Alright, bound and determined to get this stuff done, I went to the courthouse today, presented them with all the paperwork and - got busy.  They showed me what needed filled out and there ya go.  I spent almost an hour there after all said and done, and of course Texas taking it's toll in taxes on the amount paid.  Private seller to private seller is still taxed and not a little bit either.  The really weird thing to me is a separate title for the boat, trailer and motor.  I mean, the whole thing is sold as one unit at the dealer.

Get that done, the entire time trying to figure out the top for the sun shade cover and getting the upholstery redone.  Those are priorities.  At least get that much done.  Well, after meeting Taylor for lunch at chili's, I went to a local upholstery shop and found several finished boat seats.  Very nicely done and his estimate for the whole boat was less than $300.

That's a really good price, IMO, local so I can support the mom and pop stores here, I'm good with that. I'll be taking the boat in next week. They want to go fishing this weekend. Well, we'll see about that.  I also went to a local marine store and bought my own adapter for the hose.  It's got a hose adapter on one side and the other has a huge cup with another cup on the frame on the other side. Water shoots into the ports, hence you don't burn up the engine while trying to test it.  I'm not sure if I"m doing that today, but I probably should to continue with getting this ball rolling.  I need to go over there anyway and measure the canopy.  They come in all different sizes, I found a site selling those relatively cheap.

OEM replacement almost impossible to find, the only one I did find they wanted almost $800 for NO thanks.  I found a site with replacement - generic - that will cost around $100. Everyone wants to be able to get in the shade and out of the sun, me included.  If we go this weekend, that isn't going to be done yet tho.  Dunno how long it takes to get it shipped, but whenever that shows up after I order, I still have to figure out how to install the thing.

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Fuel line cut for the gas feed to the motor.  Apparently they had the motor running for James to see out of a gas can. That is a bit disconcerting.  I gave up on it after that.  It was hot - really hot and muggy out - and I was sweating profusely, decided to call it quits. 

What I'm doing today is unknown.  The sleep bug finally hit me and I've been in bed for 10 hours.  That night I was out until 3:45 am - as happens anytime I stay up that late - messed me up for a couple of days.  I still haven't figured out how to turn the thing on.  There must be a switch somewhere or something I'm not seeing that was disconnected off of the battery, because the main console has no power to it at all. Yet, the motor trim is working fine, which is powered off of the battery. 

I think the idea of taking the thing out this weekend is a fairy tale.  I may end up taking it to a local mechanic to look it over and figure it out for me.  If I could find a schematic for the boat that would be greatly helpful.  To that end I contacted the boat manufacturer asking them for such and willing to pay. 

Oh, and while I was at the DMV yesterday, the tax office is in there as well,  I asked about the next tax auction.  Allegedly in October.  They hold the auction there - a mile away from my house - and do it outside the doors of the building.  Weird.  That last one had several large acreage properties that started out the bidding low enough I could have potentially landed on of them.  No payments, just property taxes every year.  I'm very interested. 

Ahhh, I've at least found some wisdom about the power issue online.  Perhaps there is a master switch under the console that needs turned on.  Or main line that has come apart.  But they had it running and James confirmed all lights worked, so it's got to be something those people unhooked, I wish he would have asked a few more questions about the boat while he was there or that these people would have offered that information.  Especially when he saw they were running it out of a gas can versus the gas tank. A bit of - why are you doing that and what is wrong with the tank?

Something must be wrong to cut the fuel line to make it work?  So there may be some work to do ahead of me.  Whether I fix it myself or take it to a shop will be determined on whether I can figure out what's wrong with the system.  I'm not a boat mechanic, but as far as a fuel system goes, it's the same principle as a car fuel delivery system.  But the most obvious thing was the hand bulb fuel pump. They had it wrapped with electrical tape.

That's redneck stuff.  It's a pump you operate by hand to pressure up the fuel line and prime the carburetors.  It was obviously leaking, I bought a new one of those yesterday and was going to install it until I found the cut line. 

Well enough. Whatever I'm going to do, I need to get moving.