Outboard Boat Mechanic, I am not

 It seemed like every time I wanted to go somewhere or do something in a boat with an outboard motor, the motor wouldn’t work right.

 I know I am not the only one with the problem because Gary, who lives down the beach from us decided to go fishing last week.

 Now he had just bought his boat last spring and had never taken it fishing., He had to replace the wiring on one of the two outboards on the 26 foot boat.

 His partner Billy was going fishing with him when I overheard “Did you buy a Mexican Fishing License?”

 This is serious in Mexico. It is not a fine for fishing without one, the Mexican coast guard confiscates the whole boat: and everyone on the boat must have a license whether they are fishing or not.

 As I watched Billy hang his head and give the “no” sign. I piped up with “I’ve got a license.”

 “Would you like to go fishing?” Gary asked and I said “Sure, I’ll even buy the gas.”

 We took off in his new boat the next morning and had a beautiful trip. Even hooked into a school of Rooster fish, and brought home a nice seven pounder.

 Pound for pound, a Rooster fish, so named because of the giant dorsal fin which protrudes from its back, is one of the best fighting fish around. This one gave so much fight, the boat had to be completely stopped before we could reel it in.

 At the last minute it sounded a couple of times when it stopped the bottom of the boat and was only netted with the utmost care.

 On the way home, the oil light came on in one of the outboard motors. We had to limp home at 7 miles an hour, which is about the same speed as my sailboat.

 That’s when I decided to fix my own boat which hadn’t been run since last season when the motor overheated while fishing off of Mulege Bay.

 This time I was prepared and brought down a new water pump and impeller from the states.

 I was smart and took the boat to the mechanic to have the repairs done. Then I launched the Hummer II an 18th foot Bayliner with an 85 horse Chrysler outboard motor.

 She ran okay but would not plane. I tried switching fuel tanks and that didn’t work so I got the advice of my friend Rol who is much more knowledgable about motors.

 We decided to check the spark plugs to see if they were firing. Sure enough one of the three spark plugs looked brand new, meaning it hadn’t fired.

 Then Rol says, “Let’s check to see if it is getting spark.” I obliged by turning the ignition on while he had the spark plug wire about a foot from the motor.

 As soon as I turned the key on, he let out a scream and jumped three feet out of the water. His eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

 “I wasn’t ready,” he shouted and then, “The plug is certainly getting a spark.”

 After an attempt at adjusting the fuel and checking the fuel filter, we were through trying our own repairs and decided to take the boat back to the mechanic.

 Our fishing trip would just have to wait for another day.