| Subject: Row, row, row your boat ...
or perhaps a motor would be easier??? ----- Original Message ----- From: Richard C Harrington To: classy_cassy_16@hotmail.com Cc: wayfarer@home.nl ; w1348@online.no ; ... Sent: Monday, January 26, 2004 10:58 PM Subject: Motors Cassy, When you get into the boat let me know if you find an owner's manual. I've yet to see one. But wonders never cease! I will copy several friends who are more knowledgeable than I. From my experience: Generally, except for the extreme situation, 2 HP pushes the Wayfarer along at hull speed. Where this will vary is if you are bucking an strong current or big seas. However, attempting to motor a dinghy such as the Wayfarer in big seas is not only hopeless, it is dangerous. I seldom motor if I can sail and never motor in strong winds. You will not be able to control the dinghy (it is too light weight and has a lot of windage) and you can easily get blown into a hazard. In very light winds a motor can mean the difference between enjoying a pleasant evening with cocktail in camp, versus sweating out a long spell on the oars. Thus, it is occasionally nice to have a motor in order to get you to your planned destination. (For me, the added mess of packing along a motor and gasoline is not worth the trouble.) For most people I know that have motors, the standard shaft or long shaft, work equally well. The standard shaft means that you need to keep the weight in the boat aft to keep the transom in the water and avoid cavitation. The longer shaft motor will of course work better. Most folks opt for an outboard bracket which means that the motor can be set lower and thus accomplish the same result. Few people bother to spend the money, or time, to obtain a longer shaft motor. The outboard bracket has the added advantage of getting the motor prop further away from the rudder. Sooner or later (mostly sooner) a motor mounted directly on the transom will gouge the rudder. This is very upsetting. (When in shallow water with the rudder kicked up this is always a hazard, even with an outboard bracket.) The other advantage of an outboard bracket is that it keeps the transom traveler clear and reduces the possibility of the mainsheet fouling on the motor. This is not a minor concern! If you happen to reside in a locality where you are frequently navigating a strong river current, or have to deal with strong tidal currents in narrow passages, I would recommend purchasing a more powerful motor (say 4 HP). I'm sure that the others I've 'cc'd will have much more to add. Good luck and happy sailing---DICK This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm Cc: <rmharrington2@juno.com>
Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2004 08:03:40 -0500
Subject: Wayfarers & motors
Good morning Cassy,
I read
the advice given to you by Dick and it sounds like he covered about
everything. (I don't know what the rest of us would do without Dick and
Uncle Al, they're a blessing). I have a few other things I would like
to offer that might be of benefit.
I have a 1984
Wayfarer (Abbot) that I have had a 2 hp Johnson 2 stroke on for all
most as long as I've had the boat. The engine is circa 1972 and I
had the good fortune to buy it off a dear customer of mine probably in
about 1985. He used it to power a canoe when he made fishing
trips in Canada. He got too old for that and sold me the motor at
a very good price.
I have
a fixed motor bracket on my boat that came from the factory. The
motor is clamped to a tapered piece of mahogany that is about 2 feet
long and this board slips into two vertical aluminum tracks that are
bolted to the transom. To remove the motor from the boat, you
just pull the motor up and it and the board come off the transom for
stowage inside the boat. There, unfortunately, is no provision to
raise or lower the motor when it is in use. I have a short shaft,
and I can not leave the helm position for more than a few seconds
because the prop comes out of the water and enough of that can cause
the motor to overheat and is probably a little hard on the water
pump impeller. I have never changed the water pump impeller in
all the years that I've had the boat, I'm probably skating on thin
ice. I don't even know if I could get one for that motor.
I know the
kind of motor bracket that Dick talked about but have never seen one on
a Wayfarer although I have given it some thought. I have one like
he talks about on a 21 foot sail boat that my brother and I built back
in the mid seventies. It works well. It is spring loaded
and gives you some assist when raising the motor. On that boat I
have a 7.5 hp 4 stroke Honda of about 1977 vintage and it is somewhat
heavier that a comparable 2 stroke. If I were to put that kind of
mount on my fiberglass boat, I would probably think about some
reinforcement in the way of a good plywood pad glassed to the inside of
the transom since the bracket would likely put a little more stress on
the transom. I have my other boat reinforced that way and have
never had any problems with it.
The one
advantage of my 4 stroke is gas economy. My 21 foot boat will go
about 10 miles @ 6 mph on a gallon of gas. The Wayfarer will also
go about 10 miles @ 4 mph on a gallon of gas. Old 2 strokes might
consume up to three times the amount of gas as a 4 stroke. I
believe the newer 2 strokes are more fuel efficient and don't pollute
as bad as the old ones. At least they are more user friendly.
One advantage
of the 2 stroke aside from its lighter weight, is that they are almost
bullet proof. They are simple in their mechanism and very
reliable. But reliability is also the key word on my Honda 4
stroke. The only thing the Honda has required in all the
years that I've owned it was a new fuel pump. Of course,
my Johnson does not have one of those. However, and I've done
this a couple of times, if you should dump a 2 stroke in the water
instead of tearing it down and dewatering it you simply pull the spark
plug give it a few pulls on the starter rope to remove the water from
the combustion chamber put the plug back in and go home. I saw
two fisherman in Canada some how loose a 10 hp Mercury overboard, fish
it off the bottom of the river with their landing net ( I don't know
how they managed that considering the state of inebriation that they
both were in.) and put in back on the boat and after a few pulls, it
started and they went on their merry way. I think in that case, the 4
stroke might require a tear down and clean up. I, fortunately,
don't have any first hand experience like this with the Honda.
Dennis Figley (W7477) ----- Original Message ----- From: wayfarer To: 'Richard C Harrington' ; classy_cassy_16@hotmail.com Cc: w1348@online.no ; ... Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2004 6:29 PM Hi Dick & Cassy, Well, Dick, you don't make it easy for a fella to add something. You covered most of it. But after reading your essay twice and some hard thinking, I may have found a few tiny gaps to fill. Power A 2 HP is usually sufficient, as you stated. My old faithful is rated 3.5 HP however. Perhaps you remember me towing three boats against the strong current in Sweden. On occasion I have towed five boats. I don't think I could have done that with a 2 HP. The down side of a more powerful outboard is its weight. I checked a couple of new engines: Honda four 2.2 HP - 13 kg (My favourite four stroke) Suzuki 2.2 HP - 12 kg (My favourite two stroke) Mariner/Mercury 2.3 - 13 kg Mariner/Mercury 3.3 - 14 kg (Tuned 2.3) (My favourite two stroke for heavy towing) Mariner/Mercury 4HP - 20 kg An untuned 4 HP (long life, little maintenance) is over 20 kg. The tuned 3.3 is light but requires more maintenance. The problem here is that the weight is where you least want it. I carry the outboard on the transom on a detachable outboard bracket. Having 20+ kg's there (add the weight of the fuel and bracket) is like seating a person on the aft buoyancy tank. And we never do that, do we? I have seen Brits carrying their outboard in a padded bag next to the CB case for that reason. (The cylinder head fits in the opening under the CB case/mast). This brings the weight to a better position (low and in the middle) and solves the problem of your sheet getting caught by the engine. long vs. short shaft All you said plus: A long shaft may be a problem in shallow waters. A long shaft stays in the water even when the motor is tilted up (drags). A short shaft is above the waterline when tilted up. - A long shaft is better in waves. (BTW, cavitation is not the same as when the propeller bites into the air. Cavitation is the effect that water evaporates due to high pressure. This forms gas bubbles (water vapour) below the waterline. It is something that never happens with the outboards we normally use. It happens when an ocean liner revs up too fast or with over powered speed boats. Our propellers do sometimes bite into the air. But I am sure that is what you meant). two stroke or four stroke? Two stroke: Advantages: Simple engine, easy to service (I can do it myself) Lower weight than a four stroke (er, look at the Honda four 2.2) Can be stored and transported in any position Disadvantages: Higher fuel consumption (need to take more weight aboard) Need to mix two stroke oil into the fuel (dirty and expensive) Can't use fuel as spare for car or use it in car at end of the season Noise Smokes a little and smells typical (oil in fuel) Less friendly to the environment (some fuel/oil passes through unburned) Four stroke: Advantages: Lower fuel consumption (less weight to carry along) Uses standard car fuel Lower noise level Better low rev performance Full combustion; less pollution. Disadvantages: Weight (exception: Honda 2.2). Won't start if held upside down or on the wrong side. Hard to maintain without qualified help. Note: fuel consumption isn't an issue as far as the environment or money is concerned. During the whole of last season I used about 8 litres (2 gallons) gasoline. A concern is the weight we have to carry along for each mile or hour of motoring. BTW, did you know that the biggest source of CO2 in Holland is cows and pigs? They out "perform" all our cars by a factor of five! Makes you think, eh? Heavy weather Though I totally agree with you (not to use the motor in heavy weather) those that do should keep a tiny bit of sail up, not to sail but to serve as a roll damper. It makes the boat more or less lean against the wind and more controllable. It's a trick that motor-sailers (yachts) often use. (Al's note: Ton just reminded me to remind you that the board should be up. Half-way at least, I should think. Having never motored in a W, I'm not really qualified. Other input welcomed!) A final tip I have a permanent bungee from side to side in front of the aft bulkhead. It isn't tied, it goes around the benches and two hooks on the ends close the loop. I use it to wrap around the tiller as an auto pilot when single handing. And when the motor is on, the hooks go on the block on top of the bridle rope. There is almost no tension on the bungee but when I'm gybing, it pulls the block forward, just enough to clear the cylinder head. It ensures that the mainsheet passes over the buoyancy tank and not behind the transom. The bottom part of the bungee loop is still available to fix the tiller. Because the bungee isn't tied, I can always grab the tiller and steer with the bungee still on (safety). If winds are not too strong, I can even get the spinnaker up and down singlehanded with this arrangement. A neat trick while racing singlehanded! Outboard bracket Those seeking a removable outboard bracket should look at : http://www.boatsnbits.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Wayfarer_fittings_21.html (Go to bottom of page) The bracket shown is cast aluminium. Boats 'n Bits also have a stainless steel version of the bracket (not shown). At http://www.wayfarer.nl/images/Outboard_bracket.pdf, I have made a drawing of the bracket that describes how I mounted it. Note: the drawing is not to scale, those that would like to make one themselves, email me for the dimensions. I will take the measurements from mine. Best W-wishes, Ton Jaspers -----
Original Message -----
From:
wayfarer
To:
'Al
Schonborn'
Sent:
Sunday, February 29, 2004 7:42 PM
Dear Uncle Al, While re-reading the motor emails a few other matters sprang to mind: air cooled or water cooled?? When the prop comes out of the water too often, there is a problem with water cooled motors. They all pump up the cooling water from a position near the prop. It isn't hard to see that when the prop comes out of the water too often, the cooling tubes get air filled, and even when the prop is submerged occasionally, no cooling water will reach the engine. Fortunately my current engine is air cooled. If I were to buy a new motor I would probably go for an air cooled type again for the reasons mentioned above. And also, water cooled engines need regular replacement of the impeller (the rubber moving part of the water pump). Impellers tend to fail at the most inconvenient moment. (Murphy's law) speed limits Dick talks about hull speed and a little later about current and that a more powerful motor may be needed in currents. But hull speed is independent of current. We always sail relative to the water and then current does not exist. Current is only a factor in navigation, when we want to know our progress over the sea floor. In other words, a more powerful motor has no effect on current. The boat is still limited by its hull speed. It is however advantageous if there is more drag, for example when we are towing. Planing with an outboard is only theoretically possible, it would require an over 15 HP motor but I can not imagine any Wayfarer that wants that kind of power and weight on his transom, not to mention steering problems when on a motor-powered plane, the hull simply isn't built for that. So, we are bound to our hull speed as a speed limit while under motor power. more pros of more power There may be another advantage with a slightly more powerful motor: We do not need to sail full throttle to reach hull speed. This means the motor isn't maximally loaded and that means a longer service life (or more time between maintenance), less noise and a lower fuel consumption. Perhaps the mileage to the gallon is even better than with a lighter motor, at least the garage bill will be less. The down side is that a more powerful motor weighs more. There must be many more aspects to consider when buying a new motor, but I'll leave those to others. best wishes, Ton This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm
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