[3 Squids]

Man it's been a while since the last update. Not much has happened. Power head is rebuilt and sitting at the shop waiting to get intstalled. Transom is getting wrapped up now. It was a bit more of a project than I had anticipated but none the less it should be done by weekends end.

We repaired the last 6" of stringers as that's the only place that had moisture, which came from the transom. We also built 1-1/2" thick knees from the top of the transom angled down and tied into the stringers and floor. This thing out of pop out the hole like nobody's business. The knees pretty much tie everything into the transom which in the future would make a transom repair much more of a PITA but plans are not to have to do it again. And like my glass man said, as long as he is the one to mount anything to the transom then he guarantees it for life.

I had someone interested in my T-top while it's been sitting there. I love the lack of maintenance needed to a stainless top however I feel for this boat the weight advantage would be nice to have aluminum. Got a quote for a new aluminum frame, cored hardtop with e-box mounded in and installed for $1800. Thinking if I can offset 1/2 the cost by selling mine I may go ahead and pull the trigger. Just for the heck of it I told the guy I wanted $1200 for mine. He's supposed to pass the message on and we will go from there. It's one of those things where mine works and is fine so selling it for less than what I want is pointless. I'll stick with it for a while before I'd give it away.

In other news it's seems I destroyed the foot on my motor when we made our test ride. My buddy felt some play in the lower unit and told me he thought something was wrong. Well I pulled the plug and not a drop of oil came out and the magnet plug is covered in large metal junks. Why the hell I didn't check the oil before taking it is beyond me. Bonehead move on my part.

But today I picked up a parts motor. I got a 1999 150 Merc complete for $300. I mostly was interested because of the newer style cowling that's in good shape other than some sun fade. The foot was off the motor. The guy that had it hauled a boat off of someone's property so he knew nothing about it. The water pump was removed so I was thinking maybe the pump went, hurt the motor and they removed it to investigate. Or so I hoped. But when I went to pick it up his dad was there and said he was told the lower unit was junk and that's why they parked it. Which means I don't have a good foot but I'm hoping maybe the PH is fine and I can wheel and deal with a buddy of mine for a good foot. We shall see. But all the electronics seem in good shape, tilt/trim works and cowlings good so I feel I still did well for $300. I'll post pics of the score in the morning.