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West Wight Potter Mailing List maintainer
dfarrell@ridgecrest.ca.us
List hosted by www.tscnet.com
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It is very difficult for individuals that sail lakes, rivers and bays to
understand what it is like to sail on ocean. To get there I have to deal with
5+ mph currents and a tiny inlet with huge powerboats going thru under a
bridge that's 25' wide.
Motors with internal gas tanks are only good for 2 or 3 miles. After that
they run out of gas. Running out of gas at inlet is suicide.
I have to motor 4 miles to inlet so I can get out to ocean. With an internal
tank motor It entails conking out of gas at the inlet, having to refill from
a Gerry can, spilling gasoline on outside of motor, ocean, my hands and a lil
inside boat. From there on I have to sail stinking of gasoline. This
exasperates me no end. Since the 3.3 Merc I had required refilling it's lil
internal tank 3 times, I got rid of it and swore I would never, ever, again
own a motor with internal tank.
I did purchase a Nissan 5HP 6 Stroke with external tank that weighed in at 56
lbs last week. It shook vehemently as all single cylinder outboard motors
do. Except, It shook more vehemently than I expected and would not stay
facing forward but tended to turn around to left no matter how hard I
tightened that lil knob that's supposed to keep it facing forward. A second
sample had same problem plus vibrated whole boat and lacked low end torque of
a 2 cycle. I returned them to BoatUS.
I checked out a 4HP 2cycle Evinrude (internal and external tanks) that
weights only 38lbs. It shook half as much as Nissan 5/4S and actually ran
smoother and quieter with twice the thrust.
The Nissan 8hp 2cycle on my P19 was a quiet, sweet, smooth running motor. I
believe it spoiled me against single cylinder engines. Out in Marina Del Rey
(California) I used to sail a 25' Columbia in and out of inlet with no
problems. I rarely used the 7.5 Evinrude hanging off it. Here in South
Florida there is no way you can sail to, in or out of inlet. Conditions over
here are radically different from California.
As it stands right now I am undecided between getting a 9.8 Nissan 2cycle 2
cylinder that weights 56lbs and will push boat at 22 MPH or a 4 HP Evinrude
that will push it at 6.5 mph. I can use either one as an auxiliary when
sailing or as motor when using boat as powerboat.
The lil Sovereign is an extremely versatile lil boat. It is like a McGregor
26. It will plane and pull a skier with a 10 HP and it will also sail. It is
an all purpose utility boat that also gets used strictly as rowboat or/and
electric boat in lakes where outboards are illegal.
I do not sail summers in Florida because temp hovers around 105 degrees with
0 wind when sunny or it blows 55 mph with thunder and lightning. There seems
to be no in between during months from July thru October. During that time
lil Sovereign gets used strictly as a powerboat with a bimini and at speeds
over 6 mph so I can keep cool. It also gets dragged everywhere.
Best
SF
In a message dated 3/31/00 5:47:50 PM Pacific Standard Time,
michaelconniesmith@home.com writes:
<< I used to power our Pearson Triton (8500# and 28.5') with a 8 hp 2 cycle
Nissan. Also pushed it with a 3 hp British Seagull. And we power our
Potter with a 2.5. All are more than adequate. Why do you want a 5 hp?
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: <SolarFry@aol.com>
To: <wwpotter@tscnet.com>
Sent: Monday, March 27, 2000 1:53 PM
Subject: Johnson/Evinrude (E/J) 4 or Nissan 5 HP?
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> I am looking for a smooth idling, smooth running motor for my fixed up 13'
> Sovereign so I can take her sailing out the inlet and offshore again.
>
> I would like to hear from you guys owning the 5HP Nissan 4 stroke (on sale
at
> BoatUS for 995) on reliability, starting ease, shake at idle and
smoothness.
> I'm sure the group in general would love to get an idea...
>
> Any E/J 4hp users want to add comments?
>
> the Nisssan weights in at 55 lbs and the E/J 4hp at 38 lbs. Nissan has
2yr.
> wty and E/J has a 1 year.
>
> Best
> SF >>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Apr 30 2000 - 03:27:08 PDT