I was going to update this thread with a long sob story about the KF travails that have been happening which were my fault, but I'll try to keep it short.
I messed up and destroyed the fuel hose connector where it mates to the engine. Bought a new one plus a quick disconnect for the fuel tank side and that got destroyed too.
My neighbor buddy gave me a used replacement tank and I got it hooked up. I had the boy inspect the interior and he said that there was just one leaf in there which he removed and we were good to go. Tested the motor at home in the barrel and all was well. Took the KF to the water the next morning (Oct 17th) and launched. Idled out of the No Wake Zone just fine but when I hit the gas it bogged down badly and the fuel bulb got sucked flat. I verified that the vent was open and tried again. Same result. I was able to idle back to the dock and we retrieved the boat and went home.
Jeez, I was supposed to keep this short. Bottom line, after two trips to the water and 3 trips to the Merc shop, we ended up dumping the gas out of the tank, strained through an aluminum screen and into a 5 gallon bucket.
FULL OF LEAVES and other detritus!
So, we cleaned the tank thoroughly and it's now ready for on-water testing again. But, we haven't had time.
Oh yeah, on the second trip to the water with the replacement tank, the hull starboard side paint got banged up badly during retrieval because it was windy and I had to use the trolling motor to return. So I had to repaint that section.
Second coat done and after it dries for a few months, it'll match the rest of the color.
Also, did I mention the confrontation at the launch ramp? I de-escalated that and took care of the boat but was glad that this old man didn't have to do the old man thing.
There's more to the KF issues, but I've said enough for now.