Went to a local pond. Bud brought his fine 3.5 hp outboard. This same engine would not start for us on an earlier scouting trip, but he assured me he had paid $100 and that it was good to go. It was ... for about 15 minutes and then it died. Seemed to be overheating. So instead of the 40 minute run to the spot, we stopped short and threw out some decoys and waited. Only saw four woodducks and they were out of range. Heard some other shooting, but not much. After cooling down, the motor did run fine back to the hill. First early season in years that I've ended with zero teal.

Hope others are doing better.
I ordered a new 4400 HDR Mudbuddy and a new 1754 Prodigy that are supposed to be ready for regular season opener. Time to get'r done!

Will be putting a new belt drive on my small surface drive next week as well!