[muddywater]

1980 Mariner 115 on the Seacraft
1992 Mercury 40 on the flats boat
1970something Evinrude 4.5 on the little flat

Favorite stories? Hmm where to start...

1) Had a 1960something Mercury on one of my previous boats. The first time I sank it was in a flood (really nasty current and flood stage water on the river - almost drowned because I was wearing rubber boots and no life-jacket. Went out in a different boat the next day to look for some of my stuff. LA Department of Wildlife and Fisheries ticketed me because the boat I had to use to look for the other one did not have registration. Keep in mind that I was just a kid at this point (was years away from being able to get a driver's license). I retreived the boat and motor and had it running the next day. The second time I sank this motor was at about 11 PM one cold January evening on my way to a friend's house. There just happened to be a freaking tree in the middle of the bayou, and I don't mean a small one. I was airborn for a couple seconds before I hit the water. I vaguely remember passing over the bow of the boat. My tool box, which floated, was loaded with matches and homemade gelled flame fuel so I built a fire on the mud flat to keep from freezing. Once again the old Merc was running the next day. The third time I sank that motor, the boat was tied to the dock behind our house because I kind of forgot to put the plug back in. I hauled the boat out. The next day I hooked it up to some clean gas and fired it up again. I never changed a single part in that motor (except spark plugs) and it ran even after sinking three times. I gave it away in the late nineties because the lower unit had corroded and you could see sunlight through it. The motor still ran though!

2) Still have a 1992 Merc 40 that until Hurricane Katrina looked brand new because the boat is stored indoors and I am fanatical about upkeep. The reason I say until Katrina, is that when I went to do search and rescue in New Orleans, the water (or whatever was in the water) was making the paint peel off my motor like paint remover. Keep in mind that the paint had survived over a decade of hunting, salt-water fishing, and wakeboarding/kneeboarding. We launched in the middle of Interstate 10. When I went down Canal Boulevard in New Orleans, the water was so deep that I could pass over the cars without hitting them. That was not the case in Lakeshore when I smacked the lower unit really good on a curb going up a hill. We picked up a 92 year old woman and to get back to the staging point we had to get over one of those tall highway noise reduction fences. The water was about even with the top of the fence so most of the other boats had not been able to get through. After trying to axe it and deciding that it was tougher than it looked, I rammed it. Luckily we did not lose anybody and made it across, though we were perched precariously for a moment or two before I gunned it.

3) The 1980 Mariner 115 is a story in progress. It came with the Seacraft and supposedly only has 20 hours even though it is 27 years old. The lower unit paint and motor condition seem to support this story otherwise I would not even bother with it. I have wiring, a stator, and a solenoid on order since all the wires are beyond saving (including the ones integrated into the stator). After those parts are replaced, I going to try to fire it up without changing out anything else. I sprayed Marvel Mystery oil in the cylinders a couple weeks ago, so it has been soaking. The motor has not been started in 17 years, so it will make a good story if it does start.