Outboard Powered

[jerridsc]

Just water tested outboard powered A25. 11mph top speed according to gps speed app. Comfortable and quiet cruise at 7mph. 25hp mercury 4 stroke bigfoot , 12.5”,dia. 8 pitch prop seems about right. Much more work to do but now seems worthwhile.

[DesertAlbin736]

Outboard would make for a quieter ride & maybe better maneuverability. Also modern 4 stroke gas outboard would be more environmentally friendly than 30 to 40 year old diesel. She looks like she's riding a little bow high or is that just me? Nice job!

[nebulatech]

Fascinating and remarkable. Very tempting.

I don't see a video or picture. Not sure about DA's reference to bow high.

[nebulatech]

Aha, I spoke too soon. The pictures are in other posts.

[jerridsc]

A few things contribute to it looking and actually being bow high.

1: bottom paint taken all the way up to strake (or whatever that’s called)
2: the bow water tank is empty and there is no chain or anchor there yet
3: portable gas tank and battery at stern. In future, will have a 4 battery house bank where the engine once was and two built in fuel tanks amidships, should help trim things out a bit. Under power I was able to trim engine to even keel. Shouldn’t have to do as much of that once loads are distributed. Solar on hardtop to make up for lower charging amps. Quite a long project for me bringing this “Barn Find” project boat back to life. I am indebted to this forum and its posters for all the help and information I have gleaned over the past two years.

[nebulatech]

Well, as for time to bring it back to life, you have propulsion. That's a start, and far ahead of me. Also, that motor has a new replacement cost of just around $2500, far below that of an inboard diesel. Speaking if which, without an inboard, you can do a flush deck cockpit. It's not pretty, but I'll send a picture later of my current arrangement (mid-restoration) to give you an idea of the extra space. You can still put the house bank by the helm, or locate in a drier place.

I have some concerns RE open ocean running with the outboard arrangement, but from a cost standpoint, its VERY attractive. You may know that I'm mid-swing doing an electric conversion. Battery technology is the limiting factor, and my range strictly under batteries would be very small, sub 50 miles. My plan is to make a diesel electric hybrid with a small genset. HOWEVER, your top speed of 11 knots is very appealing. I need to look at the power output from a 25hp to see how long that would take to charge my batteries. I may be rethinking my plan, so thank you for sharing!

[jerridsc]

Nebulatech

Thank you for your reply. I clocked my top speed at 11 miles per hour, not 11 knots but close. I’ll look for that photo of your flush deck. My prop is quite far into the water, however I could add 5” with an extension kit which put it level with the original, in case that it proves to be a problem coming out of the water in rough seas. Is that what your concerns are about as far as open ocean?

[nebulatech]

Not really the prop out of the water, but that is a concern, since the cooling water comes up from the shaft. I'm worried about a following sea drowning the motor. On a second look, your power head is pretty high. I would not plan to be offshore in bad weather. So tempting...

It started pouring buckets, so I'll take the picture tomorrow.

[nebulatech]

Picture as promised. Not pretty, but look at all that room. You could hold a dance party...

20200930_090925.jpg

[nebulatech]

Google is NOT your friend

On further investigation, a new 25hp Suzuki 4 stroke is about $4k. The price I was referring to was from a website, offered up by Google, that "sells" motors out of India. Loooong delivery times (like never) from that seller. Still, much cheaper than an inboard, cheaper maintenance, and about the same cost as my electric conversion. I'm SO CLOSE to being sold on this idea. Come on, someone chip in and convince me!

I'm still concerned about a following sea swamping the motor, but I'm going to draw up some plans for a mount.

[DesertAlbin736]

Thank you for your reply. I clocked my top speed at 11 miles per hour, not 11 knots but close. I’ll look for that photo of your flush deck. My prop is quite far into the water, however I could add 5” with an extension kit which put it level with the original, in case that it proves to be a problem coming out of the water in rough seas. Is that what your concerns are about as far as open ocean?

11 MPH = 9.6 knots. Still pretty fast. Most sailboats with outboards use long shaft versions. Is the 5" extension for the lower unit? Might be a worthwhile investment. The motor does not look like a long shaft version. The power head looks like it sits high enough not to get "pooped" in a following sea. If seas were that rough you shouldn't be out there anyway. Long ocean swells aren't really a problem, but a short, steep chop might be a problem with the prop coming out of the water when cresting a wave. We had a Catalina sailboat with 8HP longshaft 4 stroke Tohatsu that we did a harbor hop in up from San Diego to San Pedro (Los Angeles harbor) & over to Catalina Island & back. We ran into some lively following seas on the way back into San Diego when rounding Point Loma & we did OK. That motor would push our 25 footer which was probably heavier than an Albin 25 to six knots, and of course was full displacement. That Catalina was a sweet boat & if we didn't need to trailer & take the mast up & down we would have kept it.

One concern also is if you ever plan to tow a dinghy, especially a hard shell fiberglass one. The obvious solution there would be to carry an inflatable on the hard top roof.

DSCN0632 crop.jpg

DSCN0642 Guest dock at Oceanside Yacht Club 7-16.jpg

DSCN0654 50.5 Nauticl miles Oceanside to Chula Vista 7-18.jpg

O_Flow_San Diego.JPG

[jerridsc]

Nice looking Catalina. Amazing what can be done with little HP. My 20” shaft Merc Bigfoot, very lightly used motor came of a pontoon boat. Pontooners all want much bigger engines now to pull big toys and kids behind. Paid $2400. Bigfoot is the high thrust version of that engine, 25hp. Adding 5” to the lower unit would be relatively easy if necessary.

[WillieC]

Following seas depend on which sea is following. Crossing the Strait of Georgia with DA a couple years ago with waves coming at us from three directions some of them compounding into five footers that looked like ten footers came pretty close to swallowing the aft cabin.

Another time in a small craft advisory with 25 mph winds directly on our stern made for some sprightly dancing with the wheel to not turn sideways. This was in the notch of Whidbey Island, winds out of the west. I kept assuring the Starfleet Commander that all we had to do was make the lee of the island once we turned north. Those were plenty tall waves traveling about twice our speed. Small craft advisory indeed. The wind and waves caught back up with us as we approached (and overshot) the Swinomish Channel.

Now we prefer to avoid these conditions but we also love to go places and the A25 has proved her mettle time and again. There is an A25 in Cowichan Bay with the original Volvo Penta AND a serious outboard strapped to her hindquarters, both fully functional with separate wheels and controls. I’d like to hear his experience. I suspect with the outboard you can go faster and shorten your exposure to unsavory conditions. Or get in trouble faster. Check the Albineers of BC.

[nebulatech]

Sorry to hijack your thread Jerrid. I just wanted to announce that I just ordered a 2021 Suzuki 25hp 4 stroke to power Carolina Wren. I will start a new thread detailing its install when I get it, about a month.

[jerridsc]

No problem. I will be anxious to here about your experience and willing to help in any way.