Good to see you, Janice. Welcome back. 🎉🎉 I can see the allure of having a motor that can be fixed or replaced with a minimum of fuss. What hp would a get-home motor be for SeaWeed be? 9, 20 hp?

Hello Pam. I admit the lack of posts has been pure laziness. Although I've accomplished a lot (took pictures too for articles) mostly I did not much writing. I spent a boatload of perfectly good money upgrading (electrical on a 40 year old boat ... well, it was time!) You see, the main feed (between where I plug in shore power and the panel) is between the hull and the inner liner. Basically that means it is in an oven being baked.

Shooting electrical connections with an infrared temperature gun highlights connections that differ. When one is hotter, troubleshooting needs to happen. So, when my main feed was a hotter temperature than the rest, that alerted me to a potential problem. The easiest way to solve that in my view was to purchase wire and replace the whole line (that's just 12' on my boat) One thing those of us with smaller boats appreciate is that we can do upgrades for a lot less money than the owner of a 40'er who might be looking at a longer run. Of course I messed it up but that's another story.

In the meantime I've been going through every locker. I've lived aboard Seaweed for 16 years now. One thing I am most excellent at is acquiring crafting supplies. I collect them. (ahhaha) Over the years my crafting has changed so I have passed along many old supplies to Baby for her church kids. Have I quit any past hobbies? No, of course not! But I have refined them. For instance I also shifted around the items for easier access. (polishes halo)

As for outboard size, I am convinced a 9.9 Suzuki long shaft with EFI was just about perfect. A 9.9 is actually a 15 that has been de-tuned (made less powerful) which has a lot of merit in my book. One thing I like about the 9.9 is it uses less fuel than the 15. That appeals to me. HOWEVER, a larger motor might be more practical. I just haven't decided, nor I have saved up the funds necessary to buy one.

I did have a motor mount installed on my transom the last time I went to the boat yard. Before I buy a motor however the thing needs a better backing plate set-up. The more I look at it, the less I like how it is installed. As I still have a tuna door on my agenda, I will add reinforcing the motor mount to the tuna door project.

Next week my friend Jesse will be here to help (okay, to DO) the wiring for my new inverter. I have two -- and want to be able to select the one that I turn on. My original is wired so that the output feeds the main AC panel. I want to select the inverter (1000 or 1200 -- and I should have opted for a 2k however back when I purchased the 1200 that was sufficient) ... note for your own boat that electric galley gear takes 1800 watts so my 1200 will not work.

You might think that a burner that is 1800 watts would use 900 watts at half power. That is incorrect. Instead it uses 1800 half the time. So surge, off, surge, off, surge, off. So my 1200 watt inverter won't run an induction burner. Having tried an inducction burner (I am horrendously BAD at those things) i don't need it. Still, in looking to the future, a 2k might have been a better choice IF it would fit in the space I have for it. A 1200 is a lot larger than a 1000.

Every choice impacts another area so part of boating. Back when I was ruining perfectly good pancakes trying to learn how to use an induction burner SV Grace gifted me the greatest little pancake maker on the planet. I am sure many have seen these single pancake electric pans. They also have waffle makers and more. I'm a pancake person and that thing gets used at least two or three times per week. It is so easy to make a single pancake now that comes out perfectly every time. You might try one too! :)

Well, I've worn out your eyes no doubt. I'm going to take a nap then finish up part 2 of the outboard series.

The world is changing and I have been fortunate to see this. I believe a new age is here -- and it is the age of outboards rather than inboard diesels. Quite frankly it has taken me a while to come around. I did not buy a boat (I think it was an Alaskan 24') for sale on the Mississippi back when I was shopping because it was driven by a single 75hp outboard. In retrospect, that might have been in error -- though that boat had the head aft and the bunk forward. I'm at an age where having a head near my bunk is rather more important than it was back then...

Anyway, thanks for popping in. It is so great to hear from you. I was hoping folks had not forgotten me. Take care.

Great new article, nice to see you back. Happy to see you looking back and looking forward. Outboards on the liveaboard boats, eh? Well, why not! Keep 'em coming. Love the way you string words and sentences together. You have a gift.

I (and I'm sure several others) have checked in every day to see if you'd posted something. 😂 Ah, pancakes. I make buckwheat pancakes at least three times a week.

Thanks for the message Cap'n. I appreciate that. And thank you for the compliment too.

It has been quite a year thus far. My immediate goal is to finish tweaking this outboard series. I do have a bunch of cool stuff to upload, however one article at a time.

I do not believe I have ever had buckwheat pancakes. I used to be quite adventurous when it came to food. If I am ever out at breakfast time I might just give them a whirl.

I'm back editing Part 2 right now. Thank you for the warm welcome. Your friend in the south, J.