Hey Juls, great to see your detailed and interesting posts again! Glad you were able to get on the fish for your guys. I've only been out to Erie once this Spring and posted it on the "Early Season" post. It seem like we just haven't had many days that the weather has been good enough for me to make the 3 hour trip.
Hope the motor issue is a quick, easy and inexpensive fix. I guess if something is going to go bad on a trip, you couldn't ask for better timing.