Photos of my dive boat

[Eric Sedletzky]

To answer a few questions:

The boat is built out of doug fir, plywood, stainless, and lots of epoxy. The outside is glassed and gelled. This type of boat does not have any built in floatation. I suppose the wood would provide some floatation but more than likely I would have to swim for it. At one time I had floatation in the floor but I got paranoid that any trapped water would lead to rot so I pulled it out. It is very difficult to add floatation to a frame built wooden boat and keep the floatation compartment totally dry. All it takes is one pinhole. It is best to treat the inside of the boat with copper green and paint it so it can breathe and dry out. I also let the salt water dry inside because mold spores that lead to rot can't grow well in a salty environment. I figure if any water seeps into the wood on the inside I'd rather it be salt water.

I don't exactly know what the GPM is? I went 44 standard miles once and burned about 10 gallons. It's not great with a 2 stroke.

And about the Evinrudes. I heard about the 2 strokes that are compliant, but I think those are more the bigger sizes designed for super performance like on bass boats, the 250's and up.

When I build the t-top it will have a windshield.

 

[zboss]

Really? That's interesting. I'm going to have to get in touch with a client of mine that is affiliated with Evinrude. I was told that by a mechanic that has the done maintenance on my engine. I think I also heard it from a few different sources when I was buying the engine nearly three years ago.

that older Envirudes did use parts from many other manufacturers, but since they were bought (er... merged) with Bombardier they have pulled on the resources of the Bombardier engineering and their new e-tec engines (we have dual 75's) are a complete breed apart.

That's all I'm going to say about this on this thread, I don't want to hijack it!

 

[zboss]

I don't exactly know what the GPM is? I went 44 standard miles once and burned about 10 gallons. It's not great with a 2 stroke.

MPG...

So you got 4.4 - that's really good. Generally at cruising speed (20 knots) I get about 3 and maybe close to 4 if the seas are relatively flat.

 

[Hank49]

With the Yamaha 60 with just me in it with a 15 pitch prop I can get about 35 MPH.
With 4 guys and the boat loaded with all gear and a 13 pitch prop I can go about 20 MPH.
I've never really had any trouble getting the boat up on plane with the 60, but yeah, sometimes I would like to have a little more power
I got that motor for $1800 used. I took what I could get at the time with the money I had.
If I was to buy a new motor it would be a new Yamaha 4 stroke 90.

I want to build a 26 foot dory next and I'll set that boat up first class.

That's pretty amazing speed for a 60. I guess that boat is a lot lighter than it looks. I have a 2 stroke 150 on a 22 foot (light weight, no frills, just a hull) center console (deep V) and my GPS was telling me 39 MPH at 5,150 RPMs with a 14 1/4", 17 pitch, 4 blade ss prop. I never had a way to measure speed with my old 60 on the other boat, but it feels way faster with the 150 now. Good for you.
You do fine work. I thought I was a real mechanic just mounting my motor. Have fun. Hank

 

[Hank49]

After owning several 2-stroke motors, I've thought the new 4-strokes were the way to go. They weigh more but have much better gas mileage perfromance, are supposed to be quieter, and also have better emissions with no messy oil residue in the water and 2-cyle oil "smell"

But I was watching something on one of these outdoor shows and they had a new engine they were showcasing on the show and testing. It was the Evinrude E-Tec. It's a 2-cyle, but is supposed to be quieter and cleaner than a 4-stroke, require less maintenance and I think more fuel efficient that a 4-stroke.
BTW.. I found that Evinrude has info on this engine on their website.
http://www.evinrude.com/en-US/E-Tec/E-TEC.Advantage/


-mike

Here in Belize a lot of people, including myself, went for the four strokes 3-4 years ago. They are definitlely way better on gas/hp. But now people (including myself) are switching back to the carbureted 2 strokes because of reliability. They do suck more gas and have that lovely smell ( I like it by the way, being an old dirt biker) but we don't have parts availability and factory trained mechanics here. If you're way out in the wilderness, the gas guzzler may be more practical.