Inboard Or Outboard?

[smj]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

If the OP is going to retire and live aboard his new ride, then those little Yami 9.9 outboards are not going to keeps his batteries charged.
They will not get him out of trouble in a storm.

These little outboards are great for your dinghy and even then most live aboards use a 20 or 25hp on their dinghy.

On what planet would you use a 25 hp outboard on your dinghy, but then put a 9.9 hp outboard on your 36 foot live aboard boat.

With the cost of solar panels and the available real estate on a catamaran the engines should never have to be run to charge batteries. From my experience there are very few full time cruisers that use a 20 or 25 hp outboard for their dinghy. But for arguments sake lets say my cat has twin 9.9 outboards and my dinghy also carries a 9.9, wow a spare engine for the mother ship! And when you say live aboard do you mean tied to the dock or actually sailing your boat. Key word SAILING!


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[Saildriver44]

Never thought I'd get so many great responses. I spent the better part of the last two days looking over the PDQ and the Prout. Yesterday I looked over the Lagoon 380. I have to admit my personal preference was the Lagoon. I liked the galley up and all the room. I may still get over to the Lagoon 42 tpi since all the prices are so close. So now that I have a little direction purely for the aesthetics and my own taste, what can anyone add to the differences between the two Lagoons and any intricacies which may play into the equation. And again, thanks for all the great input. With a short timetable and not the luxury of globetrotting to find a ride, your help is greatly appreciated.

[Cotemar]

I think the Lagoon 380 or the Lagoon TPI 42 will be a great fit for your retirement. The TPI has a little more draft if that would be a concern for you.

We have a 3 foot 6 inch draft and are alway amazed when we can pull into a crowded harbor and still find a good spot to anchor in 5 feet of water nice an close to town.

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

If the OP is going to retire and live aboard his new ride, then those little Yami 9.9 outboards are not going to keeps his batteries charged.
They will not get him out of trouble in a storm..

Rubbish

[Ex-Calif]

I like your list and I like your reasons - but I am less intelligent than my friends - LOL

You wanna race - get a race boat. You wanna live, get a live boat.

You wanna do both get a bigger bank account.

A 40-ish leopard is above the lagoon 380 on my "porn" list but the 380 is number 2...

I have no fundamental issue with outboards BTW if executed porperly. But if you're gonna have 2 engines, wouldn't ya like to push the boat on one if you needed to in a tight spot? 9.9 is ridiculously underpowered for a tight situation and one engine caged.

[ejlindahl]

I thought I would mention this 46 Bahia with 2 60 hp outboards on YW today. Hadn't seen this before. Most pictures are before the conversion, keep scrolling to the last picture to see it: 2003 Fountaine Pajot Bahia 46 Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

[gixxxer]

What are the pros and cons when comparing inboards and outboards, and now I'm talking about boats that are designed for outboards, not converted. Like seawind.

Pros for outboards:
- cheaper
- easier to maintenance
- lighter
- can be lifted from water when sailing

Cons:
- most use gas instead of diesel
- uses more fuel than inboards

And like with seawind, you get two 25hp outboards so I would guess there's enough power to battle big waves.

And if you gonna say you need diesel to charge batteries, you can always get enough solar or buy small genset.


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[smj]

This subject has been beat to death, but one more advantage of the outboard is there are two less holes in the boat below the waterline. We have gone from a Seawind 1000 with twin Yamaha 9.9's to a PDQ with the same, couldn't be happier. I have no problems with Diesel engines but really dislike saildrives, they make little sense to me. But I think it's true that you pick the boat you want and live with the engine setup it comes with.

[malbert73]

Originally Posted by ejlindahl

I thought I would mention this 46 Bahia with 2 60 hp outboards on YW today. Hadn't seen this before. Most pictures are before the conversion, keep scrolling to the last picture to see it: 2003 Fountaine Pajot Bahia 46 Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

Cool conversion. Wonder if loss of hull area aft makes up for drag of saildrives. In flat water with both obs running must be fast....


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[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

If the OP is going to retire and live aboard his new ride, then those little Yami 9.9 outboards are not going to keeps his batteries charged.
They will not get him out of trouble in a storm.

These little outboards are great for your dinghy and even then most live aboards use a 20 or 25hp on their dinghy.

On what planet would you use a 25 hp outboard on your dinghy, but then put a 9.9 hp outboard on your 36 foot live aboard boat.

We retired and live aboard, and you're right, our outboards don't keep our batteries charged. The solar panels do that.


The idea of sitting for hours with diesel engines, designed for propulsion, running just to charge batteries is crazy IMO.

We've come through some storms. I guess we didn't make it really.

Don't know what planet you live on, but most live aboard I know have around 10-15 hp on their dinghy.

I'd really like a Honda 20 on the dinghy so it's that same as the big boat, but it would be too heavy for beaching, dragging up ramps etc.

Basically, anyone who tells you one is unequivocally better than the other, is just spouting ignorant dogma. Both have advantages and disadvantages.

It will depend on the user which he prefers. No way would I swap my outboards for diesels. Not even in a fit. Even if someone offered to pay for the conversion. And threw in an extra $20k with them.


For my use, the advantages of the outboards far outweigh the disadvantages.

[Svan]

If your cat has lots of power demand, a small genset is in order anyway.

The PDQ engine lockers have lots of room. Converting to something beefier isn't hard, that's the whole point. They came with manual engine lifts, some have gone electric, a good idea in my view.

Diesels are not my problem, it's the transmissions, most especially the through hull part that I dread dealing with. I've seen lots of stories that go: rope around prop -> bent shaft -> leak or worse. Simple = fixable.

[blewett_john]

The diesel on my Searunner 37 died and I am replacing it with two 15hp outboards. I am able to mount them amidships from the wing decks and will be able to completely pull them out of the water. They will be about 12' apart so the boat will turn in its own length when it comes time to maneuver. Being that they are amidships there won't be cavitation problems like on a transom mounted engine.

Both engines are 80's era two-stroke Johnsons. You can't find a simpler engine. All you need to do is store them vertically and run the carburetor dry to winterize them. Each engine cost about $400.

[thinwater]

A few points that could use amplification:


1. The gasoline hazard is rather low in outboard cats since engine leaks will vent and drain, and because the gas tanks is in the bridge deck with bottom drains for liquid AND vapors. Kinna like a propane locker. Not at all like an inboard, souldnt really be discussed in the same conversation.


2. More storage space. Those big engine bays turn into lockers on the outboards versions.


3. Little cavitation. The outboard PDQ engines are set deep ad at the center of gyration; never have them catch air.


4. Loud. Yeah.


5. Easy to work on. I once replaced both engines in about 4 hours, out and back in. Didn't even haul the boat. My helper was a small girl.


6. Speed: save both weight (probably a tenth of a knot) and drag (speed goes up 2-4 tenths when lifted, for a total savings of ~ 3-5 tenths. Yes, they can be fast boats if not overloaded.


But it comes down to whether the owner is a sail or a power person.

[NormalName]

Pulling up a chair....

[admiralslater]

We have a pdq 36 with twin yamahas 9.9. It should be noted that they are high thrust engines with I beleive 3 to 1 reduction and a large prop. I have motored in a 5 foot short chop at speed that was not comfortable ie to fast. The location of the engines about 10 feet forward of the transoms. We have almost never had cavitation. We also have in flat water made 5 knots into 35 knot winds . I would be willing to bet that a 9.9 would pull a 20 hp backwards in a tug of war.
I have seen twin yamahas on a 50 footer ,that might be pushing at bit ,but it was a real sailors boat.
By the way I also have an Outremer 45 with 3gm30s. It is hard to compare because of the weight diference. The outboards seem to have more thrust in reverse.
The 36 was originally designed for outboards and I still see them operating in the Caribbean.
Every boat design is different