Busy Day

     I started off the day with a little kayak trip up the creek and back.  I saw a bunch of ospreys, one of them carrying a fish that was comically large for him, as well as a bunch of blue herons and a couple elusive river otters.  I also learned that I am a terrible kayaker.  Guess I'll just need to keep working at it.  I can already feel my shoulders starting to stiffen up which is a sure sign that I need more practice.

     After lunch I ran over to Shady Side to look at a motor I found advertised on Craig's List.  A 1967, 6 HP, Mercury long shaft.  It started right up, ran like a champ, and fit in the trunk of my car.  Sold!  I would rather have an inboard, gas or diesel, but that just isn't in the cards right now.

     The previous owner already installed the bracket for this to sit on and hopefully there won't be any issues setting the motor in place.  I won't know for sure until I try, but that is going to wait until I'm ready to go sailing.  No sence in tempting anyone, and I would really rather not have to figure out some crazy way to chain it in place,

     Now I have a way to get out of the marina and out into the open bay.  Then the problem of me not knowing how to sail comes into play. 

     I actually made it out to the boat to do a little work as well.  I cut out the remaining three pieces of plywood to fill in the icebox, fit them in place, and glued them to the insulation.  I also had to cut out a hole in the side wall and insulation to run the hose that will be the drain for the upper cooler.  Below, on the right, you can see where it comes out in the engine box.  The piece of pipe behind it is the drain pipe from the old icebox that someone previously cut and filled.  The plan is to put some sort of shut off valve in line and then run the hose out through that pipe so it can drain in the cockpit.  I will then seal around the pipe opening with some sort of caulking.  I figure this will be easier than trying to connect the two and I'm a big fan of easy.