If the Eaast Coast is a bit traditional, who still has a Seagull somewhere?

[FullCircle]

What's your secret for getting a seagull started so quickly?

Keep the engine as far out of the water as possible when starting. then the exhaust will overcome the pressure of the water to escape and allow the engine to breathe, or at least attempt the next firing cycle.....

 

[Otter]

Keep the engine as far out of the water as possible when starting.

Keeping them as far a way from water as possible is good advice.

 

[FullCircle]

Keeping them as far a way from water as possible is good advice.

Coupled with the cure for seasickness, you could prop it against the tree you are sitting under.

 

[Poignard]

Price and location (ish)?

I'll dig it out after the holidays and see what type it is and what condition it's in. Location is London

 

[Gargleblaster]

I have 2 working Seagulls. A 40- that I keep down at my club to get out to the mooring if the winds are strongish. It always starts first time, but contrary to advice I always open the fuel tap before opening the breather as the pressure in the tank floods the carb. It used to start on teh third pull, but I invested £20 in a full service last year and this year it has always started first pull.

The other is a recoil start 40+ long shaft which starts 2nd pull and resides in my garden shed as a spare but is a bit heavy for daily use. I have been offered what I consider significant amounts of money for it. But Seagulls are like children - how could you part with them?

 

[Hydrozoan]

... But Seagulls are like children ...

Don’t give them the ammunition, Pike!

Critics will now claim that they’re at various times noisy, leaky, smelly, rebellious and unwilling to get shifting.

 

[ianc1200]

Got 10 in my workshop (only one going though) but bought a refurbished Taylors cooker off a chap in Hythe near Southampton and he said he had about 40 - there was so many boats & sheds at his place I believed him.

 

[FullCircle]

Don’t give them the ammunition, Pike!

Critics will now claim that they’re at various times noisy, leaky, smelly, rebellious and unwilling to get shifting.

Oh Boy, you've started it now!

 

[FullCircle]

Got 10 in my workshop (only one going though) but bought a refurbished Taylors cooker off a chap in Hythe near Southampton and he said he had about 40 - there was so many boats & sheds at his place I believed him.

Ah, the very rare taylors Seagull, runs off paraffin?

 

[CalicoJack]

One 40+ 1970, which is periodically converted from s/s to long shaft, one 40- 1973, both working, . One Century which needs a new cylinder block.

 

[Otter]

Coupled with the cure for seasickness, you could prop it against the tree you are sitting under.

It would spoil the view.

 

[Daydream believer]

Critics will now claim that they’re at various times noisy, leaky, smelly, rebellious and unwilling to get shifting.

I know the feeling - I know quite a few critics who are leaky, smelly, rebellious plus a few other things that cannot be printed

 

[Hydrozoan]

I know the feeling - I know quite a few critics who are leaky, smelly, rebellious plus a few other things that cannot be printed

 

[DanTribe]

I think I've still got a featherweight under the bench at the back of the garage. Best place for it, never gives any trouble there.

 

[Daydream believer]

I think I've still got a featherweight under the bench at the back of the garage. Best place for it, never gives any trouble there.

That is the trouble. I am convinced that the more regular the use the better they run. We have club members who use them all the sailing season & they start & run perfectly. Mine is always trouble at the start of the season but runs ok after a couple of uses. Along with a new spark plug & new fuel, plus a clean carb

 

[OldBawley]

Had a “Modern “outboard first, never trusted the damned thing. The lower needle bearing of the crankshaft seized up, replacement needles ware not to find in Turkey or Greece . I repaired by dividing good needles from the upper bearing between bad needles from the lower. Believe it or not but the engine run. My confidence in modern technology in a marine environment dropped even lower. Furthermore the Johnson had a way of paying me back for my lack of confidence, he produced electrical shocks whenever I touched the running engine. Pulling a rubber wellie off and using it over your hand to regulate the gas is ok far from civilization but on nearing a crowded Mediterranean quayside it looks stupid. So when I found a neglected Seagull forty Featherlight I bought it for 10 € and restored it.
I now have an outboard I can rely on. I don´t use it often, rowing is just better. The pollution it produces is nothing compared to what big super yachts ( there are hundreds of them over here ) are spitting in the water day and night.
The Seagull is simple and robust and that is what counts if the dingy is such a big part of your life.
This one will not let me down. No bearings, but bushings. Can make them myself on the toy lathe. No gaskets in the carb. Metal propeller. Even a brass floater in the all metal carb. Always starts first pull. Will not be stolen. Has a lot more power than same size modern engines. My kind of technique.
My wife misses the Johnson. Not the way he run ( when he run ) but the expression on my face when I had received another shock. She could laugh all day. I once had a inside curled upper lip for hours from one of these jolts.