Finally! Sea trials are here!
Click here to see a short video of the sea trial.
Eventually, a boat ends up in the water. There are lots of things to check when that happens. Does it float? Does it float level? Does it float anywhere near the design waterline? Does the engine run? Does it steer properly? etc. etc.
On 28 May 2015 it was time to test all these things and more. We ran the engine in the boat before the sea trial and did some preliminary tune up work. But you really need to put the engine under load to set the ignition timing, tune the carburetor, check to see if it shifts from forward to reverse properly, check to see if it stays in gear without slipping, etc.
There were no water leaks. But there was a problem with air leaking into the fuel line at the fuel pump. It ran fine, but it was sucking air because of a bad gasket, so we had to fix that and go back later to set the carburetor. There was also a leak where the exhaust elbow connects to the exhaust pipe. That had to be redone as well.
It was a good trial, and the boat performed well!
Woohoo!!!