Fun & Games with a Dory

We (David Jennings & I) first looked at the Dory in the trailer park. We noticed that the hull had been damaged and repaired. The repair looked OK. Next we noticed that the motor lower bearing bracket was broken.

By dint of the model and serial number an Internet search elicited 1984 as the year of manufacture. A further search revealed a source of handbooks for a wide range of Johnson/Evinrude outboards. A copy was ordered for the Club.

The Dory was moved next to the clubhouse. Bryan repaired a small leak in the hull and we bought and fitted a new bracket.

It was felt by many that 35HP was hazardously overkill for a second patrol boat but a lengthy search for a replacement of around 10HP at a reasonable price was fruitless.

Came the moment of truth when we tried it out on the water. The motor started and ticked-over nicely. However, the throttle control was stiff and hair-triggered. Advancing it quite gingerly resulted in a massive surge of power such that had it been pointing that way we could have ended up on the bank! (or do I exaggerate slightly).

The other problem was that the steering was very stiff, making directional control difficult. The stiffness turned out to be in the Morse cable, which was removed in an attempt to free it up. All we succeeded in doing was to make it worse - it was impossible to remove the inner as it is crimped at both ends. Another trip to Lindon Lewis for a new one.

Then came the job of fitting it. This appeared to need at least three hands where there is room for only one and no way to see what one is doing. However, we succeeded in the end (or thought we had) and we tried it out - bingo - big improvement - only to discover later that the cable outer came adrift from the steering box when turning hard to the right.

Back to the drawing board, we found that one of the fixing bolts had to be routed through a notch on the end of the cable outer. Two hours of "keyhole surgery" later it was done. In the process, I gained an eighth of an inch of tar on my shoes from the bitumastic paint (I wonder who did that!) which had melted in the hot sun.

Peter must take the credit for the most significant modification to the throttle response. He made, developed and fitted bracketry at the motor end in such a way that a given movement of the control arm now results in a much reduced motion at the motor. This has achieved a remarkable improvement in controllability.

At higher speeds the Dory adopts a bow-up attitude. This has been countered, to a large extent, by tilting the motor.

Further traumas include the magic disappearance of the ignition key (the spare Mike had cut came to the rescue) and intermittent operation of the starter solenoid, which occasionally needs a well directed tap to make it behave.

Laurie (Noddy) Bridges