The nearest I ever came across, not being a fisherman or ever owning a boat was the single cyliner Bolider diesel used to power narrow boats on some English canals. Gara and Vera Aspey changed an Ian Woods song so the focus was the Bolinder and gave an accompanting story, as is Gary's want. The engine was started by playing a blowlamp on the cylinder head and then manualy turning the external flywheel. As it only went between 1 and 4 mph the throttle was very primitive and the diesel feed was simply increased with an inline valve. To go in reverse you disconnected the flywheel with an on/off clutch, waited for it to stop turning and then swung it in the opposite direction. It made a very distinctive throb, to which the song is timed!

The song.


Cheers

DeG