Engines: Diesel vs Gasoline ?

[cat man do]

[quote=GordMay;101602]

Originally Posted by cat man do

Can we presume that, unlike in the Nimble’s “well”, your potential outboard(s) would be transom mounted ?

Some cats have bomb bay doors in the hull and enough room in the step to get a verticle lift on tracks to get everything out of the water.(as motor goes down doors open, as motor comes up door closes)

Others have a pod Fwd of the aft beam under cockpit seating so as to keep weight Fwd and prevent cavitation.

Sometimes the pod is blended into the hull side as well, and the front part of the pod relieves the hull to bridgedeck join angle making positioning of stairs easier.

Cats with transom and back beam mounted outboards are susceptable to cavitation and drowning of the outboard IMHO

Dave

[jscott]

So cat man do, you would risk losing engine power, all the way up in Johnstone strait?

From what the OP says he can't lift tilt the engine when installed, I can't think of ever seeing an outboard left down in the water, in Vancouver. (Although I am sure there must be one out there).

[cat man do]

Why would I lose engine power?

I don't know where Johnstone straight is as I am In Australia, but why would an outboard be any less reliable than a diesel?

Most diesels on boats I have worked on have a lack of maintenance whereas an easily removed outboard could have a bettter chance of having it's servicing done, after all it doesnt cost $100 just to get the mechanic to show up.

Also on cat's they would usually have 2 outboards so redundancy is there.

Dave

[jscott]

The OP describes a well in front of the tiller, and the engine cannot be tilted. He plans on a long trip up the PNW, he will leave the outboard in the sea for a long time.

The outboard water pump will be exposed to algae growth more than a tilted motor.

Outboards in this area left in the water have the water pump die in a season or so in this area.

Inboard arrangements have an inboard water pumps that can be quickly and easily cleaned or changed, inside the boat, has opposed to lifting the outboard into the cockpit and then removing the bottom leg and fixing the pump.

The Johnstone Strait is a long cold passage. Tidal currents can exceed 7 knots in this area, so motor failures can more problems than normally might be expected.