Outsourcing outboards

Johnson outboards have been around forever. I remember when I was a little kid seeing them all over the lakes and rivers of Mississippi and Alabama. So when we took possession of Synchronicity, the sight of a Johnson outboard hanging on our dinghy was a nostalgic site. During the survey, though, we found that the kill switch wouldn't work. The only way I could stop the engine was to pull the gas line and let it die of fuel starvation. So when we moved aboard this spring, we tried to find someone to fix it. Nobody in Colonial Beach wanted to bother with a little 15hp. So after cruising around the Chesapeake for a few weeks we got real tired of leaving the dink with the engine putting away. We took it in to a repair shop in Annapolis. $100 later we got a recommendation to take it to a Johnson dealer. Oh, and he Johnson dealer tells us that our Johnson isn't really a Johnson, because Johnson is now really Bombardier, and since ours is the 4-stroke 15hp, ours is really made by Suzuki..... so take it to a Suzuki dealer. Now it's three months later, and the outboard still won't stop.

But at least it goes. That is, until last week. We were anchored just across from Atlantic City in Brigantine Beach, and decided to head to town and go to Trump Marina casino for a giant buffet dinner. We knew it would be a bit of a challenge to find the tiny channel inlet back in the dark, but I had my tiny GPS to help guide us in. The tide was out and sure enough, we missed the inlet enough to hit the sand bar. We pushed off and continued in, but little did we know that the rubber cushion hub on the prop that protects the engine shaft had done it's job and wouldn't push much longer. And sure enough, when we got to Atlantic Highlands, the engine started running at high RPM, but the boat would only do about 1 mph. We weren't sure what it was, so I called around to a few service shops (now do I call Johnson, Bombardier, or Suzuki?), but nothing was quick and easy. So we figured we should first replace the prop. We found Atlantic Marine Supply right here in town, so they quickly ordered a prop, due the next day. OK, sounds good. But I should know by now that it's too easy to work. We got the prop on time on Tue and then found the splines didn't match. I found the exact replacement at Defender, and Mike at Atlantic Marine Supply was gracious to let us have it delivered to his shop. We figured we needed a spare, so we thought we'd try some more avenues, and even found a suzuki dealer right here in Atlantic Highlands. Hey, maybe we can get the kill switch problem fixed. But no, they focus on larger engines and parts would have to be ordered, and our 4 day stay here would probably stretch to a week. Then we found a local prop repair shop, and Jake really worked hard to help us out. But alas, no parts to fit, no prop to match. I'm still not sure if a suzuki prop would fit our boat. But UPS says our exact replacement is out for delivery this morning, so we're hoping to finally pull up anchor and head to NYC this afternoon.