Oars and electric motors

[davemchine]

It seems prudent that I should include an oar on the boat for those rare times the engine decides not to finish its job of taking me into or out of the docks. Being on a 22 I would like to pick the most compact, storable, but usable oar. Suggestions?

Also, I have considered a small electric motor as an emergency backup. I sail on a small lake so I would not need huge capacity. We also have nobody to call for help via radio so having a backup seems like a good idea. Any recommendations?

Last, should I store a small self inflating raft? Never have more than four people so it wouldn't need to be huge and again the lake is small so we wouldn't be going very far. My primary concern is for the kids. Thanks for any advice.

Dave

 

[Mormandeus]

Hi

I sail on a dam headpond and don't bother with a paddle. If you had to go arm power you are just as far ahead to just scull with the rudder than try and paddle. I do have a minkota on board just in case though.

Fair winds

 

[Kordie]

If there is wind then you could use a few feet of mainsail up to manoeuvre slowly along.

If the lake is small and the kids big enough then they could swim in their life jackets in an emergency?

 

[Fly_H23]

I've used a 50 pound thrust (equal to about 1.5 hp) trolling motor on our Hunter 23 many times on a lake and love the reliability, no noise and no gas fumes.

A single trolling motor battery lasts about 2 hours at max power, 4-6 hours at lower settings.

 

[Stu Jackson]

I had an old canoe paddle on our C22 and moved it with us when we bought our C25. And I used it as a necessity on BOTH boats. Not a bad thing to have. John Letcher, who wrote a great book called Self Steering for Small Craft actually installed two oarlocks on his 25 footer. He didn't have an engine.

 

[Tom J]

A small tender with a small motor could be used as emergency propulsion if you tied it up to the stern quarter and used its motor to move the sailboat. It might also come in handy if you have to abandon ship, at least on the lake.

 

[GorillaToast]

I've been thinking about trying to find a used sculling oar and installing an oarlock on the transom, as suggested by Lin and Larry Pardee.

It would be nice not to have to mess with motor stuff, and get some exercise to boot.

When my engine quit once, while motoring to the marina with no boom attached or foresail hanked on, I had to scull with the rudder for an hour in 2-3' waves into the wind just to keep from being run aground until a tow boat came. I wouldn't want to do that again. But, sculling into the fairway and slip after sailing her most of the way in, would not be bad.

 

[Bilbo]

My outboard has died a few times and the first thing that I do is to drop the anchor. The reason: When I bought my boat a few years ago, it didn't come with a trailer. I ended up buying one from a guy in Buffalo, N.Y. area because he sunk his C22 in lake Erie. He was moving it on a nasty day when his motor died. The boat ended up banging against the stone breakwall while he watched from land for ~3 hours in 3 ft waves before the thing sank.
If all else fails, a good anchor can be used to prevent a disaster OR to move a boat. It's called "kedging". One way to do this is to get out on the bow with the anchor and the coiled rode, and throw the anchor as far forward as possible and then pull the rode back in. The boat will move forward to where the anchor is planted and then some. These sailboats glide quite a ways if you let them. It would work best IF you tie off the rudder or have another steer. Of course, if the waves and winds are up, they need to be considered. It is "Murphy's Law" that if your outboard stops, chances are that you are going to be downwind of your intended destination.