Nov 7 - stalled, over and over

Well, it was the day that I resolved to get that Whaler running or else ... luckily there was no or else !

I picked up a fuel line with what I thought were the correct ends on it, but it turned out that they were too small. So I had wasted $3 ... because I simply cut off the ends and used the ones on the old hose which were attached with hose clamps. The same hose, sans ends, was $3 cheaper :).

I gave the carb a spray of "quick start" (which is ether, by the way) and it fired ... great ! Ok, I guess that if I'm going to really start the engine I should get it into the water or at least attach the muffs to the water intake ! So I did ... and it started right up ! Wow !

But you know that the story doesn't end there. No, the story took most of the rest of the day. Into the water went the boat and Abby and I set out on a short journey. We got past the yacht club and I gave it more gas and it slowed down. Rats. Over and over again I tried that with the same result. It ran well at slow but not any faster.

I won't bore you with the number of times that I started that engine in and out of the water, sprayed carb cleaner into it, picked up and installed a new set of plugs, etc. etc. It ran well without load, revving up, but as soon as there's load, it falters as I increase the throttle. It not only falters, but with more throttle, it stalls.

There's a lot of misfiring and I got quite a shock when I touched the spark plug cable, leading me to believe that might be the problem. You see the one plug was completely encased in a mud-wasp nest, which might, perhaps, lead to it shorting under load ? as the spark advances ? Based on my online research, it could be one (or more) of three things -- carburetor (don't think so, because it starts like a champ), ignition wires (I've ordered a new set, hoping against hope that this is the solution because it's relatively inexpensive), or stator (learning something new everyday is my motto) which is an expensive part.

Before I go any further, if the new ignition wires don't solve the problem, I'll get someone to look at the motor ... someone who knows what they're doing. I don't want to spend a lot of money on this motor but it's nice for putting around this area. From my investigation, I learned that it's not very old -- 2000 -- which is young for outboard motors. When I go onto the forums people have motors that are 40+ years old and still running well without a major overhaul. Perhaps they don't have salt water and mud wasps ?

I did some Harley riding yesterday, first to pickup up the fuel line and then for the spark plugs, heading into West Marine in Daytona. The Harley was happy to get some use, purring contentedly and getting some fresh fuel as a reward.

I thought that I was going over to Labcorp this a.m. to do my blood tests but then found that they need an appointment ! I went to their website to see what time they opened in the morning and ran into that issue. That's definitely less convenient than Bert Fish hospital ! The first early a.m. appointment isn't until next week. I'll have to grab one of those and go ahead and setup my check-up appointments assuming that I'll have results in hand.

We did Facetime with Jeffrey, Sara and Emma again last night. I could see this happening regularly, just another thing that Emma adds to her list of things to do rather than go to bed :). Emma had just come back from her first Karate lesson ... oh great ... that's all we need is for this rambunctious kid to know Karate ! I think that I'll just give her a 2x4 for Christmas !

The weather has turned nice, with the rain in the forecast for the next few days gone and nothing for the next ten. That could always change, but I'll take that for now.

On the rental front, we now have (or the agent now has) two applications in hand to rent the Saxon house. Perhaps we should have charged more ! Anyway, references etc. need to be checked, criminal record, Interpol :). If they've accepted two applications (and deposits ?), I am not sure how they prioritize -- first come first served is my expectation. One family (the landscaper) has an older Dalmation and their first baby on the way (two months pregnant). The other has no dog, but twin 3-year olds and a very young one. Sandy thinks that the kids would do more damage than the dog, but I'm not sure that we can legally turn people away who have kids.

Another item turned up, or didn't in this case, as being stolen. Two hand towels are missing. Our sets are not complete that were moved over from Saxon. Sigh. I have some maintenance to do over there in the next while with roof and gutter cleaning, palm and mangrove trimming ... I'll get to that eventually.

Today I'm planning on a bike ride. Perhaps Thursday I'll do November's 200k to get that behind me. Perhaps. I should probably check with Keith and Judith, to see if they are interested. I exchanged emails with Keith early October but I have no idea whether Judith is in the area or still down in south Florida painting movie sets.

I exchanged emails with Dan Wallace yesterday, who is in the Syracuse area on family business. He gave us a Mass Offering for Alexander, to be held on Friday November 18th at the cathedral in Orlando. If he's back in time we'll attend together. It's a mid-day Mass so I may try and organize some other Orlando-based activities around that ... doctor's appointment ? shopping ? I hate shopping !

Speaking of shopping though, I've been doing a lot of the online sort -- car parts, car tools, a new water pick because mine died (hose brittle and broken in several places), a long HDMI cable so that the laptop doesn't have to sit practically on the TV to watch a Netflix movie, and several other small items.

We had guys over from New Smyrna glass yesterday who are going to quote on removing some of the mirrors that we have, in particular the four on the living room wall and the entire wall covered with mirror in the upstairs bedroom and the dining room. With help I could manage the living room mirrors, perhaps, but not the dining room or bedroom. I had told Sandy that we were not going to do anything about the mirrors until we sold Saxon but I'm going to have to relent on that one.

Onward ? who knows ... time marches onward but we go around in circles !