Sailing with an outboard and tiller... I could use some tips!

[damoses1]

My o'day 22 has both an outboard and a tiller. My outboard is on the right side of the boat and swivels left and right. I have been leaving the rudder off when I motor out of the harbor, and then I put the rudder in when I shut the motor off. The tricky part is sliding the rudder into its gudgeons while out on the lake. When I am ready to head back into the harbor I take the rudder off and just motor in. This can be difficult and I am wondering what everyone else does.

I am new to sailing and have only taken my boat out about 5 times now. Any helpful tips and comments are welcome!

 

[Joe]

Mount the rudder at the dock... whether you steer with the motor or rudder is a personal preference, but you should be able to use the motor with the rudder mounted. That's a total pain in the ass to try mounting the rudder while you're out in open water. It's unsafe also... what if you drop it? Some sailors use the motor to manuever out of the slip, then steer with the rudder after that.

I don't even raise the motor on my boat when sailing, unless I'm in a race. But when cruising, it's nice to have the motor deployed and ready to go if something happens. I always steer with the rudder, in fact there's not even a tiller arm on the OB.. it's a remote control with electric start... a very, very nice feature to have.

So next time out, tighten up the shaft rotator clamp, tilt up the OB tiller so you can adjust the speed easily, and just steer with the rudder. Piece of cake.

 

[MrUnix]

Leave the rudder on.. trying to put it on while in the water is crazy. Then figure out what is more comfortable for you.. fixing the motor and using the tiller, trying to use both tiller and motor at the same time, or tying off the tiller and just using the motor. I have become used to using both, which gives you much more maneuverability but might not be as comfortable depending on how your motor is mounted. After getting out of any tricky areas, I usually will just lock down the motor and use the tiller. You just need to figure out what is best for YOU as there is no one set way to do it.

Cheers,
Brad

 

[Anchor Down]

The Fairway Pirouette

My outboard is on the right side of the boat

Mount the rudder/tiller in the slip.

If you back to the left, leave the OB alone, and use just the tiller.

If you back to the right, you may find that cocking the OB to the right, maybe 45°, when you're almost half-way out of the slip will defeat the OB's desire to pull you straight back into your dock neighbor's stern, and gets you lined up in the fairway . When shifting into Forward, straighten the motor head, and Bob's your uncle.

If the wind is coming from the direction you want to ultimately point to move out the fairway, you may discover that the bow wants to blow downwind, and prevent the boat from pivoting: throwing the OB over to the stop and adding a little more throttle will pull the stern downwind (deeper into your fairway) and allow you to point into the eye of the wind, so that you can shift to Forward and get some weigh on before the bow blows off and drives you into the finger once you shift to Forward and open up the throttle.

In general, when leaving, use only enough power to overcome wind & current: more than you need is just extra energy that you must control while executing your maneuver, and can get you into trouble, and having to do only one thing at a time is nice.

Coming into your slip, keep your speed well down, and if you are coming down the fairway with a significant downwind, you may find that swiveling the OB really throws the stern around to get you lined up with your slip, esp. if your slip is to the right. But you have to be ready to quickly straighten it just as you get lined up, or shift into neutral, the moment the stern is lined up, or you'll get too much of a good thing.

Things are happening quickly at that moment, so I'd experiment with smaller movements of the OB at first, until you can do it in your sleep, before throwing it around like you've been doing it all your life.

Fair Winds,
Jeff

 

[Henry Scurlock]

I prefer to lock the motor straight ahead and do all steering with the tiller/rudder. I'm pretty sure I would not enjoy trying to put the rudder on when out on the water.

As others have said, the key is learning how your boat handles under whichever method you prefer. Try to find, or make, a small course to maneuver through. Maybe empty mooring balls or buoys. Steer a figure eight course both forward and backwards. Then graduate to approaching a fixed pier.

Good luck and enjoy learning

 

[kenn]

Like everyone else, I strongly recommend putting the rudder on before leaving the dock.

I prefer to lock the motor straight ahead and do all steering with the tiller/rudder.

I do the above most often too. When doing some low-speed close-quarters maneuvering, especially in reverse, I'll turn both the rudder and motor at the same time, otherwise I keep the motor pointing straight ahead.

I like pulling the motor out of the water when sailing (lift and tip) - our 19' boat handles that much better with it out. It only takes a moment to lower it again.

 

[timebandit]

Do be sure to check there is no interference between prop and rudder in any combination----props eat rudders.

You might consider a way to connect the rudder to the motor so that stearing both is easy from the tiller, something as simple as a line from the rudder to the motor and a bungee from the othe side of the motor to a cleat can do it. The best of both worlds.

 

[Tom J]

I had an O'Day 23 with the outboard mounted in a cutout in the transom just to port of the rudder. I would normally steer with the tiller, but , in some cases, if I threw the rudder hard over, the prop would hit the rudder, so I would also turn the motor. Sometimes, when backing down, it would really help to steer with both the tiller and the motor. Always tilted the motor up when under sail. See what works best for you!

 

[Don3098]

I have been sailing my Hunter 26 with tiller and outboard for 10 years, and like others, strongly recommend installing your rudder at the dock. I found that it was extremely awkward to bring the boat into a slip having to bend over to shift the outboard's gears and man the throttle while at the same time, trying to steer with the tiller. This can get downright dangerous. I solved the problem by installing a remote single lever gear shift and throttle control, which is mounted on the stern rail directly above the tiller.

 

[Benny]

The outboard engine should have a locking nut to control by friction the swivell action of the lower unit. Just center the lower unit and lock in position and steer with the rudder. It is not really hard to operate the engine controls and the tiller if you do it slowly.

 

[watercolors II]

Power boat’s must push the stern of the boat sideways to create steerage, turning the motor or thrush under power is the only way to accomplish this.

A sailboat will steer with it’s underwater appendages as long as the boat is moving, if the sails are not in use then the motor is only used for this movement.

Applying both principals at the same time can have a tremendous effect as suggested by others, only practice can tell how much and how difficult.

A mechanical device can be built but, each application is different so there’s no universal system available.

 

[OldCat]

I'd always leave the rudder on

I would always leave the rudder on, except when launching or recovery by trailer. I think it is a good safety to have the rudder in-place, what if the motor quits? With the rudder in you have more options to maneuver the boat, rudder sculling to turn the boat, raising a sail and so on.

I back out from my slip as follows: In reverse, rudder straight, a burst of power for 1/2 to 1 boat lengths. Then return to idle since my boat does not respond well to the rudder with power up. I leave it in reverse at idle, and turn the rudder to where I want to go. When I am 60-90 deg to my slip. I shift to forward, add power and use the rudder to turn going forward.

I only turn using the outboard tiller when I mess up and need to change direction NOW. Most of the time, going in or out of the slip, I don't turn the outboard. I use a spring line to return to the dock, placing it on the dock cleat from the cockpit using a boat hook (don't give this responsibility to your 11 year old ).

Works for me when I do it right.
OC

 

[oldiesrocker2001]

I've got to agree with Kenn, my procedure is similar to OldCat: be careful when turning the rudder towards the motor while in gear. I leave the rudder on when launching/recovering as well - just pulled up and locked as far as it would go. If I'm backing straight(the crosswind usually pushes me stern away from the dock anyway) I drop the rudder down as i go back to neutral from reverse, then only in reverse for short bursts to keep the rudder away from the prop until I'm clear to head into the wind forwards. A little practice will help alot. I also like the Idea of using a boat hook to put the spring line on a cleat, since the admiral is still not up to speed with angling towards the dock and shifting to neutral at the right time.

 

[Joe11688]

Always leave the rudder on and learn to steer with the rudder and the outboard when you have to maneuver a tight area. You'll find that your boat will cut a tighter turn by turning your outboard and your rudder. Another thing to always bare in mine is when you are motoring through a slip alley way. If your outboard should suddenly conk out, you can use your rudder to steer your boat clear of a collision course as long as your boat has "way on" or the wind is pushing on your stern. A dead outboard motor will not steer your boat but a rudder will.

 

[damoses1]

Thank you everyone for all the help! I am learning to sail with an old timer and he told me to take the rudder off when using the motor. Geez, what a hassle! Anyway... after reading all the responses, I will be sure to leave the rudder on from here on out. Thanks again!

 

[DJN51]

Check out EZ steer post in small boats.Works great.

 

[rejenk3]

All good suggestions above. I add one caution. When backing down, transom mounted rudders are unstable. Keep your hand on the tiller at all times when in reversing. Keep the rudder pointed parallel to the water flow (minimize tiller load). If you have any appreciable reverse speed and the rudder flops to one side, it may be more load than you can over come without slowing.

 

[Joe11688]

All good suggestions above. I add one caution. When backing down, transom mounted rudders are unstable. Keep your hand on the tiller at all times when in reversing. Keep the rudder pointed parallel to the water flow (minimize tiller load). If you have any appreciable reverse speed and the rudder flops to one side, it may be more load than you can over come without slowing.

That's a great tip. Especially if you have an O'Day sailboat with a rudder blade that was manufactured by Foss Foam in Clearwater Florida. They were noted for breaking. I know because I broke two of them before I had a solid rudder blade built for me by D & R Marine.

 

[damoses1]

Check out EZ steer post in small boats.Works great.

Where did you buy your EZ steer? Did you buy kit #70001 for sailboats? I was able to find a product manual online, but can't find a local distributor. I already tried Cabelas, Bass Pro Shop, and Gander Mountain.

 

[OldCat]

Where to Look for EZ Steer

I already tried Cabelas, Bass Pro Shop, and Gander Mountain.

I think that I would try a real boat or sailboat chandlery, not a hunting and fishing shop. The chandlery on this site ( http://shop.sailboatowners.com/ ), Defender, PYacht and West Marine are much more likely to have a wider inventory of boating stuff. BTW; Go2Marine has them, though I do not know if they have the model that you would want.

OC