OK, so today my brother and his boat and I with mine (loaded full of
kids) head for Forbes lake which is about 28 mi. from me.

Nice day, moderate temp and good water. i jsut had the head reworked
on my 140 mercruiser, and previously had some stuff done to the lower
end , so far I've had about 750.00 worth of work done to my little
Chris Craft Scorpion 169. More than I wanted to spen on repairs but you
gotta go boating, right?

So after cruising around and rolling through some wakes and having
about 40 minutes worth of fun, the kids were thinking mutiny if I
didn't break out the tube.

So.... we aired it up, hooked on the line, and threw my daugher in, and
away we went.

doing turnes etc, and doing what you do tubing, I'm running about 3200
rpm, and then with no warning. BANG! engine runs away. I pulled back on
the throttle and went to neutral, I looked at my kid brother and he
looks at me, and the typical "What happened?"

beats me. engine runs fine, but no forward motion on the stick. No
gear noise, but also.....the throttle won't move into reverse position.


Stuck in the lake.

So.... My other brother pulls up with his boat, and we're trying to
figure it out, as if we could do anything for it, and then in disgust.
hooked up a line and he towed us to shore.

Kids dissapointed because the boat quit,a nd no more fun. But the good
part is that with Aunts, Uncles, and cousins around, Tehy headed for
the small swim beach, to hang out.

I loaded up, and headed for home, with that "sinking feeling" bloating
in my gut.

I get home, and with engine off, I put the throttle into forward
position, and spinning the prop backwards, I get the typical rachet.
props not bound or tight , but spinning in the correct manner, theres
this awful, gritty feeling witht he sound of eating oyster shells with
false teeth! (More sinking feeling rebloating in my gut). I suppose
it heads for the marina next week for $ome repair$ that $imply mu$t be
made.

Don't know how deep the $urgery, nor how expen$ive, but the weekend
isn't going to good for me or my family at the moment.

Well, I at least saved some money by switching to Geico.....

Tim