OK Guys, fact: Modern motors are more powerful, faster, oil tight, cleaner and more efficient, so why do we all cling to Seagulls?
Obviously I have my reasons which I may well add later but what are YOUR reasons? If you are a 'user' ( OK, so I do Seagulls, I can 'andle it... ) why do you use an x year old motor rather than new? If you are a collector, wouldn't stamps be easier?
Do the collectors dream of finding some ultra rare example? or somehow 'completing the set'? are the users just too tight to buy new? ( note: I am a 'user' !! )
Just trying to get a little closer to whatever 'magic' it is that Seagulls have
I have one Seagull, a Forty Minus SJM 2121 D7 bought new in the summer holidays of 1967. My father bought it for me for passing an exam!
I kept it in the bottom of my Mirror dinghy, spending many happy hours sailing around Chichester Harbour out of Itchenor as a boy. When I needed to get back for tea and I was becalmed, out came the 'Gull.
That motor has stayed in the family all this time and been used infrequently ever since. John at SOS gave it a service a few years back and I continue to look after it. The tank has a few dings in it, the chrome has a couple of rust spots, but it still looks good and goes well. Probably become a family heirloom!
In a disposable world I get a simple reassurance from simple technology that works.
Also I am drawn to design icons, I am sure you would agree that the humble Seagull is a design icon.
I also own a 50 year old Land Rover series 1, if that won't start you can soon find out why it won't. The Land Rover is similar to the Seagull in that it was sent across the world to the far flung reaches, and is still in use today.
Perhaps I like them most because you always get a nice response from her in doors when a new one arrives "Not another outboard, how many do you need"?
Lastly it could also be blamed on a childhood running model aero engines, but the smell of castor oil and ether is a touch better than 2 stroke.
Is it possible to add a touch of Castrol R to the mix, that would remind be of grass track racing.
In a disposable world you must collect something; perhaps it would be better to call it recycling!!
Thats fantastic TR! to hear of one being used for such a long period bring a moistening to the eye! I know it isn't that unusual but still good to hear.
HA, I'm with you there, I hate throwing things away and the consumer society, It also bugs me when things are designed with non cleanable filters and pump impellers you have to replace regularly etc etc. The last modern outboard I bought I still have no idea what exactly is inside it and its very hard to find out! ( what do you want to know THAT for sir? just bring it to us for service ) Castrol R ** Sigh ** would love to put some of that in, wonder if its OK? ( wouldn't have thought so ) I used to put it in my Norton Commando just for the smell.
OK Andy I got the cheap bit right then! they certainly do hark back to simpler times thats for sure
I think a good old dollop of nostalgia plays a huge part
My Dad had one and it was a bit of a familiar comfortable ritual getting the seagull set up and running, to poddle about on the Medway
in addition they're gorgeously simple -basic design didn't really change in 50 years - everything is accessible and logical, so for an engineeringly challenged bod like me I can easily tinker with them
there is regrettably, (cos it means you seem to keep acquiring) a distinct challenge in collecting ....
A huge sense of satisfaction in finding what seems to be a basket case and resurrecting an engine made before my kids Grandad was born ...and there it is clean, shiny, sparking, looking for it's first swim
it's also that distincly male thing.... as with a silly grin, you wipe the worst of the oil-petrol mix off your hands mix and peer myopically through the smelly cloud of exhaust, having got your latest one running sweetly .....burbling away in the Seagull Test & Evaluation Facility
.....And HID asks "but you've got 10, what are they all for?? you've only got 1 boat !!
...they just don't understand !!!!
Neal...errrr... an ON, OP, 2xSD, F, 3xSJP, LLS, 2xFV, FVP, FPC, CPC WPCL, WSC, and a few eggs hatching, hopefully
I have heard similar things from SWMBO!! and I have only got 3 Gulls ( Oh and a 1989 M*r*n*er and a H***a ) Hah! made myself smile there as without thinking I put the year of the first one as if to show it was a bit old and therefore somehow excuseable!! Truth is it came with the boat and needed work. Having fixed it up I have trouble parting ..... But yes I regularly get 'How many motors do you need?'
Hugz, thats a worry, Haven't done that ( yet ) but as I own what I consider to be the largest sized yacht to safely use with a Seagull I don't plan to upgrade.
Mind you I was thinking of building a folding dinghy, maybe my 40+ would be a bit overpowered for that and I should get a featherweight, whaddya think?
they certainly do hark back to simpler times thats for sure
