The NEW tender and outboard MUD DISASTER... Got to love outboards !

[NormanS]

Do you carry an anchor in your inflatable tender?
I probably should but don't or at least I haven't up till now. even though I have one at home.
I don't have a motor just oars. so if I can't row I don't go.

If that's addressed to me, then yes, since we are very often landing on sandy beaches, where there's nothing to make fast to, I do normally carry an anchor in the dinghy. It's a 4.5lb Danforth, which I bought when I was still at school (some time ago). I do have an outboard, but seldom use it, preferring to row.

 

[GrahamM376]

Does it have a low sump oil cutout?

 

[lw395]

Two people in a tender, if the oars are short, you can often make better progress using them as paddles.
These days, a mobile phone with some useful numbers stored in it is always worth having.

I think the moral of the story might be you can't depend on anything until you've tried it?

 

[GregOddity]

Yes it does, but not whilst the engine is running... Back to the dealer!

It's in the Dealer, 4 Hours of running it's on them to sort out. Everything was done by the book. No fiddling with it in any way, the engine was run at 70% of its power with only about 10m of full throttle to check running at full power. It’s a 2.7m inflatable with a 8HP engine. It’s not like you need to run it at full tilt even with 3 people. Even a hint of a twist on the power and the front flies up. (which can be handy in Flying Fish emergency or a flock of Seagulls in attack formation flying low )

 

[GregOddity]

Two people in a tender, if the oars are short, you can often make better progress using them as paddles.
These days, a mobile phone with some useful numbers stored in it is always worth having.

I think the moral of the story might be you can't depend on anything until you've tried it?

yeah.. AND.. we did .. for about an hour in the sluice pond at the Marina. But we did fail to take into account Neptune’s twisted sense of humour.
The Paddles on the other hand Look real nifty and business like when pinned to the sides of the inflatable. Except when you actually need to use the damned things and they feel like you’re using Chopsticks as oars

 

[Ruffles]

In my view, if you've bought a new outboard and it isn't working, then you don't have a problem - the shop does.

So take it back and suggest they either replace or refund. And take your ruined shoes with you!

My 15 year old Honda 4 stroke did Wicor to Haslar on the can of fu
el I've had in the anchor locker. Must be a few years old. Never skipped a beat. The engine hadn't been started all Winter.

Over the years I've not not noticed any difference with old fuel. If there is no obvious oil separating in the fuel can then it's good.

One thing I have noticed (not relevant to your new engine). Running the engine momentarily to check it's ok is not a good idea. Either leave it alone or run it hard for a while. Brief starts seem to encourage the idle jet to block. No idea why.

 

[Daydream believer]

I have started my Seagull outboard on 10 year old fuel & it has run Ok.
What you need to do is learn to row. However dinghies with metal oars on pre-attatched pins are often useless for rowing so do not buy them .

 

[GregOddity]

I have started my Seagull outboard on 10 year old fuel & it has run Ok.
What you need to do is learn to row. However dinghies with metal oars on pre-attatched pins are often useless for rowing so do not buy them .

Ouch... the Seagull could be considered as a bellow the belt hit. And the Oars..look really cool attached to the side of the Zodiac.

 

[reginaldon]

Yesterday I started my Yamaha 5, 2 stroke of '84 vintage, it was on the boat, had not been winterised, most of the petroil in the detached tank has been there since pre-2004 - when I bought the boat. It started easily - it was a steel petrol tank - almost as good as a Seagull - don't tell Dillon!

 

[davidej]

Once you have it up and running, try to leave the carb empty of fuel (turn fuel off and run engine it until it stops) if it isn't going to be used for a few weeks. Modern petrol leaves a sticky residue in carbs as it evaporates and this can cause problems if enough builds up. I'm now quite good at stripping a Yamaha Malta carb !!

I have always believed that. However I had trouble with a nearly new chainsaw recently which proved to be carb problems. I told the dealer that the last time I used it, I ran the carb out and he advised me to always leave some fuel in.

Now a chainsaw and an O/B carb are near enough identical so who is right?

 

[Colvic Watson]

At issue here was not the anchor, but the NEW engine. The anchor we HAD deployed is a simple Folding Grapnel Anchor that was as good as a paperweight on that type of bottom. it's a 2.7 inflatable not sure if I want to have a 50kg Mantus on board.
What I found most worrying is that we got warnings from other people and even from the chandlery where we bought the engine to be careful about the fuel. My little engineer brain is having problems digesting the idea that Fuel IS the problem.

I know you joke about not wanting to carry a 50kg Mantus but that and the small folding grapnel you had are not the only two alternatives. You mention safety gear, a reasonable anchor is the most important piece of safety gear on any vessel big or small, everything else you mention are gadgets, handy for calling for help but no use in preventing help being needed. Yes get to the bottom of the engine, but spend £30 on a decent dinghy anchor, with that and the oars you had your options would have been much more pleasant and life threatening. I've made the same mistake as you, but it took me a lot longer to learn from it!

 

[GregOddity]

I know you joke about not wanting to carry a 50kg Mantus but that and the small folding grapnel you had are not the only two alternatives. You mention safety gear, a reasonable anchor is the most important piece of safety gear on any vessel big or small, everything else you mention are gadgets, handy for calling for help but no use in preventing help being needed. Yes get to the bottom of the engine, but spend £30 on a decent dinghy anchor, with that and the oars you had your options would have been much more pleasant and life threatening. I've made the same mistake as you, but it took me a lot longer to learn from it![/QUOTE

You have a point. My anchor needs a proper upgrade. Maybe not a 50kg Mantus but I do need something that will hold on mud. This one might as well have some bait put in it and be used for fishing in that type of bottom. We did not even notice slowing down. Which we did not.. So Yeah a New one needs happening.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Am i the only one that's thinking "if a conked out outboard has stalled the boat build for a whole week, how long it the boat build going to take, with all the problems likely to crop up there"

 

[GregOddity]

Am i the only one that's thinking "if a conked out outboard has stalled the boat build for a whole week, how long it the boat build going to take, with all the problems likely to crop up there"

Dude.. have you been taking to my wife?? did she put you up to this? 'cause she's been saying the same thing.

and were still cleaning mud from EVERYWHERE...

 

[PaulRainbow]

Dude.. have you been taking to my wife?? did she put you up to this? 'cause she's been saying the same thing.

and were still cleaning mud from EVERYWHERE...

Hah ! So i'm not alone

 

[Uricanejack]

If that's addressed to me, then yes, since we are very often landing on sandy beaches, where there's nothing to make fast to, I do normally carry an anchor in the dinghy. It's a 4.5lb Danforth, which I bought when I was still at school (some time ago). I do have an outboard, but seldom use it, preferring to row.

I suppose it was
But mostly just a thought to myself? and a general comment. Hmm an anchor would have been handy. But I don't carry one in my tender. Why not?
it's just a tender and I am only going out to the mooring the anchorage or in to the shore. Even though I do have a couple of the grapple type at home.
Apparently I am in the minority.
In my tender the only safety gear I routinely carry is a lifejacket. I may on occasions have a flashlight.
Never carried an anchor, in a canoe or a kayak ether. safety gear = PFD.

Slightly bigger boat used for fishing, the grapple is in the boat.

 

[GregOddity]

I suppose it was
But mostly just a thought to myself? and a general comment. Hmm an anchor would have been handy. But I don't carry one in my tender. Why not?
it's just a tender and I am only going out to the mooring the anchorage or in to the shore. Even though I do have a couple of the grapple type at home.
Apparently I am in the minority.
In my tender the only safety gear I routinely carry is a lifejacket. I may on occasions have a flashlight.
Never carried an anchor, in a canoe or a kayak ether. safety gear = PFD.

Slightly bigger boat used for fishing, the grapple is in the boat.

Please take a take a minute to reflect on this. I found an inflatable 23 Nautical miles of the coast, west of Sagres Point in Portugal in 1986. Inside there were 2 people in very bad shape. They had been adrift since 6 am when the outboard run out of fuel, they went out for night fishing, they took a sandwich and a bottle of beer each. I found them at 21 30 PM something if I remember right and only by pure coincidence as we had decided to tack for the hell of it. It was July, the temperature was above 40 Celsius the whole day and was still 36 when we brought them on board. They had NOTHING. no radio no water no tools no life vest not even anything more than a t-shirt to wear. They both survived, but one a German from Berlin spent 3 weeks in hospital after being flown to Lisbon the other also a German spent the rest of his 2 weeks holiday in Hospital in the Algarve where the food is great and the wine divine. He did not have any of that of course. They were both " well done" and crispy from the sun and dehydration.

What did I learn from that? I carry a white and red flare, 1 flashlight with a spare battery, 1,5 litre of emergency fuel 2x1.5L of water, small anchor, 30m 12mm line 2x kill chord a spare oar, VHF portable at all times. It all fits in the under the seat bag and hope to never need it. I did use the anchor and line and the flashlight and water in the last “incident” Everyone will also have a personal lifejacket with life line. Or they stay ashore. No discussions or even academic debates.
But hey thats me.

 

[NormanS]

But Greg, you claim to be hugely experienced with mud, which makes me wonder why you were using an anchor which you say was useless in mud. Something doesn't add up here.

 

[GregOddity]

But Greg, you claim to be hugely experienced with mud, which makes me wonder why you were using an anchor which you say was useless in mud. Something doesn't add up here.

with mud? yes I am! did you not see all the mud I had on me? Me and mud are as thick as thieves. We stick together... Anchors? let’s not make this a thread about anchors. it will never end. I don't know what the best anchor for an inflatable dinghy is... YET, but google is my friend and I’m still looking. It’s just hard to find anything other in google then anchor war threads. it’s even worse than walking into a sailors bar and asking in a loud voice if catamarans are better than monohulls. (off course everyone knows its Monohull )

 

[Concerto]

I carry a white and red flare, 1 flashlight with a spare battery, 1,5 litre of emergency fuel 2x1.5L of water, small anchor, 30m 12mm line 2x kill chord a spare oar, VHF portable at all times. It all fits in the under the seat bag and hope to never need it. I did use the anchor and line and the flashlight and water in the last “incident” Everyone will also have a personal lifejacket with life line. Or they stay ashore.

I suggest you add a couple of propeller shear pins to your list.