This is probably a result of the negligent ferry driver that sliced up a 34 foot clipper 34 cruiser indoor the harbor bridge. I say negligent because the operator of the ferry didn’t have a proper lookout , was going too fast for the dark conditions and failed to avert a collision as per international maritime law. 6 people died in that incident by memory which was around 2006 or early 2007.

That’s my 2cents worth.

The first task is to know what size motor your boat will accpet.  For my boat, it is rated up to a 30hp motor.  The boat also has a maxium motor weight.  In some cases, the weight of a 4-stroke motor may exceed what the boat is designed for.  So for my choice,  I had another criteria and was for the motor to be portable enough to allow me to disassemble the boat each day to pack it up and put away in the boot of the car.   This left me with a choice of 15hp 2-stroke outboards.   The Mercury 15 (USA model), the Mercury 15 super (Japanese made Tohatsu model, also sold as a Nissan in thr USA) and the Yamaha 15hp. The Mercury 15 (USa) and the Yamaha both weigh in at around 35kg whereas the Tohatsu sourced Mercury weighs in at a portly 42kg. In terms of price, the Tohatsu sourced Mercury is about $300 cheaper than the USA model which I was quoted at $2594.  I found a new Yamaha at Hunts Marine at Blakehurst in Sydney for $2290.

Some other notes relating to the period when I was looking for outboards:

• Mercury outboards were out of stock at the Mercury Wharehouse with about a 1 month wait for stock.
• Blakes Marine had several Yamaha 15hp 2-stroke outboards on display in their showroom.  Stock is always good.
• The Price for the Yamaha was for a bulk purchase that Hunts made, and does not reflect the typical price of the Yamaha.
• The people who live on the Hawksbury River in the northern part of Sydney favour the Yamaha motors.  A friend of my father has several of them and swears by them.
• The price of $2290 on the Yamaha in Australia basically equalled the price in USD that is typical in the USA. I know I’m getting a good deal when the price is the same between Australia and the USA.

So, with a price that is hard to beat,  I chose the Yamaha 15hp 2-stroke to be the outboard motor of choice for the Island Inflatables boat that was purchased.  My reasoning included a trusted brand and a trusted motor amongst people who use these as their only transport to their houses.  Yamaha motors have a good resale value and it is lighter than the Tohatsu sourced outboards.  Parts are easilly available just as they are with the Mercury Outboards.

a design feature that is very handy on the Yamaha outboard is the gear lever.  Although I’m happy for it to be on the starboard (right) side of the motor, on the Yamaha it is on the front of the motor where you pull the lever towards the front of the boar to go forward and point it towards the back of the boat to go backwards.  The Mercury is linked to the throttle where twisting one way willput the motor into gear and advance the throttle.  This was seen as a disadvantage due to having to remember which way to twist to go forward of backward.  Both systems are fine by me, but I think the Yamaha is more logical.

Here is my summary of outboards on the market

• Yamaha:  Makers of 2-stroke and 4-stroke outboard motors.  Yamaha was chosen as a partner for Mercury when Mariner outboards were established in the early 1970′s in the smaller outboards.
• Mercury/Marine:  Part of the Brunswick Corporation in the USA which would be the largest marine boat and engine manufaturing company in the world.  Mercury outboards are alsopopular and made in 2-stroke and 4-stroke models.
• Johnson/Evenrude:  Once part of OMC (Ocean Marine Corporation), the Johnson & Evenrude motors are mow part of Bombardier of Canada.  in the 1970′s & 1980′s these motors were the most popular in Australia, especially the 6hp, 9.9hp, 20hp & 25hp in their smaller sizes.  Today after bankrupcy and new ownership by Bombardier these motors are making a small comback but a lack of suitable small 2-stroke models left these off my list.
• Suzuki:  Our family has had a 2hp 2-stroke outboard that has survived several submersions and still works to this day despite a lack of maintenance.  I believe Susuki became too expensive, left the Australian market for a while and returned with a 4-stroke only range.  A reputable marine mechanic once informed me that Suzuki uses fine threads on the bolts which sieze and break.  I’m not sure what they are like today but for me a 4-stroke only range isn’t suitable in the portability stakes.
• Tohatsu:  This Japanese brand is also sold by Nissan in the USA, as well as being supplied as the 15hp Mercury 15 Super.  A reputable brand of motor that may only be a bit obscure.  Reliable but a little rough running in certain models, but they are the discount choice of the fishing guys in their tinnies (Aluminium boats). It should be noted that Tohatsu had a 27hp diesel outboard that I remember in the 1980′s/1990′s.
• Honda:  Honda entered the marine scene with a 4-stroke only motor range and covers models from the smallest to the larger models.  Again here, a 4-stroke doesn’t apply due to my desire to keep things portable.
• Parsun:  These motors are from a Chinese industrial company that is the 3rd largest generator manufacturer in the world whose customers requested it build outboards.  These motors are cheaper than the established makes but have only been around for a couple of years.  I decided against the Parsun outboard primarily due to resale value, obscurity and a lack of any track record.  I am not one to encourage people to shy away from this brand but reputations take 10 to 20 years to be made (look at Hyundai in cars, or Japanese outboards or motorbikes in the 1970′s).  There is nothing wrong with Chinese manufacturing as Marcury manufacture some outboards in the same neigbourhood as the Parsun outboards.  I think that if your funds are rather limited, then give these outboards a look.  One of the Australian fishing magazines tested the motor and were impressed so look it up.

When looking around for your motor, check that the motor comes with a fueltank and fuel line, as these add about $100 to the cost if you buy aftermarket ones at Whitworths or Bias Marine.  The Yamaha came standard with a 24 litre tanke and I was told the Mercury has one when I got the quote on the Mercury.   Take your time, look around and consider what it is you want out of your outboard motor.  Is it portability, cheapest cost, or enviromental credentials like with a 4-stroke.

First up, decide upon what you want to use the boat for.  If you don’t mind a boat on a trailer and have somewhere to store it, go for aluminium or fibrglass or even a RIB.  If you want a portable boat that will fit in the back of the car, can live in a small space at home or in a storage unit, then go for an inflatable boat.

Of the inflatable boats, there are 3 styles.  Of those 3 styles, the IRB is essentially a marketing name so I’ll ignore that and concentrate on Inflatable boats in general.

RIB’s come in many sizes but the concept is the same with each type.  There are inflatable side tubes (sponsons) that are attached to a fiberglass (or aluminium) hull.  This allows the manufacturer to offer an inflatable boat that has the soft ride in rough water that a deep V fiberflass boat has and allows for more efficiency.  This means that you can be more comfortable in rough water and eing more efficient means that the boat will travel further and faster than an equivilent all inflatable boat.   The fiberglass hull will be more rigid than an all inflatable hull which means that motors with greater power can be used or at least give the same poerformance with a smaller motor.

 Inflatable boat and outboard motor

The first thing to do is work out what you want out of your boat.  For me, it was portable and in that I mean the ability to transport all the boat and its components including the outboard motor inside the car without a trailer.  Given that brief, that means I can only use some form of all inflatable boat and not a RIB.   I want to be able to run around parts of Sydney harbour and other Australian East Coast waterways and that means I’d like a boat that can take between a 9.9 and 15hp motor.  Since these motors are the same physical size, opting for a 15hp motor makes sense.   The size of boat I needed was one that can take a 15hp motor and still be small enough to transport in the car. This means a boat of length between 3.0m (10′) and 3.8m (13′).  I’ve always been brought up to believe that a larger boat is more suited to longer distances.  Weight is a large issue as well.  A 3.0m inflatable boat may weigh in at 40kg (88lbs) at the 3.0m end of the scale or up to 99kg (220lbs) for a 3.8m boat.

Floors:  Inflatable boats may have one of 3 different floors.  Wood, thise is where plywood is used as the floor material.  It allows you to mount things tot he floor, is durable and can be replaced by cutting suitable marine plywood to size.  Aluminium floor, this uses aluminium sheets and is also rigid.  Air floor (or air deck), this uses an inflatable flat tube that is inflated to 10psi (70kPa) and contains thousands of internal fibers that hold the top and bottom surface together.  The high pressure is intended to create a very stiff floor section that has a significant weight advantage. For example, my 3.65m (12′) Island Inflatables air floor boat weighs in at 50kg (110lbs) but the wood floor version is 69kg (152lbs).  That is a significant weight difference.  Another example is Quicksilver of the Brunswick Corporation, in their 3.4m Air Deck boat weighs in at 42kg but the wood floor model is 56kg (30lbs).  for portability, you may consider an airfloor just because of the weight.

Motor: The outboard motor you choose will affect how portable your boat is.  I’ve chosen a 15HP 2-stroke  outboard which weighs in at around 35kg.  This is the typical weight of both Yamaha and Mercury in their 15hp Outboards.  Tohatsu (also Nissan in the USA) and the Mercury 15HP Super (Japanese made) outboards weight in at 42kg. I know I’d rather not carry something that weighs in at 42 kg when I have the choice of one that is lighter.  9.9hpoutboards often weight the same as their 15hp counterparts.   Now, if you are environmentally concious, you might opt for a 4-stroke outboard, but if you take a look at the specifications, you are looking at around 44-50kg (~100lbs).

My choice:  After a bit of research, wandering a few shops that had new or 2ndhand inflatables, I came up with the following specificaiton.  3.3m (11′) to 3.6m (12′) air floor inflatable boat with a Mercury or Yamaha 2-stroke outboard.  The boat weighs 50kg (110lbs) (with seats, floor and oars). the outboard motor weighs 36kg (79lbs).  I think the Mercury outboard weighs 1kg less but that is insignificant.  It is light enough to be handled by 2 moderately sized adults.

The main factors to consider when choosing an inflatable boat are, how you intend to use it, portability and storage.

Boat & outboard motor

The challenge was to get a boat that could carry 2 people plus a possible 2 more for short distances.  The conditions are that the boat and motor plus all saftey equipment had to be able to be carried in the car (in the boot (trunk)) and it should be easy to store on the balcony of the unit which is quite small.Weight of a motor is crucial and a 15hp outboard was seen as ideal, on the assumption that I can carry a 35kg motor (77lbs) motor a short distance.  The portability of the boat means that  RIB’s (Rigid Inflatable Boats) were ruled out.  Size was a consideration because this impacts upon the weight. a Total boat weight between 40 to 60kg was seen to be possible to carry by 2 people.

We looked at 2nd hand inflatables which were mostly on ebay since it is one of the few sites that has boats for sale in Australia.  The problem was that most of them were on trailers and we don’t have a 2nd carspot for a trailer. There was one that had a 25hp Mariner outboard but it was on a trailer.  So after a bit of extra research, searching around a few shops, we ended up deciding upon the following:

Island Inflatables IS365 , 3.65m (12 foot) air floor inflatable boat.  (Island Inflatables (Menai Marine))
Yamaha 15hp 2 stroke outboard. ( Yamaha Motor Australia)

There was a financial limit placed upon the inflatable boat and motor package which is to be the all up cost including boat, motor, accessories, registration and insurance.

With the combination of boat and outboard motor decided upon, the boat was purchassed, registered and inflated. This blog will follow the journey of the inflatable boat, any comments I have about it, technical articles, info on accessories, observations and just plain old anything I can think of that relates to the life of an Inflatable Boat and outboard motor.  If you find something useful, leave me a comment. Got something you want to know, just ask.