Sooo, had a rough day in the office yesterday so I figured I would blow off some steam with a bit of top water action on the delta. Stopped at a Chevron on the way for refreshments, jerky, oil and fuel. Launched at wimpy"s and went south. I was pretty excited as I just got my prop back from the repair shop were the they got her all pretty again and added 1 degree of pitch (cause I thought the old Force could handle it). As I hit the throttle I was pretty excited about the slight increase in speed and listened to the motor purr and figured she was holding strong with a good RPM. but As I reached halfway to my destination I noticed the RPMs had dropped a touch and I chalked it up to headed directly into the wind. Just moments later the sound of the motor was getting gradually deeper and deeper until it was obvious something was wrong. I eased off the throttle and apperantly the motor like that as she began to cut out until there was nothing at all. I stared at the heavens for just a moment as to ask "what have I done now" before turning back for a quick visual of the scenario. What I saw was minimal white smoke coming out of the motor cover. I decided to drop the troller and park along some tules to take a look and as I did a boater was passing by with his arms up giving me the "one of those days" signal and I gave him the same look not knowing the severity of the situation. After letting the motor cool for a bit I checked the inlet for the cooling water and found no clogs, there was no seepage coming from the engine and the smoke was long gone. I decided to give her a second chance and to my surprise she wanted nothing to do with it. OHH BOY, WHAT HAVE I DONE. Did the 50:1 mixture get out off whack enough to do this, was the 1 degree pitch change too much, is the water pump impeller busted, am I cursed???? Now, with no boats in sight I decide to make some sort of headway and use the troller to head back with the wind (thank you wind) to at least get going in the right direction rather than sit helpless and pray. I wish I had fished a bit more on the way back but my mind wasn't in it, understandable I think. I wasn't sure, but very very hopeful, as to whether or not 2 batteries and an old mptorguide could make the 5 miles back to wimpy's but I had to try. The worst part was that at no point did I see another boat!!!!!!! and at points I had to head into the wind with made my face white ( I imagine) and got my heart racing cause battery life was all I could think about. The whole time I began to think I was a bit crazy cause I couldn't help but talk to my troller and tell him how great he was doing and I would feed his belly full as soon as we got home. Somehow, someway, I made it. I bumped the dock around 9:45 and couldn't wipe the smile off my face, That is until MARK asked me what motor I am going to have to buy now. My girlfriend thinks I should hang up the towel and focus on golf, silly woman. Now with the Bass-n-fly just around the corner I need to get this sucker at least in a trust-able condition.
Thats all for now-
Dom, who is happy to have slept in a bed last night
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