jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,800
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
- Start date
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.
Doesn't seem like a bad idea to me (let's stay awarethat OP isn't musing about replacing the Yanmar with an outboard), but I'm a belt-and-suspenders guy. I agree that the Yanmar is not even close to being iffy due to age or hours and it's reasonable to assume it's going to be totally reliable for years to come. But let's say a banjo screw gets a little loose somewhere and air is sucked into the fuel line just when the boat's 30 feet off riprip. An outboard can be started a dang sight faster than fuel lines can be bled. No matter how strongly the assumption of Yanmar reliability is grounded, Murphy is infinitely creative. In OP's situation even as a belt-and-suspenders guy I wouldn't do it, but I don't see it being unreasonable. If I did, though, I'd heed the caution about reaching down to steer and rig lines to allow me to steer with my head above the coachroof level. I think I'd also opt for a 15 hp. They don't weigh any more than a 9.9 because a 9.9 is a 15 with a restrictor plate (due to some up-East state's law about minors operating 10 hp or more)-- or that's how the 9.9s came into being. The outboard isn't going to have the torque of the Yanmar so its prop isn't going to have nearly the same effect horsepower-for-horsepower. The difference of the torques of the 9.9 vs the Yanmar is even greater than the difference in horsepowers.
If this is truly an "emergency backup" propulsion source it is a reasonable assumption that the OP is worried about losing power when in tight quarters or nearing a hazard (like rocks or a jetty etc.) and reaction time raises all kind of questions.
1. How long will it take to get to the motor, lower it and start it compared to how long it would take to drop your anchor. If you are so close to the hazard you don't have time to drop your anchor, you probably don't have time to get the motor and get it running either.
2. Outboards are notorious for not wanting to start instantly if they are not routinely used. Even if they start it may take a few extra pulls or multiple starts to get it running and then it may not accept full power till it warms up a little. Do you plan on running it frequently? Do you plan on routine professional service to make sure it starts instantly EVERY TIME? Per 1 above, if it doesn't start nearly instantly how long are you willing to waste time trying to get it started when you could have dropped the anchor.
3. If you need to stop moving or at least slow down quickly and a hazard is near, dropping the anchor makes much more sense and is much quicker if you have the anchor rigged properly. Drop the anchor, pop a cold brew and call Tow Boat USA. (I've done it before!)) If you have room, getting a sail up is an option.
It really seems like investing $1000 or more in having your diesel serviced is a much wiser use of a boat buck.
1. How long will it take to get to the motor, lower it and start it compared to how long it would take to drop your anchor. If you are so close to the hazard you don't have time to drop your anchor, you probably don't have time to get the motor and get it running either.
2. Outboards are notorious for not wanting to start instantly if they are not routinely used. Even if they start it may take a few extra pulls or multiple starts to get it running and then it may not accept full power till it warms up a little. Do you plan on running it frequently? Do you plan on routine professional service to make sure it starts instantly EVERY TIME? Per 1 above, if it doesn't start nearly instantly how long are you willing to waste time trying to get it started when you could have dropped the anchor.
3. If you need to stop moving or at least slow down quickly and a hazard is near, dropping the anchor makes much more sense and is much quicker if you have the anchor rigged properly. Drop the anchor, pop a cold brew and call Tow Boat USA. (I've done it before!)) If you have room, getting a sail up is an option.
It really seems like investing $1000 or more in having your diesel serviced is a much wiser use of a boat buck.
Good to see the mention of anchoring. Around here one of the many ironic/humorous VHF conversations we overhear between the USCG and a boater with no propulsion always starts with the standard question format that the USCG uses. Logical it is, and to a noticeable number of callers, unfamiliar.
One of the first points the dispatcher makes is that everyone must don a PFD. Next, if they are adrift without power, is to ANCHOR. Most of the time no lives are at stake, and you can detect the puzzlement in their replies...
(Their PFD's are stored away in plastic wrappers, and they either have no useable anchor or have never used it for anything.)
Funny, but also sad. Good points, "smokey73".
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