Jacksonville claims one of it's own.

    Bad news. Jackson, my '78 Mercury 7.5hp outboard bit it hard just 21 miles out of Jacksonville. I was just motoring out of my anchorage beside the Kingsley Plantation (which I toured in semi-period dress, just for fun) when suddenly the rpms shot up and I lost all propulsion. I was able to re-anchor safely and tore into the outboard. It seems the splines of the driveshaft where it goes into the powerhead stripped out leaving me with nothing. I called a towboat and managed to get a tow under my Boat US coverage, getting pulled along at up to 9kts into the free docks in Jacksonville. So now I have 72 hours to affect some sort of repair or get a new motor before they theoretically kick me off the docks. We'll see. I have a lower unit from a '75 Merc. 9.8 on order from ebay. If I'm correct about the models it will fit my engine. If I'm not, well, let's just hope I'm right. Meanwhile I'll be trying to find a machine shop or something which might be able to re-machine the splines for me. That might take too long though, as they'll have to weld new material in, machine the grooves, and then re-harden the shaft.
     And that's all assuming the socket on the crankshaft is still good. I have to tear into that tomorrow, maybe tonight though it's getting late. I'll try to keep everything updated. If I can't do full blog posts check the twiter feed in the right column.  ==>