Here we are at the Lake Champlain ramp, ready to launch Voodoo Child for the first time in at least 17 years. Yes, my heart is racing just a bit in anticipation.
Fran Secor, Otego, NY, the northeast US’ foremost outboard preservation pro, and a great personal friend of all of us, drove the 200 miles that lie between us to be here, “I would not miss this opportunity for anything.”
Yes, the resulting clip is brief, mainly because the video guy’s Flip HD gratuitously stopped recording during the up-close drive by’s. I decided to post it anyway. Yes, a couple of minor issues cropped up, like a balky shift linkage and a too-loose rudder stuffing box, which we will correct, and then take her out again.
The one slightly frustrating reality is that the Hemi is now a new engine. The rings, valves, bearings, etc. must be broken in, which translates into 2500 max RPMs, and continually raising and lowering the throttle between 2000 and 2500 RPMs. No full throttle… Yet.
What almost startled all of us is that John had set the idle at 300 RPMs as a starting place. I expected stumbling and loping, but no, the Hemi just purred. And, when RJ hit the throttle, the RPMs increased smoothly as Voodoo Child leapt forward.
So… she ran well. All systems, save for the balky shift linkage, functioned perfectly.
Time to tweak her a bit and get her back out on the water!