Boat handling with outboard

[Alan S]

And tighten the friction screw on the motor so it stays straight or at a turn yet still you can push/pull the steering arm
Then, sitting on the stern and using both the motor and the rudder is a doddle
It really is ??

I'll second that I had a Corribee with an old Seagull long shaft and steered at close quarters with one hand on the tiller and one on the outboard. Extremely manoeuvrable. I could approach a gap between 2 boats on a quayside or pontoon at right angles then a quick 90° turn at the very last second and I was neatly parked. Can't do that now in my present boat.

 

[Blueboatman]

I'll second that I had a Corribee with an old Seagull long shaft and steered at close quarters with one hand on the tiller and one on the outboard. Extremely manoeuvrable. I could approach a gap between 2 boats on a quayside or pontoon at right angles then a quick 90° turn at the very last second and I was neatly parked. Can't do that now in my present boat.

?
The long leg Seagulls were good iirc .

That corribee of mine came with a Seagull inboard .
That was interesting.. I had to at least try it. .but along with all the inboard noise and petrol and complexities ...add propwalk into the mix ! Oh Oh .. or rather..No No!

We were shipmates for one inaugural trip. Then the crane driver held the boat in slings overnight for a few beers whilst I removed the lot and glassed over the ‘leg’ hole.. happy days ?

 

[PhillM]

Thanks everyone lots of great tips. I’m starting to work through them.
This morning I squatted on the lazerette cover and could use the outboard to steer, making her very easy to manoeuvre going ahead. I have yet to practice astern.

Once out of the marina I locked the outboard using a bit of wood with a hole cut out that sits over the motor arm, so could then steer with the tiller. Motored from hasler to the Hamble in about 4 hours at a steady pace of about 4kn inc tide and used about 2l an hour.

I’ve decided that much as I liked the cheapness of walk ashore in Fareham I was missing the Hamble so I’ve changed to a trot on the warsash side opposite HYS. It’s nice and close to the club (RSrnYC) so I can use the bosuns service or my dinghy to get out and back. I figured that a nice easy home mooring would be a good plan while I get the hang of her.

Of course this does bring the challenge of how to charge the battery. I’m not planning on using it much so I can charge when on marinas. I can also take it home from time to time and of course when the bank account recovers from the mini refit I’ve just done, there is always wind and solar.

 

[Fantasie 19]

Of course this does bring the challenge of how to charge the battery. I’m not planning on using it much so I can charge when on marinas. I can also take it home from time to time and of course when the bank account recovers from the mini refit I’ve just done, there is always wind and solar.

Same kind of usage as mine... I use a 4W solar panel.. so slightly bigger than a tirckle charger, but not big enough you need solar controllers and stuff.. on my old boat I just hung it in a cabin window on this one it's on the stern...

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Same kind of usage as mine... I use a 4W solar panel.. so slightly bigger than a tirckle charger, but not big enough you need solar controllers and stuff.. on my old boat I just hung it in a cabin window on this one it's on the stern...

Solar controllers are so cheap now, you can fit a bigger panel if you want to without breaking the bank.

 

[Blueboatman]

Well I dunno , my two bobs worth.

I still have an 18w panel that was all I used to keep a Corribee leisure -grade battery topped up at anchor and at sea , for years and years.
ie ‘leisure/caravan’ it could tolerate a discharge a bit more than norm but no engine starting design capacity ) . Cheap as chips .
And I fitted a simple blocking diode - cost about 5p - in line with the wires to the battery .
This prevented the battery discharging at night back through the solar panel albeit at the ‘cost’ of losing 0.2v in charging voltage on sunny days..
Went a long way with that set up, augmented by a fairly useless little wind charger and a brilliant 4amp charging circuit retro fitted to the outboard motor. Sorted

The OP should be able to cobble something like that up for the season? Screw/bolt a solar panel down onto the aft hatch so it can’t be nicked maybe ? ..

 

[Fantasie 19]

Solar controllers are so cheap now, you can fit a bigger panel if you want to without breaking the bank.

Toyed with the idea, but in my case I have such low power requirements it's not worth the extra complication

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Toyed with the idea, but in my case I have such low power requirements it's not worth the extra complication

Our boat isn’t exactly some plush gin palace, but we still use easily enough power to warrant a decent charging system. For us the fridge is the biggest drain but do you not have instruments? That’s probably 30 watts or so, a plotter, depth, speed, wind and a repeater. Nav lights? Only a decent size battery will help there (it being dark) but you still need to charge it back up. We’ve ended up with 250 watts of panels. We need nothing like that, but if you want 25 watts on a cloudy winter day, itks what you do. Then in summer you need to control it.

 

[Fantasie 19]

Our boat isn’t exactly some plush gin palace, but we still use easily enough power to warrant a decent charging system. For us the fridge is the biggest drain but do you not have instruments? That’s probably 30 watts or so, a plotter, depth, speed, wind and a repeater. Nav lights? Only a decent size battery will help there (it being dark) but you still need to charge it back up. We’ve ended up with 250 watts of panels. We need nothing like that, but if you want 25 watts on a cloudy winter day, itks what you do. Then in summer you need to control it.

Bless you.. she's a 20 foot day sailor... VHF occasionally, depth occasionally, auto pilot slightly more occasionally.. 4 to 5 hours use a week... trust me I don't need extra power, and my fridge is a cooler bag..

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Ah ok. Though even my XOD (20 ft daysailer) has a controller for her 10w panel, all it powers is a bilge pump, as the boat is on a swinging mooring.