[OMC-Boats] My Summer Vacation

I thought it would be a neat idea for the various board members to recite what they did with their boats this summer. This is especially relevent to me as mine ran pretty well and I spent some quality time with boat and family after years of mechanical pursuits. I made a long trip last month from Rhems on the Black River to Georgetown SC - about an hour trip each way. That is the furthest I have been away from the "dock" ever. You get scared to venture too far for fear of break downs. I was with a friend who had a boat so I guess that was cheating a little. Anyway it ran fine. I had one tow in this summer - I was horsing around over a huge wake from a yacht on the Waccamaw River and came down hard and the plug under the dash connecting the shifter electronics to the main harness came slightly undone and no shift - didn't think to check the plug assuming all the worst - lucky to be about half a mile from the dock and got a tow from a pontoon boat. They were very nice. I replaced the carb. on the boat only to find the original carb had a cracked rubber vacuum plug that I bet was the problem all along - will eventually put the old carb back on (with the new plug) to see if I am right. Will use the other carb as a spare. Did not get to use my Big Daddy slalom ski I got for father's day - well maybe next year. It is made for us older larger guys - I really am out of shape for that kind of thing but old habits die hard. I started working on my second Rogue this spring. I got it out of storage and took it to the car wash and hit it with some power spray which makes it look much better already. Keep in mind I have had both 1969 Rogues since 1982. I'm a late bloomer with these boats. It has the wrong stern drive on it (the motor and intermediate housing are correct) - it has a 120 -155hp 4 bolt cap which is 1967 vintage. I took it off and have been rebuilding it this summer wondering whether to keep it as a spare or letting it go. I finished the rebuild and put it on my first Rogue (it fits without problem). I took it out yesterday - it ran fine but is not geared for that larger boat. It is kinda like a 411 rear end - it gets out the hole great but I still have plenty of throttle left but I felt like I would be pushing the drive too hard to go faster - didn't want to blow up all that hard work. Its running a new stainless prop -19 pitch.I will drain the fluids soon just to see if there is any water leaking into the drive. It has a small leak at the top seal that I will have to check out. I will sell it on ebay. Anybody interested let me know. It is too nice to part out. It has one chip in the anticavitation plate and thats about it - it has a nice skeg. I puchased another drive for the second Rogue several years ago - it came out of Michigan off a same year Rogue. I will clean it up and put it on Rogue #1 to see if it runs. I will need to do a lot of work on the second boat. I will probably start by pulling the engine and cleaning it up, assuming it will run. I will probably spend the winter rebuilding the wiring harness. The boat will need a new floor and seats redone etc etc which I will do next year and the next. Get it running first then go for the cosmetics. I still got stuff I want to do for Rogue #1 like replace the gauges (got original type with chrome sunshades - sorry guys - can't go the upgrade route - the old look suits me fine and I likely can figure it out easier) and the cafe doors up front need a little tweaking. I drained the block yesterday which means the season is over but I can still change my mind - all I gotta do is close them and go. I need to top off the gas tank for the winter. Both boats need rub rails - fellas we gotta get together and get a supplier for these rails - mine are pretty bad.
Wow, I guess I got long winded. My thanks to Dave Losvar at SeaWay, Ed Anthony and ebay for various parts to rebuild the stern drive. TK
Received on Friday, 30 October 2009