You only live once, enjoy both Skaters you have, keep Smiling..

I've always wondered what the ropes are for wrapped around the outboard tieing it to the boat??

Those are bungees that keep pressure against the mid to stop the swivel bracket that the powerhead and mid are mounted to from falling away from the transom assembly when the boat goes airborne in big water. Without the thrust of the props in the water, there is no force keeping the swivel bracket firmly against the transom assembly, and when the props re-enter the water under power, it is very abusive to the swivel bracket and transom assembly. The bungees keep that from happening. I ran them on my first 28, as I beat the crap out of that 28 in big water.

Thanks Dale