Outboard Motors.

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Outboard Motors.

Postby carl10579 » Mon Aug 14, 2017 4:00 am

I put a Yamaha 2.5 hp 4 stroke on the Daysailer and it works just fine. Last year I was using an Evenrude 9.5 and that worked well too. On the bigger boat (Aquarius 23, 7.0) I have a Johnson 8HP Sailmaster with an alternator for charging the batteries.

The biggest problem with the Evenrude is that it needs an external fuel tank. I had a hose running into the cuddy where I kept a 6 gallon fuel tank. I used about a gallon and a half all last season and having a tank is just a pain. But I love the motor. It's a shorty from 1968. A lot of cool stuff comes from those late 60"s and early 70"s years.

The Yamaha came with a Dinghy that I bought for the big boat. The first time I tried the motor out was on the Daysailer. I laid it in the back of my Ford and trailered to the ramp. When I went to put the motor on the boat I found all the crankcase oil leaked out onto the rubber cargo mat from laying it on its side. I had to pack the boat up and go find oil. Later, once in the water, the motor started up just fine but felt like it was starving for gas. Damn ethanol, I was thinking as I hoisted the sails and set out. After an hour or so on the water I was looking at the motor and noticed a vent on the built in fuel tank. On the way back in I opened the vent and the motor started and purred like the day it was made. Next trip with the motor I had it stored properly in stern hatch on the Aquarius and I had the dinghy tied to our stern. (Our big summer trip.) When we moored at the Vineyard we set up the Yamaha on the dingy and took it to the dock. The vent was open but it seemed to be starving again. Damn ethanol. Later I went back alone to stow the motor and dinghy and take the launch. I was slightly smashed and the motor would barely run even with the choke on and vent cap open. Had to break out the oars, but it was farther than I thought. Finally, just before dark I got a tow out to the boat from a guy who thought I looked like the Tidy Bowl Man (Hawaiian shirt guy paddling a rubber dinghy). I wasn't amused. When I was putting the motor away I noticed that the fuel cutoff valve was only halfway open. I figured this must be it and would try again next time out on the Daysailer.

Next time was yesterday. The Daysailer was rigged and launched. No oil leaked out of the Yamaha and I'm keeping it clamped on the transom from now on. Fuel cutoff fully opened. Ramp crowded with boats. Single handing and stressed. Motor starts, gets me out and away and stalls out. A few pulls and some choke, running again but peters out. So I'm thinking that it wasn't the fuel cutoff after all. Ethanol. Out sailing for a couple of hours and looking at the motor and I realize that I had left the vent valve closed again. The winds died, I dropped the motor, it started right up and ran just fine. In fact on the return to the ramp the winds died altogether and I had to motor back about 2 miles maybe more.

So whats my point? I don't know. I work maintaining heavy machinery, Diesel Trains. About half of the problems we have with them are caused by operator errors. Part of my job is figuring out if it is operator error or if it's actually broke. And here I am sitting on the water thinking about taking a perfectly good carburetor apart to fix something that isn't even broken. Just saying. I'm a mechanic by nature and over the last couple of years I've had at least a dozen carburetors apart to repair ethanol damage. I've seen it eat away accelerator pumps, fuel lines, gaskets. had it turn to a corrosive jelly and eat away aluminum and cadmium. Cars, chainsaws, mowers, outboards (including the Sailmaster), wood splitter, weed whackers and leaf blowers. So why not the Yamaha?

My point is, I guess, is to not jump to conclusions. Stop and brain things out.

Oh, the motors? The 9.5 will plane the Daysailer if sailing solo. The 2.5 will get you to hull speed at about half throttle. And the 8 gets the Aquarius to hull speed with a full crew and provisions at about half throttle also.

I saw a guy and his gal in a dingy zipping around with a "Torketo?" electric. He was going ashore from his 35+' yacht. It's a sharp looking self contained motor and would work well on a Daysailer and there's no fuel to turn on or vent cap to open.

Carl
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Re: Outboard Motors.

Postby fatjackdurham » Mon Aug 14, 2017 9:19 am

That Torketo is a neat little unit, well outside my ability to pay for, but pretty cool.
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Re: Outboard Motors.

Postby Alan » Mon Aug 14, 2017 2:20 pm

I have a Torqeedo, and I posted some info about it a couple of years ago. If you decide to get one, you definitely want a 1003 long shaft rather than a 503, and you might want to pay the extra 400 bucks for the new 1003C with the longer-range battery. When you're budgeting, consider that you'll want a spare propeller and a spare battery retaining pin, and it's probably worth the money to but the high capacity charger (from my experience, 9 hours from 10 per cent to 100 percent for the fast charger, vs 15 hours for the standard charger).
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Re: Outboard Motors.

Postby fatjackdurham » Tue Aug 15, 2017 12:32 pm

Good advice. Maybe for a treat next year.

For now, I took my OB to the mechanic to see if it can get sorted out.
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Re: Outboard Motors.

Postby GreenLake » Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:03 pm

I don't have a Torqeedo (making do with a simple trolling motor) and my verdict is that electric wins on reliability and dependability (but unless you get a Torqeedo, it's limited on power, and in all cases, it's limited in range). For me, these tradeoffs work.

On reliability: I've had three issues with my trolling motor. I sheared a prop pin once. I bent a prop once by resting the motor on in - was able to tweak it back into alignment, and I once had a battery fail on me.

This stacks up against: zero maintenance on the motor despite use in saltwater. Batteries (lead acid in my case) need nothing other than regular recharging and maintenance charging a few times a year - most have lasted me over 7 years.

I've only sailed a few times with someone who had an outboard, and it proved more difficult to dock (too much power, less fine-grained control of it) and then died on us for the rest of the trip. Anecdotal, but there you have it.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: Outboard Motors.

Postby fatjackdurham » Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:09 pm

Where do you put your battery so that it and the cables are not in the way?
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Re: Outboard Motors.

Postby GreenLake » Wed Aug 16, 2017 9:56 am

Because I use lead-acid, the batteries are heavy. Only place for them is forward. I have a DS1, so there's room at the forward end of the seats. That's convenient for me, as I don't bring the motor on every trip, so there's a bit of getting batteries on and off. Other people put them closer to the mast base, which is a better location for weight balance.

The older DS1's have a space between seats and side deck. I loosely run the cables in there. My plan had been to install them permanently and use a trolling motor socket for them, but I never got around to it. However, for permanent installation on a DSII I would do something like that (in the space between the hulls, but raised out of the bilge, of course).

For a Torqeedo that would not be needed, because the battery is pretty light and can be kept on the motor.

My usage scenario is occasional use as reserve power. Having limited power/range is an acceptable tradeoff to me (some people sailing in rivers may need to be able to power against a current - I could wait out a tide if it came to that). I also do not normally need power to launch or dock.

What I do need is something that handles long periods of non use, and when used, is reliable.

If I ended up needing a motor more often, it might pay to get a Torqeedo, but as it stands, the price of their fancy batteries is too high, divided by the number of trips I'd use it on, assuming a reasonable lifetime. For someone who brings/needs the motor every time and who goes out frequently, the picture may be different.
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