In 1976, the Capitol Yachts Newport 28 came standard with a little inboard engine to help move her around when the wind wasn't a blowin'. Fast forward to 2014, that little engine is seized up and worth little more than a 375 lb boat anchor.
My options:
1) Trusty Rusty, I can TRY various methods of getting the motor "unstuck" and head North up the Puget sound some 75 Nautical miles to my new home in Port of Everett (still waiting on a slip to open up in Seattle) with a rusty, old, unpredictable motor. This may take quite a while, and may not even work at all.
2) Wind is free! I can pick a weekend and try my hand at sailing. Considering I don't know very much about sailing, and most marinas these days don't allow you coming in with sails up, this isn't even really an option. Not to mention I would be at the mercy of mother nature to send some wind my way.
3) Outboard engine. If you take a walk down the dock at your local marina, you will find that most older sailboats have been retrofitted with an outboard engine of some sort. These more modern motors hang off the back of the boat and help push you around during light wind, or in close quarters when using the sails is impractical.
After looking at my options I have decided to go with the last. I did some shopping on craigslist and found a nice little no frills 15 hp Suzuki motor that I picked up for a mere $500. They even threw in a dozen fresh eggs from the farm when I bought it!
Thanks to Amazon Prime, I should have the rest of the parts needed to mount the engine in just 2 short days, and the Osprey will have a whole new heart!
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