Posted: 13 Jun 2007 at 5:54pm
Hi! This is my first post. I am the proud new owner of Yankee Dolphin #169 and am located on Lake St. Clair in Michigan near Detroit. I just bought the boat a couple of weeks ago and it is in great structural condition but does need some cosmetic TLC (More about that later!).

My immediate concern is that I need a new outboard for it. I have a local Tohatsu dealer and am considering a 4 stroke 6hp. My question concerns shaft length. As I understand it, shafts are designated short, long, and extra long (15", 20", 25" nominal from the top of the mounting clamp to the bottom of the cavitation plate.

As long as I am purchasing new, I guess that I should at least get the long shaft but for the few extra bucks, should I get the "Extra" long shaft? One advantage to the extra long shaft is that it comes with a built in charging system for the boats aux. battery. This is an accessory that is quite expensive to install on the shorter shaft models and requires removal of the flywheel etc.

I would appreciate the groups thoughts on this. I brought the boat home with a borrowed motor (an ancient Evinrude 15 hp long shaft) which pushed it at 5+ mph (not Nautical mph) per GPS very easily at about 1/3 throttle. I had to return the borrowed motor so I'm stuck at the dock until I get a new one.

Thanks to Ron and all the others involved in this website! I expect that it is going to be a great resource. I know that I will be back here often for advice and maybe as time goes on, to give some myself from my experience!

Dave A.
PS - As of now the boat has no name but there is a large blue dolphin silhouette on the transom so for now it's the "Blue Dolphin".


Posted: 14 Jun 2007 at 8:23pm
Hello Dave,

Congrats on your Dolphin. Just some thoughts for you, I had an outboard on my stern when I got the boat. It was retrofitted by the previous owner. The inboard had been abandoned. I can't say I really liked it there, it was hard to get to for starting, and the shaft was too short. I race mine so I also don't like the idea of dragging a shaft in the water. I would certainly think about the charging system. If you use any lights, electronics, radio, etc, it is nice to be able to charge a battery. I have since restored my inboard, but that is a different story. BTW, used to be in St. Clair near Selfridge A.B., now down in Lake Erie.
Yankee Dolphin Hull # 203


Posted: 18 Jun 2007 at 4:58am
welcome!

This is almost exactly the same situation I was in a month or two ago (boat moved with borrowed motor). I too considered purchasing a new motor but the price being greater than what I paid for the rest of the boat scared me away Dead. Being new to boating I can't give much technical advice other than that the 6hp short shaft outboard I ended up with seems to be working fine in my boat.

good luck !