That's pretty funny about the baby alligator chasing your boat. Maybe he thought your boat was a cute lil girly gator and was trying to make friends
Luckily in the part of NC where I live there are no gators, so I really don't have any predators to worry about in the water here. There are some ducks on the pond but they got gone quick when I fired up the boat.
I'm tossing around some ideas about how to keep the servos dryer. If I come up with any workable solution I will certainly share it here. As for right now I reckon the best solution is to keep the boat upright (easier said than done).
Bill