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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ray Clark" data-source="post: 511813" data-attributes="member: 31103">New for 2021Early in 2021, I decided that I was going to give up on the Johnson and ordered a new Mercury 20HP Four Stroke.  It arrived in late February.  With the help of my Son-in-Law, I swapped out the Johnson for the new Merc.  It was a thing of beauty.[ATTACH=full]119391[/ATTACH]I splashed the boat and new motor in late March 2021 and began the 10 hour break in process mandated by Mercury.  There were no leaks and so I really became confident in the hull.My first fishing outing with the boat came in April 2021.  I mentioned the seat clamps earlier.  One of those clamps “let go” when a fishing buddy put pressure on the seat back while he was pulling up the anchor.  He almost went overboard.  I decided then and there that the clamps had to go.  I modified the seat bases and bolted them to the bench plywood with bolts and T-nuts.  I reused the swivel portion of the clamp bases, and they’re affixed solidly to the benches.  I also rebuilt the front seat because the plywood back had rotted.  I spent the rest of 2021 fishing the boat, learning how to launch and recover, figuring out what I wanted out of the boat, and deciding next steps.</blockquote>