Around the beginning of the 2003 sailing season, I decided to upgrade my older Honda 7.5hp to something more recent.
At the time, Yamaha was running a promotion, and I had heard good things about the 8hp and 9.9hp Yamaha high-thrust motors. However, my queries to two different Yamaha dealers in the Toronto area were met with, at best, indifference. Neither seemed interested in actually selling me the motor I was looking for, or even in investigating whether a motor meeting my requirements was available for sale in Canada.
What I was looking for:
I found what I was looking for with the assistance of Pisces Marine in Oakville, ON. They sourced a Honda motor meeting all my specs except the propellor. However, I got a deal on the high thrust prop by trading in the regular prop before taking delivery.
All that remained was to actually install the motor, which had to be done on the water. It can be done, but with a 106-lb motor, this is much easier and less risky if done on land.
Preparing to remove the old motor:
The boat, without motor:
We used the marina cart to carry the motor down the dock:
As you can see, the new motor is BIG. I'm 5'8" tall. The motor isn't much less. Many thanks to my friend Peter for helping with the installation!
We had backed the boat into the slip adjacent to mine to facilitate the installation. We now walked the boat back around the finger dock. Photo 3 is one way of checking mast rake, but it's hardly convenient.
Three photos taken at haulout, October 2003. You can see how far below the waterline the motor extends. This motor has never caught air, even in steep chop. Photo 4 shows the huge surface area of the propellor. The prop size is 10" diameter x 7" pitch.
These photos, taken at haulout in October 2005, show the motor with the bracket in the fully raised position. The prop is still completely submerged.
In fact, at the 2005 launch, I was distracted while starting the motor, and forgot to lower the bracket. The motor started, and there was cooling water flowing. However, it sounded funny, making some gurgling noises. That's when I realized I had forgotten to lower the motor. Even in the fully raised position, the water intake was still mostly under water.
For comparison, two photos of the old motor with the old prop (yellow) and high-thrust prop (black).
© 2018 Melissa Goudeseune