lovely day out on the river

[waterworks]

I had a nice chug up the river with my trusty 102 today, and spent a not so relaxing afternoon on the river bank taking the BL***y ! thing apart to get to a blockage in the block water inlet, there's nothing better on a sunny day in Buckinghamshire to be covered in oily gunge, petrol all over the place, surrounded by engine parts, and spanners.

I may have used some " industrial" language at the old motor, for which I can only apologise. All back together now and returned home again. Me and my 102 are friends once again.

[Nudge]

Good stuff! at least you had a tool kit to do the repairs on the river bank.

[Collector Inspector]

I rarely use any of my Gulls so I tend to take tools to strip down if required. Not a very large kit actually. I use the ones that have been refurbished or serviced so nothing is stuck or corroded. I have never had to go that far though as usually spark or fuel issues.

Considering that our Gulls are rarely used and spend time roosting and breeding it would be logical that not every wee problem within has enough time to become evident........say "something different" every use.

SO

I tend to think that with everyday use like "The Good Old Days" they would be absolutely trouble free for ages.

AC17964 got the works as you know. It was hard to start at our January meet. It starts easily now after having oily internals. It needs to have some serious transom time to sort out any niggly bits.......coil is my only concern actually.

When the weather warms up I will take it to the Donnelly and use it for a week. My "getting there boat" can sit and my resident dinghy will be used for everything else down there. I bet it starts and runs like a watch every day after the first 2 hours fingers crossed. Coil being the unknown.

Does anyone agree that if their Best Gull was used daily that it would be a good thing for it?

BnC

[headdownarseup]

I couldn't agree more Bruce.

EXACTLY the same thing within the motor industry. Just to put people in the picture, i currently work for a busy Suzuki dealership here in Bristol. By far and away the vast majority of customers that buy these vehicles are probably retired and cover VERY LITTLE mileage each year. Similar comparisons with our dear old seagulls, unless it's kept in regular use, the chance of something going wrong increases quite dramatically. (lack of use, dodgy coils,internal corrosion etc. etc.)

As a 102 follower myself, i tend to give each motor a "shake down" run in the test tank for at least an hour BEFORE i go out on the water proper. Just gives everything a chance to reach optimum temperatures and get all the oily bits oily again. Even the slightest worry of something amiss should start to show itself fairly quickly. At least on dry land you're never far away from a tool kit. Touch wood, i've had almost no trouble from any of my motors using this school of thought.
Having said that, i have had to clear a prop as it was completely smothered in weed. Not unusual but it does happen from time to time.

The only person i know that regularly uses a seagull is my mate Jeremy. He very often uses an FV ,BUT by keeping his motors in fairly regular use has probably kept them in better condition rather than being stuck on a rack for years on end.

Jon

[Oyster 49]

I believe Charles P uses a seagull on his yacht all the time too.

[Oyster 49]

I was doing a powerboat assessment on the River Deben in Suffolk yesterday (On a 6m RIB with a 60 hp Suzuki ) great to see a little tender putter out to a yacht on the trots in the river powered by a little featherweight.

[BroadReach]

My SJM is run regularly. Every weekend in the summer and every other in the winter.

I usually get a warning before total failure to start, such as 6 rather than the usual 1 to 2 pulls for instance, or sluggish ( more sluggish than usual I should say!) Ignore at your peril.

My SJM is repaired and serviced rather than restored.