A Little Background
The 1984 Lavey Craft was purchased 6 years ago. She was a good boat for the first little while, but she soon became a pain. She was our first boat and she was a handful. She was difficult to unload, she took about half an hour to start, and she was very difficult to load back on the trailer. Oh but when she's set free on the water, she glides like an eagle in the wind. Over the past few months I've been on a mission to make her run like a top. I put in over 40 hours of research and wrench time to get her running her best. I sent you a video file of her starting up. The electrical system was rusted from the ignition coil to the distributor. I gutted it all and replaced the entire electrical system. The first trip out she ran, but not the best after she warmed up. We had to get towed back in, but we made it home. A little frustrated and confused, I called up a friend that had the same engine in his boat. I went over and tool a look. The recommended type of ignition coil online was the wrong one, so I changed the ignition coil to an external resistor style coil from an internal resistor style coil.
The Story
It was a Saturday in September. The weather was in the 80's and the wind was calm. I hooked up the truck to Lavey Craft and asked if anyone wanted to come on boat ride. The whole family seemed hesitant due to her past history, except for Cooper. He was anxious for an adventure. I installed his car seat, threw in his life jacket, an ore, and we both put on our shades. We headed for the Kelseyville. I stopped by Kelseyville lumber to get my guagua mussle sticker, then we went straight to the state park. We arrived at the boat launch to find no one there. I untethered the boat, hooked a line to the front and back, then lowered her down the ramp. I was all alone so it made it double the fun. I tied the rope on the back to the dock about fifteen feet passed the boat. I tied the front one directly across from the front. I pushed her off with my foot and pulled the trailer out of the water. I tightened up the rear line, put out the bumpers, and parked the truck. I put Cooper's life jacket and Croc's on and we jumped in the boat. I pumped her twice and she started right up. I pulled in the lines and off we went. I stayed around the boat launch for about 10 minutes. Cooper drove for a while. I turned her off and started her up about 3 times. The coil seemed to be doing great. She wasn't hot and ran much better than before, so we took off across the lake. Cooper was my co-pilot. He had his blue sunglasses on and he chilled in the passenger seat next to me while we sped across the lake to a small town on the other side of the lake. I kept the shore close enough just in case I had to row to it. Cooper jumped over in my lap and I held him as we headed back towards Lakeport. He started to fall asleep in my arms to the gentle rocking of the boat on the water. We made it to Lakeport in about 20 minutes and found a small Mexican restaurant that had a dock attached to it. I drifted her in slowly, put on the bumpers and the ropes. Cooper jumped onto the doc first. I handed him the front line and he (without me showing him) started to wrap/wind it onto the dock cleat. I grabbed the back line and hooked her up. Cooper clapped his hands together in a "I'm done" fashion and we headed to Mexican restaurant, TNT's. We sat outside on the deck. I took off his life jacket at the table and we looked over the menu. I ordered a TNT pork burrito special and he had a quesadilla with chocolate milk. We had a great meal together. We talked about the boat ride and what things he liked to do. I then got the check and began to put his life jacket back on. The table next to us asked, "Why does he need to wear a life jacket"? Cooper just pointed out to the boat on the dock and said, "Cooper's boat." They laughed and we left. We got down to the boat, Cooper untied the front cleat and I did the back. He jumped in the front, she started right up, and off we went. It was another 15 minute ride back to the boat launch. Cooper sat in my lap and drove most of the way. When we got to the boat launch, we tied her up, backed in the trailer, and pulled her on by hand. It all went very smooth. No one was there so there was no need to rush. We pulled her out of the water and wiped her down. I felt so happy that I was able to get her running, spent some fun time with Cooper, and made it back safely. The perfect day.
The Rest of the Story
Now with the boat all fixed up, We sold her the following week. I learned so much about diagnosing electrical systems, it was worth way more than what we sold the boat for
