Breakaway, Garlein, and I all have had the dates changed to May in our titles
And yes; I was flustered while drifting in the channel "dead" in the water, with my crew switching batteries from 1 to 2 to "Both" and pushing reset buttons. I told them to "wait a minute" so we could think for a moment. It was then that Alan noticed the motor was in gear
What happened was; after a full day of trolling, I attempted to get up on plane for the run home. The motor started to shake and sputter like it had dropped a cylinder. I quickly dropped the throttle back to idle speed and turned off the key (without putting it in neutral). All I could think about was "turn the motor off so it wasn't damaged".
I even checked to see if the "kill switch" had come undone. I couldn't believe I left it in gear.
I have heard from two other Honda owners that have experienced the same "shutter" after trolling long hours. It appears the VST filter may need changing over the winter. It's due for year end service and I'm trying to squeak out another month before changing the fuel filter.
Once I restarted the motor, she ran strong on the way home stopping over several "bird shows" along the way. She restarted every time and confidence was restored
I will be keeping my TowBoat phone number closely tucked in my wallet for the remaining of the year
5th