Boat motor and 2nd trip in Porta-Bote

Boat motor and 2nd trip in Porta-Bote

We talked about our difficulties we had rowing the boat and thought we might need to buy a small motor to put on the back of the boat (which is what most people do).   We were disappointed that the boat did not row any better than it did but thought maybe getting a motor might solve our problems.

We researched the size motor our Porta-Bote could accommodate and decided we wanted to get a 6 hp Mercury because Mercury can be worked on just about anywhere if you do have a problem and it was within the weight limitations for our Porta-Bote.

On Saturday, we drove to Millers Boating Center in Ocala and looked at the 6 hp Mercury motor they had in stock.  There was another boat store in Gainesville that sold the 6 hp Mercury for a lot less so we drove to Gainesville to take a look at it.  Unfortunately, it was an older model and did not have the internal tank which we wanted.  So we drove back to Millers and bought the motor there. 

They were very busy that day and were having a boat show going on so it was going to take a hour or so before they would have the motor ready for us to pick up.  We drove to Wal-mart to buy a small one-gallon gas can and a mat to put in the back of the car to lay the motor on.  We also found a small cooler that we could put the gas can in to help keep the fumes out of the car. 

We drove back to Millers and the salesman took us around to the back where they had the motor in a big tub where he could demonstrate how to start it.  He was very thorough and showed us how everything worked.  There was only one problem:  he couldn't get it started.  Great!  I think he was really embarrassed because he could not get it started.  He called a service guy over and when the guy looked at it, he said the motor would not start because it was not getting gas to the carburetor the way it was tilted in the tub.  He got an external gas tank and hooked it up to the motor and then it started right away.  Chuck was able to get it started also without any problem so we decided to go ahead and buy it.

We put the motor into the back of our already crowded car and headed back home.  The next day, Chuck worked on re-arranging the car and after a lot of manuevering, was able to get everything into the car.  Keep in mind we were already carrying the 3 bench seats, the two dolly wheels, the two swivel seats, the boat cushions, and the boat opener in the back of the car.  Now he had to make room for a boat motor and gas can.  (We had already started carrying Chuck's golf clubs in the RV rather than in the back of the car.)

On Sunday, we took out the Porta-Bote for a second time.  This time we drove down the road a couple of miles to a county boat ramp on the Silver River to make it a little easier to get the boat in the water.  We put the boat together, put the motor on the boat, rolled the boat down the ramp, I pushed us off and jumped in and we were ready to go. 

Chuck started the motor and we headed out the canal to the Silver River. 

 

With our 6hp Mercury motor, we were moving now! :)

Because I wanted to be sure about the motor, I talked Chuck into going down the river and back up into the Ocklawaha again where there was less current.  We had to be really careful to look for trees in the water that the motor might catch on which was not easy to do because the water was more black than clear.

Chuck had to stop the motor to adjust the transom because it he could not turn it completely.  When he stopped to adjust the transom, he realized that we had forgotten to remove the wheels again.  He removed the wheels, started the motor again and we headed further down the Ocklawaha when all of the sudden the motor stopped.  We thought it was maybe out of gas but that didn't seem right because we had not traveled very far.  He filled it up with gas again and tried starting it and starting it and starting it.  I moved to the front of the boat for 2 reasons:  (1) to get out of the way of his elbow as he was continuing to try to pull-start the motor and (2) to get out the emergency paddle again and start paddling back out of the river again. 

We were both, of course, beginning to get a little frustrated.  As I was paddling, I asked Chuck, "did you remember to turn the gas back on after you filled it up?"  Why no.  He turned the gas back on and the motor started right up.

Now that we were comfortable that the motor was running as it should and that we were making better forward progress without the wheels on, we headed out of the Ocklawaha and up the Silver River in search of monkeys!

The Silver River was beautiful...

and so clear.

We didn't see any alligators today (probably because it was cooler) but we saw a lot of birds...

and turtles...

 

...and monkeys.

They were so cute and fun to watch.

 

We were surprised at how loud they were.  They would swing from the palm trees and it sounded like they were tearing down the forest.

We had wanted to go all the way to the headsprings of the Silver River but it was getting late because we had started out late and we wanted to get back well before dark.  So we headed back to the boat launch.

We pulled the boat out and Chuck took the motor off the boat and started to put it back of the car when we realized that the gas was leaking out of the motor.  We forgot to turn the gas off and run the motor until it ran out of gas.  So he put the motor back on the boat, we rolled the boat back down the ramp into the water, and he ran the motor until it ran out of gas. 

We got everything loaded back into the car but the fumes in the car got us to thinking:  "This is not good."  Over the next couple of days, we began researching about gas and gas fumes and came to learn that the fumes are more dangerous than the gas itself.  Now what were we going to do?  We had to have some way to haul the motor and the gas...if we were going to keep the motor. 

Now you have to understand.  This is not like us.  It is particularly not like Chuck.  He researches everything in depth before he buys it.  But we were trying to find a way we could use and enjoy this portable rowboat that we had just bought that doesn't row very well.  I even looked up the reviews on a Porta-Bote and they all talked about what a great boat it is and how it rowed very easily. 

Well, we had to do something about the motor and the gas.  We were going to have to either figure out a way to carry it on the back of the car or the motorhome or we were going to have to get rid of it.  After much thought, we decided to take it back to Millers and see if they would take it back or at least sell it on consignment for us.  And then we would look into getting an electric motor and battery that we would use along with rowing.  This would be smaller and lighter and there would be no gas fumes.

We took the motor back to Millers and talked with the same salesman who had sold us the motor and because it was still in new condition and we had only used it one time, they took it back and just charged us a $40 re-stocking fee.  Boy, were we relieved.  Since they had taken back the motor, I told Chuck I wanted to buy the trolling motor and battery from them.  But Chuck wanted to make sure that we were making the right decision this time so we measured the car and talked about it some more  but then decided to buy the trolling motor and battery from them.

Now...we were ready to try it again!