Whew, decided to grease the boat motor and hubs and found out something more than an ordinary round to it. One of the hubs didn't have a grease zerk? Yep, just a hole where it should have been. Obviously fallen out long ago. Glad I didn't leave the task until after getting to Kiptopeke. Last year, after I launched in the deep sand, I found one of the buddy bearing hubs missing. Sand inside the whole bearing! :( Took a while to find the bearing sets and the weather turned bitterly cold. Decided to buy a hub kit rather than replace the bearings and bearing cap. Later, I went ahead and replaced the bearings in the old hub so I'd have a spare for on the road. Only 4 days until departure and now will waste one taking the hub off, cleaning the old grease to check if the bearings are OK, and then reinstall if all goes well. A reason I like the tandom axle is that a flat doesn't leave ya stranded along side the road. I have one of them aluminum circle lifts and spare tires ready if needed.
Already lubed the boat tie downs, a must to be ready for the salt.
Wanted to change the lube in the lower unit, but found that I don't know how? Problem solved as Mike Smedley let me copy pages of his manual and there the instruction was. Get er done tomorrow along with the hub bearing. OK, tomorrow came and I got the hub repaired, but found that the lube pump wouldn't work with my motor. Wrong thread. Says it fits on the label, but . . . Maybe another day.
Pulled the prop, greased the spline, and checked for fishline on the shaft. All looked well, though the prop nut was only finger tight. Unfortunately, I didn't copy the torque data page.
Well, all this stuff is meant as a reminder to others hauling a boat over long distance and doing the launch in the salt.
Several BISC members mentioned on Tidalfish BISC forum that they would be fishing Kiptopeke on T-day. Looked to be 1-2 foot seas and if the stripers are in, there should be a great report.
Decided I can't get ready in time to leave on Nov. 30 and will depart on Dec. 1. Water will be rough on Wensday anyway. Didn't get any response to my Tidalfish post about the Toys for Tots as a club entry. I'll forget about registration as the club obviously doesn't have interest this year.
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