Last weekend we had an adults-only camping trip with a group of friends to Burlington, VT. We stayed at North Beach Campground and rode bicycles into town and brewery hopped all day. On the day preceding the brewery crawl, we spent a good part of the day floating on the lake. The campground has a very nice beach and we launched The Beast from the back of our pickup. This was the first time we ran an engine on the boat. Our first outing on The Beast was in Portland harbor a few weeks ago for our anniversary. But, since I forgot to bring the fuel line for the 1962 Mercury 110 outboard, we had to paddle to shore. I did not want to risk leaving our 1978 Johnson Seahorse on the beach while we were in town. If it had been pilfered, Belle would have only sail power to reach the boat ramp in the busy harbor.
The Beast worked fine. Grumpy Von Crankenstein did not. Although the old Merc started easily and would idle, it would not get past 1/3-1/2 throttle before it started to cough and hesitate. I tried squeezing the bulb thinking loss of fuel but that did not help. We just kept it local and lived with it for the short ride.
On our ride home from the breweries at dusk, I gather I saw a good 30-40 mast top anchor lights in the little cove in front of North Beach Campground. There are two boat ramps on the Burlington waterfront that allow 24hr parking as well. I have not seen confirmation of any dinghy parking down-town yet, but this will be a potential destination for next season for sure.
I’ll be making a video of the tune-up process on G.v.C. shortly. Stay Tuned.
