First boat

[rbharris1984]

I just picked up a 1976 15' Chrysler Mutineer Last week for free with trailer. It's my wife and I's first boat, originally a sailboat but the mast and sail needed replacing and having a very tight budget I decided to just buy an outboard for it. Picked up a 1963 Evinrude 5.5 HP completley rebuilt, I mean everything new for $200. I took off all the sailing stuff and put the outboard on the back hooked up fuel properly and headed out to the water where we just about sank. Boat took on lots of water through keel opening. I removed the keel and patched it with a piece of pressure treated wood sealed with marine epoxy. Took the boat out again and did fine. Not too fast but we where out on the bay. The mount for the motor was on one side of the boat so I removed it and mounted in the middle, I patched the holes from where the mount was before with marine epoxy covered with these fiberglass permant patches that you peel of and stick to the surface and the suns rays patch it. Just wonering if that would be okay? heres a link http://images.google.com/imgres?img...lass+permanent+patch&svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&sa=N. Thanks

 

[steelespike]

Re: First boat

Sounds like it will work.It was mostly a cosmetic repair.if the surface was prepared right it should work.put a coat of paint on after a light sanding.
The 5.5 is a great little motor.Most sailboat style hulls are a displacement type design.Most efficient at about 6 mph.But should travel at that speed efficiently.If you try to push it faster than that it may waste fuel.It may go almost as fast at about 3/4 throttle and save a bunch of fuel.Of course a 5.5 will only use about 1/2 gallon an hour at wot(wide open throttle ) anyway.
You may find the boat will slide sideways a little when maneuvering.If it is a problem just add a keel along the bottom of the boat.

 

[rbharris1984]

Re: First boat

Cool, Thanks for the tip about sanding downa and painting. I really didnt even think about it. I have another question. When I remounted the mount for the motor I bolted it right up to the back with galvanized bolts, I didnt put any wood inside the boat to mount to. But I used washers and lock washer, should the fiberglass be fine or will it break? I mean it feels REALLY solid