Titusville - The dinghy is scraped and the motor works!

 

This is such a great idea! Water, water everywhere - great for a hot day. 
Why don't all parks have this? (all for free too)

One year we left Fleetwing in Titusville and went north for several months during the holidays. When we returned, we found that the outboard would not start. The problem we eventually traced to a lack of gasoline to the carburetor. That was caused by a stuck needle valve which in turn was caused by the leftover gas evaporating over the several months and leaving varnish-like deposits on the small needle valve. The coating was very sticky and the needle valve would not open. $200 later in St Augustine, the outboard was cleaned and the problem fixed. 

Fishing in the harbor - the birds are all around us

However, I did not learn my lesson that time and required a second installment a year later. I had left the outboard mounted on the back of Fleetwing over the summer in Deltaville. The full sun hit it every day of the summer and baked out any gasoline left in the motor. Once again the needle valves were glued shut. $370 later at Zimmerman's, that problem was fixed again. 

Finally, I learn my lesson and now when I leave the outboard for an extended period of time (a month or more), I let it idle on the back of the dinghy without the fuel line plugged in until it quits, having exhausted the motor of all gasoline. 

This morning, I plugged in the gas, squeezed the blub, and the motor came to life on the first pull, great! This was after I paddled the dinghy over to the boat ramp, pulled it up on the dock, flipped it, and proceeded to scrape the bottom of barnacles of which there were a few. That was followed by a cruise around the marina in the dinghy to be sure the motor was working okay, it was.

With all that done, we are ready to head north with the exception of one more thing- bottom scraping of Fleetwing which is due on Wednesday.