The little skiff that could and the brain dead bum who owns it.

Many years ago (1988), when I bought the Alchemist, I also bought a, new to me, power skiff. The size of the new skiff was about right for a 49 ft Delta, 16 ft long x 8 ft wide. The horsepower, alas, was woefully lacking. I limped along with the lack of towing power for a long time, well, until the engine blew up because of water in the fuel. It turns out I bought water for fuel one night at the tender. The young tender Captain turned the wrong valve. It seems he was more interested in boinking his girlfriend than he was in taking care of his fishing boats. Anyway, I got a new engine out of the deal, with a lot more horsepower. I then learned I needed to change the reduction gearing and the size of the propeller so that I could utilize the new horsepower. To do that I had to take the new engine out, cut the propeller shaft housing out, realign the shaft to allow for the bigger prop, glass a new shaft housing in, and rebuild the undercarriage to provide clearance for the bigger prop. When I finished all the upgrades, I was appalled at the amount of money I used to "fix" the skiff after the engine upgrade.
Wow! I couldn't believe how much towing power I now had. It was impressive to say the least. Screw how much money I had to spend, this was awesome! But I now had to be careful. If I towed too hard the stern sat down so far it didn't leave a lot of free-board. Rats, it's always something. Well, that's not as safe as I would have it, so this winter I raised the bulwarks of the skiff about a foot. Just like before, I now have a whole slew of modifications, expensive ones I might add, needed to bring the skiff up to speed with the new bulwarks. Sometimes I wish I could just leave things alone!