'Get Home' Outboards

I'm leaning towards the new Lehr propane 9.9 that's coming out soon, for the very reasons Ron points out...easy start up even after long periods without use, and no winterizing. It's not high thrust though...

Also, this wouldn't be for "worst case scenarios". If that was the guideline to follow we'd all have full time Coast Guard vessel and helicopter escorts every time we left the dock. You can engineer things to be 100% absolutely safe, but it wouldn't be very practical, or affordable.

All I'm looking for is enough power to maneuver out of harms way, and then wait for favourable conditions to carry on. There were times while sea kayaking in the winter that we would have to wait 5 days before continuing, because we couldn't safely make progress due to adverse conditions. Similarly, with a kicker, you would proceed only if safe to do so. That would mean; after finding a safe place to wait out bad weather only proceeding when wind and/or wave and/or current allowed.

Murray,
Let's see an expandable thumnail so we can see your avatar bigger. Looks promising.

manyboats said:

Murray,
Let's see an expandable thumnail so we can see your avatar bigger. Looks promising.

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You bet. Comes out fuzzy-wuzzy on a computer screen, but the print is from a 4x5 negative so it's oozing subtle tack-sharp detail

Thank's much Murray. Looks like petrified wood. We anchored in Billy Bay on the way south. Is that near there? Probably not.

"If it's obvious to you, fine. It's not obvious to everyone and rightly so."
Sorry Ron, your statement sounded pretty condescending to me and I replied in kind.

Manyboats, Opti is short for Optimus Pram. They are 8 foot training boats for kids. I've been hanging out with too many sailors! I'm picking up their lingo.

I'm not advocating that people run out and buy outboards to use as get home engines, but if you have one onboard why not give some thought as to how you could use it? Remember you wouldn't have to steer it. Presumably your rudder still works. If you have an outboard on the boat, chances are you have a dinghy. No need for a mount on the big boat. Tow it with the dinghy. I'm just saying don't dismiss something just because it won't work in the worst case scenario. I don't usually have an outboard on my boat so my get home motor hangs on the back of the Tow Boat US RIB.

I'm planning to buy a Lehr 9.9 as soon as they are available. I'll see if it will move little Possum. I have pushed Possum around with a 2hp engine but I wouldn't want to try to go very far that way.

manyboats said:

Thank's much Murray. Looks like petrified wood. We anchored in Billy Bay on the way south. Is that near there? Probably not.

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I'm not familiar with Billy Bay, but Fan Point is a bit north of Cape George, on the Hecate Strait side of Porcher Island.

HopCar;118998..............[COLOR=black said:

Remember you wouldn't have to steer it. Presumably your rudder still works. .[/COLOR].

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The rudder may still go from side to side but without the prop wash against it, it does very little at low speed. Think about how your rudder works in reverse.

I think you'll do as well or better trying to tow the boat with the dinghy, but not in rough seas. Mounted on the boat, it won't do well in rough seas either.

rwidman said:

Mounted on the boat, it won't do well in rough seas either.

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1) Better than nothing.
2) Better than waiting hours for help, if available.
3) Makes finding a safer location possible.
4) Leave safe location only when safe to do so.
5) Appropriate for small-ish trawlers.
6) To each their own

I have seen a Nimble trawler don't know what version with an O/B aux engine mounted on the transom on a hinge down mount.
I saw this cruiser with a 225 hp O/B on the swim platform near Ft Myers a couple of years ago. I got the feeling they were out for sea trials after refitting an O/B on what was an inboard, but I'm not sure if that was the case. 225 HP on a swim platform doesn't sound good to me, maybe they reinforced it.
Steve W

It's actually surprising how much of a dunking an outboard can take and still run.
There are a lot of big outboard center console boats around here. They are often used for sail and marlin fishing which requires hard backing. Those engines are often under a lot of water and keep running. It surprises me every time I see it.

Well, here is one guy who thought it was worth trying on something quite a bit north of 30,000 lbs

Looks pretty safe, he did put 2 straps on the gas tank

Steve I made that pic real big and I'm quite sure the hull goes all the way back like a Nordic Tug. So the OB could be bolted directly to the hull.

If the're using it as a prime mover it's a bad application as the prop diameter will be way too small. Not much thrust will result. But removing the engines of the original boat would make up for some inefficiency.

Why else would somebody put a big OB on a boat like that and run the boat w the OB in the down position?

But I'm just guess'in.

CP that gas tank's prolly too small.

manyboats said:

CP that gas tank's prolly too small.

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I agree. They should have a large rectangular tank in the horizontal aspect, thereby doing double duty by replacing the bimini over the flybridge.

A viable option that has been only mentioned a couple of times is to side-tie a dingy to the cruiser and use its outboard in an attempt to get to safe haven. The dinghy's outboard could be locked, tied, or clamped in position so that steering could be accomplished with the cruiser's rudder. Side-tying may not be advisable in rougher water but if the water conditions are right it may be more effective than trying to tow the cruiser with the dinghy.

Ron,
I have been chomping at the bit to respond. I am twixt between you are just playing with the forum knowing you are tweaking those of us who actually utilize the subject as a reality or you truly believe your prognostications.(Said with good humor

Your 31 foot Camano is one of the most suited boats for our part of the world. We don't have any number of them as residents, as I mentioned in prior post. That said, they are a pure Southeast Alaska candidate for near perfect.

The Camano as well, is the perfect candidate for a stern mounted outboard.
I will give you that OB. It is the 9.9 Hi-thrust Yamaha. These are geared in such a combination to equal the thrust of a 18 hp standard OB of comparable size. This is the motor I had on our last boat, a 28 foot 19,000# converted harbor tug. We pushed the boat at 4.5 Knts by GPS as an average, when we used it to bring ourselves home and often during short moves in the fishing grounds.
The data I am giving forum is actual data, not subject to conjecture or maybe so. It is fact. Not only that, in our local fleet, the 9.9 Yamaha is the most popular motor for the same use secondary to a trolling motor.
We Alaskans all calculate that at some point in time we will require the use of this motor as our insurance at time of need.
What I am attempting to project, is until I read the forum on the question, with as many years under my life vest on the water, had the death of challenge to the use of the OB become as it has here. Now, I understand the straw-man, "The size of the boat in relation to the size of the OB being considered-But"."Water conditions- But" "Will be subject to Pooping-But"
In the case of your particular boat, the perfect candidate for such an application is ignore the potential of the safety factor in having installed one Visit our area of the world, break down and when a local comes alongside to assist, I would not be surprised to have that person quietly suggest that you consider such an investment as he gives you a helping hand. We do that here, all it takes is getting our attention. (Another story- later regarding visiting boats from America, passing by broke down mariners)

As to the argument regarding a required high horse powered engines for 35-40 foot boats. It seems reasonable that a boat in that range will have a sufficient size auxiliary boat on-board with a horse powered engine sufficient to either tie along side or tow the boat into a safe harbor. I don't recall seeing boats of the size with OB's on the stern unless like the photo in an above post depicted.
There are a couple locally I know of- 30-40 footers who have removed the inboards and replaced with big OB 150-300 hp. The fuel efficiency of the new larger OB's meet the consumption of the original inboards with ease of installation and benefit of obtaining added space. Even there, in one case the large OB is a 300 plus hp. the owner included a 25 hp Honda as an auxiliary!

I want to add another remark that you made Ron. As it is apparent that you have not undertaken or had an opportunity to operate under a "Git-a-Home OB application, allow me to assure you that you can steer a displacement hull under OB power with the vessel's rudder. You will suffer control issues in the confinement of the harbor when you arrive, however, at that time one is required to physically use the tiller of the OB as you will be shifting the throttle/gear shift as required. During the voyage TO the harbor you will be quite able to maneuver the boat. Trust me, I have done it on one long trip back on the OB and twice in short shots to arrive at a secure anchorage.

I am presently in the learning stage of how to post a photo in a blog site.When I am able I will submit a photo of the boat where all of this exercise was accomplished.

Best Regard,
A.M.(Al) Johnson-Ketchikan
27' Marben pocket trawler

"I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is stalk them and hope they panic and give in."

That is "Depth" of challenge, not "Death" Spell check-

A.M.Johnson

Al said:

I am presently in the learning stage of how to post a photo in a blog site.When I am able I will submit a photo of the boat where all of this exercise was accomplished."

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What might work depending on the nature of the blog site is to select the photo in the blog, particularly if doing so expands it to a larger size, and save the photo to your desktop (save as, save target as, etc.). At that point you should be able to use the forum's attachment management functions to browse for and select the photo from your desktop to paste into a post.

In addition in anticipation of the "But" in heavy weather you can't use the displacement boat rudder" In response, if the damn weather is howling, I will double down guarantee that you WILL TRY before you go aft and physically stand by the OB tiller.
By the way, there are two methods of steering an auxiliary. There is on the market, extension handles that are dandy for the purpose, or in the case of many up here, we add a secondary steering station aft complete with throttle/shift control to facilitate using the OB, during fishing, as well in the need of emergency git a home. Just wanted to clarify prior to all the "Butts"

A.M.(Al)Johnson-Ketchikan
27'Marben Pocket trawler

"I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, unless we are clebrities"

Thanks Marin, How about from an email? I have a couple that were sent to me of our boat. Is there a process?
A.M.Johnson

Marin, don't answer, keep the forum for the subject. My email is ajohnson@kpunet.net if you choose. AMJ

Here's a 15hp Honda on the back of a 36-38' trawler. Taken the same day as I took the other ones for Eric.

rwidman said:

It's going to be mighty hard to steer as well.

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One could use a bow thruster sparingly.

I saw something like that on ebay once. Cheap. They made a big deal about how much interior space was gained, but I suspect once they did a sea trial, they decided that selling it was the best option..

Here's a 15hp Honda on the back of a 36-38' trawler.

Perhaps it has the ability to turn 90 deg and work as a stern thruster?

No tiny ON time limits with an outboard!

Outboard useful in calm condition

I made a bracket and place my 8 hp outboard on the back of my 42 steel trawler the boat is about 35000#. The trial in calm conditions were 3 knots 1/2 throttle and 4.5 knots at full throttle. I was very happy with this until I tried it in 3-4 ft chop, the prop would cavity and I was not thrilled by the potential for submerging the of outboard. The setup is not a lost cause but would but I'm not sure it would save your boat from serious trouble.

HopCar said:

This has really gotten silly. It's obvious that a small outboard can be an effective get home engine. As the boat gets bigger and the conditions get worse it is less effective.

Marin, your story of the current being so strong that the boat couldn't be kept off the rocks with 50 hp is scary but I think very few of us ever see currents like that. In less chalenging conditions the 50 hp outboard would have been very effective.

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lots of trawlers like willards may only have 50hp or close to it to begin with. I've never been in that situation but why couldnt you drop the hook that ought to keep u off the rocks?

floyd wrote;

"I've never been in that situation but why couldnt you drop the hook that ought to keep u off the rocks?"

Indeed .. that's one of the reasons I have a 430' anchor rode.

And yes my Willard has about 40hp and is a full disp boat so it wouldn't even need 10hp to move along quite smartly. I'm thinking 5 or 6hp should do nicely.

And I suspect 10hp should push Ron's Camano Troll plenty fast enough as it probably weighs almost half of what the Willard does.

FF said:

Here's a 15hp Honda on the back of a 36-38' trawler.

Perhaps it has the ability to turn 90 deg and work as a stern thruster?

No tiny ON time limits with an outboard!

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I don't think this one turns 90. But now that you mention it, my 4hp bow thruster moves my boat side ways rather quickly, I would suspect a 9.9 kicker would move it just fine pointy end first...

manyboats said:

floyd wrote;

"I've never been in that situation but why couldnt you drop the hook that ought to keep u off the rocks?"

Indeed .. that's one of the reasons I have a 430' anchor rode.

And yes my Willard has about 40hp and is a full disp boat so it wouldn't even need 10hp to move along quite smartly. I'm thinking 5 or 6hp should do nicely.

And I suspect 10hp should push Ron's Camano Troll plenty fast enough as it probably weighs almost half of what the Willard does.

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Thank you.
We in general myself included tend to over kill everything. There is no need for a zillion horse power unless one has a desire to support the oil industry in most applications. I did much experimentation with my last searay and what i learned was that for best economy i needed to run at 3,000rpm 32-4 mph or displacement speed of 900-1200rpm at about 6-7mph. At those two points i used the least fuel per statute mile with the displacement fuel economy being the better by far of the two. Well, when i sold my lasst ray i left the log book in here so cannot list here the exact numbers. What i can say is that puttin along is the best for ride quality and fuel economy however i found it impossible to putt in a almost 55mph boat that felt so good when she was boiling water.

I also found that my dinghy motor would propel my ray with little effort at 2-3mph. If i opened up the little motor she would boil lots of water but no speed gain was evident.

But it was so neat to push her to about 4grand and feel her take a bite of the water handling as light as a feather with instant responce...YAHOOO!!!!!!!!