long time between posts

Hi guys its been a long time since my last post- too long we ,my wife Tina and myself have done a bit more work to tri-n-escape on our last haul out i repainted the topsides and also i repainted the non-slip on the deck i used a new product from formex and so far its been excellent and apart from anti fouling i serviced our outboard motor its done 200hundred hours now the last time it was due i had a so-called outboard mechanic come out and he charged me $350.00 for a full service and i don't mind paying any money [within reason] if the job is done right but this guy when he finished assembling the leg we ran the motor with muffs on and the volume of water coming out didn't look enough compared to normal but the mechanic assured me that was because of the lenght of hose we had because the slips tap was a long way off well he was the mechanic so i gave him the benefit of the doubt -silly me ,a week later we re-launched after i rebeded the skin fittings and replaced the sea cocks from gate to ball valves well i started the motor and i had mt son checking the motor water flow and he yelled out its pumping i waved the slip master off and we backed off the cradle and motored down the channel for a quick run my son joined me at the helm and i asked him to take over and i went aft to check out the motor-it was with a heavy heart that i looked at the piddly flow from the outlet -dam it i knew it wasn't right @#$%%^ i rang the mechanic straight away he said it may be a blockage and to give it a good run at high revs !!!and if that didn't work he said give me a ring ,well you have probably have guessed the out come- no difference i re- rang him and he said oh well you will have to pull her out the water again to which i said no problem the haul out fee is your cost though this induced a spluttering sound over the receiver to which he replied how about you back into the boat ramp and i will pull the leg of the outboard there ,Didn't have a problem with that [one of the benefits of a shallow draught]a time was arranged for the following day . two hours later than originally planned he rocked up and when he took the leg off the problem was immediately apparent when fitting the leg back on the water pick up tube instead of going in the housing it sat on the outside edge ! the offending pick up tube was put in its right place the leg re-fitted and the motor restarted and hey presto it was pumping like it was supposed to be and get this the mechanic had the front to say don't worry theres no charge for today !!cheeky prick, i kept my tongue in case i used his service again Since my last post we have been away a few times the last trip was at Easter this year we went to port Vincent and from there we sailed to stansbury it was a good trip the kids didn't come this time which felt strange for us never less the weather was nice would you believe we had the wind on the nose going over and no wind at all coming back i think that will do for now cheers Andy