Go Diesel, Young Man!
Have you thought about re-powering with a new Yanmar 2GM or Beta Marine(Kubota) diesel? I have seen an outboard on a Hunter Cherubini 25 & 27: #1) I would not qualify either of these skippers as being a sailor, aesthetics aside. #2) It reminded me of my sailing days in Hong Kong leaving the Aberdeen Marina Club, surrounded by sampans with all kinds of propulsion mechanisms because they needed a way to get from there to here. I doubt you make your living at sea on your sloop. #3) The 27's experimenter rightly decided that he had made a mistake, in that there was no good place to secure the outboards fuel source; under sail the spring lift did not allow clearence from the sterns' wake; no more easy boarding from the dinghy or after a swim, as the ladder was no more. I am sure he saw the blight he had rendered to such a sloop as our fair & beloved 27's Last I saw, he was in the process of rectifying his mistakes. I have had "LOTUS" for over 2 years now. Her sails and her engine, a Yanmar 2GM(F), 13 hp, have served me well. 12 plus hours motoring the ICW,transiting the "at times" formidible Beaufort, NC channel en route to Cape Lookout via a large swing out into the Atlantic swells, eluding any misfortunes on the "at times" treacherous Neuse River of Oriental fame and in a few weeks time making an inaugural sail to Ocracoke for my birthday over Labor Day week-end. In closing, my surveyor told me and I agree,"John... take care of that diesel, she's 1/2 your boats' value and the only thing that will get you out of truly bad conditons. He was right and I pray that I haven't yet had to find out how right he was then. Here's to dropping the hook with a cold tinny of beer!!
