As requested boat pictures

This is a 21 ft tri hulled pontoon boat with full canvas. That means canvas over the front of the boat as well as a full cockpit enclosure. You can see how the clear cockpit enclosure pieces zip up and down for weather conditions. The large zipable crescent side curtains were my idea. You see one of them rolled down the side and held in place by two blue straps.

Originally these were held on by snaps. VERY difficult to button up in weather. So my idea was simply to leave them buttoned up but have the sailmaker run a large zipper along the edge. Now the side curtains can be raised in a matter of seconds.

The engine shows the military enclosed propeller.
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PS: Regarding power, speed and fuel economy. This engine is 50 hp at 6,000 rpm but is designed for a much ligher boat. On this boat it can only achieve 5,000 rpms which translates to about 40 hp and 14 mph. Fuel economy at hull speed (1.13 times the square root of the water line lenght = about 4.5 mph @ about .5 gallons per hour = 9 miles per gallon.]

Energy to exceed hull speed by two times generally means power required is four times as much which would mean about 2 miles per gallon but this is not the case. The boat never seems to fall below 4 mpg according to my charts. I attribute this to increased efficiency of the engine at lower vacuums plus hydrodynamic lift strakes on the pontoons. In other words the boat semi planes at higher speeds.

Thats all accademic. I can putter about all day at moderate walking speed consuming about .15 gallons per hour. And thats the speed optimum for shoreline exploration at about 10 ft from shore! And the drive system will never be harmed by rocks or submerged debris! But I am babbling on.

 

It very much stunts the power in reverse and is something you need to get used to. In forward motion it might actually be superior to an open prop as the water flow is highly directed. For instance there never is a 'rooster tail' behind the boat. But it has a huge advantage in shallow watter because it just bounces off rocks. There is never a panic about shallow water.

When I bought this boat it had a 140 hp 4 stroke open propeller. I said I did not need 140 hp and very much wanted a protected prop. Dealer said not available. Within 50 hours run time, at about idle speed, I slightly clunked over gravel and bent the prop! So I went to serious work on obtaining the military lower unit.

This is something I had done a decade ago. I bent the prop on my old scow and did my research. I found used lower unit military props for Johnson/Evinrude 25/35 hp engines for only $250 each. I swapped out the damaged 40 hp engine for a 30 hp Johnson, and even bought a spare lower unit which I still have. What a joy! I put many hundreds of mile on that old scow!

There is only one dealer in the US that sells these Evinrudes, as best as I can determine. It is an entire mystery why. They are hugely more safe to the public boater who might have kids in the water. In addition it cost a bloody fortune! I paid about $8,000 but these engines WITHOUT the lower unit don't cost much less. I might have been better off finding an old 25-35 Johson/Evinrude and attaching my extra lower unit to it!

But I am happy about the results. This expensive engine has full tilt, full fuel injection, full everything. It even has a one gallon 2 cycl oil tank inside the engine housing that is good for 100 gallons of gas. That means at least 400 miles at full throttle without ever mixing oil with gas. Most likely it will last me a couple of years since I have a 50 gallon fuel tank and will not run full throttle.

As for weather differences you have my sympathy. Back in the old days we had a routine November sail on the Chesapeake with a 40 ft center cockpit sloop. DAMN that was a a cold SOB! Here? I go out in dead winter when it is snowing and there is no wind.

Best of luck with the boat! You guys are the nautical heroes in the age of sail!

 

PS: I wish I had photos of my original scow from ten years ago. I found it more or less abandoned on the shoreline and paid $3,500 for it. Added a couple of grand for canvas and eventually explored the entire shoreling many times for a total of about 900 miles. I sold it because it cost more to dock it each year then it was worth.

Then I got nostalgic. Luckily I am an old phart and can afford this new crap. I really really like the old scow. But they are hard to find and this new one was availble right there on the spot. Imagine. The engine on this new boat cost twice what my entire rig cost back then!

 

Well, its an Evinrude 2 cycl and I don't even know if HAS valves But I have a trump card. The engine cover encloses a one gallon tank of 2 cycle oil which will lube at least 100 gallons of gas at full throttle and 14 mph. My fuel tank is 55 gallons and I get about 4-6 mpg at my putter put speeds. Figure I will need gas and oil in about three yeas.