Another hole in the water!

One of the definitions of a boat is "a hole in the water you can pour money into". Well, being in the marina business most of my life I have had a lot of holes in the water. Some a lot bigger than the others. On our blue water cruising adventures we usually throw our inflatable dinghy on the bow of the Feeding Frenzy, mainly to be used as a life boat. Before our September cruise we noticed it had a leak in the air deck floor. A couple of our cruisers, Matt & Gabe, patched it just before we left but it did not hold. We took it along anyway as the air deck just makes it easier to stand up in and if the FF sinks and we are all stranded in this little dinghy, we probably won't be standing up much but be on our hands and knees praying. Before leaving on this trip I checked and found that the patch M & G had put on was in fact leaking. Being sure they had done something wrong I took their patch off and replaced it with a bigger patch, followed all the instructions on the glue and checked it for a leak before leaving and it held. This trip we decided to bring along our little 5Hp Mercury outboard as we thought we would be using it to dinghy around in the islands. We could have used it a place or two before now but managed with the help of our cruising partners John & Lori. We are now in Hope Town on Elbow Cay. The marinas are on the North side of the island by the lighthouse and the rest of the town, restaurants and bars are on the South side. The only way to get there is by dinghy. So, yesterday ACJM and I decided to put the old dinghy in the water. Well, the floor was leaking again around my patch. Oh well, just get out the pump and blow it up every morning. We threw the trustworthy Mercury on the boat and with only 2 pulls it started purring like a kitten. We loaded our cooler and headed for Nanita to visit our friends. After just pulling out of the marina the motor died and would not start. We drifted in to a pier and I checked the fuel line, etc. About all I can do and everything seemed OK so I rowed the boat back to our slip. I tried it again and it started. Ran great tied up to the dock. We took off again and it died in about the same place. Our friends came by and we used their fuel tank and it seemed to run better but not wide open. We decided to try it again and it worked. We did not go over an idle, but putted across to Nanita for a cocktail and then on to a restaurant & bar for dinner. We made an early evening of it and it got us home. Today we ran across the bay again, still at an idle and made it just fine. ACJM won't let me open it up, but I may slip out and try it this afternoon if the rain ever quits. At least it is not a very big hole in the water.