But finally it was and the launch would actually go where it was pointed.

The "latest" installment of "the curse" was the transmission cable. Chuck-the-launch-driver had just dropped off some passengers and was proceeding to the floating dock where the launch is kept. The throttle and the transmission on the launch are both controlled by the same lever but are two different cables. As he approached the dock, Chuck put the transmission into neutral to take way off the launch and then put it into reverse to stop it. The throttle cable engaged the throttle supplying power to the transmission but for some reason, rather than shifting the transmission into reverse for the braking maneuver, it went into FORWARD and snapped. The launch jumped forward, rode up on the catwalk of the pier holding the floating dock and took a three foot long bite out of 4x12 bracing board. It hung up on the remains by its towing shackle and it took several members and their combined efforts to get it released and tied to its floating dock.

The launch actually suffered no real damage, except for the parted transmission cable, which is a little weird considering the damage it did to the wooden pier! OK, OK perhaps it ain't the Twilight Zone, but it does make a lot of the members who think about it now go "Hmmmmm!" whenever they step aboard "The TYC Launch!"