What do you call those detachable motor things that sit on the back of small boats? I mean, I assume it’s some kind of motor device that sort of helps guide the direction of the boat, but that’s just based on my makeshift deductions. To be clear, I know virtually nothing about boat parts. Why do I need this info, you ask? That’s none of your business. Still, I need your help.
Outboard motors: is that what they’re called? Yes, that sounds right. (Is there even such thing as an inboard motor?) Next question – where would one go to find an outboard motor mechanic in Melbourne? This seems like something a quick online search should be able to answer, but I need to sound like I know what I’m talking about. I can’t reel off just any old shop name and expect it to fly; what if the one I pick is considered lame by the serious boating community? I can’t have that.
I just had a scroll through the search results, anyway. There’s a lot of lingo getting thrown around that’s completely alien to me – I mean, what in the world is a skid conversion, or an electrical chartplotter? Generally, though, once I give a few seconds to thinking about the possible logical meanings of these words, they do tend to start making sense.
Take anchor winch, for example. That sounds a tad on the technical side at first glance. But I know what an anchor is, and I know what a winch is. Put the two concepts together, and you have some kind of device that lowers an anchor and reels it back in… presumably. Even so, I wouldn’t know how to go about doing an anchor winch installation. Melbourne boat lovers, can you tell me if that’s information that I’d need to have to be taken seriously?
Okay, I get it. They’re going to see clean through my facade. Still, I have a rough idea of what an anchor winch is, right? I didn’t know that before – or, at least, I didn’t know that I knew it.