Well, I finally bit the bullet and bought an outboard. Now that I'm doing more saltwater/open water/longer cruises, the ol' 45 lb troller just wasn't cuttin' it any longer. It's a freshwater motor anyways, and it's life expectancy in saltwater was not very long.
Found a pretty clean 2005 Honda 2 hp on craigslist. Air cooled, 4-stroke, 360 degree swivel, throttle grip, centrifugal clutch, and pretty lightweight at about 21 lbs. Came with a stand, and just had the carb serviced as well. Starts and runs like a dream!
The Red Witch has a peculiar motor bracket on the transom, I believe since new, since the lower mounting bolt is under the port seat, and there are no access ports back there. I've been trying to find one of the corresponding mounts that would attach to it, but no joy, so I knocked together a homemade one:
1/2" galvanized carriage bolts/washers/lock washers/nuts, aluminum box extrusion/flats, and PVC board. The spacers on the right are neccesary because the threads on the bolts don't go all the way to the heads. Motor is standard shaft length, but cavitation plate/prop are well below the water's surface with the motor on this mount. Tried it out on Sunday, and it was pushing TRW along at about 5.5 kts wide open. 3 kts was about the best I ever got w/ the troller ...