motor mount

adla · August 7, 2006

Ok - i am back and i had a wonderful day! there wasn't a hint of wind - NONE...no wind none at all not even light wind. So, i am glad of two things...that i had a gas motor and i planned to fish and swim anyways.

Frank - you ask a good questions and i have a sort of answer...i didn't bother letting the sail out not a single time today because there was NO wind and i mean non...stagnant hot air is all.

mounting the motor i followed the directions meticulously- and then mounted it a couple of inches lower...glad i did that. Trim on the trailer isn't trim in the water. That was easy to fix - the motor adjusts and so does the mount. 5 horses is a lot of horses. The motor is more than adequate....if not a real beast (power not weight). I just love it. We motored and swam and fished and goofed off for hours - and used under 1/2 tank of gas. The nice man i bought the motor from used it very little - it shows. I could not be more happy with the purchase. Starts on the first or second pull, has reverse, neutral, and forward....and is a real gem.

The motors weight changed things and i think it had more to do with the adjustable mount than anything else. Frank, i think you are right about the motor acting like a lever....Morgaine has a very different feel. But, it is a feel i could get used to. In the cabin today i had a small cooler of food and soda, the electric jib (just in case), and misc. equipment including fishing stuff and swimming fins, etc... The forepeak has two anchors and a deep cell battery. I had the capacity for 10 gallons of water (ballast) if i thought i needed it but never used it. I left the 4 legged ballast at home because it was over 100 degrees and because i took my friend Steff with me and my dog has sharing issues. That is she doesn't like me talking to, paying attention to, or hanging out with anyone but her.

I motored the entire day - no wind - no sails. 5 hp is WAY too much umph but i was careful. EVERY cigarette boat in town was out with HUGE SPEAKERS and bad music....it was really crowded. REALLy crowded. hardly a cove without a couple of boats in it already. Lots of waves on the water and it was because of the number of boats - because there was no wind.

i broke my fising pole - ima little peeved because it was a whompin' stick (supposed to be unbreakable)...so, while Steffanie did the fishing...i swam around and tied a floaty thing to the grab rail...and sometimes floated.

i will be glad to try out the motor/ballast/sailing stuff at Navajo in two weekends...but there was NO WIND today..and it made me a little sad.

What worked? The swim ladder!!! LOVE it...goOod idea. THe new motor - really gets it done! much more power than i need. i just love the tiller...and found that moving fast meant slower movements in steering.

here are some shots -

at one point i had painted the lower rub rail a dark brown but didn't like it...so she is back to her two tone color scheme...KEEL fix was perfect...just fine even...the new eyebolt was great at retrieval time.

my friend Steff:

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