[Public-List] outboards

[Don Campbell]

Hi John;
    This is not meant to denegrate your ideas of changing the lazarette 
because that is always a possibility. Be aware that changing the 
lazarette is not a just piece of cake or without compromises.
     The Alberg 22 has the outboard in the lazarette and there are 
problems there too. I have had  first hand personal experience with two 
of these.
     First, the controls are not much different for availability from 
what you describe, particularly the starting pull cord. The choke is 
always awkward to reach because it is in, under and around things with a 
lip on the laz., and the gear shift is not much better. It never seems 
to be a straight pull on the cord for starters,  regardless of how the 
cord lines up with the holes cut for the purpose. Knuckles banging on 
tillers is a given.
    Then there is the problem of having a watertight bulkhead between 
the lazarette and the bilge because now you have the bottom of the boat 
open to water ingress. We have found that the worst part is that if one 
has controls for the motor running through to the cockpit, then those 
conduits must also be leak proof to the bilge,  to avoid water coming in 
when the boat is sailing on a heel. This water in at these times can 
fill the bilge in only a few minutes if you really get going and bring 
in water under some pressure ( see below). I have managed to get more 
than 20 imperial  gallons into a AL22 within 10 minutes on a really 
sprightly breeze and about 20 degrees of heel. That is an extra crew 
member sloshing in the bilge and that one is not wanted when a crew of 
three is about right for this boat! The worst leaks are at the deck 
joint and the control  conduits,  including the starter cutout, which 
becomes the third place for leaks back here. Wires for electric starters 
need to get into the boat as opposed to into the cockpit so waterproof 
is with some technicalities. Just getting the shape of the bulkhead into 
the position of the front of the lazarette is difficult and the more 
pieces it takes, the less strong it will be. Glassing and manipulating 
pieces of wetted out fabric is not easy either, especially the corners 
at the toe rail. Been there, done that !
     The possibilities of reversing the engine with a 180 turn do not 
exist because there is not enough room in the laz. at the back to take 
the height of the front of the motor facing backwards,  particularly the 
steering arm and fuel control system as it is usually at right angles to 
the normal, down and forward position. If it is folded right  back at 
the 180 position, then reaching it and using the gearing at that angle 
for fuel controls gets to be a problem..
    There is only one currently produced motor that will fit the laz of 
the AL22 and that is the Nissan 9.9 two stroke. One cannot fix or lock  
the position of the turning mechanism on this motor either so it will 
wander with vibrations when running. None of the Tohatsu models (Mercs 
and Yamaha) will fit and have the lid close. Four stroke engines have 
really big cowls to the prop and so none of them fit the hole size. 
After that, we are back to trying to maintain old motors and you may as 
well work on an A4 as an old Evinrude or Johnson. Most of the smaller 
outboards do not have electric starters either. It is available on the 
Nissan 9.9 2 stroke.
    Once underway, the stern dips and then the back of the cut-out for 
the prop shaft is often under water. That then fills the laz with water 
under pressure from forward motion  and really slows progress when 
sailing or motoring. Waves don't help because they will often surge aft 
against forward velocities. You need crew on the bow to level the boat 
to help in solving this one.
    One more major  last thing. Under power, there is not enough airflow 
through the boat,  and exhaust possibilities, even with the exhaust 
through the prop, to allow the motor to run and provide enough clean 
oxygen for the motor without the laz. lid open. Therefore, you get both 
all the the noise reflected forward from and some fumes back up through 
the open laz. lid. This will be more noise and fumes than you now have 
with the motor down and aft of the transom.
    Oh and did I mention that there are not many small motors that will 
give you a reasonable prop pitch for this mass! These small obs were 
designed and built for max 16 foot woodies and rubber rafts, so 1000 lb 
loads not 10, 000 lbs.
   
Don
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