An unexpected view, part III

July 2024

By Tim Plouff

In July of 2023, our boating season came to an abrupt halt as colliding metal parts inside our Searay 215 Express Cruiser, Tegoak, rendered our engine useless. We revealed the gory details in the Fall ’23 issue of Points East, with a follow-up in the Spring 2024 issue, in which we detailed time spent aboard a rented 23-foot Finnseeker center-console, a boat set up much differently than our own that had us wondering if maybe we should just get a new boat instead of rebuilding our own (we didn’t). Tegoak is now back and as good as ever; hopefully the following piece is the last chapter of her engine woes.

With Tegoak spending only the third year of its pampered 20-year residency with us at Beech Hill Pond outside, under the shrinkwrap at Port Harbor Marine in Holden, Maine, while waiting for engine parts, the lurking questions about how to proceed haunted me. I wanted our 2000 SeaRay to come back to life and be as dependable as it had been, yet I also lusted for a newer, larger, more content-rich model that mimicked the deck space, overall comfort, and V-berth cabin of our getting-long-in-the-tooth SeaRay. Finding suitable (meaning affordable) replacement boats proved very problematic. I settled on pursuing two 2007 SeaRay 250 Amberjacks. One left the market as I investigated – seller’s decision – while the second, with a more desired navy colored hull, proved to be an exercise in buyer’s frustration as the levels of communication raised too many red flags that just couldn’t be overlooked. Plus it was much further away – deep into New York City.

While torturing myself for winter’s many dark weeks with this buying option, the progress of restoring Tegoak to its previous state of operation underwent, shall we say, a couple of stumbles. Unhappy with the levels of vibration apparent from the initial sea trials with the re-manned V-8 engine, Brian and Andy at Port Harbor Marine communicated with the engine vendor and relayed their concerns. The vendor said yank that puppy out and we’ll send you another V-8 long-block, free, and we’ll cover the labor to swap engine number two for engine number three!

Unlike the over-promising and under-delivering performance of too many of our cultural and political institutions in recent years, how refreshing to have a mechanical vendor step up and honor their work.

Each time that the Port Harbor boys “massaged” Tegoak’s engine bay and its assorted hardware, one more fault or compromised component reared its ugly head. After all, this compartment had seen 24 years of use, and over 1,225-hours of (mostly) salt-water running; things were obviously (although not always at first glance) going to show some wear and tear. Fuel injectors didn’t perfectly match the new intake manifold, the sensor port on the manifold didn’t like the new sensor, and much more. Yet Andy and Brian crafted work-arounds that proved to be solutions, not compromises.

By late April, they took Tegoak on a “sea trial” in Phillips Lake, down the road a piece from their shop. It worked fine. Just like it used to. Other than swapping the prop from a 21- to a 19-degree pitch to see if we could lower engine revs and increase speed, Tegoak was ready to rock and roll again.

The motor looks great, with refreshed paint, labels and decals, there are new anodes all around, a shiny new prop hanging out back, plus we have a new trim gauge in the dash, and an ignition switch with a spare key for the first time. The repair bills didn’t seem so repulsive at this point, as MY boat was back!

Our first “sea trial” was also in fresh water – the lake in front of the house, just to allay my concerns as well as to re-acquaint myself with Tegoak after spending the majority of last summer’s boating behind the helm of a larger center-console rental boat.

Kathy and I launched with familiar ease and Tegoak quickly fired up. It sounded the same, the low rumble of a V-8 below the deck providing the reassurance of steady power. After trolling around for several minutes, it was time for exercise. Tegoak jumped up on plane with new-found enthusiasm, settling into a relaxed rhythm at just the speed and engine revolutions as before, the new prop actually providing better performance than the filed, painted, and slightly bent unit used before. Imagine that.

Three days later, Memorial Day Weekend, we set out from one of our favorite launch points, Tremont, for an easy hop, skip and a jump over to Pond Island before the afternoon weather could intrude. The ride absolutely dissolved all of my anxieties, while the crew soaked up the late spring sun and heavenly smell of the sea. We were practically alone on the sparkling waves; southern Blue Hill Bay and Pond Island was our oasis for the day.

The expected weather changes arrived on the ride back, the two-footers breaking, the skies cooler and darker. But we were back at sea in our boat, and it worked the way it was supposed to. We had to come in way too early – always lamentable – but it was probably prudent. Anyway, the inflatable we take with us on our adventures was leaking.

After bowing out of pursuing the 250 Amberjack in early April due to a lack of significant information, it still lurked on the internet, visually teasing me, harassing me with temptation. An unexpected engine failure and an unexpected two-hour tow-boat ride all led to this point. Boats – can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em.

Tim and his wife, Kathryn, the navigator, live lakeside in Otis, Maine, 30 minutes from Acadia, where they trailer-boat up and down the Maine coast with their 2000 Sea Ray 21-foot express cruiser Tegoak.

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