I’ve been pretty lazy about working on the boat this summer. Fact is, it has been really hot outside, and I have had other things to do! But, I am making slow progress…

After I finished painting the topside, I took a look at the bottom and realized it needed a bit of work. Fairing the decks had been pretty hard on the hull, so much of it needed to be smoothed out, resealed, and re-primed. So, while I was at it, I figured I would put a couple more coats of white paint on the bottom.

Cleanup required!

Next big step was to hunt for a motor. I needed something as light as possible – ideal would be an older 2-stroke outboard, short shaft, 20 or 25 horsepower, weighing less than a hundred pounds.

After a few weeks of lurking around on Craigslist, I found what I was looking for — a 1986 Mercury, 2-stroke, 25 horse, manual everything, short shaft. It was about an hour away, at a used boat/motor store/junkyard in Stockton. Drove out there, chatted with the guy a bit, and came home with it.

I put the motor on the boat this morning, looks pretty awesome, don’t you think?!?

View from the front

View from the rear

View from upstairs

So now, just a few things left to do, at least one of which I dread. My punchlist is as follows:

• Set up a steering wheel and rig for the motor,
• Obtain and hook up a deadman throttle system,
• Buy or build a trailer, and
• Take the whole kit and kaboodle to the DMV and attempt to get it registered.

Can you guess which bit it is that I am dreading?