Thanks for your convenience West Marine

We have gears again. As some of you know, our shift cable broke some time ago. The project was being put off due to a busy work schedule, and me thinking that it was going to be a huge hassle to find the right part.

For weeks now I have been thinking it would be nearly impossible to find a shift cable that would work on a 1979 Universal diesel engine. Little did I know this is a very common issue, and they make shift cables for just about every kind of engine, new and old.

I walked into West Marine, and literally as the automatic doors open I hear a gentleman in the electronics department talking on his radio “Mark, there is a young woman headed your way with a broken shift cable.” What? How could he tell from that far away? Let alone the fact that it was snapped, and I was in need of a new one.

Mark in the engine parts department was already flipping through shelves of cables before I walked up. I told him the engine model no. and there it was! For 38 dollars I purchased a new cable. All this time I assumed it would be a 300 dollar project, only to order some cable that may or may not work. I felt silly for not doing it earlier. Excited about the price, and convenience, I went ahead and bought a new throttle cable as well, knowing that our current one is on it’s way to snapping.

Later that day I replaced the shift cable. Another project that was easier than I thought. Easier than changing the oil, let me tell ya. There are a thousand things I still don’t know about our engine, but as things break, both us chicks get to figure out how to fix them. Maybe one day, when Katie and I grow up, we will be mechanics.