2 years of non-use and you will have a lot of work ahead of you if it
was not prepped for the downtime. You are basically doing 2 years worth
of maint + the usual stuff + the atrophy problems. This should pass
after a season of quality maint. Boats will require constant maint but
it sounds like you are just catching up from the previous owner's lack
of use. Hang in there....


Mark wrote:
I owned a small boat for a couple years many moons ago. It
had a small outboard, and basically I fed it gas and oil and
took care of it as I would a lawn mower, and everything was
fine.

I've recently gotten back into boat ownership after a couple
decades away. I purchased a '90 I/O with the Ford 2.3 and
Cobra stern drive that hadn't been used in two years.
Replaced the complete ignition system as well as assorted
other parts to get everything running well again.

I have yet to be able to bring it back home after a day
(usually less) of boating without it being in need of some
sort of repair.

Today, a trailer hub disintegrated just as we got to the
ramp, and as we were preparing to make a final run after
snack time, the starter Bendix failed (starter was replaced
when I purchased the boat 2 months ago).

I'm about to give this up out of pure frustration and the
appearance of it being a money pit.

When I was young and growing up in the Northern hinterlands,
snowmobiles were just becoming popular and were going thru
rather rapid growth (think the boom era of Scorpion, Arctic
Cat, Ski-Doo, et. al.). A joke at the time (that was very
near the truth) was that snowmobiles are a lot like women...
You spend an hour workin' on 'em and ten minutes ridin' 'em.

Am I just having a streak of bad luck, or are boats like
snowmobiles (and women)?