The main reason for going up was to just do some more boat projects. I was fairly certain I wouldn't take the boat out just yet, but there were things I wanted to look at, and address before that day would come. The first of which, and probably the most important, was to tackle the outboard situation. I can't remember if I mentioned in my splash thread, but the short version is this: The original A4 has long since been removed, and a kicker bracket mounted center of the transom. I have a Mercury 9.9 XL Shaft on that bracket. But the issues I had were a) the motor wouldn't steer, at all. Locked center, and try as I might, there's no simple "do this" step in the service manual. Just talks about how to hook up steering cables. And b) Even at the lowest setting, the bottom of this EXTRA LONG FREAKING SHAFT was barely in the water. How it managed to get me through those waves, God knows. Reverse was a nightmare, as the motor tried to kick upwards just enough that the prop, I swear, was skimming the surface, and all it seemed to do was just give me prop walk to port, but no real momentum.
So step 1, I found the barely noticeable set-screw that was locking the steering tube. Success, I can now steer the motor! This should certainly help with the reversing issue! I haven't tested that theory yet, but I can't imagine it would be a bad thing.
I also relocated that kicker bracket about 4 inches lower. Now, on full drop, the plate on the outboard sits properly where it should. Full raise, and I'm ALMOST out of the water (I still can't figure out how to tilt this f'n thing!) But at least with more bite under the water, I should also have a little more control and thrust, and then when I get around to swapping to a high-thrust prop after this season, that should take care of a bunch of things.
The other thing I did, was to mount my 100 watt solar panel on the stern rail. It's an HQST Monocrystalline panel, the slim model. I ran 10 gauge cabling down into a deck gland on the cockpit wall, and into my Victron MPPT controller. I need to get my adjustable support pole still, but even just tightened down on the clamps on the rail, it doesn't go anywhere without force being applied - even so, I used a couple lines to tie it off to keep it from dropping down.
I then finally dug out all the sails, and started hoisting and checking what the inventory really looked like. The first and most striking issue is that the main sail is from a Newport 27S, which is a different cut and about 20 square feet smaller. I also noticed that there are no jib tracks or cars present, which means that sail trim is going to be no easy feat in the interim. But the halyards and sheaves work just fine, and it was a productive weekend.
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