Outboard Discussions

[ebb]

Finally dawned on me to take a look at the outboards in the garage.
There's a Seagull Silver Century, a SeaCraft 6 that came with A338, and the 4X8 Yamaha.
The earmuffs would have to be used with the Seacraft - and that's what had stuck in my brain - because I do remember running water through it at the dock.

The 2002 Yamaha has the (sliced bread) hose fitting screwed into a bracket beneath the hood.
You unscrew it and attach the garden hose to the female fitting which is on a short hose attached to the motor
Naturally I've mislaid the manual, but the forums above mention that it's OK to run fresh water through the motor when it's tilted. You must however be careful with the hose pressure.

ContinuousWave guys think that it's better to run fresh water through a running motor. They think that will desalt the whole motor best. But another guy will say the the engineers who designed it know what they are doing and that passive cleaning with the garden hose fitting through a non-running motor is just as good.

I couldn't argue. Desalting the motor mounted in place on the boat - NOT REMOVING IT - is buttering the sliced bread imco.
If and when the motor comes off, then run it in a tub.


ZINCs

I thought it was common practice to ground the whole OB with a large zinc attached to the boat under water near the OB.
The wire would be brought up to an unpainted point under the case. With our OB well, the wire would come up from a bolt on the zinc conveniently through the well. Where it is attached to the motor we should discuss.

That might be the answer to rampant corrosion that the smaller sincs attached to the OB can't handle.
Aren't they specific to the spot they are attached to?
They obviously can't do the job the whole OB zinc is supposed to.

Can we get concensus here?
Think it's really important.

[Tony G]

I'm still back at the lifting davit, Ebb. Why do you think you will need one? With your modified outboard well you shouldn't need the added expense, clutter or weight. With regards to lifting eyes, add your own. Or make a lifting 'harness' out of webbing or some other suitable material.

As far as zincs go I admit I know very little so far. All metal parts protected by a (singular) zinc need to be in contact with each other correct? So are all parts of a lower unit 'conductive' with each other? Is that the reason you want to run a wire from a zinc into the power head? Go easy on me man, I'm just a kid!

[ebb]

Tony,
Yer right. That davit thingy is a bit of extra gear and weight.
A gun tackle on the boom would be cool IF the boom end was above the OB well,
which it certainly isn't.
Once came upon a blog where the guy had actually made an extension for his boom for the purpose of raising his OB.

There are other possibilities. For instance if a boom gallows* is fitted a leg might support a davit arm and gun tackle. Your ab normal geezer isn't going to be able to haul a 110# Yamaha outta the hole. To dismount the behemoth it will have to be lifted with one hand on the tackle, the propeller and fin carefully slewed and guided with the other hand around stuff, and swung over the toerail onto the dock or even into a dinghy. Who knows, but more controlled the better.

Also a davit might be useful for other weighty issues that have to be eased aboard.
Jerry cans or a sodden crew!!!

Really need a kicker half the weight.
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*Can see a boom gallows substituting for the stern pulpit on litlgull, leaving the stern without tubing.
It also would make an important high safety bar in the rear of the cockpit
where imco something strong to hold on to while standing is really a plus.
It also can make it convenient to attach various canopies and privacy enclosures for the cockpit.
The gallow's legs would make it possible to finesse an overweight OB over either side of the Ariel.
Whether a boom gallows is needed if a rigid vang is on the boom is questionable.
Maybe this needs another thread???

[commanderpete]

Maybe one of those "grouper" or guppy" zincs could help with the corrosion issues. Perhaps a homemade model.

Those old Yamaha 2 stroke outboard lower units are very good about surviving in salt water. I've been casually looking for a backup to my 1992 8 horse. A used 6 hp Yamaha longshaft outboard is very difficult to find. The 8 hp is even more rare. It seems like a good one sells for about $500-$700