I took my sailboat out for its first race of the season last night. The outboard had been acting a bit peaked the last few times I used it but why should I worry? It is a sail boat afterall.
We motor out of the marina and get about 800 meters before it over heats and stops rather frozen. Lesson one, internal bits expand faster then outer bits, this causes clearance issues.
No big deal we have the sails up so we sail on in the direction of the starting line.
Well it was not too windy so getting to the start in time started to look like it might be an issue. Time had past so I try the motor again and if fires up fine, off we go. However soon I can hear the RPM slowing so I take the cover off and toss a bucket of water on the motor. Lesson 2 water does not burn. it manages to suck a little spay up the intake and stops again. Well we are past the hardest bit of sailing and the wind is better so we continue under sail, besides I think the sparking plug is now wet so lesson 3 wet plugs no spark.
Again the wind dies off so I try the motor again and it starts we make the race with plenty of time and all is well.
After the race now with the sun setting and no wind it is time to motor home. I am a quick lerner see, so I this time I apply smaller amounts of water well away from the intake to make nice clouds of steam but the motor runs happy all the way back to the slip. Lesson 4 water can remove a lot of heat, it only take a little bit to keep a 5 hp motor cool even when applied on the outide of the block, no need to douse the whole thing under gallons of lake water.
Derek
In the long run reality always wins.
