New outboard engine and the sleeping seal
I thought of buying and fitting a crane to my radar mast to help me lift the dinghy engine from the its mounting plate on the rear of Luce and lowering it onto the dinghy. I was telling my friend Steve and he suggested a new electric engine. I’ve previously shied away from these due to their limited travel range. However Steve and indeed another friend Howard have electric outboards and both really rated them. After a lot of research, I decided to bite the bullet, so to speak and give them a try. My research showed me that the range is for much more than I had understood and with the larger battery you can get up to 4 hours use, which is more than I will ever need.
Last week I collected the new electric outboard engine. I was eager to try it out, so having got the dinghy ready, I fitted the engine and pottered around Chatham Marina. I was really pleased with the new engine performance and ease of fitting it to the dingy. There were a couple of reasons I decided to go electric, the main ones being that my traditional 3.5hp petrol engine can be a pain to start when left for months without use. And whilst the electric engine is bigger at 5hp its about 5kg lighter and the battery is designed to be removed by lifting a clip and simply being pulled out. It weighs about 10kg as does the engine and is so much easier to lift and fit to the dinghy. There have been many times when I have fitted the old engine where I have thought I was going to hurt myself or drop it in the water. 25kg of engine is is quite heavy to lift and then try to safely lean over the water with it to fit to the dinghy. The other reason apart form the obvious environmental advantage, is that I have always very been uncomfortable storing cans of petrol on board, particularly when in windy conditions and the boat is slamming into rough sea and waves and feel much happier without worrying about escaping petrol and its obvious risk.
As I set off, I noticed a seal in the marina and headed towards it, but keeping a decent distance so not to disturb it. I was very surprised that it seemed completely unbothered my my presence. He was sleeping, bobbing around in a vertical position, his head out of the water with his eyes closed. At one point he opened his eyes, looked at me and went back to sleep. I ventured closer to within a couple of meters and stayed watching for a good 10 minutes then gently motored off leaving him to his sleep. I wondered if I would have been so fortunate with the old noisy petrol engine.
On returning to Luce I was again pleasantly surprised with the ease of removing the battery and engine. The whole process is so much easier and safer to do.
I also met with Edita as planned, she had recently made all weather covers for my life raft and other safety equipment. I had asked her to make a cover for my cockpit chart tables and she met me to take measurements to do so. Whilst she was at it, I asked her to make an all weather cover for the new engine.
