Happy Valentines Day - Here Is An Engine For Your Dinghy

Nothing says, "I love you" quite like a dinghy engine! How do I know? Val bought me a dinghy engine! At first, I wasn't sure how to take the line, "Your dinghy needs a long shaft engine", but with the smile on her face, I figured it out.

Back in October, the quest for our dinghy was over. Named Flounder, this 9.5 tender became our water station-wagon. It didn't take too many trips back and forth for the romantic notion of a svelte bronze body built by rowing the boat to dissolve. Rowing it certainly is a great workout, but having to row each time just plain sucked.... and we are currently on a lake with very little current. We talked about what we would do if we were anchored in current and we needed to get supplies via the dinghy. Ugh, that thought wasn't pleasant at all. This started our quest, the quest for a dinghy engine.

We agreed that we should stick with Honda outboards since we were building a familiarity with them. Recall that our Gemini 3200 has a Honda a F40. I also wanted a 4 stroke. I'm not big into gas/oil mixing. Flounder, our dinghy, is rated up to a 5 hp engine. We also needed to be sure the weight of the engine wouldn't be so much that the engine would be cumbersome. Sure, we have pulleys, but there will be moments of just picking the engine up. Having these requirements meant buying a 5 hp Honda. In the Honda lineup, for the 4 strokes, the hp ratings go from 2 to 5 to 8. From some quick math, 2 hp wouldn't be enough. 8 hp, would be fun, but way over kill and result in a heavier engine (about 40 lbs heavier than the 5 hp).

Over the past several months, Val has been keeping her eye out for a Honda 5hp outboard engine. She trolled the usual places, ebay and craigslist. After a number of false starts, a local craigslist offering looked promising. Alas, after a call to the seller, there was already a buyer. Val let the seller know that if their other buyer fell through, we would drive out with cash in hand the next morning. I guess the "1 in the hand" type mentality took over. The seller called the other potential buyer, and after some conversation, the seller and original buyer decided to part ways. Talk about surprised when Val got a call within 30 minutes of hanging up from the first conversation asking if she was still interested!

The next morning, Val, KJ, and Dy headed out to acquire the motor. The seller was a grand father whom had used the engine for 12 hours, and ended up not needing the engine for his little fishing boat. 12 hours! And it looks like it has only been used for 2!

We ended up paying $800 for a 12 hour old, 5hp, 4 stroke long shaft Honda outboard plus hoses and gas tank! New, just the engine is $1350. Great buy Val!

Happy Valentines day Val. Thank you. I love you.

Now what Nautical item should I have bought her for Valentines day ......