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Would like to know if it will fit in the well with lid shut before i go and buy one. It's a British Silver Seagull, 38" from clamps to bottom of prop. Any opinions out here? Any advice, experience with them? Looks pretty simple and uncomplicated to me, as long as i read the book!
Happy equinox! spring is here.
Gene Roberts had a Seagull years back, but he replaced it with a more modern OMC model.
The previous-previous-owner had a Seagull, model # CPC 29395L according to his corresondence record.
Apparently it fit, but in the time that he owned it, he always had problems keeping it running. And since his correspondence/parts had to travel the atlantic, I don't think that helped matters.
He had it from when he bought #3 (then "Glass Doll") in 1968 til ~1983.
If you can keep it running, sounds like it might fit.
End of day mode. For the first time ever I hit the bluebar above here on Quick Links, which opened a menu list. I clicked on 'Who's online?'
Turned out who was on line was a
google spider
a Yahoo! Slurp Spider
2 Guests unnamed
and 3 MSNBot Spders....
all on different subjects and some deep into the archives.
The archives they were preying on were each different.
I accessed there an outboard thread from a year ago and found a VERY knowlegdable post by Craig, c/amos, on the British Seagull. Naturally I don't remember reading the long and interesting post on the subject. Don't know why: I have a Silver Century, unused, new, never been turned over, don't even remember when I bought it. Maybe in the 80s, so I don't know if I have one of the "old" ones - I recall that the 'silver century' name was fairly new, I think. No one seemed to respond to the quality info in Craig's post - which I hereby so do!! Fantastic.:D
I was curious what thread you might have found a post that contained 'quality info' (just knowing there had to be an error) :p
I think it was in the 'outboard discussions' thread.
That cleared it up... the quality info was quoted from the link I posted... :D
Sorry, I was being unreliably rearranged by a V-8 mary that evening - or was it this. It connected last night with another recent coincidence of watching english speaking foreigners on YouTube pulling the rope and running their Seagulls on videos.:rolleyes:
Better parse on that link, I've hads enough.
Is there any interest here on a thread about DINGHY OUTBOARDS?
I'm not obsessed with speed like 99% of the sites on the web.
RELIABILITY!
I"d like to understand what the choices are between the manufacturers for an OB at the smallest end. There is really nothing I can find in forum or discussion or comparison about two, three, or four horsepower stinkers.
I've been playing with a dinghy idea for the foredeck of 338 - have a full size stitch and goop model going. Thinking is that a small enough OB might be able to be locked up in either the center thwart or saddle seat so I need actual dimensions. Wuduthink? Might have to drop by the local wart marine to see if they have any small 4stroke (this is California) Nissans (Tohatsu). Need to SEE and take measurements. Tohatsu seems to enjoy a great rep. But 338 is already a Yamaha (8/4) boat. And having TWO OBs on a boat the size of an Ariel seems a bit much - unless I think of it as having a backup motor....
Wonder if at the small end an electric motor would have the power and hours needed for cruiser work. I suspect that power and time are limited. And lifting a battery into the dink and trolling ashore is patently stupid. As somebody put it on a cruising forum: You want a 10 mile dinghy ( means you need a 10 mile motor.) BUT........
New to this, any thoughts? ........:o
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Let me just add here that my own preference is for a hard dinghy. On a cruiser's 'dinghy wars' site, the vote is two to one for the inflatable over a hard dinghy - with small proportion of skippers interested in folding or nesting tenders. This may be due to most cruisers having larger boats than our crowd and they probably find room for an inflatable on deck or in davits without obscuring the view forward too much. Generally bigger cruisers have more money and can deal with an expensive airboat and a pricey OB to plane it.
A hard dinghy won't get punctured and probably won't get stolen as readily. I wonder how OUR 'vote' here would turn out? A small pram can only take a minimalist OB (which is all we have room for) - for the most part, I think, I'd rather be a putterer than a planer!;)
So, we have the newer 4 strokes, with two strokes still available in other parts of the US.
Is the British Seagull a ONE STROKE?
Some body pointed out that if you're not a gross polluter you could wait til you get to a foreign port and buy there a vernacular Yamaha OB (model name escapes me) but it is a Yamaha that is not available anywhere in the States. For the little use an OB gets, and assuming that all models, even twos are morphing into more efficient machines, that may be the way to go. Probably a better price too. I have read that 2 and 2.2hp are problematic and that it is better to go with a three hp. You can probably still pull maintenance on a two stroke. Or a British one stroke. But a four ends up in the dealership.:(
Ebb -
I am a '2-motoror', at present. Have my 6hp 4strk Merc for Katie, and a 3.5hp 2cyl 2strk Johnson for the dink. Been thinking that it might be smart to become a 'semiPardey', and ditch the 6hp, that way I would only have 1 engine, & one fuel. But I wouldn't be able to motor upwind when hiding from hurricanes here (if blowing 20 or so), would have to leave well in advance, to allow for wind and tide.
Plus, the 4strk gets such good mileage - .25/gal per hour at 6 kts or so (calm water), and it is quiet.
Maybe down the road sell the 2, and get a 4hp 4strk, with a high thrust prop?
But 2 strks are *so* easy to work on.
And they're lighter.
After all, it *is* a sailboat...
Yes, I am full of answers. :D
Those 'gulls - noisy, smoky, but easy to work on, run forever, and have good Oomff, what with that big old fan blade down in the water having all that torque behind it...
I know you made the lazzy hutch for your superfancy, all-doing 4strk motor ;), but the Silver Century could handle both dink and boat, if what I hear about them is correct.
That said - Honda makes a nice, very small 4 strk 1hp o/b that would be a great dinghy motor if you weren't planning on towing anyone, and weren't in a big hurry. Same gas as your big motor, too.
You can send me the Seagull, I'll see that she gets properly taken care of. :D
A great thread on LIVING WITH A SEAGULL
(or Zen and the Art of Seagull Engine Maintenance...)
:D
.
.
Ebb has an unused (I must have started it up one time!)
off the shelf, new, but parked inside in shop corners over the
decades. Bought it in the UK and had it shipped over,
in the '70s. Anyway, all these years -- time for a new owner...
According to Wikipedia, Chillington Marine is defunct, but there
is a conservator keeping the name and spare parts alive.
Sheridan Marine http://www.britishseagull.co.uk/index.php
Letter code WSPCL--384M2. Weight, 50lbs. (old bath scale)
Clamp to non-cavitation plate above prop 23.25". Picture of a
1974 model: http://britishseagullparts.com/outboards/silver.htm
Seagulls are designed to push displacement hulls, The SCP is
a perfect match for the 26' A/C. When cleaned up, mine will
look new like the one in the photo. No stains, no chips in the
painted gas can. Brilliant piece of history, classic touch for
your restored Commander or Ariel.
Two stroke engines can be run anywhere two strokes are not
strictly forbidden, like fresh water lakes.
"Find out more by reading our British Seagull Technical Tips."
(quote from one of the blue lines above.)
willie's photo above does look like a Silver Century. But we need
the letter code on the other side to identify the individual motor.