Rufus and I were talking this morning. We often tell him how handsome he is - he likes to hear that. We think he may have been going through that awkward stage when we first adopted him, and it has been quite a surprise to us that he has matured so handsomely. I said, "I sure do like that glorious mane and manly square jaw you have, Rufus"...
He told me, "I think you are really handsome when you are putting my food dish on my mat." We may be approaching this from different perspectives.
We are still trying to sort out the stalling issue with the boat. Mercury Marine suggested to our mechanic that we run a concentrated solution of engine cleaner through our fuel tank. There is no doubt that the fuel pump replacements have made a difference. I experienced a couple stalls on the first runs with the cleaner in the tank. But, no "hesitations" at mid-RPMs. I am hoping that as more of the cleaner gets worked through the engine, it will eliminate the stalling. I had concerns that it may be something electrical (ECU perhaps), but the engine always starts right up again after the stall (before the fuel pump replacements, that wasn't always the case).
After breakfast this morning, the wind was starting to build - I decided to take the boat out anyway, and Joan wanted to come along (I have made the previous test runs solo). Heading out...
Once into the turning basin, I ran the boat in the mid-RPM range as we headed for the ship channel. Warm, humid, and windy today; mid-80s on the temp and humidity, winds around 15 with occasional higher gusts. Heading east in the ship channel, we are catching a bit of spray as the wind is right on the beam.
I ran the boat for a while at higher RPMs, pulled the power back, and... no stall. That's a positive. About 40 minutes into running it harder than we normally do, we experienced one stall, and it wasn't as sharp as they have been previously. The motor sounds smoother, and the new prop is pulling stronger. The engine started right up again, and I ran it hard, then pulled the power off... no stall. Eased the power into the 3,000 to 4,000 RPM range and... no stall. Pulled the power off... no stall. A "hole shot" (not the way we usually run this boat) and... no stall. I repeated this, and the boat continued to run smooth. This guy flew by, just in case we were going to toss some fish parts (we weren't)...
And then...
Well, we should probably run at idle for a bit and do some dolphin watching...
'Cause that's what we do.
Rotating the boat, so we weren't looking right into the sun...
Mom and baby...
Leaving the dolphins behind to get in a few more test runs, the boat ran fine. I am hopeful.
And some really good news: as we were coming back into the first canal on our island, the dredge was tied to a dock at the first Sea Cottage. As we went by, I asked the guy on the dredge, "Are you going to be working on this end of the canal?" (That would be an issue for every boat on the three canals on our side of the resort.)
He said, "We are done! Hallelujah!" There were thumbs up all around. For the record, we have heard this a couple times in the past, but maybe this time they are really done.
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