If it ain't broke...

Happy almost July 4th weekend!  I hope you have a lot of cool things planned to do.  I know we don't.  It's not that we weren't invited to parties and BBQs, we were just really hoping to get some use out of our boat this weekend since the weather forecast looks beautiful.  However, we'll most likely spend our weekend roasting in the sun muttering obscenities while attempting yet another surgery on the POS.  Last night a simple fix on the boat turned into a big "oh no."

Source

But first let me get you up to speed.  Our boat has been a money pit since we inherited it from Justin's uncle.  There's constant repairs and it spends more time as a lawn ornament than actually running across a lake.  We have bought a boat slip from the marina every year since 2007 and what a waste of money that has been.  This year we decided we were done farting around with it and had a professional do about $1600 worth of work on the lower unit, water pump, the carburetor, etc.  It was promised to be running in tip-top shape.  Although for those of you who have been following my blog, you already know that has not been the case.  We have already been stranded once this season.  

Last night my husband and I went over to the boat to change out the anti-siphon valve, our latest diagnosis for what's wrong with it.  The old valve actually came off real easy, but then my husband did something he really shouldn't have.  You are familiar with the old adage "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."  Yeah, well he went there.  He went one step further and removed the elbow fitting to inspect the fuel pickup line, just to make sure that wasn't clogged.  Well, it wasn't, it was clean as a whistle. On the return installation, however, it snapped off about three rotations in which bites big time. Now we are on the hunt for a new elbow/fuel pickup assembly as well as an "easy out" tool to help back  out the piece that snapped off.  If that piece doesn't come out we're in for a much bigger expense of replacing a 32 gallon gas tank.  Nice, right?  Not really.  If that's the case I  believe it's time to use the old Searay as kindling for one of the biggest July 4th bonfires you can imagine.  I would just trade it in for a new one, but until I hit the lotto that's just not in the cards. 

*Disclaimer: I have to give my husband a lot of credit for tackling many mechanical projects as of late.  I know they say you learn through your mistakes, but boy are we learning!!