DaySailer.org Forum

Yesterday, had a great sail, decided to start the Honda 2 hp and get on home for supper. Gave it a couple of pulls, it started then the board on the motor mount broke and all went 22 feet down in the Tennessee river. My pride is hurting big time, but I'm trying to suck it up. My brother in law loaned me an old Minn Kota 35 with 17 pounds of thrust. I tried it with a new deep cycle battery this morning with winds of 3-5 mph and found it would just barely turn the boat and hold the boat into the wind. Motoring cross wind was very hard. Trying to keep the budget less than $200 are there any electric trolling motors that work in most wind conditions? Current is not much of an issue here on Watts Bar lake.
Thanks

I've used a Lehr 2.5hp propane motor since 2013. Very happy with it. Uses 1 pound cylinders or can use an external tank.

John

Aw, man, what a drag! The H2 owners manual, as well as other O/B manuals, strongly suggests using a safety line from motor to boat, and the H2 even provides a place on the motor mount to tie it to.

Lesson learned the hard way I guess ... <8~O

I use a MinnKota with about 40lbs of thrust and that works in all wind conditions that I don't rather sail in (so, less than 5 knots -- beyond that, sailing is more effective, fun and faster).

Great to get home a moderate distance when becalmed (or nearly so), for getting to/from the dock, etc.

Most wind I tried it was about 8 knots, but it was marginal (the bow gets blown downwind).

TIM WEBB wrote:Aw, man, what a drag! The H2 owners manual, as well as other O/B manuals, strongly suggests using a safety line from motor to boat, and the H2 even provides a place on the motor mount to tie it to.

Lesson learned the hard way I guess ... <8~O

Been sailing since '85 and have always tethered my motor to my boat, usually in the form of a chain and lock. The darndest thing is, I had just changed out the old wood for a new piece for the motor mount. To add insult to injury, my first thought when the motor hit the water, was to to find something to mark the place the motor went in, being a new to me boat, I grabbed the anchor and rope that came with the boat, gave it a little toss and the rope broke and the anchor was deep 6th as well.
But wait there more!! Someone that knew me was just passing by in his-got to be a million dollar new competition bass boat, you know the kind that has the outboard that's bigger than life and those spud pole things on the back. He used his 80 foot side scan sonar and circled around for a while thinking if the motor had heat it might show......it had just started, so I doubted it would. Anyway he volunteered to tow me back the dock (oh the shame of it for a sailboat to be towed). Anyway, as he was pulling out...........the tow rope promptly went around his prop! I guess when you have a $23000 boat motor, it knows that a rope is around the prop and thank goodness it stopped the motor with no harm......except for me having to dive down and untangle the mess.

But did I tell you guys? I did have a great sail........just a bad motoring back to the dock.

I guess when it rains it pours! Glad you had a great sail, which is the most important part ...

TRW's homemade motor mount started out with a piece of PVC as the mounting board, but I quickly discovered that that was not going to suffice, so I called Garelick - the folks who make the nifty motor stands - and they sent me a really beefy piece of composite lumber like they use on the stands, at minimal or no charge. Motor mount looks like this now:

This is my first year with a Daysailer II. I had an Evenrude 9.5 that has been hanging around for a couple of decades. Clamped it to the transom and connected the fuel and it started right up. Tried it in the river and the standard shaft is deep enough for cooling. It's a little too powerful they say but works just fine for me. Just to say that you may not need anything special. Also I have a really old Evenrude (needs work) of about 4 hp with a fuel tank built into it. That would be the ticket.

Carl

A 9.5hp motor is too much for the Day Sailer. As I recall the original specs say the transom is designed for a 3 to 7hp motor maximum. The 4hp is probably more than you need, but would be better to use than the 9.5hp motor.

John

Well, still haven't found the Honda engine. The wife wants me to walk away from it, says I'm too old to dive for it. Maybe so. Anyway, remade the engine mount. I used 2 pieces of Lowes brand of Trex, lots of epoxy and screws to sandwich the pieces together. I raised the mount up 2 inches, which caused the issue in the first place, where instead of raising the mount, I used a bigger board and the unsupported part broke and it and the engine went into the Tenn. River. This time I raised the whole mount up and secured the board with 6 SS bolts and nylon lock nuts. The frame is held to the transom with 4 SS bolts and nylon locknuts. I had a cable crimped so it went through both lock holes on the motor and terminates to a padlock that's locks the cable to the mount frame. The other end goes to a stainless strap that's bolts through the transom. If this motor comes off, the boat will be a Hunter with no transom.

I use a 4hp long-shaft Johnson (2001 model) originally I had it clamped right to the transom and that works fine, except the transom slopes the wrong way. So, I added a plywood motor board fro mthe previous owner's motor bracket, shimmed to correct the angle. This is secured by 3 bolts through the transom (no access for forth bolt, but in forward, the lower edge of the board is pushed against the transom by the motor's thrust anyway and I hardly ever reverse.
One trick to improve steering and directional control under power is o lower the CB about 1/3 or so. That gives the boat some grip on the water and along with the rudder make it easy to steer straight even with a crosswind.

4HP is all I'll ever need, I'd say 5 is max I'd ever suggest. 2-3 HP is mostly plenty of power if the motor has the right prop. I tried a 1984 2hp Johnson and it worked pretty good, better than the 1992 2.3hp Johnson that I had. Both were short-shaft (15" transom height) and that will work, but a long-shaft (20' transom height) keeps the prop submerged better in waves and powerboat wakes (or if someone goes up to bow while underway). I bought the 4 hp because it had a neutral clutch and is setup to use either the built-in fuel tank or a remote tank. It also has better vibration damping than typical outboards of that size or smaller.

Most of the brand new Day Sailers leaving CAPE COD SHIPBUILDING (current builder) have bee equipped with a small TORQUEDO electric outboard, nice, but big bucks!! I've never tried a standard trolling motor (electric), but I would think they would work fine under most conditions