srm
Well-known member
with the advent of the trusty Stuart turner
Really, I thought they were known as the "Stuart non-Turner".
A friend allowed me to sail his small gaff ketch. I soon learnt to sail on and off the swinging mooring singlehanded as I only saw the engine actually start and run the once. A damp magneto effectively killed the beast.
A doctor in Shetland in the 70's commented that they were the death of retired fishermen who bought a small open boat with that engine but spent too much time and effort swinging the starting handle.
The wartime operators of the "Shetland Bus" used small open boats fitted with the Stuart Turner for transporting spies and weapons in Norway, but soon discovered that the engines needed 100% watertight boxes to keep them bone dry while being carried as deck cargo across the Norwegian sea, otherwise they failed to start when needed.