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| 1995 |
For years, I’ve heard there were several eagles living
nearby, but I had never seen one in the wild. A few years ago, Marlene, my friend
who works at the dump, pointed out a nest in the trees behind the big garbage
heap, but I never actually saw an eagle. I’ve also seen the odd black bear at
the dump, so oddly it’s a good place to go if one wants to see wildlife. Bring
a clothes pin for your nose. The other day, during a short break from the seemingly
incessant rain, I was out in my boat with our neighbor, and we traveled through
the three lakes to the south end of Big Doe Lake. There, my neighbor pointed
out a huge nest where we clearly saw three eagles. One flew right over us,
perhaps because we were perceived as a threat (I once had a seagull dive bomb my
dinghy several times because I came too close to her chicks) and they really are
majestic creatures to behold in flight. Having never seen one up close in the
wild, I was in awe. This has been the rainiest summer that I can remember in my
23 years up here, but every time I cuss about the severe weather, I remind myself
that Mother Nature has her many pros as well.
I have now owned the same fishing boat for about 27
years. While I don’t fish, I prefer boats that are open and seaworthy. Where we
used to own a cottage on Lake Erie, the water got pretty choppy, so I’ve always
owned boats that can handle rough water. My boat is a 20’ Hydrasport DC (double
cockpit), originally powered by a Yamaha 225HP. I bought the rig new in Buffalo
with boat, motor, and trailer, for about what a new replacement outboard costs
today. That Yamaha outboard motor was the best outboard I have ever owned, and it was trouble free for
well over 20 years. About five years ago, I decided to upgrade because, while it
was still running well, the Yamaha was beginning to show signs of wear. It was also
difficult to start in colder weather. I traded the motor in at our local marina
for a new fuel-injected Evinrude ETEC 200HP, assuming I was upgrading to a more
reliable, fuel efficient motor. What a mistake!
As they say, don’t fix it if it ain’t broke. I was sold
on the vast improvements in 2 stroke technology over the past two decades, but
like everything else to do with new, more sophisticated technology, there is a
downside. I’ve had some troubling and persistent electrical problems with this
new ETEC. After about two summers of light use, the paint on the lower unit
began to bubble and come off. The marina suggested this may be an electrolysis
problem, and their solution, after inspecting the anode on the lower unit, was
to sand and repaint the bottom of the motor. They told me this was not a defect
in the motor, and that perhaps the submerged water pump for our house, which is
50-75 feet from the dock, was the culprit. That made no sense. Then, about the
same time as the electrolysis issue, I had an ignition switch failure. Intermittently,
the motor would not turn off when the key was switched off. Even when the kill
switch was removed, the motor would run, eventually turning off, 1 to10 minutes
later. The marina has not been able to find or fix this annoying problem in the
three years since it began happening, although they claimed to have spent
countless hours trying. They said they’ve replaced the key switch, they’re
swapped out computers in the motor; they even had a technician from BRP, the
parent company of Evinrude, examine it, and he didn’t fix it. While I assumed
the marina documented all these issues in their computer files, now that the
5-year extended warranty is up, I’m now concerned they did not. I now find out
they are no longer an authorized Evinrude dealer, so I am even more concerned.
Two months out of warranty, the motor is not fixed. When I picked up the boat
this summer, the paint had again bubbled on the lower unit, and they had once again
sanded and painted it; a band aid fix at best. They assured me the ignition
switch problem was solved. It was not, and this weekend, it took 17 minutes for
the motor to shut off. To rub salt into the wound, upon picking up the boat, I received
an invoice for a defective tilt relay that worked when I brought the boat in
last fall (still under extended warranty). Here are three apparently unrelated
electrical issues in 100 hours of use; not a great track record for a new motor.
Was this a problem with the rigging, is the motor a lemon? Hard to say, especially when
the problems are intermittent. My marina, which is the only game in town, has had plenty of time to fix this and has not been able to do so. Now I am faced with trailing this boat to another, authorized
dealer who may or may not be helpful. I have documented my issues with BRP as
best I can reconstruct them, and will reluctantly investigate a lawsuit as a very last
recourse. Regardless of the outcome, this new motor, which cost about as much
as the new boat, motor, and trailer cost in 1990, has been nothing but
aggravation. I guess they don’t make ‘em like they used to. That said, I still
have my health, my ever-deteriorating capacity to reason, a wife and dog who love
me, and the odd eagle that flies over my property from time to time. Grant me the
strength to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things
I can. Life is good, the new Evinrude, not so much.
- Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c 2017 ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED
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