A visit to the Dingy Doctor

So tomorrow we have an appointment with the Dingy Doctor (no joke that's that name of the business in San Diego - talk about stress free life style) to purchase our dingy and need help with the outboard motor. We will likely stay with the Caribe C9 or C10 (hard bottom) that require 10hp - 20hp outboards. Its been awhile since we purchased a new OB and I'm interested to know what owners think are the better smaller engines. We had a Tahatsu that worked great and would buy again. Thanks


O' by the way we will be leaving the boat in the water for about six months until the next boat is ready (still looking) and curious if anyone has used some type of fresh water boom that the boat sit's in to reduce marine growth. Thanks


John T.
N4050 / N4061 / N3522 - Former Owner

I'm a fan of Yamaha. And older Yamaha and Johnson/Evinrude 2 strokes.

Yamaha, Evinrude E-Tec.

Greetings,
Mr. 4061. I've seen those FW booms but never had the opportunity to use one. Seems like a great idea. I wonder if you could throw a bit of laundry bleach or a chlorine puck in the "pool" to minimize algae growth as well. Have no idea if chlorine would affect zincs/anti-foul/running gear.
On another note. I expect if your boat was in one of those FW booms you wouldn't be able to run your AC if visiting.

Our marina has "air docks" to drive the boat up on to. Deflating launches the boat, inflating it raises it out of the water. Perhaps one of the marinas in San Diego offer a similar small boat set up?

http://www.airdock.com

Tohatsu is the same as Mercury but they are a couple of hundred less for the same hp.

Old(er)-School Nissan and Johnson/Evinrude 2 stroke are my favorites. Simple, inexpensive, easy to service, powerful, and good mpg... as well as light weight per hp offered Bit o' good ol searching and some in real good condition can be found.

What's wrong with Honda?I like Honda OBs.Tahatsu I like as well.

Look for a freshwater used 2 stroke yamaha..absolutely reliable..at 100/1oil ratio very little smoke. A 10' dinghy with a 4 stroke 10hp o.b. always seem to be a bit lacking and heavy.
Hollywood

I'm can't help with the OB, but on our dock, two people have a floating "Dinghy Ramp". It is about 6-7 feet wide and 8 feet or so long and is sloped. It ties to the floating dock. You just drive the dinghy up on it and most of the hull is out of the water.

din·gy
ˈdinjē/
adjective
gloomy and drab.
"a dingy room"
synonyms: gloomy, dark, dull, badly/poorly lit, murky, dim, dismal, dreary, drab, somber, grim, cheerless; More antonyms: bright
Origin mid 18th century: perhaps based on Old English dynge ‘dung.’

Xsbank said:

din·gy
ˈdinjē/
adjective
gloomy and drab.
"a dingy room"
synonyms: gloomy, dark, dull, badly/poorly lit, murky, dim, dismal, dreary, drab, somber, grim, cheerless; More antonyms: bright
Origin mid 18th century: perhaps based on Old English dynge ‘dung.’

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Must be why we spell it "dinghy",we also call it a "tender".
My inflatable is ok, but the f/g one, while durable, is both dingy and tender.

I'll go with the 15 HP Yammy 2 stroke crowd, it just keeps going with absolutely no TLC

Andy G said:

I'll go with the 15 HP Yammy 2 stroke crowd, it just keeps going with absolutely no TLC

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+1 Mine is on a 10' Caribe RIB, and goes like the clappers.

We recently got an electric-start 4-stroke Suzuki DF-15A, from their newer line of fuel-injected small portable outboards. (There's a 9.9 and a 20 on the same platform.)

So far, very nice. No smoke, very quiet, sips gas. One-shot starts. I'm only just getting close to finishing up the break-in period, but even at half-throttle (once on plane) it pretty much runs our 10' 135+-lb RIB like a scalded cat.

The 15/20-hp versions are lighter than many (all?) other's in that class. (Not sure I see the point about a 9.9 on the same platform... although the fuel-injection feature may make it competitive even if it weighs slightly more than competitive 9.9s.)

-Chris

ranger42c said:

We recently got an electric-start 4-stroke Suzuki DF-15A, from their newer line of fuel-injected small portable outboards. (There's a 9.9 and a 20 on the same platform.)

So far, very nice. No smoke, very quiet, sips gas. One-shot starts. I'm only just getting close to finishing up the break-in period, but even at half-throttle (once on plane) it pretty much runs our 10' 135+-lb RIB like a scalded cat.

The 15/20-hp versions are lighter than many (all?) other's in that class. (Not sure I see the point about a 9.9 on the same platform... although the fuel-injection feature may make it competitive even if it weighs slightly more than competitive 9.9s.)

-Chris

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Yes, not sure how I forget to say suzuki.

I would choose an OB that I could handle myself without help or the risk to hurt my lower back.
I have a Mercury 8hp 2 strock

2 stroke will be off of the used market and 4 stroke in the new, all depends who you are, some people just want to walk into a dealer and buy it new. I personally like Yamaha, not to say others are not as good.

Call me crazy - or call be dumb - but please don't call me old! Cause I'm 38 and holden!! LOL

Anyway - I always have enjoyed brief whiffs of exhaust odor from 2 cycle o/b motors.

Throughout 50's, 60's I grew up using many types and power levels of 2 cycle o/b's... from 1.7 hp "Neptune Mighty Mite" (my first self-purchased engine at 10 yrs. old) to 40, 50, 60 hp Johnsons, Evinrudes, and Mercs. Currently have 50 hp 1975 Johnson powering our classic 1975 Crestliner frp runabout. That is one great motor!

Calcs show about 20 to 21 mpg at 20 to 25 knot cruise-speed in the 14'8" Crestliner "Stinger" with wife and I aboard. GPS shows 39+ mph at WOT with just me.

Another vote for Honda. Had a 9.9 on a 10' Zodiac, went like a bat outa hell. No problems at all. No 40 Honda, great runner. Sips fuel. Also have a 15 Evinrude 2 stroke, 35 years old, runs great, but man does that thing drink fuel.

I have the 9.9 4 stroke Suzuki short shaft. Starts first pull after months of lay up. Quiet, and runs like a top, sips gas.

Portuguese said:

I would choose an OB that I could handle myself without help or the risk to hurt my lower back.
I have a Mercury 8hp 2 strock

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Fair point. Before, we used a 46-lb 5-hp Johnson (branded) 2-stroke... which coincidentally was also apparently made by Suzuki.

But that started out its life on an earlier inflatable on an earlier mothership... where we had to separate the two, deflate, stow separately, etc.

It got better on this mothership (with our dinghy davit and winch) and eventually with this RIB; we only had to worry about the outboard weight at the beginning and end of the main boating season.

But even the 46 pounds was getting to be a bit much.

More recently, we've learned a trailer is a wonderful (and relatively inexpensive) invention. I don't have to man-handle the motor at all. Just zip over to the ramp at the marina next door, run the whole thing up on the trailer, drag it all home, done for the year. Reverse that at the beginning of the next season. E Viola!

-Chris