fixed

well almost. after a lot of dealing and assistance from martin and phil, we finally got the motor back together. (i only found one washer that got left out after everything was reassembled….not bad). so we fired her up and…..we sheared off the prop pin that i had fabricated a replacement for. problem was, the aluminum stock that i used could not withstand the overwhelming six horsepower of torque, and broke immediately. i might as well have used toothpicks, captain steen observed, to which i replied that this project has seen no shortage of fuckups on both our behalves. captain steen readily acquiesced to this statement. in any case, we need to get the real part, probably made out of some very rare MARINE (i.e. VERY EXPENSIVE), alloy of titanium and diamond. or maybe just hardened steel. luckily, everything is shifting tastefully, she idles very tastefully (after i gapped the new spark plugs), and the impeller is pushing an impressive volume of cooling water through the engine. i have a feeling of satisfaction almost as if we had actually gone out sailing today.