Whoa where did it go?

[Chris1956]

I was given a old 16 foot runabout. Merc Motor was run w/o oil twice and w/o grease in the gearcase, therefore it was shot and I removed it. So I went into the shed and dragged out my old '59 50HP Johnson. Those of you who remember, this is a 70.7 CU Inch V4, about 220 # of low performance, gas guzzling yet very reliable outboard. I dropped it on the back, tightened the thumb screws and launched it. I really was intending to install the transom bolts, really.<br /><br /> So that Saturday at 11AM, I'm cruising along the creek at a blistering 12MPH, in the bright sunshine, drinking a beer. The next sound I heard was silence. I turn aroung and the transom is empty. I am stunned, but after 10 seconds I toss the anchor and jump overboard. For the next 10 minutes I walk around the creek aimlessly looking for this big white beast. No luck. That afternoon we drag hooks, watch the fishfinder etc, without any luck. Not only do I want the motor back, I am afraid I will hit it while skiing with my other boat. <br /><br />Monday I am at work, disheartened. A diver friend of me tells me to anchor up my other boat, and walk a 360 degree arc, while dragging a nylon (sinking) line. He says when it doesn't point to the anchor, I will have found something. I do this after work, and on my third search pattern, I spy this white glow in the water. I drag the beast ashore and cruise home to get my wifes' help to lift it. She has just drawn a bath, so I jump in to warm up from being in the water. She's delighted with that (not really), but I convince her to help me put the motor in the trunk of my car. I bring it home, oil it up, wipe down the electrics, pull the crank and rod bearings for cleaning and run some gas/oil through the cylinders. The motor is 30+ years old at this point and I was afraid I would break all the head bolts if I tried to remove them.<br /><br />After that, the motor started right up and ran no better or worse than usual. This time I did install the transom bolts. (I consider myself a teachable idiot.) The moral of the story is that 60 hours of salt water could not defeat 30 years of gas and oil!

 

[neumanns]

Re: Whoa where did it go?

Oopppsss...Try that with modern electronics.

 

[DJ]

Re: Whoa where did it go?

Chris,<br /><br />What a story. I remember those beasts.<br /><br />Explain that walking with the rope trick. I'm having trouble picturing that.<br /><br />Thanks.

 

[BENJA]

Re: Whoa where did it go?

wow

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Whoa where did it go?

DJ, Simple but effective. I clipped a 1/4" nylon line to my anchor, and set the anchor on the bottom of the creek. I let out the 1/4" line until all 150' were out. I tied a weight to the end of the line (to keep it on the bottom), and then tied a short line with a float, so I would not lose the end. Then you walk along (in an arc) dragging the line across the bottom, keeping the line snug. When you notice the diameter of the arc changing, you have "hooked" something. You then walk down the line and see what it is. My diver pal used this method to search shipwrecks. He would let out 10' of line and swim the arc, let out another 10' and swim that arc. It allowed him to completely search an area.

 

[DJ]

Re: Whoa where did it go?

Chris,<br /><br />Got it!<br /><br />Thanks.

 

[ddaigle]

Re: Whoa where did it go?

Could have used that trick to find my truck! Drove up the hill to visit my friend. Parked truck and got out and chatted with friends wife who was on front porch (facing my truck). She informed me that my friend wasnt home, so I turned around to get in my truck and it wasn't there! I don't have the best memory in my old age, so I thought well maybe I walked over here, its not far. Having a really bad braindead moment, I asked the wife( who had been facing the truck)if I drove over here. Her, obviously more brain dead than me, said yes but where is your truck? Since it was dark, we began a search and finally found the truck about a 100 yards down the other side of the hill hidden in the weeds in a pasture. It was a standard shift and I had put it in nuetral and not set the brake and it silently rolled off down the hill while we were talkng. At least I wasnt facing the truck when it happened!

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Whoa where did it go?

ddaigle, While reading your posting, I kept trying to think how unusual that the wife did not say anything when your truck rolled away. However, I have a sister-in-law who would likely do the same thing. It is even possible my wife would forget to mention it. Wife, of course would say that she thought I meant it to roll away!<br /><br />There was this joke: Blonde wife rushes in and tells husband that car was just stolen. Husband asks did she get description of thief? Blonde replies no, but wrote down license plate number!

 

[ae708]

Re: Whoa where did it go?

'59 50 hp Johnson... man...... ".... and all the power from those 50 horses made Ski King lose his skis... " Does anyone besides my old self remember the ballad of Ski King from around 1959?

 

[ChrisMcLaughlin]

Re: Whoa where did it go?

In '59 I was just learning "Rock a Bye Baby".

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Whoa where did it go?

ae708, I too was too small to know the ski king. I do know that old Johnson 50 has good power at low end. It did not have a high end however. It would push a barge or ski boat at the same 25 MPH. It never seemed to "want" to exceed manufacturers max RPM!

 

[ae708]

Re: Whoa where did it go?

I never had one.. back then I was running a 35hp Evinrude Lark. I sure was Jonesing for a 50 when they came out though But I did, in '69, buy a new 105hp Chrysler for my 16' Duo runabout. Man could that thing pull. I didn't have a speedometer cuz the pitot tube wouldn't stay in the clamp over about 35mph. Dunno how fast it was but it didn't seem to even know that a skier on a slalom was behind it. It just kept on like it was pushing an empty boat. Didn't know a thing about props then.. just ran what came on the thing.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Whoa where did it go?

ae708, I also had a 35hp Lark (1961) on my 14' Crestliner. I bought the 50HP Johnson and replaced it. It nearly sank the boat due to the extra weight - I had to build a larger splash well just to stay afloat. It had loads more power than the 35, but top speed was about the same.<br /><br />Ironically, when pulling a salom skier, you could feel the boat momentarily hesitate due to a hard cut. The motor never slowed down however.

 

[Link]

Re: Whoa where did it go?

Chris 1956<br />

Ironically, when pulling a salom skier, you could feel the boat momentarily hesitate due to a hard cut. The motor never slowed down however.

BTDT and that brought back some memories of a really fun summer in 1969. We had a 12ft 2 bench seat aluminum boat with a steering wheel mounted flat on the front seat with the driver sitting on the back seat. And a 35 HP Johnyrude clamped on the back. We only salom (sp) skie'd and on hard cuts the transom would slip 4 to 6 inches. We just learned to adjust to it as it was going to happen every time.<br />The things you get away with as kids!