Reply To: 1959 Johnson RDSL 21B Info Needed

[Tom Alexander]

Yes, the separate charger is in my future it seems. I have to remember that these engines were designed before many elect devices were taking to the water! I only have nav lights to worry about but where the boat will be at Donner Lake when out of the water will need a long extension cord to a power point unless I go the solar plane route. Could remove the battery from the boat too, that may be the better option after thinking about it. The ‘crack’ in the skeg isn’t a crack it looks like just good old corrosion. It is reputed to be a fresh water engine but… We will see when I return from this trip and get back to the boat on Sunday. I worry about corrosion because I had a 50ft. Alum boat that was correctly built from 5056 alloy and never suffered through my ownership but a lot of folks who had ‘alloy’ boats were alway asking me what i did ‘special’ to keep the aluminum termites at bay. I did a lot of ‘isolation’ and the boat was built of the right stuff. Some of my alloy boat owing friends were not so fortunate. Not knowing what alloy these motors are cast from is a worry for me now that I see this on my skeg. Time will tell.
Thanks for your input Tom