Scott, How do you like the Nissan 4 stroke? What are its weaknesses, if any, in your opinion? I haven't removed the engine that came with Haabet because it weighs 85 pounds and is hard to get into and out of the well. That's one of the reasons I bought the Garhauer lifting davit. But if I did, I had planned to put it into the port cockpit locker on a bracket. So the issue of being able to lay it in the lazarette isn't so important to me.

Now that I've read the various posts on 2 and 4 stroke engines that I was directed to, I'm leaning toward trying to get the engine I have to work properly. I think it needs a fuel pump rebuild. It won't develop full power, but bogs down when you put a demand on it. If that is unsatisfactory, I think I'll go with a 2-stroke, 8 hp Yamaha or Nissan with a 25 inch shaft and an alternator. I have a 6 HP Yamaha with a 25" shaft that I'm going to try out while the 9.9 Merc is checked out. It has the same power head as the 8 but the 8 is carburated differently to give it the extra power. My Yamaha doesn't have an alternator, so it is only a substitute until I check out the Mercury.

I must say that I have felt that ever since I bought this boat 15 months ago, I wondered how the Yamaha 6, which develops a lot of power for its nominal 6 hp, would stack up against the Mercury 9.9...power wise and smoke wise. The 100 / 1 mix should make it a lot less objectionable. And it always was a heavily torqued engine that pushed my last (smaller) boat against any tide or wind that I managed to get my self pitted against, rather than working with!

So ... is the Nissan 6 hp, 4 stroke smoke free, and powerful enough, in your estimation?

Bill

As you said, there is a hull speed limit, but power when you need it to buck a tide or headwind, or both, is what I hope to maximize, using the outboard option. I looked into the possibility of retrofitting a diesel, but it just doesn't add up economically. Haabet will remain as she is, with some sort of auxilliary outboard power.