Making wake, finally

[Brian]

Been working on the boat and motor for 16 months and finally got on the water. It was a shake down cruise today, that's for sure. The tilt/trim blew the fuse and it was stuck too far up. That plus being attached to a displacement hull, and being too much motor for the boat, the bow rode real high.

It had no problem planing out, but as soon as it did, it started a bucking bronco routine. Got worse with speed so I had to back it off and try to compromise as best I could. Steering got pretty squirlly too.

Tomorrow I'll bleed and fill the trim and get spare fuses. I'll loose the kicker for now. The run on the Columbia we scouted out is clear of barges and not too heavy traffic at least on week days. We got one week of summer break left and my kids have been real patient. They got a real kick out of the short cruise we had today.

This is the first boat that's mine. Except for a few days on a houseboat on lake Powell, I haven't been on the water since I was a kid in the 70's. It all comes back real fast.

[slo-mo]

Are you crazy, or did you just blow my mind...

Job well done Brian! Your patience in rebuilding that Chrysler outboard deserves a medal in itself. We would love to see more shots of you cruising after the shakedown. Hope you can make an event soon...you could sell rides in your time machine!:surprised1:

The second picture you posted makes me feel like I was there...would be a great avatar also.

[Tim McCrain]

Nice!

Congratulations Brian, what an awesome feeling, huh? Man, the boat looks great. Can you post some more photos of it? The second photo is a real teaser, we can see just enough of it to get a taste!

Too bad you had trouble, but I know if I took something out for the first time and nothing needed attention, it would just make me suspicious and I'd be waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's almost better to have a problem and fix it, for some reason ... funny how that works.

Be sure to give us an update on how she rides after the tilt/trim is repaired.

Tim

[Marty Loken (Norseboater)]

Great boat...

Brian -

What a great boat--and how rewarding to finally hit the water with your pride and joy.

The mechanical issue will be an easy fix, fortunately, and you'll be back out there to enjoy the boat for years to come.

Hope to see you at a future event. If not before then, I'm sure that NWCBC will offer some kind of Columbia-Willamette cruise next summer. (Maybe you'd like to be involved in planning it? A few years ago we cruised from the Portland area up the Willamette to the falls at Oregon City--that was such a good time that I'll bet members would like to do it again.)

- Marty

[Brian]

Tilt/Trim was 'vacuumed' out, filled and cycled up and down six times. Should be good to go now. Looking at where it was stuck, I'm amazed we were even able to get up on plane at all. Now it should plane out and scoot. She was taking a beating before.

These pictures are what my daughter took with her cell phone. I was completely focused on the water and the boat and making note of what what's working and what's not. This was my first time navigating on a flowing river, but I've had 16 months to think about it.

If we have a local event going I should be able to make it. Right now I'm trailer limited for any distance. That Teenee trailer is a little more than max'ed out. Each tire is only rated for 560 lbs.

I have next Tue. through Sat. off and it's my boys' last week of summer vacation so were gonna' do some cruisin' and scouting a place to camp on an island.

It sure was great being back on the water. Can't wait to kick back by an open fire on a cool summer evening, sound of the river lapping against a wood hull, a cheap cigar, an expensive scotch and two happy, exhausted kids. Man, that's living!

Looking forward to getting together with ya' all and seeing some of these great old boats here in person.

[Tim McCrain]

Lookin' good! And that big smile on your daughter's face says it all!