MACKAZ

Huge job. But you are THE MAN to do it. Love it, watching with interest. I've got a pine for this shape only equalled by 61 Plymouth Fury.

Oh neat. Just called local Mercury agent to see if my part has arrived. Was told ex Auckland no prob when I emailed my enquiry last Thursday. Advised its "just come off backorder" from Australia? Pretty average service.....

I couldn't agree more, I'm considering making one out of a block of aluminium. Im thinking as it spent the first 23 yrs of its life on the back of a boat as an auxiliary it was probably up on that stop. Years of being in that position and its just worn away.

Well I broke the new engine. Nothing major, the plastic doofer that holds the engine "up" has taken a big chunk out of itself (nothing to do with my burly frame using it as a support) and it won't stay up anymore. New part has been ordered, a princely sum of $10.50 but not intending to go home until Friday. I've put it on the trailer until I can fix it. Unkeen on waking up to a smashed skeg or prop. Miss18 not impressed

This mornings trip was a pretty good test of skipper, first mate and the boat. Wind got up as well as the sea. Land disappeared in the troughs. First time Miss13 had been in open ocean. Pulled anchor like a champ. No signs of seasickness from either of us. Boat took it really well. Motor performed flawlessly. Daughter caught 3 undersize and I caught one so close to legal. Were out for an hour or so. We got drenched coming back up the estuary. Won a Garmin Fishfinder 140 off tardme. $55 plus ship. Won't see it as not going back into town next week, (if everything goes to plan) Pic for thr

Red. Intense googling corrects me to what you identified it as, a red pigfish. They are actually quite nice to eat, I've always eaten them.

Today went flawlessly. Hooked up on something fairly big but it busted me off. Wifey caught a big parrotfish and a legal snapper. Fish bites for dinner

Yeah seems to plane but not terribly fast. I'm pleased with it. I had to chop the anchor off as I couldn't bust it loose. So yet ANOTHER trip into town to buy some more chain. Had a spare sand anchor and bought a grapple anchor. Had a google/YouTube tutorial and spliced my anchor rope. Seems solid but pretty average looking. Try again tomorrow

First run out went without a hitch, apart from me flooding it at startup. Experimenting with outboard angles and the like, old outboard didn't have any provision for that because it was rusted solid. Daughter even bagged a legal snapper.... All I could get was just undersize.

No I haven't, most people I've talked to say this or a 9.9 is ideal. 15 is max rated for this old hull. I'll see how this "new" 8 horse goes. At least being "brand name" it has better resale than a ulong ding-dong.

I'm going to repair it and throw it on bookface placemarket to try recoup a bit. That's a couple of weeks away

Procured a driveshaft, but I'm over that motor. Bought this 1997 Mercury 8hp for $1400. Has a warranty and less than 10hrs from new. Has a few marks on the cowl but underneath that it's like brand new.

Well shit. Fabbed up a Bush out of truck air line. Tried it out. Still not getting full throttle. Looked at a schematic of the twist grip. More bushes/roller arrangements missing. Pulled twist grip apart. Broke some wires. Trip into town to get wire/soldering iron. Make rollers out of airline. Fix broken wires. Reassemble. Yay finally full throttle. Brother in law said it was idling too high and it wouldn't go into gear. Put into gear manually and prop turns. Can hear a clunk inside the midsection so pulled its pants off. Culprit.... Broken drives shaft. The small

Thought I'd do a pull cord as it was on the verge of parting company. Googled the shit out of it. Replacement was finicky but with assistance from Miss18 and wifey it was done. Managed to break a crucial part This opens the choke on the carb. Thought I was in for a mission to find. Went to local Johnson agent. Well bugger me on the shelf!! Fitted and all appears good. Dragged it out TO Whananaki South (where bach is) offloaded onto hard. Next morning me and Miss18 went up to the mangroves for a fish. Umm fucking embarrassing. When paddleboarder passes you you're in trouble. An

I need to pass. Wednesday next week I'm doing food run for family at the beach. Soz