Hey all,

Thought I'd just share a story from the weekend about how easy it is to make a mistake with something you have done hundreds of times before.

My old man has a converted Tassie Cray Boat with an old Gardner 5LW engine.
Now being an old boat things don't always work as they should and one of those is the belt on the salt water pump which if the engine hasn't been started in a while, slips and doesn't turn the pump. The usual method for fixing is to reach over the front of the engine and give the belt a tap with a hammer.

Now my Dad was working on the boat on Saturday, re-aligning the engine after installing a new prop shaft. He started the engine and the saltwater pump belt was slipping. Now Dad has probably had that happen over 100 times but this time he looked around, and no hammer, so he grabbed the belt with his right hand!!!
The belt the grabbed, forcing his hand through the pulley. he managed to pull most of his hand away but his 2nd and 3rd fingers went around between the pulley and belt.
The end result is he has lost down the the first knuckle on the 2nd finger and they have tried to rebuild the end of the 3rd finger.

Now my Dad is not prone to doing silly things, he has been a tradie for 30 years and is the type of bloke you want helping you in just about any situation, so the moral to this story is to stop, think and take your time about doing jobs on your boat. It takes a split second to change you life forever.

Oh and cleaning up the blood wasn't fun either!!!!

My old dad did mych the same only
He was lucky enough to pick up the off cuts and they sowed them back on with grease marks

Im so sorry to hear this....poor fella.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

And good timing. ...im up on the hard for a re fit.

Its different over here. ...lifes so cheap