Out board

[northeast1]

Well just purchased a back up engine a 5bhp outboard for the boat, nothing more than a get me home really max speed 6knots with my class boat in sheltered waters so prob about 3knots as a all rounder.

Just waiting for it being made and sent, was shocked at the price (£800 new) but always worth having and fit it to most boats.

[big_sean]

Hi Richie

that size engine will probably not get you home but what it will do is give you steering whilst the lifeboat is on the way to you and if the weather is turning bad you will need steering

i have a 17.5 ft boat and i am considering a 6hp and nothing smaller

sean

[mark]

it'll get you home on quiet days, but anything big or strong head winds and as sean says. it'll struggle to make headway, but will keep your head into the sea

probably be worth a different prop pitch to give you a bit more torque than the standard one as well

[boblydon]

think i would have opted for something bigger, however it depends on whether your going to leave it permantly connected to the transom or leave it in the cabin untill you need it, therefore unfortunatly a bigger even may have been to heavy to manhandle at sea

[northeast1]

Well i took advice from Storrar and looked at all the other 18-21ft boats in the marina and they all had a 4-5bhp out board and it was recomened by Storrar for the Arvor 18.

The idea is to just leave it in the cabin hold all until required then ft it at sea it is 4stone but has large clamps and even in a mod sea i could get the clamps on easy (you can tie it to the boat incase the worst happens and you slip and drop it in), its a long leg one leaving 26" from the top of the prepella under the water, thats 4" further under than the company recomends for best control in a slight to mod sea (i.e boat up and down)

Going to test it in a weeks time against the big tide but all the reasurch says this will do the job unless the head wind is very strong and current...and i would not be at sea in rough or very windy conditions anyway.

Dont often go out further than 10 miles anyway so the fuel tank doing 3-5 knots says it should get me 16 miles so take 4 miles off that for pushing against a head wind and current for entering the Tyne and it will get me there.

Anything really wrong and the coast guard will be called anyway, just sent a donation of £25 on Friday

Hope i never need the back up, been lucky so far but it is there is required and at sea you dont get any second chances.

Still got alot to pick up and this will be my 1st full season at sea, no doubt the odd thing will happen but thats part of the fun

[mark]

not wanting to spoil things but having the prop 4" lower than normal might not be a good thing, good be a very bad thing.

the extra 4" of water, will put a lot more back pressure on the exhaust, which might cause the engine to miss fire, be low on power or not run at all

had that exact same problem a few years ago, the aux I had was a sail drive extra long shaft, thinking with the prop being much deeper I'd get more thrust

the thing ran like a swiss watch in a tub of water, but would run for about 2 mins on the boat then conk out

the exhaust outlet is right at the bottom of the leg, so having extra water down there makes it harder for the engine to push the exhaust gases out, if you've got an adjustable outboard bracket you might need to set it so the cavitation plate on the motor sits flush with the bottom of the transom

[northeast1]

I can adjust it about 6" up ro down so i might get away with it and if you feel its worth it then keep it bang in spec with the supplier. I never thought it would cause that much difference as at sea the boat is moving up and down so much anyway but this is what the site is good for..picking other peoples brains that have had the experiance in such matters.

[Charlton]

10hp minimum for auxillary, the one you are getting will get you home slowly in calm conditions or give stearage but that is all, it might not push your bow into or through a decent wave when you need it, you could be turned sideways. You want something that will give a bit of umph, ask the blokes in the marina if they ahve ever used their 5hp in anger, bet they haven't. Saw a bloke once outside portparick harbour with a 10hp on going against the tide he was standing still, mind there is a hell of a tide run there, imagine if you had a 5hp on, you would be going backwards. Think of where you are going to use it, find out the tide run on the biggest tides. Remeber as well you could have a couple of lads on board with you and a few boxes of fish, you can chuck the fish away, but your mates? they might do the decent thing and jump overboard to less the weight.

[northeast1]

Well its purchased now so no going back just went off the shop advice and went off the other 14 boats in my class int he marina so if its no good they all doomed also lol

[jason]

looking at alans last post that means i am overboards along with the tackle and kitchen sink LOL

[mark]

you might be alright. I'd advise actually trying it and working out the best position for it in the river 'when you don't need to' rather than discovering its a nightmare when 'you do need to'

you might find it enough to push home

glen had a 5hp yam on Kingfisher, old 20' colvic, full displacement and probably 2 tons plus, and his got him back from st mary's at about 4 knots

[Charlton]

looking at alans last post that means i am overboards along with the tackle and kitchen sink LOL

always play safe when messing with the sea is my moto, better to be over gunned than under gunned.

[Charlton]

glen had a 5hp yam on Kingfisher, old 20' colvic, full displacement and probably 2 tons plus, and his got him back from st mary's at about 4 knots[/QUOTE]

bet it was on a calm day with a following wind, with the sail up, 5hp okay prodably for inshore no more than 3-5 mile off, going wrecking 10-20 mile, no way.

[big_sean]

hi rich what make have you bought as i have been quoted £750 for a 6hp and about £575 for a 5hp these are mercury mariners the 5hp was a yamaha



sean

[ronw]

I run a 6hp Suzuki on a 7m antares and it will do 3-4 knts all day, so cant see you having a problem with the 5hp, you just have to be aware of tide strength and direction and plan accordingly might not get you back to your home port but will get you back to safehaven.obviously the engine will be working hard so fuel consumption is up.Marks advice re a trial run is spot on as it will increase your confidence in the engine it did with me, the weight of a 10hp will put a lot of strain on the transom so there are significant disadvantages to hanging something that big off the boat.