> And a diesel engine would have died the same death! Here is my auxiliary engine score card for offshore passages (longer than 800 miles, more than 20 miles offshore):
Gas, A4 3 trips OK 1 trip total fail (water in cylinder) Diesel, various mfg.'s 2 significant failures, (1 water in cylinder, 1 broken rocker arm) 4 minor issues, mostly fuel related 7 OK When it comes to carrying extra fuel on deck for long passages I have a personal preference for diesel. Also, if your internal fuel tank/hoses leak diesel will be less trouble in the bilge. The last power (tow) boat I owned had twin I/O gas engines. I was very diligent about checking the engine space bilge prior to starting and had no gasoline related safety issues in 3 years of commercial use. Martin Calypso 1971 C&C 43 Seattle [cid:D1BF9853-22F7-47FB-86F2-4115CE0BAF2F] From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of jtsails Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2014 4:03 PM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Subject: Re: Stus-List Atomic 4 And a diesel engine would have died the same death! I have an A4 in my 38 and am very satisfied with it for my uses. Anybody wants to get rid of one, contact me, I'll probably buy it for spare parts or to rebuild and sell. Great engine! And I have never read a story of a boat with an A4 blowing up. Fuel consumption on my 38 is a shade over a gallon/hr. I worry more about fuel age than range, but an A4 will run on damn near anything (don't ask too many questions on that one, but cheap vodka works! among other flammable liquids). No more than basic shade tree mechanic skills needed to maintain or even rebuild them, I've rebuilt two. Most problems are related to the ignition (there are two nice electronic modules available now days) and carb (clean fuel, just like a diesel but easier). James Taylor S/V Delaney C&C 38 Oriental, NC ----- Original Message ----- From: Martin DeYoung<mailto:mdeyo...@deyoungmfg.com> To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com<mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2014 5:55 PM Subject: Re: Stus-List Atomic 4 >... a hardcore sailor. >... has water in cylinders... The summer of 1979 I was delivering a C&C 39 back to Seattle from Hawaii (post Transpac). We planned to cut through the NE Pacific High by motoring. On deck was 30 gallons of gasoline to fuel the Atomic 4. We had been powering for +-12 hours and stopped the engine to swim and make a SSB call. The A4 never started again. We were +-1,500 miles from Cape Flattery in a large area of very light wind. The A4 had been sucking salt water in through the carb. A cooling hose had chafed enough to allow a fine spray of raw salt water to be ingested. There was enough water in the cylinders to rust/freeze them solid. We pulled the head and used all of our shade tree mechanic tricks to bring the A4 back to life but to no avail. The "Midnight Special" had become a pure sailboat in the middle of the NE Pacific High. Our worst day's progress was 30 miles. It took 29 days to make Seattle. We rationed food and water. At one point, close to land not far from Port Townsend my then girlfriend, now wife stated "get me close to land, I'm swimming for it". We sailed the 39 directly into its slip after +- 2,500 miles with 30 gallons of gasoline still on deck. Martin Calypso 1971 C&C 43 Seattle [cid:D1BF9853-22F7-47FB-86F2-4115CE0BAF2F]
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