Attaching a Motor to Your Day Sailer

[Guest]

No experience with trolling motors in salt, but thinking about it I would expect less damage from salt than a normal outboard.

I only have experience with large outboards and inboards, but they use the water for cooling purposes. They have to be regularly flushed out to remove salt from the system. A trolling motor, however, comes in contact with the water, but it doesn't actually bring it into the system.

I would bet that, as long as you remove the motor from the water when not in use (which you want to do anyway to cut drag) and rinse it with fresh water after use, you won't have any trouble.

J.T. (jtellis-at-slc.twc.com)

[Guest]

Thanks J.T. Your point that the (salt) water isn't used for cooling is most important. I hadn't thought of it. I also hadn't thought of rinsing the motor because my boat is in the water all summer with no source of fresh water. But, I could always bring a bottle and a spong. Thanks. The next step is to stop by the boat yard when I visit in April and get some opinions there. An electric motor is sounding more like a good idea.

Steve Max (75264.153-at-compuserve.com)

[Guest]

To add a little more info to the pile; there are electric motors made for salt water use by MotorGuide. They range from 36 lbs. of thrust to 75 lbs. Based on my use on a bass boat a motor in the low to mid range would work fine on a DS. All the motors have multiple speed ranges would affect battery life. The key is to get the largest deep cycle battery you can. A good source for the motors is Bass Pro Shops mail order catalog.1-800-277-7776, www.basspro.com
Price range is $190 to $510.

Bill Ellis (bbgellis-at-top.monad.net)

[Guest]

Thanks Bill,

I'll check out their site.

Ellis is a big name on the Cape, was your family from there?

Steve Max (75264.153-at-compuserve.com)

[Guest]

Here's a clip from the Catalina 22 list on a poor experience with electric motors in salt water,

"Mine (Sears electric motor) lasted about 6 months in salt water, even though I flushed religiously after each use. The short shaft is another problem. You have to run the power head too close to the water to set the cavitation plate under water."

I do not know if he model he had, but he switched to gas.

John C (pf_flyer_1-at-yahoo.com)

[Guest]

I have very good luck with a 32 pound thrust Minnkota electric trolling motor bought at Wally-world for $120.00. The Marine deep cycle battery was about $50.00. The local lakes here in Kansas have a predominatly south wind in summer with a packed "I want to get my high-powered speed boat in the water" waiting on the ramp. The Minkotta pushes the DSIII out promptly and with finess. In calm water I leave a wake! The motor has 5 speeds in either direction, and highest speed depleats the batter in 3 hours.

I recommend battery power as a viable alternitive to an expensive gas motor.

Robert Leffler (rleffler-at-idir.net)

[Guest]

I don't know if anyone is still following this thread but I want to add my whole hearted endorsement of electric trolling motors. I sail a DSII on Wawasee Lake in Indiana and on more than one occasion my 15 year old 25 Lb thrust Sigma motor has powered my boat and 4 large adults through heavy chop and into a serious head wind. The motor has never had a problem pushing the boat. I've even pulled 4 kids in life jackets behind the boat (something I wouldn't dream of doing under sail!)

For better balance, I put the battery in the cuddy near the center line and run heavy duty extension cord wire (10g I think) to the motor. I also recommend buying a battery box ($6 almost anywhere) to keep wet things and people off the terminals. Run the cord through the drain hole in the bulkhead and down the drain channel and you wont have anything to trip over.

In all my years of using this motor, I've never run the battery dead, even over a weekend of boating and pulling kids around.

If you're still reading at this point, let me get a little Zen here. We sail because we like the sounds and smells the water and the winds carry. There is nothing that connects you with the creator and creation like a sunset sail. After the sun sets and the wind dies, our peace isn't shattered by tugging on a rope and firing up a screaming, smoke-blowing, gas guzzler. My old motor makes no noise, turns on at the flip of a switch and has no smell. Electric fits the sailing philosophy.

Besides, you can't snear at the power boaters if you have an outboard hanging from your transom!

Philip

Philip T (traquair-at-comteck.com)

[Guest]

I'd like to add a bit to Phil T's observations. I, too have a 32 Lb Minn-Kota on my DS, with a 105 A-H deep discharge battery semi-permanently taking up some flotation space in the forward flotation compartment. The design of the prop on a trolling motor is for thrust at low speeds (look at the literature - thrust is measured at zero speed) What this seems to mean is that while you have a low top speed, you can move quite a load (the whole family) or into quite a wind (20 mph, for sure) at that speed. On the other hand, your top speed is measured relative to the water, so is sensitive to current. I have been toying with the idea of getting a prop with more pitch, but the prop curves I have been able to find don't seem to consider fractional horsepower input.

Bill Blackburn (bblackbu-at-innercite.com)

[Guest]

I have tried both a gas outboard and a trolling motor on my DS. On flat calm water when the wind dies or you dont have a current an electric trolling motor works just great. I bought an outboard this summer for use on the Mississippi River. I had a bad experience in the wake of a barge at Lake Pepin in Minnesota trying to leave a dock. We were in the lee of a high bluff and now wind when the 3/12 foot swell of a barge caught us just as we were leaving the dock. We got pushed almost into the rocks. We then decided that for sailing on large open water or negotiating a current that the outboard was safest. It was amazing just how fast you could get a sailboat going with a trolling motor!

My outboard is 40+ years in age and is 3HP. Works like a charm but stinks and is messy. The BEST thing is learn to sail to the dock and then everything else is for "just in case".

Tom Nelson (TNelson-at-tipton.k12.ia.us)

[Guest]

A trolling motor sounds better all the time, based on your various observations. Radio Shack used to sell a small solar trickle recharger (around $30?). It's designed to put on the dashboard of your car. It would be just the thing to SLOWLY recharge the deep cycle batterywhile away from shore power, such as on a mooring. It might even give you a few more minutes battery time on a sunny, windless afternoon.

Rich Coolman (coolman-at-iquest.net)

[Guest]

I went the trolling motor route on the Daysailer I got this summer, and eventually defected to the outboard engine camp. The trolling motor is now used to power my dingy.

I found that my 37 pound thrust motor had no problem moving the boat around our anchorage, but could not push it fast enough to overcome the tidal currents in Casco Bay. I also found myself wondering about the condition of the battery more often then I was comfortable with. There is no way a solar trickle charger will keep you running unless you use the motor so little as to bring into question its utility.

I wound up with a 4 horse Mariner outboard. It is enough to plane the hull with myself and my very light girlfriend on board, allows us to cruise at 10 knots while trying to outrun storms, and can be refueled in seconds instead of days.

I didn't like the idea of an engine on my boat, but the motor just didn't cut it for me. Your milage may varry.

Justin

Justin Andrus (jandrus-at-mail.maine.rr.com)

[Guest]

I bought a 2-1/2 horse short-shaft Nissan outboard for my DS after being blown down Suisun Bay (East of San Francisco Bay) one afternoon this summer. Sailing is fun, but there are times when you simply want to get back quickly. My two daughters are much more at ease knowing that the motor is there when it's needed. I mount it to port of the rudder, far enough from center to allow the rudder to swing without hitting the prop. I inserted a piece of 3/4" thick polyethylene sheet between the stern and the outboard bracket to act as a shim to move the prop far enough away to turn the motor around for reverse (cheap motor; no neutral or reverse). Obviously I'm no sailing purist, but I'm having more fun now that my daughters, 11 and 13, will get on the boat with me.

Bob Beard (rbeard-at-earthlink.net)

[Guest]

I have a 2.3 hp Johnson on my DS II, it is certainly adequate power, but 3-4 hp is preferable. My motor is clamped directly to the transom, port-side. I have a 1/4" plywood pad on the outside of the transom to protect the gelcoat and make the motor more secure. To avoid having the prop dig into the rudder I have added a 1/4" thick plexiglas "fin" to the antiventilation plate on the side of the motor towards the rudder, it is sized to be just barely wider than the prop, so that the plate hits the rudder before the prop would. If anyone is shopping for a motor, I agree with the statement that a "neutral-shift" is definitely a big help! Especially if like me, you sail singlehanded.

Rod Johnson (rjohnson24-at-juno.com)

[Guest]

Just an update, "SUNBIRD" has now been upgraded to have a 2001 4hp longshaft Johnson. The longshaft is not absolutely needed, but if you sail in an area populated by powerboats with large wakes, it sure is worth it! This motor has neutral, and it sure is nice to be able to start and warm-up the engine before dropping the mooring or retrieving the anchor. The motor has a built-in fuel tank, but also comes equiped with a connector to use a remote tank. Despite what I told the previous owner of my boat when he bought his 4hp Yamaha.......I find that the built-in tank is easier to use than a remote tank (fuel line from remote tank interferes with turning motor to reverse).

Another person responding to the original posting questioned how a 17' powerboat could weigh more than a 17' sailboat. Well, a 16' Sea Ray runabout weighs 1500#
for an outboard model, 1600# or more for a sterndrive model. A Day Sailer weighs 600# dripping wet, so !
Remember, the engine alone for a 17' powerboat may weigh almost as much as a DS.

Rod Johnson (rjohnson24-at-juno.com)

[Guest]

Hi Folks,

It was 1997 when I jumped into this thread to get advice about a motor for my DSI. I still don't have one. As is the case each winter, I dream about sailing and wonder if I really need a motor. So, I would like to ask those of you who bought electric motors several years ago if you still recommend them? I sail out of Wellfleet Harbor in Cape Cod Bay where we have an 18 foot drop in tide which can create a stiff current. I sail off a moring and would have to bring a battery home with me to charge.

Thanks
Steve Max

Steve Max (75264.153-at-compuserve.com)