We finally got a chance to test the new outboard. Two primary criteria went into it’s choosing although there were others too:
1) Must be much easier to start.
2) Must be able to get the four of us up on a plane and moving fast.
Initial field tests show success on both counts. Will and his mother can both start the engine with no difficulty whatsoever. And with four of us it planes easily, without even being at full throttle. At full throttle we were averaging about 17.5 knots. About 3/4 throttle keeps us around 13-14 knots.
Why is so much speed necessary? Well, its mostly a matter of range and anchoring options. Simply put, Evenstar has a very deep keel – almost eight feet. So we can not anchor in many areas that are too shallow. But with a fast dinghy it doesn’t matter so much if you can’t get as close to where you want to go, because you can cross the water quickly enough. It allows you to visit places you can’t get the big boat into even if you have to anchor a mile or more away.
It’s also important to be able to get back to the boat quickly sometimes, for example if a storm is approaching or you see your anchor dragging or have a medical emergency and you are far away from the boat. As conditions deteriorate more speed lets you get out of the bad stuff fast. More often though, it’s it’s just not practical to spend an hour or two motoring in to town (or an island) from miles out, but with some speed you can cover the same ground in a quarter of the time. So you can visit some places you other wise would not.
All in all a good choice, though we all can’t wait for the ten hour break-in period to end.
