The winter list ....
Now I'm back from holiday, time to knock out a few items :
- check trailer bearings- have bearing buddies on them, they still seem fine after a summer of dunking in salt water (although the grease was not new when I got the boat)
- Fix cockpit drain leak - 29/06 - done - Was a two person job, couldn't do it without Eileen! Installed new tubing and drain sockets resealed, removed the rivets !?(who rivets things into fiberglass?) and sealed with 3M 4200 sealant, with S/S screws to hold in place while setting
- Make a small table for use inside and in cockpit (still working on this..19/10)
- Sew some new covers for the squabs - material acquired from Spotlight...found informative weblink on making them: http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/4322/sew-the-new-box-pillow (25/08 - Finished !!)
- Refurbish the duratorque suspension, repaint, new bearings so can do a road trip up north over summer.
- Polish hull....07/08 - Done.. the white hull came up well, for a 30 year old boat, the gelcoat was in great condition.
 |
| Duratorques, off for a paint/service. There is still a tiny bit of paint on the hub carriers..! |
New outboard!
On a plus note, I did manage to do some wheeling and dealing on trademe.co.nz, and I spotted a barely used auxiliary Mercury 5hp 2 stroke long shaft outboard for sale and managed to acquire it for a very reasonable price.The old Suzuki 8hp 2 cylinder motor was fairly reliable, smooth and clean burning but seemed to fail to start at the worse time, and seemed quite thirsty too. On top of that, it weighed 29 kg, and was quite heavy to lift on the tilt bracket, and clashed with the transom pushpit. It was definitely due for a service. It was one of the best motors back in 1998 when it was purchased, and is still quite light when you consider a current Mercury 8hp 2 stroke with only a single cylinder is 28kg.The lightest 5hp 4 stroke singles are also around 27-28kg.
I sold the motor recently and I bought a new Mercury. It only weighs 22kg for the long shaft version. Less weight on the transom equals less drag and 5hp is all you need for my size boat - with the correct prop.I've tested the 5hp in the water, and the difference in noise is minimal, vibration minimal, and the best thing is it pull starts to idle, unlike the old one, which revved its head off, and you had to slam the choke in before it rev'd its head off and settled down to a even idle with throttle adjustment.
The other problem I had with the suzuki (with it's 7" pitch prop) was it would still push the boat along quite well even just above idle, making coming into the dock slowly enough very difficult, you can't put it in reverse to put the brakes on, it just spins the boat round ! Also had a bit of prop walk to contend with.
I did some searching, and found Mercury/Blackmax/Quicksilver make a high thrust prop for displacement boat applications (Part number 48-812951A02). More googling and I had the part number, and a price. Turns out that saildrive outboards are more common in the UK, and found a new one on ebay.co.uk.
Its a 8 3/8 x 6" pitch prop, compared to the original which is 7 4/5 x 8" pitch. You can see the difference in this picture. The original prop is on the right. The blades on the new prop are also a fatter profile, with even taper front edge and back edge. Luckily I was going to the UK and managed to pickup the prop in my travels, as they are hard to come by and very expensive in NZ.
Have yet to try it on the boat, but I'm expecting less prop walk, and less fuel consumption. It may not drive the boat over hull speed in flat water, but when it's rough, it will work a whole heap better. I've heard of boats with 5hp and high thrust props helping out larger boats and giving them a tow home no problem! The other plus is that I could possibly use this outboard on the back of a dinghy, as it is so light and has a internal fuel tank.
