Lost speed boat key.....HELP

[leeb]

Hi all,

A friend has a speedboat, its an old 70s style, 5 seater with an outboard. (im new to all this) It has been sitting for 2 years! but worked fine when he used it last.

However he has lost the key. How would i go about getting another one, or is there something i need from the boat so that i can get another one?

a loose description, is that it has the steering wheel, then to the right of that next to the seat the throttle, and there is a small key hole at the rear ot the throttle.

its sitting waiting for me to fix it up! just need a key!!

its similar to this:


thanks

[mrmr96]

Get the lock replaced?

[Simpo Two]

Pull the string?

[leeb]

Just found out the boat is a Glastron GT

To be honest, i havent been able to look over it properly to even find a "string". all we got to was that he would look for the key, and then ive found out today that it is lost.

Are we talking a string, as in there should be a simple lawn mower style pull cord on the engine? ( i have just read how stupid i sound, but i am truly at square 1)

Edited by leeb on Monday 26th July 11:16

[leeb]

Just found out the boat is a Glastron GT

To be honest, i havent been able to look over it properly to even find a "string". all we got to was that he would look for the key, and then ive found out today that it is lost.

Are we talking a string, as in there should be a simple lawn mower style pull cord on the engine? ( i have just read how stupid i sound, but i am truly at square 1)

Edited by leeb on Monday 26th July 11:21

[Simpo Two]

It's probably more to do with the outboard than the boat. What kind is it?

[maser_spyder]

Are you thinking of putting to sea at all once it's all up and running?

[leeb]

I now have the boat at mine, it is a Glastron GT160 (70s)

Outboard is a Johnson90 and the throttle/ignition is a johnson control centre.

It was up and running a couple of summers ago, only on lakes though, was planning to put it out to sea, have been told i need to flush it through after with fresh water. Maser, do you know something I dont? (probably lots to be fair)

thanks

[john_p]

I wouldn't have thought the lock barrel would have been anything particularly complicated - does it have pushbutton start? The key will just turn on the ignition and you could probably just bridge the wiring at the back of the lock*



* maybe run the bilge blowers first before making sparks

e: also, remember it's water cooled, don't start it up on the trailer!

Edited by john_p on Monday 26th July 22:14

[maser_spyder]

leeb said:

I now have the boat at mine, it is a Glastron GT160 (70s)

Outboard is a Johnson90 and the throttle/ignition is a johnson control centre.

It was up and running a couple of summers ago, only on lakes though, was planning to put it out to sea, have been told i need to flush it through after with fresh water. Maser, do you know something I dont? (probably lots to be fair)

thanks

Engine flush muffs (fnarr) and garden hose will do the trick. It hopefully has been laid up properly though, or you're in for a whole heap of issues....

These;



to flush out after normal use.

Servicing is relatively simple, if in doubt, get it done professionally. You really don't want to be learning at sea.

Boat make/model is irrelevant to the engine and control types, you can (pretty much) fit any brand of outboard to any boat. The controls are brand specific (within reason - since most outboard manufacturers are owned by the same parent company now) to the engine, so if you really want to, look for a replacement Johnson remote, there should be some on ebay.

To be honest, you shouldn't struggle to 'hot wire' this system, the key isn't really worth anything since you're never likely to be leaving the boat in the water, out of sight. Boaty people are generally an honest lot too.

Assuming the Johnson is also a 70s outboard, you really, really, really need to get some training before you put to sea.

I've said it before on this forum, accidents can happen so quickly, and so easily when you don't know what you're doing. No offence intended, but I really wouldn't want to see your name in the paper like this lot;

http://www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/Las...

The only thing you can be certain of is the MAIB are an extremely thorough bunch of chaps, and there's no finger pointing, just advisories as to how to improve safety, so your write-up won't say that you were the dunce that put a 40 year old boat to sea with no experience.

It looks like a great fun little boat, but there's no way you should even think about dropping it in to the sea without at least an RYA Powerboat course first, and a VHF license. It's an extremely foreboding place, and could be very scary and dangerous indeed if anything went wrong.

Anyway, I've said all this before a couple of weeks ago on another thread and will be sounding like a stuck record on sea safety. I'm sure any other experienced sailors will agree with the sentiment though.

There's a LOT to learn before you get on the water. It's fun though!

If you do get it going and in the water, make sure you sign up for a monthly donation to the RNLI, it's only fair.

At the VERY LEAST before putting to sea, you should know colregs, have a VHF license, some basic engine maintenance, weather forecasting, basic boat handling (it's not quite as easy as it looks) and have a very well stocked set of safety gear (VHF, lifejackets, flares as a bare minimum), and the knowledge of how to use it.

Apologies if this all sounds very sanctimonious, that's not the intention!

[Simpo Two]

maser_spyder said:

It's an extremely foreboding place

Foreboding with forbidding?

(Sea's too bloody dangerous for me; I'm sticking to the inland waterways)

Edited by Simpo Two on Monday 26th July 23:10

[leeb]

if ever, there was a time that I needed to hear/read some advice, then THAT was it!!! THANK YOU Maser

Definately taken that 'on board' and stuff to think about.

The key issue, i have found that the code is 65 and it is a Johnson key which are available for about £8.00 simple as that, ill get one in, then probably be back with more, why cant i start it issues.

I have the "muffs" was just trying to work out where they went on the engine before the light went tonight.

[Condi]

Cant you just use a hosepipe or bucket of water with the prop in? Thats what we used to do - much easier.

[maser_spyder]

Condi said:

Cant you just use a hosepipe or bucket of water with the prop in? Thats what we used to do - much easier.

With a 90?

Rev by mistake and you'll be wearing the whole lot! Flush muffs a lot easier for a big engine.

They slot on around the little holes (which are the water intakes) at the front of the leg, normally just above the horizontal prop shaft. Once you have a steady stream of water running through, give the engine a run.

I've made boating sound like a ridiculously difficult sport when it really isn't, you just need some training, and to do a lot of reading, before you set out. Any idiot can drive a boat, it's what happens when something goes wrong that sorts the men from the boys. Prudence and experience narrows the margin of error considerably, so oddly, the time you need to know what you're doing is when you first start out, before you've got the sea miles experience.

RYA powerboat courses the country over are generally excellent. I've never heard a single story of anybody who's been disappointed with their training. The instructors will be very experienced chaps, and no doubt keen to show you some neat tricks.

I have a few party pieces sailing that I learnt from an RYA instructor, there's no way I could have worked them out for myself!

There really is no substitute for professional training, you'll learn ten times as much, in a fraction of the time than learning from a mate or just pottering about yourself.

Not sure where you are in the country, but if you've got a lake nearby, it might be worth starting out here instead. No swell, no tides, no shipping lanes, always in sight of land, etc. Worst case, you could telephone for help and bob on the calm water waiting to be rescued. Much more appealing than no 'phone signal, weather worsening, sea state rising, VHF dead and the wind/tide pushing you on to the rocks....

[maser_spyder]

Simpo Two said:

maser_spyder said:

It's an extremely foreboding place

Foreboding with forbidding?

(Sea's too bloody dangerous for me; I'm sticking to the inland waterways)

Edited by Simpo Two on Monday 26th July 23:10

Well, it can be bloody scary, whatever I meant, well, you know....

My worst moment was at the end of a 3 day passage from the south Mediterranean up to the south of France. Perfect weather and wind for 3 days, force 3s and 4s all the way, only saw one fishing boat (bloody French, on auto with nobody at the helm or keeping watch) on the entire 200-odd mile passage. We set the sails, put 'Henry' the pilot on, and sat back.

Got to within about 3 miles of land and got caught in a strong squall.

I was off watch and asleep, Mrs Maser on watch reading a book and watching the world go by. She didn't spot the weather as we had a following wind and swell, and wasn't paying attention (it was a beautiful day!). Wind went from 10 knots to over 30 knots in about 5 minutes. Following sea was too much for the auto pilot and we accidental gybed under full sail.

That woke me up.

I rushed up to see Mrs Maser nursing a bruised knee where the main sheet had come across the cockpit, auto pilot going crazy because we were off course and it couldn't correct us. Controlled gybe under full sail in 30 knots of wind wasn't appealing, so we tacked around, managed to get two reefs in the main and furl the head, and then worked out the only way to quick cover in a small bay was at 90 degrees to the swell.

That was an interesting 30 minutes, with the engine going full tilt and the spreaders nearly in the water with every wave!

I was almost standing on the side of the cockpit at one point, with Mrs Maser trying to rescue crockery in the saloon.

The sailors will ask, why didn't we re-set the sails and keep going, heading for cover further up the coast. Simple reason, we were both dog tired, 4 hours on, 4 off, for three days, and it was a time when mistakes were likely to be made if we had pressed on in that weather. Being so close to the coast, it made more sense to have half an hour of discomfort and then safety, rather than another couple of hours trying to sail tired and potentially making a bigger mistake.

As it happens, we got in to the lee of a big bit of headland, wind dropped right off, we dropped the anchor and promptly fell asleep for three hours.


On the other side of the coin, I've set off on a channel crossing to the Channel Isles, expecting heavy-ish weather, registered a passage with the coastguard (I had newbies on board) with an ETA of 6pm. Got everybody kitted up with oilies, harnesses, lifelines, clipped on, washboards in, 2 reefs in the main, got out of the Solent and it was like a millpond. F3/4 westerly on the beam all the way, sunshine with shorts and t-shirts, arrived in Alderney at just gone 3pm. Had to call the coastguard and explain we'd made slightly better time than expected.... Perfect crossing.

So, hope for the best, and plan for the worst, and you'll be OK.

[Pigeon]

Condi said:

Cant you just use a hosepipe or bucket of water with the prop in? Thats what we used to do - much easier.

Funnily enough I was doing just that earlier this evening

Without the prop fitted though!

[hidetheelephants]

maser_spyder said:

I've made boating sound like a ridiculously difficult sport when it really isn't, you just need some training, and to do a lot of reading, before you set out. Any idiot can drive a boat, it's what happens when something goes wrong that sorts the men from the boys still alive people from the cadavers being pulled from the water by the RNLI. Prudence and experience narrows the margin of error considerably, so oddly, the time you need to know what you're doing is when you first start out, before you've got the sea miles experience.

Editted for slightly alarmist realism.

[leeb]

Maser, I am just off to B&Q to get some compost, going to make a nice garden feature out of that thing i brought home yesterday think it will look nice, and wont murder me!!!

In all seriousness, i really appreciate all the advice, and some of the stuff i have read on here, i just wouldnt have known. I certinally wasnt planning any cross channel stuff, at sea, planned to just mooch around the coastline and potter about, I will also look up some inland places and go see the guys there for some info.

[Dunk1982]

Just for the record, running any HP outboard in a bucket of water is fine as long as you dont put it in gear and much safer than using the flush muffs as there is always the risk of them sliding off when your not looking. Granted its not as quick having to fill said bucket etc.

Also on the key front if anyone loses some in the future the key number is usually found on the back of the ignition barrel on most OEM controls, i know Merc/Mariner is for sure, does mean stripping of controls though which isnt always possible.
Your main brands dont have allot of different keys though, bar Yamaha and Merc/Mariner having the most, when i worked for a main dealer we had a master set of each so when a customer lost or wanted replacements we would ask them to pop along with their boat and just try each key till i found the one that fits.

And flush you engines after every use if running in salt water!!

[leeb]

Just a quick update!

Got new keys, got a new battery and replaced the terminals, polished up, looking clean, smart. turned it over, she started first time, but lumpy, but there may still be some old fuel in the system.

Sorted to borrow the truck for tomorrow, when we thought we would check the steering............bks! steering is seized!!!

Disconnected it from the engine, took the steering cable and metal rods out of the boat, and tried to free it up. NOTHING! will not budge, we tried everything we could think of. The solid metal rod which attaches to the engine is just seized solid in its casing, meaning there is no movement at all. We loosened the casing from the main sheath over the steering cable, and that section was fine, just when its connected up, it is STUCK!! not good times, it was all going so well!

So i am on the hunt now for a Johnson 90 steering cable, and the rod which is attached at the engine end. The front end it all fine. Any clues on what this is likely to cost me? turning out to be a bit expencive!

Lee