Alan Marine
Twin Cities On-site Marine Repair & Maintenance
About
I have always been enthralled with the way things work. I loved working with my hands; tinkering with spare parts and trying to make something new out of it. When I was little I would disassemble things and attempt to put them back together. I got my first boat project when I was 14, but my story started way before then. Back when I was 8 years old, I started fixing remote control boats and helicopters. I was fascinated with remote control toys and gadgets but they seemed to always break. Fixing those things required lots of mechanical and electrical knowledge. I don't think I have ever had a time that I wasn't fixing or thinking about my projects. The ability to fix things was like a 6th sense to me. I was able to take things apart and then reassemble them back together without looking at a manual. Fast forward a couple of years, when I had just purchased my first boat off Craigslist. I was very excited to finally get a boat because I had been begging my dad for a long time. Unfortunately, the perfect image of a boat was destroyed and replaced with lots of problems. I had no idea that getting a boat would come with so much trouble. I basically had to fix the entire boat because of how damaged it was. The seats were sagging and rotten, the transom was weak, and the two-stroke engine had one too many issues. Once, I got stranded in the middle of the lake because the engine died and someone had to rescue us. Repairing my first boat was tough and came with many challenges, but I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. What is life without a little bit of risk? Through this experience I was able to have a clearer understanding on how two-strokes and boats work.
The Four-stroke Story
I used to be a fan of the two-stroke engine. The raw power and torque it could deliver was ever so exhilarating. That was until I put the engine at idle. The unpleasant aroma that was the engine's exhaust diminished the excitement of the ride. I just couldn't put up with the smokey nature of a two stroke anymore. So, this year (2020) I decided to re-power the boat from its original Mercury two-stroke to a newer Mercury four-stroke. However, this was not the start of my "four-stroke" story; that would begin one entire summer ago.
The summer of 2019, I had just picked up a cheap eight horsepower Honda Marine outboard engine off of Craigslist that I thought would be a quick fix. Upon taking it apart, I found out that a connecting rod inside the engine cylinder had snapped. Right then and there I decided that I would pull off the tremendous task of rebuilding the engine, even though I had no prior experience with an internal combustion engine. It was hard work climbing a steep learning curve. The project took a lot of time and effort but eventually I was able to fix it. The process was like riding a rollercoaster with wild ups and dangerous downs. Hair-raising highs are the moments I got an idea to fix a problem and it worked. Adrenaline-draining lows are the moments an idea failed, or I made a costly mistake. One of the most unique skills I learned during this project was how to hone a cylinder sleeve. The thrill of the ride and the eventual product are my favorite parts. Despite great pains, I enjoyed every minute of it, and it also helped me develop various hands-on skills as well as some hard-earned patience.
The summer of 2019, I had just picked up a cheap eight horsepower Honda Marine outboard engine off of Craigslist that I thought would be a quick fix. Upon taking it apart, I found out that a connecting rod inside the engine cylinder had snapped. Right then and there I decided that I would pull off the tremendous task of rebuilding the engine, even though I had no prior experience with an internal combustion engine. It was hard work climbing a steep learning curve. The project took a lot of time and effort but eventually I was able to fix it. The process was like riding a rollercoaster with wild ups and dangerous downs. Hair-raising highs are the moments I got an idea to fix a problem and it worked. Adrenaline-draining lows are the moments an idea failed, or I made a costly mistake. One of the most unique skills I learned during this project was how to hone a cylinder sleeve. The thrill of the ride and the eventual product are my favorite parts. Despite great pains, I enjoyed every minute of it, and it also helped me develop various hands-on skills as well as some hard-earned patience.
