You’ll never be accused of being lazy if you have an old WORKING boat.   Fortunately Ed is a member of the Seeker crew and I think he could fix anything.  And we did him no favors by not bringing any tools.  Aaron is no slacker either.   Together they found the trouble and almost got the thing to keep running.  Ed actually stayed an extra day and repaired the fuel system.   A new filter, and a lot of high pressure air and things were much better.  And a Suzuki 150 is not a lawn mower engine.  The dam thing has 3 fuel pumps, two filters and more complications than the human heart.   The next day was nothing but the wind in our hair!  Until we were a couple of miles from the boat ramp.  Then the heat overcame the coolant system’s capacity.   It might be the oil system, or the mixture, but it’s most likely just a weak water pump and restricted coolant passages.

The trick to asking for a tow from another boater is to be the kind of person that would give anyone a tow. Even a long one.  If that is the case then you deserve a tow. Even a long one.  So act with every confidence that you are going to meet another boater just like you.  Stand up and give them a big friendly wave as they come rocketing by.  And when they wave back; change the arm wave to the international “come-hither”.    Even the reluctant will be persuaded by confidence and politeness.   Our tow victim seemed non too happy, but he will likely use the story several times as evidence to his friends that he really is a nice guy.    Who knows, maybe he’ll find the experience so fulfilling that he will seek out people to assist in the future.   Wouldn’t that be a better world?

All and all we wrapped up a great week with Ed, Rod, Aaron, Angel and Hugh and I; neither who had been in the water in a long time, enjoyed some warm green water scuba.   And once we got back to the boat ramp on the second day;  we had just enough sunlight to give Ed and Jack the opportunity to dive with the hookah.   We forgot our dive weighs that were doing extra duty weighing down the dragon in the shop, but we made do by swimming with rocks in each hand.   Maybe our motto should be: “Præsto Animorum Tantummodo”  – “Always Ready To Improvise”

We’ll be working on the Suzuki outboard as well as the dragon, “Bernard” this weekend.

Remember to keep it cool

Doug