Theis,

That's my boat in the photo. I push my boat out of the slip, swing the bow and then shift from neutral to forward. Backing is that pesky. One problem is that when the Nissan shifts from reverse to forward, it takes forever to start moving in the other direction. The other problem is that the boat just doesn't back down well with the motor aft of the propeller. As far as cavitation on the Nissan 6 four stroke, hmmm, I'll have to think about that. I can tell you that backing down is a real challenge. I was able to back the boat for the haul out this week, but it is always high adventure.

I did see something quite marvelous a couple of years ago at the Boat Show in Alameda. A fellow there had a Saildrive unit that used a Honda 12 hp motor for a top end. I thought that was pretty slick, because with a slight modification to the fiberglass housing, I think that it would fit into an Ariel OB well, and you would never have to haul the motor, but you could haul it if you wanted to do so without hauling the boat. ...no more motor lifting, and no more wet lazarette problems. The whole unit weighed around 90 or 100 lbs as I recall, which is a bit heavy that far aft, but not prohibitively so. The only downside was the price. That was enough of a downside that I walked away.... but there is a business for someone: Build a Saildrive unit for Ariels and Commanders and you will have a market for Bristol 27s and a whole host of Columbia owners who have boats with OB wells.