Copy of: Re: motor for p-15

Bill Zeitler (WZeitler@compuserve.com)
Tue, 21 Sep 1999 14:08:15 -0400


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
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---------- Forwarded Message ----------

From: Bill Zeitler, 74211,1362
TO: Oskari Reuna, INTERNET:preuna@cc.hut.fi
DATE: 9/21/99 1:49 PM

RE: Copy of: Re: motor for p-15


>> For the two years I had my 1994 P -15 " Just Wight " I used a 62 pound
(!)
>> 5 HP Honda 4 stroke. This did just fine in the Delaware River..bucking
>> currents, getting out of the way of oil tankers and container ships
coming
>> up the channel.

>Hi,
>I would love to hear more about your experiences about 5 HP motor. I
>have similar boat than P15 and I will sail&motor her in canals and
>rivers in Europe. I have not yet bought motor so your comments are
>welcome!

>I am wondering is 62 pound too much, I mean does it effect on how boats
>sails if you have 62 pounds on tramsom? Did you notice anything?

>Currents and tankers can be quite nasty in European canals&rivers too so
>motor should be strong enough, but do you think 5 Hp is too much?

>LEt's keep in touch!

>Regards,
>Oskari
>from Finland

Oskari,

I hope you don't mind that I have copied and forwarded to the general
Potter E-mail network your personal message to me and my response . It
was brought up recently that discussions like these are often of interest
and help to others who love pottering around.

My general sailing/boating area [ at least once a week ] is on the large
Delaware River which is a highly commercial river with refineries, chemical
plants as well as the deepwater ports of Wilmington, Delaware and
Philadelphia, PA....but not near as big and bad as Antwerp! I wanted
plenty of power to not only buck a pretty good current...but also to be
able to quickly cross the shipping channel and/or keep out of the way of
tankers, container ships, tugs, and even an occasional aircraft carrier,
passenger cruise ships, etc. !

I also liked the idea of four cycle as a clean burning engine vs two
cycle...and no messing around mixing oil and petrol, etc.

My 1994 P -15 had a fixed Garelick motor bracket. Because the HONDA 5
HP/4 cycle sat too low in the water [ prop too deep ] I made a new
mounting board that was about 2 inches taller. This also allowed me to
tip the engine out of the water more, but even when tilted back miximum the
tip of the prop still dragged in the water [ but it did not seem to hurt
sailing ability ]. Also, I put a 0.5 inch thick nylon washer under
the bottom mounting bolts to adjust the fixed angle of the motor
mount...tilting the board more forward.

Because of the 62 pounds [ and a previous accident which required me to put
an inspection plate in the port cockpit seat near the transom ] I put some
plywood backing inside the transom with a lot of additional fiberglass. I
saw no stress cracks to develop in the transom or near the motor bracket
bolt holes [ which were of course well sealed ].

Also....I had to move and firmly fix my 50 pound gel cell from just under
the companionway midships all the way forward to just in front of the
compression post to keep the fore and aft trim proper [ as measured with a
carpenter's level sitting on the cockpit seat which I guessed to be "
horizontal "] .

Of course I did not trailer with that 62 pounds hanging on the
transom...and I got sore muscles every spring after not lifting it up and
down during our winter months of no boating! ;-D> There is a proper way
to lay a 4 cycle engine on it's side since there is oil in the crankcase. [
see the manual ]

Since it is well known by my sailing friends that I'm not a purist "
sailor " I personally did not notice any sailing problems and in fact I
think the overall total extra weight was good for me.

There are many potterers who feel strongly that 62 pounds and 5 HP is too
much [ it may well be the case for many and that 2 HP would be plenty...
also probabily right for many ]...but at any rate, for me, [ finding myself
motoring at least half of the time ] that is what I did. I still use the 5
HP on my highly modified , 1000 pound Bay Hen catboat...at the moment a
motor launch. I like the HONDA 5 and it is strong and good running. I
do like an external gas tank. The engine is a bit more noisy then I
expected and also being a single cylinder engine it does vibrate a fair
amount at low rpms. I have had this engine now for over three years and
no malfunctions. I did put on a lower pitched " workboat " prop to drive
my heavier - then - average boat.

On a test one day I burned 5 liters of petrol to cruise 35 nautical miles
in 6 hours.

I spent several weeks this spring in the Netherlands and France and wish
very much I could join you to cruise around the waterways of Europe. I'm
sure we could have a grand time. We hope to do some canal cruising in the
spring of year 2000 in France with friends, but that would be on those long
and slow motor barges you can charter there.

Best regards,

Bill Zeitler
East Coast Potter Association
Wilmington, Delaware USA