Seagulls on The Murray

[jonmac]

I spent an evening and a morning with John and Greg on the river. It was a great experience just to motor alongside the boys on this nostalgic river trip. Well done to all concerned. . . jonmac

[croweater]

Its over and what an awesome trip we had, I am back at work now and there's a ton of jobs that
need to be done around the house as I have done nothing except Murray Run related things for the
last 5 months.
We have many guys and girls to thank before and during the run more on that later. I have put a
video up on the facebook page that shows the Seagull working hard crossing Lake Alexandrina, the
photo's below were taken on the last couple of days. Now I had better find that lawn mower and
the bloody thing wont start like the Seagull.

Chip Eater (boat 3) crossing Lake Alexandrina



Greg and John at the Goolwa Barrage



On the hard at Goolwa boat ramp



Hole No.1



Hole No.2



Our British Seagulls home for the last month



Rob Ripley bilge pump in action this pump also was very good at back flushing saved me hours of work

[Rob Ripley]

Thanks John, glad I could help.

[Collector Inspector]

Well done guys, our thought were on you all the way! Now you have a big story to tell to your grandchildren!

And to remind those Seagull owners of the highly polished motors that never get wet.

Very good and highly polished and never wet with the briny should take notice of a feat of"Naughticalism" beyond approach as what has happened here.

May they always look back on this reality and...........................wonder what if they I tried that sort of thing?

Then again, not very often that the ability and location for them could ever duplicate this achievement of endurance. Mechanical and Human.

Mark must do a write up of the astounding achievement aye?

So Cool!

B

PS: Motorcycle Jacket?

[John@sos]

Hats off to you guys, a great achievement, well done. Makes my trip this year look a rather cushy ride.!!

Thanks for sharing it on the forum.

Regards,
john
SOS

[Hugz]

As a matter of interest was the kevlar at any time compromised during the trip? I'm assuming it was on the bottom and not the sides.

An amazing feat. Terrific, worthy of an Australian Story episode on ABC.

[croweater]

Thanks guys but really we are just a couple of mates that ticked the run off their bucket list we just
used British Seagulls instead of a boring modern plastic motor just to make it interesting. If you love
the Aussie bush this run has it all I am already thinking about doing another run in three or four years
and I have been home only a few days.

There are so many guys that helped us make the run possible many on this forum Mark planted the
seed and got us thinking about the run, John from Broken Hill turned up with supplies after a couple
of hard days, Kean sent some important spares which I used and killed. John at SOS for advise and
prompt part supplies, many others offered parts and advise too many to list here you know who you
are thanks guys. The two guys that helped us make the start this year Edd who spent many days
working on the boats and kept us moving forward and Rob Ripley who at Yarrawonga and gave up
so many parts off his motor and taxied us around town for a couple of days. On the first day when
we stopped for lunch we all thought Rob & Edd should've been there.

Hugz.... Yes both boats had been compromised the Kevlar was put on to reduce abrasion which it
did very well we rarely came into the bank gently often we ended up sitting on a tree root or rock
and a couple of snags and rock ledges we hit I'm sure would've damaged the bottoms veneers.
Moose's boat when it hit a stump side on, the Kevlar wouldn't handle that sort of impact its not
meant to. We later found out the locals had a nick name for it as it had claimed many victims
so Old Moe got another. My boat had two holes when we came into what looked like a good spot
turns out the bank had some sharp rocks just under the surface damage was done before we
could get a stern line out to straighten the boat.

Collector Inspector.... Yes Mark is on our case as he has been from the start, any good rivers
over your way 100+ kms?

As you can see theres no damage to the wood so the Kevlar did as hoped.

[croweater]

Parts that the Seagulls needed on the run to keep them running.

2 Wipac ignition coils after these died I used the original Villiers mk1 unit to complete the run.
2 Spark plug caps I had bought these from a local motorcycle shop they looked ok but went hard and split
in use (Asian crap). The 2 caps that a small engine shop supplied (for mowers & chain saws) worked fine
and are ready for another run.
1 Fuel tap O ring conversion died no problems with the original cork versions.
1 Fuel tank this one hurt it was my favourite tank it split.
1 Head gasket as I only had one spare reused the others.
1 Gearbox complete.
3 Gearbox end cap gaskets.
2 Shims to adjust gearbox end float.
5 Prop springs.
2 Tank nuts and washers.
1 Gearbox end cap screw.
1 Gearbox filler screw
Gearbox seals changing to the V Ring V12 seals meant I could get through the day with one oil change.

I did not have any problems with the spark plugs we used Champion D16 if the motor started to load
up or miss we just ran them flat out and after five or ten minutes it cleared. My motor seemed happy
at around 3100 – 3300rpm it would run flat out all day if I asked it.
All motors were a little different in performance.
Carby settings were as per manual and we ran a mix of 10-1, four different oils were used Penrite,
Castrol, Mobil and Caltex all performed ok I think the Penrite had the least smoke.

Gearbox oil we used Penrite Transoil T140 a big, BIG mistake it was what Penrite recommended,
frustrated I rang their help line half way through the run and was told it was the preferred oil until
I said it wasn’t emulsifying, they said it’s not suppose to. After checking they rang me back less
than an hour later apologising then telling me the oil that they recommended is not a suitable oil
for our trip then suggested I find a way to stop the water getting into the gearbox and change it often.
Great I was already changing it twice a day and we were three days from a town that had more
than a dozen residents finding a replacement was not going to happen. Don’t panic if you’re using
T140 short runs up to 4 hours and regular changes it should be ok, we were running our motors for
up to 9-10 hours only stopping to change the gearbox oil.

The British Seagulls are a tough little motor one of them (mine) stoped pumping water the motor
was so hot you couldn’t touch it after a flush it was running with no difference in performance.

Considering the two boats travelled 3,300 km we had very few issues they always started easily
and consumed only a few spares.

My boat Lazy Gull (boat 1) has been excepted and added to the Inland Rivers National Marathon
Register, the register was started in 1955 and we are the 259th entry eleven boats have completed
the run this year I was told our 4hp British Seagull is the smallest power boat to complete the run.

John

[Hugz]

A while back I came to the same conclusion re gearbox oil. I found Mobil Stern Tube Lubricant came close to what is required. Seems to be diverse thoughts on the subject though. Here is a link to a previous thread.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2981

You have done some great pioneering work on requirements for seagull marathons.

I wonder if Cooper Creek is navigable? Half the length of Murray though, Qld to Lake Eyre.

Adelaide Oval has been having fun for the last few days..

[Collector Inspector]

"I was told our 4hp British Seagull is the smallest power boat to complete the run."

Totally Bloody Oarsome!

B

New Font Colour for 2014

[1650bullet]

With todays outboard motor technology, It was a basic seagull that completed the whole length. Simply the best

[croweater]

Why did the coils die? As it was mentioned in another post and as I would like to know myself I went out to the
shed and dig out the old multimeter and suspect coils to have a look.

On the run I tested by changing in this order e.g. Spark Plug – No Spark, changed Cap, Lead & Pickup assy. – No
Spark, checked Points – No Spark, then changed the Coil – Spark Good.

First coil: motor started to miss then settled down as we were going through lock 8 the ole girl started to really
miss then got worse until it died we rowed to the bank points were very dirty gave them a clean tried it again it
got worse then died. Testing tonight Primary is good, Secondary is an open circuit.

Second coil: We had a long lunch at Waikerie we were pushing hard to get through Lock 2 before they knock off
for the day about 8ks out the ole girl died again no warning this time the motor was very hot you could have fried
an egg on the flywheel, we just made it through the Lock with 10 minutes to spare using the spare motor.
Testing tonight Primary is good, Secondary is good which was quite a surprise as I couldn’t get any spark until I
changed over to the Villiers unit. Initially I thought we had cooked it as it was so hot so I back flushed it, did not
see any obstruction come out we then found there was NO Spark when we tried to start the ole girl to see if it was
pumping. I thought the heat had killed the coil guess not will give it a try in a few weeks,
any ideas?

This was my workshop on the run.



John

[croweater]

Hard to believe it’s been over one year since we started our long journey down the Murray River I have only
used the boat a few times since. I have had some oil blended that should solve my gearbox problems but I still
haven’t had time to give it a good run I would like to do a 100km trial.

Mark Walker has written a story on the run and it’s finally been put to ink and is in the November issue of
AFLOAT Magazine issue #301, Mark had to reduce it several times as magazines don’t want long stories it’s
taken about 10 months thanks mate. (Hope the link works)

http://magazine.afloat.com.au/?iid=105280#folio=22

John

[Charles uk]

Very very impressive.

Engine hours, fuel/oil consumption, average speed?

Thanks Mark great read!

[Buzzook]

Don't thank me, all I did was write it up. The real heroes are the boys (and girl!) who did the run!!

But glad you enjoyed it....