1 if by land, 2 if by sea...

If you said, "Paul Revere, 1775," you are either really old or you remember your American History.

We went out for a scooter ride this morning.  I haven't used my Akaso camera much since we've been home, so I tested it out...

Yep, it works.  I mounted it on my helmet and we set out.  Riding through Long Island Village...

Across the swingbridge...

Then, a right onto the causeway..

We rode around a bit on South Padre Island...

Some video of the ride across the causeway, around town, and back...

The bridge to get back on our island was out when we came back...

Avast!  The local pirate ship was passing through...

Heading past the golf course on our island...

We put the scoots away, ready for our next part of the day: taking the boat out and running it at speed to make sure all is good with the fuel pumps.  I hooked the Akaso to the front rail on the boat, and we shoved off...

Out in the ICW, I pushed the throttle forward... the engine pulled strong (just like it is supposed to)... the the hub on the prop gave out (NOT like it is supposed to)!  Well, that is not a good thing.  We limped back to our dock...

I called the parts department at the dealer to see if they had another prop our size - when I explained to the parts manager what happened, he said, "It depends on which prop you have, but we can just put another hub in it - can you bring the boat in yet today?"  He said it was

Well, hauling the boat into Harlingen wasn't on my to-do list, but if I were to pull the boat out and take the prop off, I'd still have to run into Harlingen to get another hub... and just for the record, I don't think our prop has an easily replaceable hub.  Joan hauled the trailer to the ramp, I brought the boat around... up on the trailer, ready for the road, and off to Harlingen.

The mechanic (one who worked on the boat earlier this week) was ready for us when we pulled in... he said, "Nope, this hub is not replaceable (as I thought) - it will have to go to a prop shop to be rebuilt."  The parts manager brought out another prop, but it is a bit steeper pitch than what we have on it... it is as close as they have in stock.  They decided to call this new prop "a loaner" - if I like it, I can buy it.  If I think it lugs, they will have another one shipped in that is the same diameter and pitch as what we have.  Can't beat that.  They put the new prop on while we waited.

Back 45 miles to our island again.  We launched the boat again - Joan pulled out the trailer and flushed it while I brought the boat around to our dock.  Before heading straight to our dock, I ran to the turning basin and pushed the throttle forward - this new prop definitely has more authority at lower speeds and ran the boat about a knot and a half faster at full throttle.  I was running out of daylight, but I think this new prop will work fine; I'll do more testing first chance I get.

Heading back in...

Joan turned on the dock lights for me while I put the boat away.  It turned out to be a longer day than I planned... and more shuffling around.

I brought the old prop home - I'll get it rebuilt when I have time and keep it in the boat as a spare.  For those who will ask: no, we didn't hit anything with the prop.

I could really use a relaxing day.  Soon.