Auxiliary power
Yes, Katana is a sailboat, but she came with two very-helpful Yamaha 9.9 hp outboard engines. The PDQ Owner’s Manual warns against treating the auxiliary engines as “disposable.” I don’t think there is much risk of that, as least where we are concerned.
The two engines are situated in “pods,” one port and one starboard, accessible from the cockpit and can be raised up out of the water when sailing. Being able to raise them like this is good as it reduces the drag through the water under sail, often resulting in an additional knot of speed (going from 5 to 6 knots would be a 20% increase which is HUGE).
You can see the two engines in the above photo in their “retracted” position.
Having two engines spaced apart on opposite sides of the boat, gives us a lot of maneuverability. Katana can actually spin 360? in place by placing one engine in forward and the other in reverse. This maneuverability, which couldn’t be achieved by a boat with only one engine, is very helpful when docking into a tight slip, as we had to do after each time we went out last year.
These Yamaha engines, as good as they are, are not without their problems though. I have been collecting some troubleshooting data from other PDQ owners about potential issues and their solutions. Some sound easy enough to deal with. Others, not so much. It was last night’s Marine Maintenance class that got me thinking about the engines today. Much of the discussion in the class dealt with the general functioning of a combustion engine. Although I have no aspirations to become a marine mechanic, I do want to know how to deal with OUR engines and thus will be seeking some help with that before we take off cruising.
The best advice I can give, for everything from the smallest problem to the largest, is to get the factory Yamaha manual and not one of the aftermarket manuals. When you go to remove some part in very tight space it is WONDERFUL to have a picture and a procedure you can follow without getting your head beside the engine – as though your eyes could focus if you could get in the right position to see the problem. The manual is very good and has saved me a great deal of profanity.
Having a system to lift the engine, even if not all of the way out, can be a great help. Just take some notes from my blog. You should be able to do everything short of a complete overhaul with it hanging like that. I always keep extra slings, carabiners, and pulleys on board to ease rigging things up, like that. Many uses.
Being able to get the lower unit off is good; you need two 2x4s hollowed out to hug the unit, hold them together with 4 threaded rods, and beat with a small sledge.
Everything else, really, requires only a good set of standard and metric tools (including allen keys).
Thanks Drew. Can I ask where you obtained the manual? I have a SELOC manual which I assume is not the official one.
I actually saved the pic from your blog of you lifting the engine up. I considered including it in this post but thought it wouldn’t be appropriate without asking first.
I’m not sure I can visualize the lower unit thing you are describing. I don’t suppose you have a photo of that, do you?
I got my manual from another PDQ sailor. However, Yamaha sells them as “service manuals.” Just surf the Yamaha outboard site.
There are cheaper places for parts, but the name escapes me.
Will do. Thanks.
My friend’s friend is apparently (one of) the top Yamaha mechanic in the area. He is going to put me in contact with him so that I can get some training on how to deal with these engines.
Not related to this post but somethings I am curious about, do you have a close up photo of the webbing safety tethers that you use? Also, what brand of safety harness are you using?
Regarding the tethers, the best picture is this: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fDLXryKUnCE/Svh90rRd36I/AAAAAAAAAPY/eRpVVo1ydtA/s1600-h/Harness+and+tether..jpg. I have both home-made and commercial harnesses. I see fit and comfort as primary; they won’t get a chance to break if they slip off over the head of are not worn. I used to make and sell climbing equipment, but as I recall Sailrite sells kits. They seemed good. The main thing is that once adjusted, it should go on in seconds, and you should be able to forget you are wearing it. I wear mine a little higher, but girls can be busty.
The description of the lower unit removal block-thing was taken from a post on PDQ36.com. I forget which. However, the gist of it is this; take a 4×4 and carve it out (saw and chisel) so that it hugs the lower unit between the 2 plates. One for each side. 2 threaded rods bolt the halves together, 2 on each end. Then once this is clamped to the lower unit very tightly, you can beat the lower unit off without cracking anything. If you remove the lower unit for maintenance ever 2 years, it should never be that stuck, though you may need to use a dry-wall knife to separate the 2 halves. A dry-wall knife is a vital boat tool for scraping and for separating all manner of hardware from the deck etc.
Thanks Drew. You know I just had a drywall knife in my hand yesterday and was debating whether or not I would have a use for that on board!