E 27 outboard

[sharkbait]

Hi all,
I've been lurking on here for awhile and am hauling an E 27 for a hull inspection and possible purchase next Tuesday.
The question I have is,will it be possible to switch the outboard between the "mother ship"and an inflatable dinghy?
The motor is an 8hp long shaft Honda 2001,I haven't bought a dinghy yet.
Thanks for all the info that you've given in your previous posts.

John Door

 

[NateHanson]

It's possible, but I think you'll find a long-shaft dinghy motor to be quite cumbersome, and prone to damage. I'd prefer getting a smaller motor for the dinghy, and it could even serve as a backup for the auxiliary in a pinch.

 

[Morgan Stinemetz]

Hi,
Anything is possible. Let's see now, an 8 hp outboard weighs about 100 pounds. Can your wife lift 100 pounds? If it's electric start, then you'd have to disengage the wiring from the batteries to the outboard, so you'd want her to be able to do that and then know how to re-wire it when you put it back on the boat. A 100-pound outboard might be a tad much for a two-man inflatable dinghy, so you might want to get a bigger dinghy, say a six man dinghy. A six-man dinghy weighs a lot, so you'd want to keep it above deck, so your wife won't have to lug it up on deck before she uses an electric pump to inflate it. A manual pump would take too long and could be exhausting for her. Still, all this will take a while, so while you watch her do all this work you might need a few extra beers, so you would want to make sure you have plenty of board. Be careful not to put life jackets with whistles attached into the dinghy. Too much extra weight.
Morgan Stinemetz

 

[sharkbait]

Thanks Morgan,
I didn't know that I needed a wife for the boat.No wonder everyone says boating is so expensive.Typical newbie mistake.
I'm going to head out now and start trolling the liquor stores.

 

[Glyn Judson]

Long shaft on a dinghy.

John, In addition to what Morgan and Nate shared with you, a long shaft on a dinghy will place the prop too deep in the water for the dinghy to do anything but have the stern dig in when any throttle other than almost idle is applied. The bow will raise up way too far to use the boat effectively not to mention that it could pose a danger to operate in that manner. As the bow rises, the stern will bury itself and if allowed to continue that way, the engine head will literally dig its own hole in the water and could poop itself if the throttle were to be reduced too quickly. The only partial help would be to place a wife in the bow but even that isn't a cure for a short shaft for the dinghy. We have a nine odd foot Avon Sportboat and use a Honda 2 to power it and that's just fine for us to get the dogs ashore, etc. The bottom line is, get a short shaft dedicated motor for your dinghy. Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA