Just after Memorial Day weekend our little boat went back in the water and she sure did look beautiful floating in her slip. Neither the decks nor the cabin was yet done; however, the black hull, red boot stripe and the new yellowish gold lettering seemed to compensate nicely for the moment.

The little motor that had performed so faithfully the year before failed to start and despite all sorts of cajoling, wheedling and the few words in distressed English, it showed no signs of life. Deanna's grandchildren were getting ready to return home and we wanted to go sailing at least once before they left, so I dashed around to find a professional mechanic.

The marina had several mechanics employed there on one job or another -- it was spring, and they were understandably very busy getting many boats ready for the summer boating season. One mechanic, however, volunteered to take our little eight-horsepower auxiliary home, with a note of confidence that he would have it back in a day or two.

That week came and went in there was no motor, but the mechanic said he was sure he could fix it for about $200 because he knew what it was. A week later there still was no motor and the grandchildren returned home without ever getting to sail. Eventually the 4th of July came and went, and still no motor. Upon inquiry, it seems the mechanic was waiting to purchase a book that would tell him the proper resistance for the coils. Two weeks later we were still awaiting the arrival of magic book -- indeed that saga repeated itself numerous times into the late July and early August.

In late July I had to take a two-week business trip; however, Deanna returned home from seeing her family just before I left. I related to her the story about our outboard and she promised to look into it. Sure enough, when she approached mechanic at the marina, he reassured her that he was simply waiting to receive the instruction manual that should arrive ant day now and would give him the proper electrical resistance for the coils.

Thankfully, Deanna is not as paralyzed by the world as I can be, and about two weeks before Labor Day she asked (more like, insisted) the mechanic to bring our motor back. She loaded it into the pickup truck and took it around to another mechanic in the village she had met previously. Surprise, surprise: within three or four days the motor was back from the second mechanic and purring happily -- total cost, $80. We don't know if the first mechanic ever got his magic book, but we do know which mechanic we'll use next time.