My Sailing Dinghy has got to have an engine, now which one?

dancrane said:
Umm...what's the fixation with Seagulls, gents? Or is it a joke I haven't understood? When they were still available new, I distinctly remember they were perpetually cursed for being wretchedly temperamental. That intense frustration seems to have been forgotten in retrospect, like all the wet weeks in summers of the past.

I had the use of a little Yamaha 2hp one summer 30 years ago...it was extremely handy and never failed. Are the 2-stroke outboards which are still available new overseas, just old stock, or is the UK subject to laws which the rest of the world ignores?
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Dan, AFAIR, it was regulations that killed Seagulls, not lack of demand. ISTR that it was early emissions regulations that killed them - it was impossible to meet them without a total redesign that BS weren't in a position to do. According to "Saving Old Seagulls" in 1977, British Seagull were making 80,000 of them a year, and total production was over a million!

I grew up with Seagull outboards, and can say that without a doubt, they were simple, rugged and once running would carry on running until the fuel ran out. Starting them was a knack - and if you didn't have the knack, you would probably complain they were hard to start. But it wasn't difficult to master. Ours usually started second or third pull - and it had been submerged, thrown around, dismantled and reassembled by teenagers (my brother and I!) and generally abused. If it wouldn't start, it usually meant the plug had got oiled up - a moment's work to clean it. We once serviced a friend's Seagull that had been at the bottom of a harbour for several days, and once cleaned up and dried out, it ran without any problems at all.

There's an old joke about a guy who has just been elected to the Royal Yacht Squadron. All full of himself, he goes along to Gieves to get the outfit - blazer, trousers, hat, the works. At the end, the assistant gets out the ties. "Does Sir want the silk tie, or the Terylene one?", he asks. The new member asks which is better. After a moment's thought , the assistant says, "Well, sir, the silk tie is alright for holding one's trousers up, but the Terylene one is better for starting outboards".

I bet it was a British Seagull that prompted the joke!
 
I have lots of Honda 2 and 2.3s. Im only a few miles from you, your more than welcome to pop over and give one a try. All come with parts and labour warranty
 
AntarcticPilot said:
Dan, AFAIR, it was regulations that killed Seagulls, not lack of demand. ISTR that it was early emissions regulations that killed them - it was impossible to meet them without a total redesign that BS weren't in a position to do. According to "Saving Old Seagulls" in 1977, British Seagull were making 80,000 of them a year, and total production was over a million!
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In that case, what a pity the company couldn't afford the redesign. Wouldn't it be possible today, with a fuel-system that accords with current laws? And, maybe a better silencer?
 
I'd pay Torqeedo prices for one of their motors, styled to look exactly like a battered old British Seagull. Imagine the mystification of onlookers, observing the silence...

"No, he still hasn't got it started...total silence. Lucky for him, the tide seems to be taking him quickly in the direction he wanted to go."

:)
 
Repeated post. Either my computer or the IPC servers are working very slowly/badly tonight...
 
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my Sailing Dinghy has got to have an engine, now which one?

Seagull +1
I have a forty plus with clutch on the back of my elderly GP14.
Starts 1 or second pull. Runs on 25:1 so not too polluting.
If it does get a dunking can be restored without too much expense.
Cost me £45.00 9 years a go on ebay, so doesnt owe me anything.
Also use a Forty minus on my Redstart with similar reliability.
That one was free to a good home!
Have a seagull Curlew that used to power my Hunter 19 lurking in the garage.
All have outlasted the japanese engines that are lurking in there somewhere now defunct.
 
Lakesailor said:
Do some people close their eyes when putting their outboards down? Sort of like tossing a coin. It would be bad luck to choose to lay it down one way?
You put sheets on winches a certain way. You put the anchor in it's wedges a certain way. You make off on a cleat in a certain way. But outboards. Just however they fall is good.
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bignick said:
Yes

No

Four strokes have to lie on one side, or oil goes in places it's not supposed to. That's why there are lugs on one particular side to lie them on.

Just like it doesn't work loading a winch backwards... ;-)
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I looked back at this thread and see you you have had a wo-o-osh moment. I must remember to try not to try to be ironic.
 
My apologies, I didn't spot the irony. Probably comes with being over tired recently... I wasn't having a go, I hope it didn't come across that way, though I do appear to have been rather blunt for which I am sorry..
Kind regards,
Nick
 
I see that the substantial weight of a four-stroke is half the reason for two-strokes being remembered fondly...

...this vid is quite fun, (if only for the narrator's "rocking-chair & apple-pie" way of speaking)...he's constructed a tiny, re-mountable 6kg 4-stroke outboard from a garden strimmer:


...makes me wonder what other attachments it could drive...a battery-charger for smaller yachts? Maybe it could strap on the handlebars, to drive a Bickerton folding bike? :rolleyes:
 
Daydream believer said:
...let's hope Dylan did not see that...
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Imagine. A duck-punt converted to a miniature, strimmer-driven stern-wheeler. He could attach front wheels too, so it could creek-crawl even at low tide. :rolleyes:

Seriously though, I rather like the American's little super-light motor. Not sure if its land-based ignition would suffer in moist salt air, but okay as an occasional alternative to oars.
 
dancrane said:
Imagine. A duck-punt converted to a miniature, strimmer-driven stern-wheeler.
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Nah, if he's starting with a strimmer I reckon he should go with a Thai-style "long-tail boat". Easier conversion, ultimate shallow-draft ability, and you can turn the boat while stationary by paddling the engine sideways like an oar over the stern.

Pete
 
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