Outboard help?

[Jim in TC]

Before we retired from the farm, we had quite a slew of small engines on a variety of tools, and (for the brief time we had it) a completely reliable small Honda 4-stroke on our West Wight Potter. Though they mostly worked when needed, I have never had a great relationship with small engines, and when we moved to the city we systematically distanced ourselves from them. None left! We are all electric, mostly battery (even the little chain saw). Our Sun was originally going to come with a low-hours 8 hp 4 stroke Yamaha, probably a great motor but quite a lot more hp than this craft needed, and probably not started for at least several years. I foresaw potential difficulties getting it running again, only to need a smaller one ultimately anyway. Torqueedo to the rescue! Once one gets over the pain of expense, the electric motor is a great choice unless long runs during cruising are needed.

[Renae]

Personally, my motivation is to increase reliability, to reduce the stress for what is suppose to be fun, having been let down by both my internal combustion outboards this summer.

That's it in a nutshell for me.  I electrics are coming into their own, and will only get better.  No one--I think--honestly thinks we will be running gas outboards in 50 years.

As for coastal reliability, I would not venture off shore without a primary motor and a capable backup.  I haven't yet sailed in Lake Superior, but I plan to next year, and having the Tohatsu AND the Torqueedo is probably the only way I would be able to relax.  At any rate, the dinosaur-burner is back in shape and my final sails (probably this week and the next) will be amply propelled.

[Renae]

Well, the quality of my carb servicing is open to question.  Despite a good test in a bucket of water in my barn, and an equally good trip out of the marina in Lake City, MN yesterday, the outboard crapped out on me about a half kilometer from the marina on return.  Pretty much the same issue—it would kill but could be restarted and then would kill shortly after again. 

This time I was fighting 4-5 foot waves and 25 mph sustained winds.  I had just doused sail in what barely passed for a sheltered cove and had I not been able to coax the engine to run at low throttle after about 15 restarts/kills, I was minutes away from ending up on a rock pile.  "Fool me twice—shame on me."  I will have a Torqueedo in the spring.

Incidentally, I was one of three Suncats spotted in Lake City yesterday.  One was one the trailer, having just been removed from its slip.  Another was still in the slip, and is listed for sale on Craigslist.  I got a brief moment to chat with the gentleman who owned the first before heading out for what was likely the last sail of an epic first season, but stupid me, I forgot to ask if he was online here. Are you?

I did some thinking about the Suncats on Lake Pepin on the drive home.  I wonder if they followed their owners up from other ports, or if they were intended for Pepin all along.  I suspect the first, because as much as I love my Suncat, I wouldn't have bought it if I had ready access to a slip.  The price of even a used SC would buy one heck of a sloop.  As a trailerable ride though (I sailed 5 different lakes this summer), I really love my choice.

Much thanks to Roger, who sold me his, and props on his rigging modifications. 

[wes]

I had similar symptoms, and the culprit was ethanol related deterioration of the fuel hose. No sooner would I have the carb cleaned than it would clog again. On small engines with tiny jets, your fuel, fuel tank and hose must be pristine. When in doubt, replace the hose.

Or get religious about ethanol-free fuel.

Power boats with 350 hp Yamaha outboards don't have this problem! The tiny grit in the fuel just gets sucked through and burned up.

Wes

[Tim Gardner]

Renae said " No one--I think--honestly thinks we will be running gas outboards in 50 years."

Well Renae, at at 118 years of age, CERTAINLY not me!

TG

[Renae]

Renae said " No one--I think--honestly thinks we will be running gas outboards in 50 years."

Well Renae, at at 118 years of age, CERTAINLY not me!

TG

I'll still be a spry 102, but running electric!

[slode]

Well call me old school, but I enjoy tinkering with old gas engines too much to not make a hobby out of it when I retire in 30 years or so.  Hopefully my duck boat at the time still has the old 2 stroke driving it that'll be 70+ years old.  At the very least I hope there are still clubs around playing with these old engines much like the steam power shows around today.  There's just not much more fun that seeing a bunch of steam tractors and old hit and miss gas engines running around.  I go to at least one show a year.  If you ever have a chance to attend the WMSTR in Rollag, MN it's one of the best and biggest.
https://rollag.com/

But I agree as far as new stuff goes, electricity is the way of the future and I'm all for it.  I plan on my next commuter car being an EV's.  Same goes for any other motor of regular use outside of the old stuff I have that I enjoy keeping running.

[bruce]

Tim and I would be celebrating the same birthday and, quite honestly, as fun as it would be to see what things will be like then, I have no desire to hang around that long.

It's funny, I was an objects conservator for 40 years, mostly furniture and decorative art, but 10% of my work was on historic functional objects, printing press, voting booths, music boxes, and other machines long since obsolete. I loved the work, preserving good designs and bad without judgement, and it put food on the table, but personally I choose current designs and modern materials that don't require the traditional skills I practiced to maintain. I love the look of well-preserved brightwork on a wooden boat as much as the next person, but I know what it takes and that's not how I want to spend my time.

I am, of course, always glad to hear of people who do want to save the old stuff, and keep it alive.

[Renae]

It's not a matter of distaste for tinkering with the old technology.  I've rebuilt an old Chevy engine and restored and Allis Chalmers WD-45, and enjoyed myself in the process.  It's more a lack of fondness for ending up on the rocks when I'd rather be sailing.

[kickingbug1]

   I had one of those 4 hp mercs. wouldn't idle worth spit. the only thing that worked was to take the carb apart and soak it in seafoam. it was still pretty iffy. I sold it for 650 bucks and bought a little 4 horse Johnson two stroke. the little johnson if a twin so its far smoother and quieter and most importantly it idles like a champ. I will never have a 4 stroke. the two stroke 80 np on my bass boat runs perfectly and its 30 years old. also the two strokes don't seem to mind ethanol in the gas. i thou

[Renae]

I just ordered an ePropulsion Spirit 1.0 Remote version today.  I was told the US distributor has one in stock, so should be here soon.  I'll let you know how it goes with a Suncat once I've kicked the tires.

[bruce]

I'm anxious to hear how the Spirit 1.0 Remote works for you, of course!

Did the distributor (Mack Boring) have a dealer close enough to you to be useful? As long as the battery and remote are recently charged, and paired, they should sync via Bluetooth readily out of the box. Mine did when I first got it, but over the winter, when the batteries had discharged, they lost their pairing. The manual tells you how to do it. At first I didn't follow the instructions precisely, and they wouldn't pair. No problem once I did what I was told. The order that you make connections, turn things on, bring within receiving range, charge, etc. matters.

[Ken J]

It's amazing - instructions always make sense once you know how to do something :-)

[bruce]