Litespeed

Beautiful day in the passage, my mate Michele went sailing with tourists and on cue the dolphins arrived, they think she has a secret button 😄. The pods rarely leave the port. This afternoon I swapped the 3.3 hp for the 9.9hp 👍. Runs super smooth but does need a proper tune and a few little bits to tidy up. Very pleased, starts real easy but a few minor adjustments to make- not opening throttle fully. Also the idle and low speed mix for trolling Will sort it properly, but all looks positive. So far 10 knts but should get at least 15knts, the Tintanic is a very heavy build with four floatation cell seats and runabout steering. Not normal for 12 ft 6", sometimes I want a smaller, lighter boat. But it's a solid vintage Savage from 90's like the motor. Great having reverse again. Discovered it has a lighting/ electrical output, that's cool as can charge a battery and run lights. Most motors this size do not have this and often a $500 option. I may need to add a regulator as some pump AC instead of DC. A simple eBay will be fine. It's a two stroke but very smooth and fairly quiet. I will eventually add sound shield matting under the cover to make it even quieter. Will also add a water/fuel separator/ filter unit for guaranteed clean fuel. The carb has no drain plug so this is essential. 112 psi both cylinders, pretty good for 35 years of regular use. 120psi would be ideal but that's new. No crabs in the pot but the beers cold.

Makes swimming with Bull sharks seem safe.

I hadn't heard, I thought I was ahead of the curve. But that's normal

I use full synthetic oil. 100-1 has long been the standard for quality two strokes eg Johnson and Yamaha. If it was a motorbike or aircraft, I would mod the mix slightly. I could use 75-1 if doing lots of short runs. I always run low throttle till it warms up. Once I have got it tuned properly I will check the plugs. I have used the synthetic in bikes and boats since 1986, high quality oil really rewards.

Good Karma finally comes for a late Christmas. December was a bit rough last year. Firstly some bastard decided they wanted my tinny and motor, I tied up on dock at the passage at 6 pm, returned at 9pm to discover it disappeared. 3 days later Maritime called to say they found it 3kms away dumped in mangroves. Completely stripped, I lost the motor 8hp Johnson in perfect condition, two tanks, tools, oars and even the fuckin bailing bucket. The boat was left as it's well known and has rego/him plated. Naturally I was pissed off. Then on the 23rd, my 56 year old brother died of long COVID, sudden and tragic. December really sucked. Alas Karma shines eventually.. Last Monday I was chatting to a salty sailor working on his tinny motor and been frustrated, he needs 100% reliability, he has a lovely 48ft catamaran and is going North. He will use his off shore. He was prepared to dump it and buy new. A quick negotiation and bingo. He bought a new Tohatsu 9.9hp four-stroke that's injected and I got his 9.9hp Johnson two-stroke. Its a old school Aussie made machine and he is the original owner since new in 1990. Came with heaps of spares, a new spare prop, spare carby, tank, oil and 30 litres new fuel. A bonus is a 100-1 oil mix so not smokey and half the oil cost. Even has the original manual. A absolute bargain at cost of two shitty VB cases of beer. I love the old Johnson's, solid not plastic and easy to keep reliable. I find they are the best old motor you can get. I have suffered cheap Chinese crap Parsun machines and the are almost disposable quality wise. An added bonus is converting to 15hp is just a bigger carb. Most require new electrics and the carb so very happy. Parts are easy to get, even new stock and plenty of old motors to salvage. This is important as the bloody Parsun distributor doesn't carry spares. Even a broken starter is pot luck to replace, assuming the box doesn't break beforehand. No more shit motors for me. You can bet no Parsun will be going 35 years later like a Johnson. I had been using oars and then a little 3.5hp single, it will be great having grunt again. Amazingly the little 3.5hp uses more fuel than the 8hp did, I expect the same from the 10hp. The single is just full throttle most of the time. I am about to throw in some crab pots to catch some blue swimmers or muddies. I will eat them and drink to my brother, he loved 🎣. This time I will hide a locator tag in the motor to track the thieves if needed. I have a spear gun- they are warned..

The designers son must have stopped dad stealing the wheels off his Tonka truck.

It's that a Peel? Looks like what Jeremy Clarkson drove into the BBC's studios office.

Maybe the Teals? A grouping not a party. Ah, Jacqui Lambie sounds likely. Always happy to vent about defence.

The French should remind them the Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to celebrate the open democracy that welcomes the migrant. As that is no longer the case they should demand it back or demolish it.

I would think the Greens would have that policy. Meanwhile Canada has leapfrogged the USA and ordered our world best radar system for $5 billion- the Jindalee over horizon radar system (JORN). America wants one on its west coast - tell they can pay now and have it in 2045 if we can be bothered.

Esp if you have a tool but not the knowledge or skill to use it. I was thinking more of proper maintenance and carrying a appropriate tool kit to fix any issue bar disaster. Many years of bike touring and I found the bikes with a quality kit ie BMW, never disappoint. The boy scout method, be prepared. Ps. I was never a scout- too many rules

It's telling that when bombing Yemen, he wasn't in the Whitehouse situation room. No, he strolled off the golf course to claim he "Won" the Trump international. Then walked in to his clubhouse in golf attire and bombed a country. It would make great satire but horrifically it's true life.

We make our own luck. If you have appropriate tools - you rarely need them.

As a proud Roman/ German/Irish/Scott, I concur. And we invented the orgy.

I am sure we can send GON to his spiritual home in the USA. I can get all expenses paid for a one way trip to sunny Guantanamo bay, where he enjoy the best of 5 star accommodation.

His sister is qualified and she agrees. A sociopath with narcissistic personality disorder.

True, But all people with severe mental illness are banned from driving. Would you feel safe with him behind the wheel? Wouldn't let him near a kids Tonka truck.

Very true Nev. GON is completely isolated from reality

Earth calling the Doctor.. We need you Doctor.. Now

Politics? Dutton accused Albo of politics and to call a election soon would be betrayal. What the fuck? Dutton left Qld yesterday to attend fundraisers in Sydney with billionaires. Had others booked for today including Macquarie bank and Pharmacy guild. The cretin throws mud them scampers off to get money from the rich as his electorate gets slammed. And the hide about calling a election crap! Albo will let the cyclone emergency be managed first as any real leader would do. The fact that by law the election has to be called within weeks is not Albos fault but blatant opportunistic politics by Temu Trump.

All the 'money' for aid to Ukraine is actually spent here in Oz to build the weapons we send. That's Aussie jobs, taxes etc additionally we send old gear to them and build new ones to keep the production going. The vast majority of money stays local and Ukraine gets world class gear. Do you really think the defence budget gets spent on roads? Wake up

GON, Anyone to the left of Attila the Hun can see it's a huge problem.

True but if you act like you will, life is more fun.

Well done Peter. Here to another 33 years

Careful, Next you will vote Goebells as worlds greatest communicator.