I have good reason (in my mind, at least) for feeling that way. You see, my last couple of outboards have been Yamahas, and they both eventually developed overheating problems. In both cases, I had my mechanic resolve this issue by removing the thermostats.
Over the years, too, sundry other situations have added to my apprehensions. For example, I've had to deal with spun hubs, taking on water for no obvious reason, having a power pack blow while I'm running the river...I think you probably get the idea.
Well, today, I had a new adventure. I was "hot footing" it back to West Neck from a trip down to Albright's, when wouldn't you know, I looked up and saw a "big boy" headed at me. And I'm here to tell you that he was putting up some mighty big rollers. More importantly, I soon learned that he had no intentions of backing off the throttle as he got ever closer--not that I was surprised by his being an a**hole. Accordingly, I got into position and made preparations, as best I could, for what lay ahead.
Then just as I crested that first big roller, a whole new dimension was added to my concerns of the moment. I heard what sounded like it might be an alarm for my outboard. "Now what do I do?" is all I could think for just an instant, followed quickly by the realization that if I backed off power now, there was a likelihood I would be swamped. I decided just to hold momentum as long as I could.
As luck would have it, I managed to take every one of those rollers coming at me, and in the process, noticed that the alarm I thought I first heard had gone away sometime during the event. When the last of the rollers had passed, I pulled back to idle but heard nothing else to cause me concern and got back on step for the rest of my transit.
Shortly after making the turn into West Neck Creek, I came off step again to check my cellphone for any calls I may have missed, and it was then I learned the source of the sound I earlier had taken for an alarm from my outboard. As it turns out, it was an alarm...but from my cellphone, signalling a routine test of the emergency-alert system.
I chuckled to myself, put away my cellphone, and ran the rest of the way to the marina. A little later, as I was cleaning up the boat, however, I did notice a bit of a problem. Just happened to glance up at the trolling motor and saw that the skeg on it was bent a little. Not sure when it happened but not really concerned about it, either, since I used the TM all day with no problems. Just called my mechanic and asked him to add that to the list of things to take care of...probably during the winter maintenance.
In the end, just another happy-go-lucky day on the North Landing.
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