The Boat

I thought I would give the Outdoor Journal a little needed boost.

Let me tell you a little bit about my boat. It was given to me by my father around 1995 or 1996 (I dont recall the date) as a birthday gift. My father owned the boat (I believe) since it was new, and bought the outboard motor used. For many, many years the boat was left upside down, and chained to a tree on a "deeded access" landing on Lake Marie, near Annandale, Minnesota. As a very young child I remember going to the lake access and seeing the boat laying there. Not too long after my parents bought their home in Bloomington (circa 1977) they brought the boat home, where it sat (upside down on it's trailer) for most (if not all) of the next (about) 10 years.

About the time I graduated high school (1987), had my own car that would haul the boat, and had a place to take it (Ed's cabin), he convinced me to break it out, fix it up, and get it out and about.

Ed and I replaced the rotten transom board, got it licensed, and took it out a few times. It sat for another (about) three years, and I broke it out to take my (then) girlfriend (now) wife and her younger brother out on a date (circa 1991 or 1992). I again got the boat "sea worthy", and had it out one time on Lake (?) in Eden Prarie. Then packed away again until (I suspect) my Dad got sick of looking at it parked in his yard, and (since I now had my own home - and a place to park it) he gave to to me as a Birthday Gift.

I have (since then) taken it out at least once (and seldom more than that) almost every year. Last year the boat never saw water, but the outboard was used (during Duck Hunting). For the first time EVER, the outboad "acted up" a bit, and I had a hard time starting, and keeping it running. That was until the (original) starter cord broke while I was trying to restart it. After hunting, the outboard got put back on it's stand, and there it still awaits some TLC.

Here are some details.

The Boat: 1968 16' aluminum Chrysler row boat. (I have the ORIGINAL manual.)

The trailer: 1974 Sears

The Outbard: 1955 Evinrude Fleetwin 7.5hp Aquasonic Model 7518 (I have the ORIGINAL manual)

Trolling Motor: Sea King (I have no further info - my father in law bought it at a garage sale. I have never applied current to it, so I am not sure it works or not. )

I'll try and post more specifics if I can, but that is the story of "My Boat"