Wally,
I'm in total agreement about trying to outrun a storm with your motor.  
Several times I've been caught out on the lake during a storm with some distance  
from home. I always try to find a nice protected cove and ride out the storm. I 
 also rely on my weather band on the VHF. My radio is set to give the storm  
warnings when issued by the national weather service. It really saved my butt  
one fourth of July several years ago. Many boats were caught out in a really  
nasty squall line that literally came out of nowhere. No one was reported  
injured, but I'm sure many people were caught totally unprepared. 
I've never heard of a complete failure of the motor mount like this one.  The 
appearance of the plastic tells me it was weathered and very brittle. The  
newer UHMWPH has far more UV protection and will stand up better to the  
elements.
When repairing or replacing, I would use the same identical materials as  
came with the mount. Upgrading from aluminum to stainless may seem like a good  
idea at the time, but I'm sure Stan used the materials he did for a good 
reason.  This was a case of a badly warn and neglected motor mount waiting for a bad 
 place and time to fail.
 
Rummy



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