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I'm going to let them see what they can do and if he is not confident in the spray weld, he won't do it. We'll just test it with the pits. If the patch breaks loose and if I decide to keep the boat, I'm going to replace the entire system this winter anyway. As bad as the fluid looked when I took it apart, I'm guessing the helm is not far behind. I was amazed that the cylinder walls were in such good shape.

All I'm looking for is a couple turns around the channel to see what I bought. I won't be setting any speed records and I will have my brother out there in another boat (Whaler GTX-18) just in case something goes wrong and I need a tow back to port.

Steering and a transom drain and I'm hopefully good to go for my shakedown tests. Shooting for the end of June.