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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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British Seagull

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Ellis Bloomfield
1st Mate

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USA
85 Posts

Initially Posted - 06/11/2003 : 15:31:33

I was just reading the post on the B&S engine. I recently "acquired" another ferro sailboat for the masts, engine and rigging and the package included a British Seagull outboard. You may recall these were featured in Sail and other magazines quite a few years ago. They don't carry a definite horsepower rating but mine is supposed to be about five horse. The PO of the ferro said that it pushed the 9.5 ton hull at five knots. They were designed for salt water on medium displacement hulls and supposedly can be dunked, retreived, shaken off and started. A full overhaul kit fits in a bag about the size of your sail repair kit. The prop is a 5 blade, 11 inch "hydrofan." On mine the shaft is 41.5 inches long. The PO said he tried it on a Zodiak and it folded it in the middle. (I read in the manual a warning about using them on dinks or other small boats, it must have a lot of torque.) Average consumption at 3/4 throttle is 3 pints an hour and it uses a 10-1 mix. I haven't tried it yet but it could be interesting on the Cat 25. The company has been bought and sold several times and I don't know if they are still manufacturing them, but parts are available. At a 10-1 mix it must kick out some smoke. The engine weighs 38 pounds!

Edited by - on

Oscar
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2030 Posts

Response Posted - 06/11/2003 : 18:31:55

How will you dispose of the ferro cement? Tell them it's construction waste?
If your engine is what I think it is (bunch of metal tubes with a black engine and tank on the top)...my uncle had one in the sixties, fell off the motor mount....I managed to dive down and put a rope on it.....he hauled it back up, pulled the plug, wound it up and pulled it through, put the plug back in, wound it up again, and it ran.......many more years.

Oscar
<img src="http://www.woodenshoemusic.com/Images/familypics/LKforumshot.jpg" border=0>
Lady Kay 250 WB #618
In the driveway in Behtlehem, PA ready to go anytime.

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 06/11/2003 : 18:55:50

They certainly resemble something that would come out of the UK. They are quite a conversation piece. Pretty noisey if I recall correctly!

Edited by - on

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 06/11/2003 : 20:26:28

British Seagull? Smoky, Noisy, and sometimes takes an act of god to start. Nice piece of nostalgia, but IMHO something to hang over the mantle.

When I was a young man I worked several summers checking salmon catches in California.

One day I watched a would-be salmon fisherman trying to start a Seagull in Fort Bragg, California. Over a hour or so of trying, his face got redder and the language got more and more creative.

When a group of fishermen came up the ramp, all carrying limits of large King salmon, he finally lost it completely.

Spouting a steady stream of invective, he unclamped the motor from the transom, stomped out to the end of the dock and with a spinning 'hammer toss' launched the motor out into the Albion river.

It is probably still there.

Currently maintaining two holes in the water...'77 Venture 23 and new to the family,
'78 Catalina 25

Edited by - on

Arlyn Stewart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2984 Posts

Response Posted - 06/11/2003 : 20:41:51

oooooh my belly hurts.........

Arlyn C-250 W/B #224
<img src="http://www.stewartfam.net/arlyn/rr.jpg" border=0>
N/E Texas and Great Lakes

[url="http://www.cox-internet.com/arlynstewart/"]Arlyn's C250 Mods n Cruisin Stories[/url]

Edited by - on

Douglas
Master Marine Consultant

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1595 Posts

Response Posted - 06/11/2003 : 22:38:19

I have one of these anchors sitting in my garage. I was planning on overhauling it. Its still sitting there. Its my second Sea Gull. You will find it is not as powerfull as stated. Dont worry about it overpowering you but it will do the job.

Doug&Ruth
Triska (Alberg 29)
Tacoma Wa.

Edited by - on

mroettersr
Navigator

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USA
148 Posts

Response Posted - 06/11/2003 : 23:57:40

When I bought my Venture 224 back in 1975, it had a 5 hp British Seagull on it. With the 5 bladed prop, I delivered a lot of power but little speed even on the relatively light Venture. At a bare idle, it would propel the boat enough to set sails with no steerage problems. It had no reverse but only neutral and forward. The motor did not spin around 180 degrees for reverse which made for some interesting manuevers. As far as hard starting is concerned, I found that the carb needed cleaning once and while. I did this once on the water in an emergency with a pair of pliers and a screw driver. It was a very simple engine. First chance I got, I bought a long shaft electric start Evinrude and parked the BS in the garage until I sold the boat. (kept the Evinrude, didn't want to deprive the new owner of the British Seagull experience.)

Mike Roetter
'83 C25 #3568 SK/SR
Marblehead on Lake Erie

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bud
Deckhand

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USA
18 Posts

Response Posted - 06/12/2003 : 00:40:28

I have a British Seagull in my Garage; send me the numbers off yours and ill check my books next time iam out to the boat and let you know more about it
Bud

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Ellis Bloomfield
1st Mate

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USA
85 Posts

Response Posted - 06/12/2003 : 16:21:31

Bud,
Thanks for the offer but I have the books and the engine is the "Silver 100 plus." Was just curious if anyone had experience with them. I may hang it on the boat or in a tub sometime and try it out.

Oscar,
Actually two people have offered to take my spare ferro for playhouses. (They live in rural areas). Wish I'd had something like that when I was a kid.

Arlyn,
Sorry about your belly trouble. You might try http://onhealth.webmd.com/conditions/resource/symptomchecker

Ellis

Edited by - on

Oscar
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2030 Posts

Response Posted - 06/12/2003 : 16:58:41

Doesn't this forum have a built in symptom checker? I use it all the time......unfortunately my doctor patient confidentiality prohibits me from disclosing the diagnosis......<img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle>

Oscar
<img src="http://www.woodenshoemusic.com/Images/familypics/LKforumshot.jpg" border=0>
Lady Kay 250 WB #618
In the driveway in Behtlehem, PA ready to go anytime.

Edited by - on

SEA DOG
Deckhand

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USA
19 Posts

Response Posted - 06/12/2003 : 20:14:12

There is only one moving part in BSM, the owners arm trying to start it.
Most Ferro boats are better made, and much more reliable, than a BSM.
Keep the ferro and give the BSM to your mother in-law.

Seadog FK/TR 4232

Edited by - SEA DOG on 06/12/2003 20:19:08

Edited by - on

ronrryan
Admiral

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USA
561 Posts

Response Posted - 06/12/2003 : 22:28:57

I had three of those little devils, two had the shift, one did not. I sailed a small wood sloop off a mooring with the latter, what a firedrill every time. When leaving the mooring single handed, had to let go forward, dash aft and start the bugger, sometimes yes, sometimes no! then when shooting for the mooring had to cut off the fuel at exactly the right moment so she would quit as I went forward to hook up, when windy it was just amazing the trouble I could get into in a really crowded mooring field, had I been insured I am certain that Seagull would have had an "accident",always traveled in a large cloud of blue smoke, your post brought back a lot of memories from almost fifty years ago, godspeed ron srsk Orion SW FL

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Ellis Bloomfield
1st Mate

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USA
85 Posts

Response Posted - 06/12/2003 : 23:51:36

Sea Dog,
I got the ferro because it had good masts and good standing rigging (ketch with double headsails) and a very low time Perkins 50 hp 4-108 which will all fit onto the Samson I'm rebuilding. The Seagull was hanging on the rail of the Endurance. I didn't intend to use it but it sounds like it might be interesting to try.

Oscar, Seagulls must like the water, ever other page in the manual is headed with the warning, "Always secure engine with a lanyard." The manual also lists things like the engine being mounted too low into the water as being a reason for hard starting. It also says something about a relaxed attitude. I assume that means when the engine quits its time for a bloody tea break.
Ellis

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Oscar
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2030 Posts

Response Posted - 06/13/2003 : 08:38:28

Well, what do you want from engineers that designed cars with positive ground.....We must put things in perspective though and look at it within context. I remember seeing period engines in the Maritime museum on Salomons island, and the BSM couterparts from the US did not look a whole lot more confidence inspiring. In the day it was what people had, and I bet they were most grateful to put the paddles away and enjoy the smoke (theirs and the engines)....

Oscar
<img src="http://www.woodenshoemusic.com/Images/familypics/LKforumshot.jpg" border=0>
Lady Kay 250 WB #618
In the driveway in Behtlehem, PA ready to go anytime.

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willy
Captain

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USA
422 Posts

Response Posted - 06/16/2003 : 08:12:53

Hey Oscar, I laughed out loud at your mentioning positive grounding English engineers. Lets not forget the Zenith Stromberg oil leaking carbs...

Edgy
Rehoboth Bay, DE

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LOREN SOUERS
Navigator

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USA
100 Posts

Response Posted - 06/16/2003 : 11:02:59

Can't resist mentioning that I had a British Seagull too. It was stolen from me in the Fla keys. It's probably out there somewhere. I do remember that it wasn't the easiest thing to start, and you had to use a rope (line?) Smokey? I'll say. It seemed like it weighed a ton when I handed it down to somebody in the dinghy. I did, however, like a lot of British mechanical machines, have a lot of personality, and I missed it when it was gone.
I replaced it with a Cruise-n-Carry, 1.9HP, which was much lighter, pushed the dinghy around with similar power, and also had some quirks of its own.
One thing about the British Seagull. I bet it won't wear out on you.

Loren Souers, Skipper
Nimue, the Lady of the Lake

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ronrryan
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
561 Posts

Response Posted - 06/16/2003 : 19:10:50

Continuing the English engineers theme: Once upon a time I had a pre-war Jaguar which sported Huge Lucas P100 headlamps, complete with stoneguards, they had a habit of blinking on and off, independently, for no reason I or any other person could determine. Recently a pal of mine who was stationed in England gave me a Black T-shirt, on the front it says: LUCAS, Prince of Darkness, and a quote "A gentleman does not motor about after dark". The car was a hell of a lot of fun, though, ron, srsk Orion

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