That is a correct thought. If you call the CG with a mayday message, they will ask: Do you have an anchor and have you deployed it?
Should I put a 9.9 HP outboard on my 32' Catalina?
- Thread starter Ted10028
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I would mount it on the transom to the left or right of the swim ladder. I doubt the transom needs reinforcement given that it is a major structural element on the boat but it would be easy enough to put a piece of one by six treated decking there to spread out the load. I would leave it hanging on a bracket and fold it up to get the water out of the water. i'm not sure that it would be a spectacle given that people have dinghies with outboards and davits and solar panels and other things all over their boat. I don't think it will interfere with the swim platform. The ladder will still go down and you can still jump into the water although obviously the space will be smaller. I don't see how it could be a bad idea anymore than having a second engine on a jet is a bad idea. It can only improve safety. A back up system is always a good idea.
Like many things in life, If you have it you won't need it.
Be sure to post photos of the finished project.
Be sure to post photos of the finished project.
LOL... just trying a couple different spots until they get it right
It'd be a real drag if one of those went out. Horrible pun fully intended
A 9.9 will easily push and maneuver your sailboat. When i first bought my 36' 20,000 lb sailboat, the inboard diesel had issues so i did the same thing. I temporarily mounted a 9.9 to the transom and used it to motor from San Diego to Los Angeles. It pushed the boat at 4-5 knots in light winds and 2ish in stronger winds. The problem is getting the prop deep enough. You would need a long shaft outboard which is less than ideal as a backup dinghie motor and one of the extending outboard mounts in a previous post to get it deep enough. I had a tiller extension but locked the outboard so it couldnt turn and steered with the main steering wheel. Starting it was a little bit of a pain because you had to lean out over the transom a fair bit, at least on my boat.
As i got more sailing experience and understood my diesel engine better, i ditched the outboard and ended up selling it for a loss. When i learned to sail and subscribed to TowBoatUS the outboard turned outt to be no use.
If i had to do it all over again, i would have just spent the time and $ to hire a mechanic to rebuild or go over the inboard engine and fix what needed to be fixed. In the end it served its purpose for a while but i quickly outgrew it and regretted spending so much $ on it.
And, my engine is still running without much issue six years later.
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Great story and interesting information. Thanks. PS: today you can get a Chinese outboard 9.9 for $1000 so it is not a big expense for the added security you get.
if by chance you had pictures of the outboard mounted to your 36 ' boat I would love to see them.
True. I went with a brand new Mercury that had a twist shifter on the tiller. I could shift it into gear and apply throttle from the comfort of the cockpit. I thought i would end up keeping it as a dinghie motor but the long shaft does not work well for this.
I probably do somewhere at home on the computer. I hated it every minute it was on the transom to be honest. It was an eyesore on my classic boat but not necessarily so on a smaller boat. Personal taste thing for sure...The guy i sold it to used it exactly for the same reason you are although i think his boat was built for an outboard.
I was a Catalina dealer too. The owner of Catalina yachts, Frank Butler and I were close friends. Years ago at the Annapolis Sailboat Show, a C320 owner approached Frank and was asked about adding an outboard motor to the transom as an auxiliary back up. Besides Frank’s remark. “That’s a bunch of crap”, he advised against it saying high winds, high waves and strong currents were not conducive for an outboard motor. At that point , a customer walked up and we went to look at a boat.
I'll offer one other thought. Of all the motors I've had on boats, the most reliable have been well-maintained inboard diesels. The least reliable have been the gasoline outboards I've had on sailboats as their auxiliary, and for my dinghies. I'm selling my last gas outboard now and sticking with a Torqueedo Electric for my minimal needs for the dinghy in the Chesapeake Bay. In my mind if its down to quickly raising the jib or emergency dropping my anchor to stay off the rocks, or trying to get an outboard in the water and starting it, I'll take the jib with an anchor as a backup any day rather than a "backup" outboard. The jib and anchor are way more reliable - especially in an emergency situation - in my experience.
But as someone said, post pictures when you're done with the project.
But as someone said, post pictures when you're done with the project.
Cute. If you re-read my answer it's as below, not both at the same time:
"...quickly raising the jib or emergency dropping my anchor ..." and "...jib with an anchor as a backup ...". Which just means if the wind isn't suitable for the jib then I'd drop the anchor.
But you knew that.