ENGINE WELL

[iceman]

GREETINGS FROM MIDDLEBURY VERMONT

DOES ANYONE HAVE A NOVEL SOLUTION FOR KEEPING WATER FROM ENTERING MOTORWELL WHILE HEELING IN A GOOD BREEZE

I HAVE A 9.9 YAMAHA AND 2,6 GALLON GAS CANS

AND NO I DONT WANT TO GET RID OF THE ABOVE ITEMS

[Tony G]

Ah Vermont. It even sounds peaceful. It's a cryin' shame that one has to deal with boarding water there. Where exactly do you sail in VT? And do you sail the "A" version or the "C"? No Matter.
I've thought about this topic once or twice. The easiest solution seems to consist of a rubber or soft vinyl seal cut to fit the contour of the lower unit of the motor. Something of a square or rectangular piece that has a "C" shape cut out of it and has two holes that corespond to the threaded rods that project up from the outboard well collar. It could be fastened in place, after the outboard is installed, with a couple of nuts(probably nylon-not crazy).
Another version could be made with two individual side pieces scribed to fit the lower unit and captured with the same two threaded rods.
Of course both of these will still let some water in. And they may cause problems with the exhaust discharge and cooling water discharge dependending your outboard.
I keep going back to some sort of fiberglass insert that slides all the way into the well collar and is fair (or close to) with the hull under the counter. After all, those are such nice lines and curves under there on our crafts! It would have to be less water tight, obviously, than a 'plug' but yet I think it would provide for a smoother surface to pass the water by instead of "dig" the water. And oh yeah, this is all coming from someone that hasn't even sailed an Ariel or Commander yet.

Welcome aboard.

[Bill]

Something similar to what Tony describes is in the appendix of the manual.

Alternatively, you could remove the engine and replace the plug while sailing. We find that the drag of the engine in the water has a significant effect on boat speed.

Some of us leave the engine in the lazarette, but first let the engine run out of the water to remove the water in the system. You don't want it flowing to the head when tacking.

Others of us put the engine on the cabin sole in the companionway between the main and forecabin. Best location for boat performance, but it is somewhat in the way.

[iceman]

THANKS ALL
I SAIL ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN
120 MILES LONG TOP TO BOTTOM
12 MILES WIDE AT WIDEST PART

IF YOUR IN THE AREA
LET ME KNOW ILL TAKE YOU SAILING

I ACTUALLY HAVE THE FACTORY INSERT BUT ENGINE REMOVAL WOULD BE A PAIN ON A DAILY BASIS

SKIRT IDEA WAS WHAT I WAS THINKING

DID THE GOOSE NECK THREAD EVER COME TO A CONCLUSION

[iceman]

HOW DO I POST A JPEG OF BLUE PENQUIN
ON DISCUSSION PAGES

ICEMAN

[Bill]

Read the FAQ's.

Make sure the photo is JPEG no larger than 600 megapixels per side (about 6 inches).

Click on the browse button in the attach file dialog and locate the photo. Click open and the path should appear in the browse window. Then click on post.

[walberts]

I tried a rubber gasket that I made out of the material left over after installing a backyard pond. It worked pretty well the first year, but the second year I had trouble keeping my skirt up, so to speak. It kept sliding down the engine's lower unit or riding up off the engine well. I had tied it with thin cord.

This year, I am going to attach some velcro to the lower unit ... glue it on ... and make a skirt out of sunbrella fabric with velcro on the top and around the bottom where it will mate up with the velcro that I am putting around the engine well.

If I get the velcro on right, and if the skirt is cut right, it should work better. My goal was to keep the exhaust gasses minimized in the lazarette so I could shut the cover when motoring. It worked the first year, but last year the fit was poor and so was the functionality.

The problem of water coming up into the lazarette when you exceed hull speed may not be solved by such an arrangement. Water pressure would probably win out ... but I am going to try this idea this season and will post results.

I have a Mercury 9.9 and two 6 gallon tanks in the laz. It is a smokey 50/1 mix outboard and I'd love to change it. I tried my 6 hp Yamaha that runs on 100/1 mix and it ran fine with the laz closed, but it didn't have enough power. Probably more a result of not having the right prop size and pitch rather than just horse power rating, but I switched back to old smokey the Merc.

How do you like the Honda. Is it a 4 stroke? If so, how did you get it to fit? If it's a 2 stroke , does it run on 100/1 mix and did you have to modify the engine well hole in order to get it in there? How much does it weigh ... Any problem closing the lazarette when motoring ... Does it choke on its own exhaust or not?

Bill (Ariel #133)

[commanderpete]

Food for thought

http://www.yachtatom.com/projects/outboard.htm

[walberts]

I like the plug idea a lot, but I use the engine to steer in reverse, so I want a more flexible arrangement for every day use. If I were going off shore, the plug looks great.

[Tony G]

Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout...
The one hitch I run into is draining the water that does find it's way into the lazarette. I guess it comes down to some fancy, schmancy molding and grinding to form a self bailing drain plug when the hull is underway. Piece of cake!

[iceman]

THANKS COMMANDER PETE
THE JPEG YOU POSTED IS FROM THE POSTED WBSITE??
LOOKS NICE
MY YAMAHA EXHAUSTS UNDERWATER THIS MIGHT WORK

[Hull376]

Over the years, my boat has had numerous solutions to the water in the laz problem when underway. Have had wooden inserts, pieces of foam, rubber skirts, etc. Have a fiberglass plug as well, but I'm too lazy to pull out the motor, especially if the swell is running. My latest incarnation, which works well (no pun intended) was to cut a piece of lexan left over from the portlight project to the shape of the top of the well, cutting a curve out of it to fit the shaft of my nissan 6hp, and cutting another hole below the water discharge at the bottom of the nissan through which a fairly stiff vinyl tube is inserted which contacts the water discharge fitting. That fitting on the nissan doesn't stick out very far, but is enough to seat the tube around. Two 1/4 dia screws about 1/2" long, wing nuts and rubber washers overlaid with similar sized ss washers hold the piece securely in place on either side of the well opening. I also put a strip of 3/4" by 3/8" self stick foam gasket on the underside edges that mate up with the top of the well. You can still swivel the motor at low rpms, some water will enter the laz because the discharge is hitting the lexan, but once underway, the water goes down the tube. i hardly ever swing my motor anyway. You can see through the clear lexan to make sure that the motor is pumping water out the clear vinyl tube. Some water will still come up in the imperfect fit with the outboard shaft cutout if you get hit by big following waves, but I've found that to be the case anyway with more sophistocated rubber gasket solutions. Any water that does come in is easily handled through the hole just below the motor transom which exits near the waterline inside the motor well.

[walberts]

I have a Mercury 9.9 and two 6 gallon tanks in the laz. It is a smokey 50/1 mix outboard and I'd love to change it. I tried my 6 hp Yamaha that runs on 100/1 mix and it ran fine with the laz closed, but it didn't have enough power. Probably more a result of not having the right prop size and pitch rather than just horse power rating, but I switched back to old smokey the Merc.

How do you like the Honda. Is it a 4 stroke? If so, how did you get it to fit? If it's a 2 stroke , does it run on 100/1 mix and did you have to modify the engine well hole in order to get it in there? How much does it weigh ... Any problem closing the lazarette when motoring ... Does it choke on its own exhaust or not?

Bill (Ariel #133)



Report

[Bill]

Have you searched on "outboard" to read all of the earlier discussion on this subject? The consensus on the board seems to be the 6hp 4-cycle engines from either Tohatsu, Merc, Yamaha or Nissan (all the same basic engine). Honda's and the higher hp engines require modifiying the well because of their size. (Especally the Hondas - those engines are very large.)