The "shakedown" run took a turn. The cover on the Raw water pump blew off. I guess when I changed the impeller before the winter, the screws must not have gotten tightened beyond finger tight. I could see the raw water pump cover plate in the bilge, but knew the 4 screws would take some effort to find, so we took a tow from a fishing boat back to the dock.


I had to get a couple new plastic elbow fittings for where the hoses attach to the top of the manifold. Surprisingly I found all 4 raw water pump screws in the bilge, so I put things back together. I changed the oil (needed to do that anyway) and ran it off the garden hose at home. Then we put the boat back in the water Sunday (now we're in "April" territory).

Aside from a squeak that materialized, the engine seems just fine. I think I've isolated the squeak to the circulation pump and have a new one on order that should arrive in a couple days.

Despite weather in the 50's, we were happy to have a functioning boat--since the consequences of the "shakedown" run could have been a lot worse than a couple fittings and a circulation pump.
April 2nd:


With me healing from my knee injury and the wife healing from rotator cuff surgery, we didn't play in the water. it wasn't that smooth anyway. Oh, and how does a water temp of 49 degrees sound?