a suitable tender for my seamaster 23.

[jaysparticus]

Hi All,

as i am a newbie i would like to thank everyone in advance for their help

I am the proud owner of a Seamaster 23 cabin cruiser and it is my first boat . when we first got her the engine was unreliable to say the least and my first ever venture out resulted in a breakdown and a drift to the bank side and no ability to rectify it until a nice gent in a passing boat offered us a tow!
as you can imagine that knocked our confidence and the wife refused to go on it again and the children were forbidden which was against all the reasons i bought the boat in the first place!!
i have since fitted a new engine ( ford cross flow 1.6 petrol engine) and it appears to be a sound engine only the problem i have now is i have lost all my confidence and i find myself sitting on the pontoon with the engine running worrying about breaking down if i cast off!! such a shame.

a friend has said i should by a tender as a back up so in the event that a breakdown i could at least get my family back to shore safely and also possibly have the ability to tow the boat back to the mooring.

i have since purchased a 2.6m wet line inflatable dinghy with a Yamaha 2HP 2 stroke engine. i don't need to go fast or get on the plane as it is an emergency back up but people are telling me that it wont move against slight tides and definitely wont pull a 23 ft boat!!

can i get some advice regarding this please as i thought i had eliminated one risk and now i have another :-(

thanks again for your help guys!

 

[PCUK]

Ideally fit an auxiliary outboard on a bracket on the Seamaster. Something about 9.9hp will get you home. You still have the tender for fun and teaching the children about boat handling and safety and the peace of mind of having a permanent auxiliary engine ready at all times. By the way the Seamaster is a reasonable sea boat and friends of mine went from the river Lee in East London to the Canal de la Somme for a summer cruise in theirs. Also think about getting some formal training and don't let one engine failure put you and your family off the joys of boating.

 

[jaysparticus]

Hi PCUK , thanks for you reply. i was under the impression that because the seamaster has an outdrive and not a rudder as such , then you will struggle to steer with an auxiliary engine bracketed to the back.
wow did your friends 'cross the channel' in their seamaster 23? thats amazing. the new engine we have fitted is brand new and shouldnt cause any problems - it really is for a worse case scenario but i do like the idea of letting the kids play around on the tender.
we do have some experience on the water and i myself i am an ex trawler man , lifeboat man and 5 years royal navy and currently work offshore on a floating oil installation but the whole river system scares me a little as when we broke down we were passed by several boats who refused to help until a nice gentleman helped us eventually .
i appreciate that newbies often get themselves in difficulty when taking boats out initially - we saw a young couple trying to moor back up in heavy flood which turned out as a disaster for them and during my time in the RNLI we towed plenty of boats back in - but we are not silly people and wouldn't put ourselves or family in danger, i had this on an alternative forum and got lots of grief from people saying we should be allowed a boat!!

 

[Hugin]

+1 on the outboard. 10-15hp on a bracket will get you home. A nice used specimen should do it; no need to buy new

 

[PCUK]

You can fit a rudder to the outdrive to aid steering. The 'Adda-Rudda' was good but no longer made but you occasionally see them secondhand. It is also possible to temporarily link the outboard to the drive for steering.

 

[landlockedpirate]

To try and answer your question, while the tender with the 2hp (Great engine BTW) will just about move both boats, I would guess max speed will be somewhere between 1 and 2 kts.If thats more than the river flow, you are not going anywhere.

I have moved a 28ft 3000kg sportscruiser with a Zodiac C240 slat floor boat and 3hp engine in an emergency. It was on the sea just off Menorca against a fairly stiff offshore breeze, progress was slow but I would have been in trouble without the tender.

My suggestion is - give it a try, its the only way to find out.

 

[jaysparticus]

Thanks Guys, we will only be going up and down the river ouse in york which is pretty static when not in food! i reckon if we head upstream first, if we break down then we can be afore the the flow and get home like i say , we have the 2hp and i agree with landlockedpirate that the best option will be to give it a go BEFORE it is needed in anger. i have utubed a few videos of the YAMAHA 2HP engine put to work and it appears to be able to shift a little!

 

[Solitaire]

Thanks Guys, we will only be going up and down the river ouse in york which is pretty static when not in food! i reckon if we head upstream first, if we break down then we can be afore the the flow and get home like i say , we have the 2hp and i agree with landlockedpirate that the best option will be to give it a go BEFORE it is needed in anger. i have utubed a few videos of the YAMAHA 2HP engine put to work and it appears to be able to shift a little!

Rather than spending money on a tender and outboard, I suggest you source a good mechanic to check your engine out !

A well serviced engine will run !

 

[jaysparticus]

Can anyone recommend a good mechanic in york?

 

[James L]

You're on a river, if the engine does break down again, which given it's new is very unlikely, you'll certainly be able to tow to boat to somewhere it can be tied up safely, even if it's not back from where you started.
If you're still worried just don't go out with the river in flood, stick to sunny calm days and you won't go far wrong

btw - I also refuse to go anywhere without the dinghy on the back for the same reason. It's great peace of mind especially with kids on board.

 

[jaysparticus]

Thanks James, i must admit , i am a fair weather sailor. its just for that peace of mind that if the worst happened then i would be able to rescue my family.
ive never had anythingto do with outboards so i wasnt sure of what a 2 hp 2 stroke could produce if need!

 

[lisilou]

Hi Jay. I've nothing more worthwhile to add to all the above but just wanted to say welcome to the forum.
L

 

[kashurst]

Hi Jay and welcome. lots of help and advice on here so ask away. What ever daft thing you think you have done or are about to do, quite a few of us are well ahead on that curve. We started out on the York Ouse @ 13 years ago so quite familiar with your current situation. First thing that will help your confidence is safety; can you all swim? have you got life jackets for all? Have you got an anchor and know how to get it down (and up again).

Keep things simple at first and stay close to the marina. If you go upstream and have problems you will end up roughly back where you started. Although you are quite used to the sea and big ships, this is your family, and your boat. What training have you done so far with smaller boats as the skipper? You are right to be wary of the river - people underestimate it. If there has been a lot of rain and the water level rises the current can be very strong, so until your are happy with everything keep off the river when it's in serious flood.

The tender you now have sounds perfect for your boat and for the kids to learn safely, but it won't pull your Seamaster. As others have said either - get a bigger auxillary on a drop down bracket or (preferably) make sure your main engine etc is sound.

 

[RogerRat]

Hi Jay and welcome. lots of help and advice on here so ask away.

The tender you now have sounds perfect for your boat and for the kids to learn safely, but it won't pull your Seamaster. As others have said either - get a bigger auxillary on a drop down bracket or (preferably) make sure your main engine etc is sound.

+1 on the forum greetings Jay.

The tender sounds good, I had one myself. Don't know the age of your children but the dinghy would be a good place to start with them learning to row. Having mastered the oars, (so they can always get back) they should then have good fun on the dinghy and a 2Hp on he river will be fine. As mentioned above, not when the river is high and running. Most of us complain about a 2 knot tide when berthing in a tidal marina, but rivers in flood can be bloody frightening in a single engined mobo.

If you go for a outboard as auxiliary on a bracket, check the length of shaft. It's more typical to use a long shaft in this manner but if you're only on the river, a short shaft will do and 6Hp will also make a good dinghy motor for the kids (when competent) and also push your SeaM'23 along perfectly well. Only push with the outboard and steer with the out-drive, not easy but ok with way on.

As a get you home, safety back up power, anything more powerful than 6Hp is just more expensive, heavier and will give you little more, you will only be trying to achieve hull speed of around 4-5 knots max.

Even though, you have good and wide experience, it still may be worth getting some training on close-up boat handling and getting the kids in the frame so SWMBO can relax and enjoy it more too. It's an awful place to be in, stuck tied-up when everyone's scared to untie the boat. :ambivalence:

Enjoy the summer.

RR

 

[Momac]

If you are not confident yourself it will show and the crew will be scared. It's supposed to be a relaxing hobby.

You need to get some hours in on the non tidal river to build your confidence. By all means have the engine thoroughly checked over or serviced by a mechanic as it will help your confidence . I expect they have someone at York marina.

You can join river canal rescue - RCR - if it will add confidence.

I have a 25ft boat with a single engine. We have done hundreds of hours on the Trent and Ouse and have been up to York. We don't have a dinghy. I don't think I would try to tow with the dinghy. Stopping the boat would be interesting .

.

 

[symondo]

Hello and welcome

as a few folk - i cant really add much to what has been said but would like to sympathise with your situation.

I have a similar situation with my old man who bought a boat as it sounded exciting,had an 'oops' moment while mooring it - now my mother wont get on it, my wife isnt totally keen n not sure about letting our kids on to the point it went up for sale.

I think its a case of you gotto learn regardless wether it be in handling, mechanical, electrical - just to be able to deal with said situations in a calm, progressive manner.

Good luck on getting organised. What my own experience, it just gets easier after a few goes but the learning curve is a steep 1 for everyone involved.

 

[jaysparticus]

Hi Guys,

Great response and friendly advice on here , thankyou all
i will be having a play about on the tender next weekend and seeing if it has what it takes to be part of my fleet!!
i will give feedback in due course!

thanks again all

Jay