I moved this post from general boating to give you some background.<br /><br />Before I began let me say I don't know crap about boats. I have been a hotrodder for many years and a while back I thought it would be nice to have a classic motorcycle or boat to go with one of my projects (a restored 72 International Scout). I ended up buying a very nice 61 Merrell, it's a Chris Craft clone, 16', 40 hp Evenrude. I decided to take it to the Columbia river today. Yes, I did ops check it and everything was a go. The first thing I learned was there is no way one guy can launch a boat on a windy day. The next thing I learned was that a 16' boat is maybe good for a lake but not for a big river when the winds are up. I seen many 18 footers comming in becouse of the weather. OK, two questions. Can one man launch a boat without damage? If yes, how? Second question, is 16' too small for the Columbia? Thanks.<br /><br />Update: Second time out. OK, I waited for better weather and took help (daughter and son-in-law). Launched boat without killing anyone. I found I could only get part throttle (about 1,500 rpm). In nuetral I could get 3,000 rpm sometimes. I have it home right now and have yet to find the combination for full throttle. I'm sure everything is fine and the problem is due to my inexperience. All my friends are hotrodders not boaters. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!
