Splinted Motor, Limestone Camp
Yes — a trolling motor can be field-repaired well enough to finish a multi-day trip: on this Withlacoochee run, BWJ splinted a broken motor shaft with a green limb, zip ties, and tape after hitting a rock 5 miles in, and it held for the remaining 21 miles to the Suwannee.
The rock caught the shaft clean. Five miles into a river I'd never run, and the trolling motor hung sideways off the transom like a broken arm. No cell service. Twenty-one miles still to go. I pulled the canoe onto a sandbar and sat there a minute, just looking at it.
Found an L-shaped limb in the drift pile. Green enough to flex, dry enough to hold. Splinted the shaft with it, ran zip ties tight, wrapped the last of my black tape around the whole mess. Looked ridiculous. Worked anyway.
The Withlacoochee gave me three sets of shoals before that rock. A three-foot drop that got my heart going. Limestone everywhere, tea-dark water running fast between the banks. This river doesn't ease you in.
Camp was a shell bank between two cypress. A doe climbed the far bank at dusk, picked her way up slow, never looked back. I dropped a line and pulled four channel cats in maybe twenty minutes. Cleaned them at the water's edge. Fried them in cast iron on the jet burner while the dark came down.
The splint held all the way to the Suwannee. I keep thinking about that — how a green limb and some zip ties can get you twenty-one miles if they have to. The motor's still got tape residue on the shaft. Haven't cleaned it off yet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Withlacoochee River have rapids or shoals?
Yes. This stretch has three sets of shoals, including one with about a three-foot drop, plus limestone throughout and fast tea-dark water.
How do you fix a broken trolling motor shaft in the field?
BWJ found an L-shaped limb green enough to flex and dry enough to hold, splinted the motor shaft with it, secured it with zip ties, and wrapped it in tape. The repair held for the remaining 21 miles of the trip.
What's the water like on the Withlacoochee?
Tea-dark and fast-moving between limestone banks — described as a river that "doesn't ease you in."
What did they catch and eat on this trip?
Four channel catfish, caught in about twenty minutes from a shell-bank camp between two cypress trees, cleaned at the water's edge and fried in cast iron.