On Wed, 22 Aug 2007 07:59:37 -0400, "Roger Long"
wrote:

I'm sure there are exceptions. With the boat and installation designed from
the beginning to make hand starting a priority, starting a larger engine
would be possible. Problem is, it is generally an afterthought if it is
given any thought at all.

Here's a possible invention that I'll give away in a public forum:

How about a geared adapter to let you spin the flywheel with a
cordless electric drill? Some of the better 14 and 18 volt drills
have amazing power in a small package. A lot of people carry one on
the boat already.

Personally I still prefer carrying a small to mid-sized spare battery,
preferably a gel cell for long charge retention.

On 2007-08-16 19:13:57 -0400, "Roger Long" said:

I can categorically say that no one has ever hand started one of these boats

Our Yanmar doesn't even have provisions for a crank, and the flywheel's
too small to give much momentum (yeah, I know there's a more accurate
word) anyway.

At the risk of being repetative, we've found that our little 12v solar
cell will bring the "better" battery up enough to start the engine in a
few hours' sun, faster if the decompression levers are thrown for the
spin-up.

--
Jere Lull
Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's new pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI pages: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

On Wed, 22 Aug 2007 03:46:19 GMT, Jere Lull wrote:

we've found that our little 12v solar
cell will bring the "better" battery up enough to start the engine in a
few hours' sun, faster if the decompression levers are thrown for the
spin-up.

That's a good point about using the decompression lever for a weak
battery start.