# British Seagulls.



## Donald McGhee

Now living very near the sea and have bought another boat. Also a Seagull motor was thrown in as well. After taking off the fuel tank, dumping the old fuel, painting the tank and cleaning out the fuel leads, cleaning the plug and topping up the gear box oil I started it up. Away she went, first pull!

What a racket! Water everywhere, garage flooded and the old dog near had a heart attack. I am off to the river on Friday for a trial run so here goes!

Have any of you crusty old mariners ever owned one?

(Thumb)


----------



## John Timmins

I only restore vintage Mercury outboards with the goal of museum quality work ! I am very active in the Antique Outboard Motor Club Inc. - Florida Chapter. One of our members is a die hard Seagull guy and will be the USA parts guy; his partner is an Englishman who is the expert parts man. 

The AOMCI has a member directory, and there are likely members in your country you can get in touch with. This year *Antique Outboarder* featured an article about an annual river cruise in NZ which sounded like great fun. It was a 2 day ride with an overnight hotel stay in a choice place - the bar having many beer taps !

Let me know it I can help you with parts people or expert's help. John Timmins
[email protected]

www.aomci.org OR www.flaomci.com


----------



## Keltic Star

I've had a few over the years and they just keep going and going. Their gearbox and propeller combination was unique and it provided amazing thrust. 

I saw an 118' tall ship once that used one installed on a small Zodiac to act as its bow thruster when docking and un-docking.


----------



## Duncan112

Seagulls - fantastic bits of kit spare parts etc available here http://www.britishseagull.co.uk/spareparts.php

I was in the Auckland Maritime Museum last year and they had an outboard motor display with some Seagulls in


----------



## Union Jack

*What a racket! Water everywhere, garage flooded and the old dog near had a heart attack. *

A little off topic, but this inevitably reminded me of the time when a Fleet Maintenance Unit fired up a big outboard motor in their shore test tank, only to discover that the chefs from a frigate which had just been sold to a sub continental navy had quietly been using the tank as a gash bin - curry and rice flying in all directions!

Jack


----------



## gordy

I worked on outboards in Lymington Hampshire between MN stints.
Not being a boat owner at that time I only saw a few Seagulls compared to other makes, maybe due to their legendary reliability.
When they needed worked on, they were more awkward than modern designs. I'm thinking mainly of getting under the flywheel to access electrics. They certainly were solidly built and allegedly assembled by females, and why not!

I was an Evinrude/Johnson fan back then, (1971-2), Japanese engines hadn't appeared yet.

My claim to fame was working on engines from 1.5 - 60,000hp(Jester)


----------



## Frank P

Hello Donald, I own a 4.5 hp 1964 Seagull, it is an auxiliary for my 16.5 foot boat, the main motor is a 40 hp Mariner/Mercury.

Cheers Frank


----------



## Derek Roger

Used to use them on Loch Tay trolling for salmon . Trouble with slow speed trolling is that the plug would oil up and they would require a plug change . As they were hired boats at that time one could not fit a prop with less pitch and rev it higher to prevent plug fouling . My fishing buddy was Alan Atack also an engineer with Brocklebanks ; he solved the problem to a point by making a large rubber band from an old tire inner tube which was wrapped around the prop to reduce efficiency ; thus we ran the engine at a higher speed and reduced fouling . 
The final solution was our own boat a 14ft Rana from Norway and a 6 HP Evinrude Fisherman with 2 cylinders . It was excellent at all speeds ; quiet and did not foul the plugs . It had a proper fuel tank that did not need the constant refilling .
Bye bye Seagull .


----------



## Rogerd48

Saved one from drowning when I was a kid. The Seagull motor was only held on by what looked like a conduit saddle clamp with two screws. I noticed that there was a crack through one side of the saddle casting so threaded a rope though between the exhaust and prop shaft tubes and secured it to the back of the boat.

Came to start it with the wrap around pull cord and woops, off goes the motor as the clamp broke on the other side. It would have gone to the bottom of the River Dart without that bit of rope.


----------



## Frank P

Donald, if you go to the site below and enter the serial number from your motor, it will tell you everything that you need to know about the motor, and John the guy that runs the site is very helpful.

http://www.saving-old-seagulls.co.uk/

Cheers Frank


----------



## Ian6

Donald
Ancient history now but when I left the sea in 1965 I bought a Wavecrest yawl that I kept at Greenwich Yacht Club (posh name but in those days it was anything but) and I bought a British Seagull outboard from Gamages in Holborn.

The boat helped me swallow the anchor and the outboard performed brilliantly and reliably when the wind didn't. Sadly Gamages has long gone like my youth and most of my hair.

When I got married I sold both boat and outboard to buy exciting new possessions like ironing boards and washing machines.

Incidently Greenwich Yacht Club was near the old Greenwich Gas Works and the whole area was redeveloped to build the Millenium Dome, which is now the O2 Arena. The developers paid for a splendid new clubhouse.

Ian


----------



## Frank P

Donald, like any engine the Seagull needs to be set-up correctly and it will run forever. Some of the local fishermen swear by them and when I said that I was looking for a back up motor they suggested that I buy a Seagull, I was lucky with the one that I bought, it is in excellent condition as for the last few years it had only been used on Coniston Water in the Lake District, the guy used it on his tender to get him out to his yacht. He was only selling it because he needed a smaller motor.

Cheers Frank


----------



## Donald McGhee

I took to the river today, complete with seagull (Had the boat too, visions of me with a motor strapped to my rear!) and puttered up and down between the city and rail bridges for about an hour. Engine kept conking out, but found that, strangely, the fuel cock was vibrating shut! Pushed the boat along about 5 knots against the flood and I am well pleased with it for an auxiliary.
All good


----------



## alan ward

I was working on a private yacht moored at the bottom of Donald Goslings garden in Kingston and used to travel by tender to Kingston Bridge for bread and milk etc.The tender was a wooden clinker built dinghy with a Seagull and it was a great mid morning break disguised as an errand.Weekends were quiet as the Boss never appeared until monday at the earliest so we were free of duties and I`d take the boat as far up river as I could on the principal that if I ran out of fuel I could row back with the current in my favour,that was a great summer,July 1968 motor yacht Destiny.


----------



## charles henry

When my father retired I gave him a Seagull as a present. Why?
it was the only outboard motor available in the UK at that time.
It was an incredable pile of JUNK, didnt start worth a damn, didnt run worth a damn, and the engineering concept of the beast would have got any engineering student expelled.

Wanted to buy him a US or Canadian motor but was told by UK customs that they were not allowed in the UK.....

That was quite a few years ago, however to balance the act I sailed a "Dragon" and it was a marvelous boat.

Ahh memories
Chas


----------



## Frank P

Donald McGhee said:


> I took to the river today, complete with seagull (Had the boat too, visions of me with a motor strapped to my rear!) and puttered up and down between the city and rail bridges for about an hour. Engine kept conking out, but found that, strangely, the fuel cock was vibrating shut! Pushed the boat along about 5 knots against the flood and I am well pleased with it for an auxiliary.
> All good


Glad the Seagull is working ok Donald, my Seagull motor will be 50 years old next year (2014) not bad for a pile of JUNK that won't start,,,,,,

Cheers Frank


----------



## spongebob

Donald,I can see you now , plugging against the tide with a huge blue smoke cloud hanging above. 
I think that the petrol to oil ratio at 10 to 1 was the reason that the Seagull never wore out. 3/4 pint to the Imperial gallon was the order of of the day until the mid/late 70's when better lubricants allowed a reduction in the oil.
My first encounter with a Seagull was in 1960 when I hired a 10 foot dingy with a 2/12 hp Seagull from the Duke of Marlborough hotel at Russell to cruise across to Paihia. Being young and smart I pushed off, leapt aboard And started the motor without checking the transom clamps and a few yards off shore the wake of a passing launch joggled the ship enough for the engine to dismount and for a moment there was only my tiller arm connecting boat and motor. The only answer was to plunge the Seagull into the tide to stop it.
A plug dry and about 100 pulls on the start cord saw a much embarrassed Bob underway again.
In the earl 70's I traded my Sunburst sailing dingy in on a little 16 foot Robert Tucker design twin keel day 
sailer . It was gaff rigged and sailed like a pig in any windward conditions so to ensure family safety I invested in a brand new 4 hp seagull which performed faultlessly for about 4 years.
Next boat was a local John Gladden design 22' 6" twin keeler that had been originally fitted with a inboard Stuart Turner engine but replaced by a new Seagull 6 hp long shaft motor with a reduction box and clutch. This again performed without fault apart from the ever present pall of smoke of smoke. 
Once the Japanese goty into the small end market and Johnson/Evinrude/ mercury came on the scene the old blunderbuss lost its grip on the market but a surprisingly large number are still out there.
You are a history maker Don.

Bob


----------



## Frank P

spongebob said:


> Donald,I can see you now , plugging against the tide with a huge blue smoke cloud hanging above.
> I think that the petrol to oil ratio at 10 to 1 was the reason that the Seagull never wore out. 3/4 pint to the Imperial gallon was the order of of the day until the mid/late 70's when better lubricants allowed a reduction in the oil.
> My first encounter with a Seagull was in 1960 when I hired a 10 foot dingy with a 2/12 hp Seagull from the Duke of Marlborough hotel at Russell to cruise across to Paihia. Being young and smart I pushed off, leapt aboard And started the motor without checking the transom clamps and a few yards off shore the wake of a passing launch joggled the ship enough for the engine to dismount and for a moment there was only my tiller arm connecting boat and motor. The only answer was to plunge the Seagull into the tide to stop it.
> A plug dry and about 100 pulls on the start cord saw a much embarrassed Bob underway again.
> In the earl 70's I traded my Sunburst sailing dingy in on a little 16 foot Robert Tucker design twin keel day
> sailer . It was gaff rigged and sailed like a pig in any windward conditions so to ensure family safety I invested in a brand new 4 hp seagull which performed faultlessly for about 4 years.
> Next boat was a local John Gladden design 22' 6" twin keeler that had been originally fitted with a inboard Stuart Turner engine but replaced by a new Seagull 6 hp long shaft motor with a reduction box and clutch. This again performed without fault apart from the ever present pall of smoke of smoke.
> Once the Japanese goty into the small end market and Johnson/Evinrude/ mercury came on the scene the old blunderbuss lost its grip on the market but a surprisingly large number are still out there.
> You are a history maker Don.
> 
> Bob


Bob, you are right about the 10-1 mix, but for a number of years now there has been a conversion kit (carburettor needle) available and changing the needle allows you to go to a 25-1 mix which produces allot less smoke.

Cheers Frank........(Thumb)


----------



## Donald McGhee

spongebob said:


> Donald,I can see you now , plugging against the tide with a huge blue smoke cloud hanging above.
> I think that the petrol to oil ratio at 10 to 1 was the reason that the Seagull never wore out. 3/4 pint to the Imperial gallon was the order of of the day until the mid/late 70's when better lubricants allowed a reduction in the oil.
> My first encounter with a Seagull was in 1960 when I hired a 10 foot dingy with a 2/12 hp Seagull from the Duke of Marlborough hotel at Russell to cruise across to Paihia. Being young and smart I pushed off, leapt aboard And started the motor without checking the transom clamps and a few yards off shore the wake of a passing launch joggled the ship enough for the engine to dismount and for a moment there was only my tiller arm connecting boat and motor. The only answer was to plunge the Seagull into the tide to stop it.
> A plug dry and about 100 pulls on the start cord saw a much embarrassed Bob underway again.
> In the earl 70's I traded my Sunburst sailing dingy in on a little 16 foot Robert Tucker design twin keel day
> sailer . It was gaff rigged and sailed like a pig in any windward conditions so to ensure family safety I invested in a brand new 4 hp seagull which performed faultlessly for about 4 years.
> Next boat was a local John Gladden design 22' 6" twin keeler that had been originally fitted with a inboard Stuart Turner engine but replaced by a new Seagull 6 hp long shaft motor with a reduction box and clutch. This again performed without fault apart from the ever present pall of smoke of smoke.
> Once the Japanese goty into the small end market and Johnson/Evinrude/ mercury came on the scene the old blunderbuss lost its grip on the market but a surprisingly large number are still out there.
> You are a history maker Don.
> 
> Bob


Hi Bob, good to see you back posting, hope all well with you now. The Seagull is now my auxiliary. Works well, but try coming alongside with no neutral or reverse! Tried it all, shutting the throttle, cutting off the fuel (but they do run on!) Ended up rowing in, as I just couldn't get the hang of it. Mind you there was a flood tide in the river and that hindered things (My story and I'm sticking to it).
I now have a reconditioned Johnson 8hp, which a mate had under a blanket for 25 years after using it once! So looking forward to exploring the river when I get some time out from mucking about on the other boat, the paddler Waimarie, just love that one!
Take care of yourself.


----------



## Davie M

As a lad I watched as a seagull was pulled from the bottom of Loch Lomond. It had jumped off the stern of a dingy into about 10ft of fresh water and had taken about a week to locate and recover.
It was stripped cleaned and the mag dried "gently" with a blowlamp, the fuel replaced and it started first time.
Davie


----------



## charles henry

Donald McGhee said:


> Now living very near the sea and have bought another boat. Also a Seagull motor was thrown in as well. After taking off the fuel tank, dumping the old fuel, painting the tank and cleaning out the fuel leads, cleaning the plug and topping up the gear box oil I started it up. Away she went, first pull!
> 
> What a racket! Water everywhere, garage flooded and the old dog near had a heart attack. I am off to the river on Friday for a trial run so here goes!
> 
> Have any of you crusty old mariners ever owned one?
> 
> (Thumb)


I bought one for my father when he retired to Duror. Compared to what was available in north america it was an an absolute piece of GARBAGE. bUT for some reason the Seagull was the only outboard available for purchase in the UK at that time. Can only presume that someone "had paid off someone.
I get angry just remembering that piece of garbage

Chas (Cloud)(Cloud)


----------



## Bill.B

In 1977 I was skipper of the sailing barge Marjorie and was getting her ready for her new owners and a move from Ipswich to London. As she had no engine the outboard for the barge boat was important. It was in a bit of state so took it to the local rep. They had never seen one like it and checked the serial number and found it had been made in 1943. After a clean and a decode it ran pretty well. It had certainly paid for itself a few times over. It paid to have a spare shear spring with you though. 
Bill


----------



## brian3

have owned one for 12years "came with boat" never let me down. 8.5 horse


----------



## Donald McGhee

Having spent an hour or two on the trial run a few months ago, ruining my hearing and trying to figure out how to come alonside the wharf with a tide running, with no reverse gear, or stopping it by means other than closing the fuel cock and waiting for the fuel to run out I have bought a Johnson 8hp!
I will advertise the Seagull and hopefully some enthusiast will enjoy it.


----------



## Derek Roger

Donald McGhee said:


> Having spent an hour or two on the trial run a few months ago, ruining my hearing and trying to figure out how to come alonside the wharf with a tide running, with no reverse gear, or stopping it by means other than closing the fuel cock and waiting for the fuel to run out I have bought a Johnson 8hp!
> I will advertise the Seagull and hopefully some enthusiast will enjoy it.


If you get 5 quid for it you will be doing well . Junk


----------



## Graham Wallace

I'll never forget the sound of a Seagull. My family had a number of boats on the Thames, Staines ,Shepperton,Sunbury areas, Spent most weekends 1948/54 on them, then summer holidays up to Oxford every year stopping off to see last days of Henley regatta before passing through the next day

Seagulls Model 101 and 101+ were the most interesting units with large aluminum tube down to gearbox and prop. In 1949 we had a converted landing craft ( actually half of a Bailey 40'bridge floating support pontoon) the Old Man built a cabin , no mean feat in 1949 when now wood or hardware not easily available . Power was a 10hp Britannia outboard , no reverse , just turn whole motor, no automatic rewind so broom handle cut up into small 6"sections and drilled to take a starting cord.

The minute the motor started we were off whichever direction the prop was facing, usually proceeding upsteam with the abandoned broom handle starting cord float gently astern.

Memories, memories!

Graham


----------



## Frank P

Donald McGhee said:


> Having spent an hour or two on the trial run a few months ago, ruining my hearing and trying to figure out how to come alonside the wharf with a tide running, with no reverse gear, or stopping it by means other than closing the fuel cock and waiting for the fuel to run out I have bought a Johnson 8hp!
> I will advertise the Seagull and hopefully some enthusiast will enjoy it.


 Put it on Ebay, depending on the HP and condition some Seagulls go for between £100 - £300, there is a 3HP for sale at the moment for £150 (310907091193). There was a bloke in the USA selling a 5HP seagull for £350 ($575)....(Thumb)


----------



## Cisco

Keltic Star said:


> I saw an 118' tall ship once that used one installed on a small Zodiac to act as its bow thruster when docking and un-docking.


They were probably using this model.... sighted in Woodbridge 8 years ago...


----------

