What outboard to buy

[x-man12345]

Make sure that you keep a good eye on the sacraficial anode on the outboard. These are cheap to replace and it is designed to 'sacrifice' itself to protect the outboard. If you are worried about galvanic action when plugged into shore power, then disconnect the charging circuit from your engine when tied up alongside (or fit a two pole switch). If you do not have a charging circuit then your engine should be isolated and cannot act as an anode, marina's earth acting as the cathode, sea water as electrolyte ( I think thats how it works).
Not sure about antifouling the outboard leg. We have been keeping Ladybird in the water at a marina for two months at a time (2 month in/2 month out). Any small barnacles that form can be wiped off. But I have noticed that the anode wastes away quickly.
We are also thinking about Coppercoating, it will be a better solution to the drying out periods. Just not looking forward to removing the old coatings.

[Chris Wicks]

Kaliope has a Honda 5hp (2004) but no electrics.... Kaliope is in a high fouling area and is in the water for 6 months a year. The O/B stays immersed all that time. I antifouled the leg and prop with an outdrive antifouling (suitable for aluminium)... It has never been a problem. I clean the drive leg thoroughly at the end of the season and check it once or twice during the season. Check the inside of the drive leg foot occasionally to scrape off growth inside.. (once a year). The engine seems as good as new. At he end of the season I run the engine in a barrel for half an hour with clean water and a bathroom descaler (for getting salt off your chrome bathroom taps)... This helps to get rid of any salty deposits in water channels.. After 7 years I have no concerns about the O/B being permanently in salt water.

[Chris Wicks]

I eventually opted for a Honda 5, I do not regret it. Excellent starter, very economical and quiet ( providing that you block the small exhaust hole in the power leg ).[/QUOTE]

Hi Dennis,
Can you explain about blocking the small exhaust hole in the power leg??? It would be good to reduce the noise of my Honda 5 HP a bit....

[Dennis]

Hello Chris

There is a small hole (6mm dia) in the back of the power leg above the water line.

As you probably know it splutters water and exhaust gas when the engine is running. Indeed at tickover, all of the exhaust seems to come out there (noisely) and none from the underwater outlet.

This hole seems to be a siphon breaker, to prevent any possibility of getting water back up the power leg and into the engine exhaust ports. This could possibly happen after the engine has stopped and the hot exhaust gasses contract, sucking water up the leg. It also allows water to drain quickly from the leg when the motor is tilted (not appropriate to CC19s).

I have blocked mine with a M6 SS screw attached to a rubber bungy. The rubber bungy keeps it in place when the engine is running but it can be easily removed for stopping/starting if desired.

In reality, I keep it in place all of the time and have not suffered any dire consequences (yet )

[Chris Wicks]

My Honda 5 is now 12 years old and has proved a reliable engine. It has an antifouled leg as it stays afloat and immersed for 6 months a year. Regular cleaning of water inlets and servicing have kept it in good order. My gripes with the Honda are a stiff gear lever (very stiff)... That has been freed off but required removal of the engine completely to access the gear assembly. It has become harder to start, my wife could never operate the pull starter easily so I've been thinking about an upgrade. I happen to have a Yamaha 4 for a small dinghy so tried that in Kaliope this week. It is quieter, smoother and with a much lighter pull start and gear lever. Using my GPS I reckon I needed more revs to make 5 knots compared to the Honda, but at 4.5 knots it was great. I also use Tohatsu/Mariner/Mercury small o/bs occasionally (they are all basically the same and made by Tohatsu). I like the forward operating gear lever, through prop exhaust, quietness and compact size. So my local O/B dealer in Volos is doing me a new Mercury 6 for 1000€ taking the Honda in p/x... I think it's a good deal, good enough for me anyway.

The Honda required me to move the wooden O/B mounting block to the forward side of stainless steel bracket support to avoid the engine knocking against the rudder occasionally. With the Yam I moved the mounting block back to the aft side of the s/s brackets.

I'm looking forward to seeing how I get on with the Mercury. Certainly all single cylinder O/Bs vibrate and are noisy, that noise is amplified by being fitted in the O/B well, but the solution as many of us know is to sail as much as possible... I am very happy with the Yam 4 as a back up, but it will go back to my harbour dinghy next week....

Cheers

Chris

[Dennis]

Hello Chris

My Honda 5 is now seven years old. It went to the dealer I bought it from, for it's annual service, in January. After servicing the gear lever was stiff . It had never been stiff before that.
However, after some use it has freed up slightly, to the point that I do not notice it, although it is still stiffer than it was before servicing.

I also have experience of a Yamaha 4 which I bought new for my previous boat. It was much lighter and required less of a pull to start it, although the Honda has been a much more reliable starter and runner. (Always starts second pull from cold, and has never missed a beat in seven years).
The light weight unfortunately means less robust as well, I managed to snap the power leg clean off (the Yamaha) when launching my boat. The outboard skeg touched the concrete ramp as I was pushing the boat off the trailer into the water.

The Honda is built like a much larger outboard, physically very robust and with features like pressure lubrication (most small outboards only use splash lubrication), the down side is it is very heavy. You pays your money and you takes your choice, as they say.

Looking forward to seeing you at Chichester. I will let you waggle my gear lever, to see what you think.

[zimp]

Honda 8HP vs Yamaha 6HP

A few months ago we replaced our 12year old Honda 4stroke 2cylinder 8HP by a Yamaha 4stroke 1cylinder 6HP.

The differences are:
The weight of the Yamaha is about 20kg less
The Yamaha is much noisier than the Honda.
The Yamaha has no exhaust through the propellor, so more bad smells in the cockpit
The Yamaha has less thurst but still enough for a CC19
The Yamaha has a much smaller "footprint" / "wetted surface" so less drag during sailing.

Conclusion; we are happy with our Yamaha because our CC19 sails better with that engine than with the Honda. Because the noise and the bad smells we try to use the engine a few as possible, that is exactly why we have a sailboat!

[Julian Porter]

There are some very old posts in this thread. Assuming that things may have moved on by 2019, I wonder if anyone could update me on the options for an outboard.

[erbster]

I have a 1cyl 5hp Honda, 20yrs old. Still made. People keep saying it’s the most reliable. The CCs I see have a variety of engines (including 1 propane), and they all seem ok, but the most popular is Honda 5. Got mine second hand. What about electric?


Charles Erb CC19 #86 Aurora
travellingaurora.wordpress.com

[Dennis]

Hello Julian

My Honda 5 is now ten years old.

It is still, noisey(ish), heavy, and requires a two handed pull to start it. But it has never missed a beat since new, and it always starts second pull when cold. I cannot fault it's reliability.