G'day Doug, bought this one complete with a 9 foot fibre glass dinghy. Neither have been used by me, just seemed a good bargain for $50 at an auction. I have only been in one boat going with a Seagull and from memory it would rotate far enough to provide reverse thrust. This one wouldnt do that when I set it up for photos though.
Way back in the 50's dad had a nice little plywood open boat - beautifully crafted, stained and varnished plywood - it was about 10-11 feet long - could seat 6, two up front, two amidships and two aft (making allowances for the 'skipper', to steer it). Originally it was only powered by oar power, but during its second year, dad bought a 2.5 hp British Seagull outboard.
See, the interesting shaped pulley on the top of the motor - the starter cord was totally separate - you had to fit one end, appropriately knotted, into one of the slots, then wind the cord around the pulley. To start you had to pull the rope quite sharply - as the motor started, the cord would come away from the pulley, and you wound it up and put it back into the 'kit box'. The modern day recoil starters weren't around in those days. Ah ! those were the days, mum and dad named the boat after me and my little brother. Got up many nautical miles in 'day trips' on Lake Conjola and other South Coast lakes and rivers.
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Wondering about ShortNorth ? - Short North is the railwayman's nickname for the NSWGR main line between Sydney and Newcastle
