Day 21.  On which we learn that the Suburban does not have a low fuel light, and that 1/8 of a tank on the gauge is dead-flat-won’t start-empty.  It took 2 hours of troubleshooting to figure out, but the solution was satisfactory.  No faith was lost in the Suburban, and no egos were damaged.  How a vehicle that gets 13 MPG and has silly features like heated electric memory leather seats doesn’t have a low fuel warning light is beyond me.  So we blame GM for that one.

 

On the boat front, we got the cutless bearings out, but then were immediately reminded that the struts and stern tubes are metric, 40 and 43mm respectively, while the shafts are imperial — well, almost imperial, 1.245” to be exact.  So we need to buy new bearings with inside diameters that match the shafts, and then have them turned down so the outside diameters match the boat.  More fun at the machine shop!

 

But no, because this is Ft Pierce, Florida and there aren’t four inch-and-a-quarter cutless bearings in this town.  That little lack of foresight will cost us a day, and without a miracle puts a Day 22 launch out of reach.  Day 23 is a Saturday, and getting Billy to run the lift on a Saturday is going to cost me several cases of Miller Lite.

 

We're on the homestretch.  I'm sleeping on the boat in the yard now and Tanya is imposing on my mom in Clearwater.  Thanks Mom!