I know this has been discussed to death, but I have a new twist.
I am just
buying a used Caribe L10
RIB - weight, I believe, is 127 lb (or it might be 110 lb as I read the older ones were lighter)
Now we have to find an
engine. BUT, we are
buying the
engine in the UK and then have to carry it to
Sicily in our airplane luggage. Too expensive to ship it, and can't find a 2-stroke locally in
Sicily,
Max weight for any one bag is 32kg
So, I have found:
Johnson 9.9hp weight 28kg
Yamaha 2004 15hp weight 34kg
Previously I had a Merc 15hp on a Caribe C10X which is quite a bit heavier. That performed admirably.
So, which should I get. There seem to be pros and cons to each:
Yamaha is VERY reliable and easily serviced worldwide (we do extensive cruising). It also uses 100:1
fuel mix, which is nice. I would probably prefer to buy this one.
But, can I remove 4kg of weight off it? Suppose, for example, I remove the lower unit, the cowl, and the attachment clamps. Would that be easy to do, and would it lose enough weight so that I could pack it up and still be under 32kg?
The Johnson is lighter. That is a plus. How reliable is it? How easy to fix in
remote places (eg
Caribbean,
Central America, maybe the Pacific?). Also would the 9.9hp be more than adequate to plane with two of us and
shopping aboard the dink? We sometimes go exploring over long distances with our dink and we want to be able to get home without problems if the conditions change on us, so I don't want a 'marginal' engine.
Suggestions and comments?
thanks
Noel