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Bertram31.com General Bulletin Board
Re: 20' Bahia Mar Diesel ????
Posted By: Peter In Response To: 20' Bahia Mar Diesel ???? (Jim Kilbane)
Date: Monday, 13 December 2004, at 12:23 a.m.
Diesel in a small boat like the 20 is difficult because of the weight to HP thing. Since the weight of the diesel is higher for a given HP you pay a premium for that added weight in your performance. In a little boat small amounts of weight are expensive in terms of performance... In a huge boat the same increase hardly matters at all, and may be made up by being able to bunker a several hundred gallons less fuel for the same range,
Next, the B20's are more like sports cars than Winebegos. You WILL want to go fast and be quick. Diesels make their HP by spinning a big wheel slowly with big torque. Outboards are the other end of the spectrum, swinging a small wheel at massive RPM. either way it could be the same HP. If you are moving a mega-yacht or towing barges at 12 knots, slow and torquey is good. If you are blasting around jumping waves, high RPM and low weight are good.
I have had the pleasure of driving a 20 BahiMar since 1967, so believe me when I tell you, you are much more likely to be blasting around jumping waves!Now, the small V8's were good in that boat,We had two of them over the years, but the current package in ours is a V6 fuel injected FWC Merc. It's a tight fit in the engine box, so go for the remote drain kit. The access isn't great for spark plugs and such, but that back bulkhead comes out like it was on a zipper with a few machine screws and wing-nuts replacing the original sheet metal screws, and after that it's no harder than say... working on a vintage English Sports car.
Maybe the rotary is the best because it has a fabulous power to weigh ratio. Personally I think they are probably the best, but harder to get parts for and mechanics to work on. You had beter be pretty self-reliant in the mechanical dept. before choosing that option.
Don't bother with the expense and weight of the diesel. Don't screw around with a great boat by messing with outboards. If you are a good mechanic, go rotary, if you prefer to send your boat to the yard for service, go V6 Merc.
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