Submitted by Ed Andrews
This tale begins in New Jersey on Saturday, March 16, 2024 with Ed Andrews and Carmen DeLeo embarking on their annual pilgrimage to the Sunnyland Boat Festival in Tavares, Florida. They normally caravan with three cars. This year they had three additional vehicles in the procession to Florida. In Maryland, they picked up Alicia and Bob Boardman towing Moby Dick, the Boardman’s 1966 28-foot, Marinette Cruiser. Moby Dick is powered by a 90 hp Suzuki outboard.
As they worked their way south down I-95, they normally met at predetermined locations to pick up additional caravan participants. One of the crew had walkie-talkies which were provided to each one of the vehicles so they could communicate on the way down. This turned out to be very crucial in the events that were about to unfold.
Somewhere in North Carolina, several hours drive from their first-night stay, the original aluminum bracket holding the Suzuki motor to Moby Dick failed. The motor, still partially attached to the boat, was dragged on the highway. Using the walkie-talkie, the vehicle immediately behind Moby Dick was able to alert Alicia and Bob to the problem. They pulled off on the side of the road almost immediately. Having so many vehicles and helping hands made it possible for the outboard motor to be disconnected from its control cables. Then the crew was able to physically lift the 300+ pound motor into the back of one of the pickup trucks in the caravan.
The only inconvenience so far was that they had to change dinner reservations later that evening. Continuing south, numerous phone calls were made to Chuck Warner, a member of the Chesapeake Bay Chapter who has a winter residence in Astor, Florida. When the caravan arrived in Palatka, Florida Sunday afternoon, Chuck was there to meet them. He had made arrangements to take what was left of the old aluminum bracket to a welder to have a new bracket welded together out of angle iron. It wasn’t pretty but it was functional. It was about 10:30 Sunday night when the group fell asleep to the loud, staccato reverberation of the impact drivers used to install the newly fabricated bracket. When the work was complete, the outboard motor was placed back on the bracket. White duct tape had been purchased to cover the road rash and hole in the outboard’s cowling caused by hitting the pavement.
The next day Moby Dick was able to begin the southbound river cruise as if nothing had happened. But the story doesn’t end here. That newly manufactured outboard motor bracket could not hold up to the weight of the motor and the boat which it was pushing. At some point on Monday’s cruise, the new bracket began to slide off the boat, but this time results were not quite as catastrophic—just sprung a leak. Moby Dick was able to limp back to the ramp. They pulled her out and reinforced the angle iron. By Monday evening Moby Dick was back in the water and ready to continue the cruise. The Boardmans were able to finish the southbound cruise and transport Moby Dick to the Sunnyland Boat Festival in Tavares, Florida. All’s well that ends well!
The following comments are from fellow cruiser John Justice. “I didn’t witness the road incident but we did see the Sunday night bracket installation. We’ve often heard that the best place for an old boat to break down is at a boat show. There were many observers, quite a few helpers, and of course, the usual suggestions on how things could be done. Most impressive to me was the huge variety of battery-powered tools that Bob Boardman pulled from his truck–a tool for every task. The metal bracket was imported from Savannah. We even had a surgeon doing the installation. It was quite the show.
“What I thought the problem on the first day of the cruise wasn’t a broken bracket but rather an angle of the dangle that caused water to pour over the transom and into the boat. Some adjustments cured that problem. Moby Dick didn’t miss any of the cruise because of the engine. And I have to agree that the incident was a fine display of helping others and taking in stride even the ‘broken cables.’”