Yesterday the temps reached 76 degrees here. Yeehah! The grand plan was to take our boat out with Travis, the kids, and three of the college students we've befriended.
We managed to get out of the house (delayed a bit by the first of the year "Oh yeah, did you remember to pack...." issues), arrived at Cottage Grove Lake where the sky was deep blue, successfully backed the trailer/boat into the water, and then.........the boat did not start.
Grrrrr! Fortunately, all of our company were "cool with whatever". While I'm sure they were very disappointed as well, Julie, Micah, and I did our best to make the best of it by laying out on the dock while the guys tinkered with the motor.
We did give up - John and Travis felt like they'd do more harm than good by taking apart things that they didn't know what they did, so we headed home. By the time we got the boat pulled back in to the garage, we had pretty much come to the conclusion that the problem was not getting gas to the engine. The culprit - oh, that would be the new gasoline mixture Oregon now requires stations to sell - that includes more Ethanol. As a result, when left in the tank for an extended time, it turns the gasoline into a sludge - which clogged in the fuel lines. I guess that means we'll be spending money to have the tank emptied, system flushed etc. - but overall, it sounds like a pretty reasonable explanation - and not too costly of a fix.
It sounds like we'll be reaching the 80's today - with a couple more days of warm weather to follow - and then back into the 50's with the rain - right in time for the weekend and our college spring retreat to the beach. Also disappointing, but for now, I'll postpone my frustration and embrace the sunshine out the door. Hope you all had a great weekend yourselves.
Don't you love this warm weather? =)
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