Well, a little over a month ago we floated the boat and all the repairs were water tight. We had issues with the carbs and fuel system so we didn't take it out that day.
I had taken apart and cleaned the carbs before that outing and we had drained the fuel from the tanks by siphoning it out, but apparently we didn't get it all out because even after cleaning the carbs, the boat would start, but wouldn't rev up right and wouldn't stay running for very long and wouldn't idle. So we had a boat mechanic relative come over and look and he pulled the carbs and found trash in them again. He rebuilt all 3 carbs and media blasted them, so they all look new now. We removed both gas tanks and cleaned them out properly this time as well as cleaned out the fuel lines. One problem we didn't realize we were having is that with two gas tanks the previous owner had put a valve in the back for switching between the tanks, but didn't mark which way was which on the valve. So when we thought we had the valve pointing towards the port side tank, it wasn't getting any fuel at all. Its a 1/4 turn valve, so pointing to starboard works for the starboard tank, but to get to the port tank you turn it to point downward. Pointing any other direction closes it off completely. So after all that we got everything back together on Saturday evening and fired the engine up on muffs. Idled great, just a slight cough which seems common for outboards. I was able to adjust the idle/air screw a little to get rid of some of that cough, it is sitting at 2.5 turns out now.
We launched the
on Sunday around noon and had the jib and main sails furled up. I took it for its first spin and the motor worked great. There's no speedometer on it so I have no idea what it was doing speedwise. I'd say for a 26 foot boat with a little 50 hp motor, it did pretty well. It was leaving a nice wake behind us and almost felt like it was up on plane. One thing I must say is if you are in a tight area for your launch like launching in a cove/inlet, make sure you are ready to give it some throttle to get the boat turned quickly if there is any wind. The boat is so light and so tall, the wind immediately started pushing the bow towards the rocks next to the launch area. I had to give it some forward throttle to get the boat turned away with the wind pushing it towards the rocks. Not very maneuverable at low speeds.
We had a debate on whether I or our skipper was going to run the
out and put up the sails for the first time. I elected to sail with the girls on our 19 foot dophin since the winds were a bit to heavy for the girls to sail it by themselves. Winds were probably 10-15 knots gusting to 20-25 at times. Skipper knows more about bigger boat sailing and rigging, so I made him take the
. We sailed off in the dolphin and kind of watched skipper from a distance. We saw him raise the main sail and fiddle around a bit, but then he took it down again. Then he raised the Jib and sailed around with it for a while. When we stopped and traded kids out between boats he told me he couldn't figure out the rigging/traveler system for the main sail. I think maybe some things are missing. Does the rear of the boom use blocks to control the sail? Or just cleats on either side or ??? I had printed the manual a while back and gave Skipper a copy, but I don't know what he did with it.
Either way aside from not being able to sail with the main, and then later in the day, the battery got weak and would no longer start the motor, the day went well. The ballast system worked and filled with water with no leaks, the patches worked on the port side where all the damage was, and the motor worked well all day. About as successful of an outing as you can have when you get a used boat that suffered some major hull damage and sat in the saltwater for a couple of days.
As far as our sailing the little 19' dolphin, we had a rain storm blow through while on the water and it brought some really nice wind. So much so that with me (235 lbs) and 4 girls (ranging from 90 lbs up to probably 130) we were all up on the starboard side rail as far out as we could lean and still got the port side rub rail a little wet LOL. Let out the main a touch and leveled the boat out some and I swear that little dolphin got up on plane probably getting close to 20 mph!! That was fun and none of the girls (ages 13-14) got scared a bit.
.... Hopefully Y'all can get Her ship shape in time for the fourth 
Take care & Fair winds. Ron.
