Outboard options

[smckean (Tosca)]

Here's part of my "religion" that hasn't been mentioned yet.......

I actually enjoy the sense of competence I feel as I practice, get better at, invent interesting methods to solve problems in.....maneuvering the boat with a single engine. I have little doubt my topsides are far more dinged up from the close-quarters mistakes I make as I learn than a boat with twin boat probably is; but I like the challenge.

P.S. Yes, I can do a 360° in my boat length (or pretty close to that), but I will say that there a lot of "engine/shaft clunking" that goes on as I shift back and forth from forward to reverse.

 

[Hunkydory]

Here's part of my "religion" that hasn't been mentioned yet.......

I actually enjoy the sense of competence I feel as I practice, get better at, invent interesting methods to solve problems in.....maneuvering the boat with a single engine. I have little doubt my topsides are far more dinged up from the close-quarters mistakes I make as I learn than a boat with twin boat probably is; but I like the challenge.

When a bit of wind & current is added to a flat bottomed C-Dory it can become a challenge to anyone at the helm trying to do close quarter maneuvering. Even after gaining years of experience, I’ve have been danced about seemingly at the will of the wind & tides, while watching the trawlers & saiboats tracking as though on rails. The learning experiences were at times very exhilarating, but after 16 years of learning how to make the twins increase my control, my confidence in these scenarios has increased a bunch.

Jay

 

[ssobol]

It would seem to me that if the C-Dory is more susceptible to winds because of the flat bottom (it is) then it should be less susceptible to tides and currents for the exact same reason.

I have found that it does not take much wind to complicate docking of a C-Dory in a marina, especially ones with narrow fairways and close spacing of slips. The cabin end wants to turn downwind as soon as the power comes off (sometimes sooner). A good breeze can making docking a handful. A stiff breeze can make it really "interesting".

 

[smckean (Tosca)]

The cabin end wants to turn downwind as soon as the power comes off....

That's interesting. Unless my memory is screwed up (often these days ), my CD25 has the bow drift downwind when there is no power. No reason 22s and 25s can't react differently I guess.

 

[Peter & Judy]

When I bought my C-22 two years ago it came equipped with a Honda 90 and a Honda 9.9 (Grezky Jr.) Being new to power boating I didn't have a firm opinion on the single engine vs twin debate. Now that I have some more experience, my opinion is leaning more to the twins if I were ever to buy a new boat. I would never go without a kicker as a 'get me home motor'. I had a long day in October on Lake Powell to think about this. Here's my story,

We were on a two week trip to Lake Powell. A couple of days before the end of the trip we tried to go as far as possible up the San Juan River. As we got into the great bend we started to run out of water and ran into a debris clogged channel, so it was time to turn around. We had camped for the night half way up the river and cruised at hull speed to the end. When we turned around, I decided to make some time for the return journey and cranked up the speed. Two hours later as I neared the entrance to the main channel an alarm when off with the Programmed Fuel Injection Alarm. I shut down the motor as I was not sure I wanted the risk damaging it. I switched to the 9.9 and found a campsite for the night. The weather radio issued a wind warning for the next day, so we decided to stay put and wait for calmer weather. The following day we started up the 9.9 and began making our way back the 40 miles to Bullfrog Marina. We can link up the steering on the 9.9, but speed and forward and reverse must be controlled at the motor. In the morning the winds were light and we headed off, the plan was to get up to speed and then head all the way back, not touching any of the controls or stopping. We didn't want to tempt fate. The 9.9 only had about 50 hours on it, (10 hours for me) and has been a bit temperamental. I think this is because it was mostly used as a trolling motor at low idle. Kind of like Grandma's car that only goes to church on Sundays, a good run on the highway once in awhile would do it good. Once running it ran perfectly. After noon the wind began to pick up and a good chop developed. I wished that I had a little more power than the 9.9 provided. We were averaging 4.7 mph. Crossing the large open bay to Bullfrog with a strong wind was the biggest challenge, followed by docking in fairly high winds. The problem docking was lack of control, I had to be in the back running the motor while Judy steered the boat. We used the loud hailer, that I installed, to ask for help when docking. Grezky Jr. was as reliable as his namesake was when the chips were down. He got us home. I had hoped to explore a few more of the side canyons, but didn't want to risk it with only the kicker.

My thoughts now is that I would not want to go out with only one motor and I was glad to have the 9.9. But I would have liked to have had a little more horsepower and full control from the helm. Having twins would give me more power and control from the helm should one of the motors quit. My 90 only has about 500 hours on it and until the alarm went off it ran perfectly. I have yet to diagnose the problem, but I will bring that up as a separate thread here once I have time to deal with it.

The single and kicker combo is what I have and I will deal with it. But, if I were to repower or buy another boat I would certainly have a good look at twins.

 

[Hunkydory]

It would seem to me that if the C-Dory is more susceptible to winds because of the flat bottom (it is) then it should be less susceptible to tides and currents for the exact same reason.

I have found that it does not take much wind to complicate docking of a C-Dory in a marina, especially ones with narrow fairways and close spacing of slips. The cabin end wants to turn downwind as soon as the power comes off (sometimes sooner). A good breeze can making docking a handful. A stiff breeze can make it really "interesting".

Yes, of course you are right. There is less area on the flat bottomed C-Dory to be affected by river currents & tidal rapids, but in a crowded non diked marina along a river or strong tidal channel like the Marina at Petersburg, Alaska, the moving waters combined with a stiff as you called it breeze, can really enhance the challenge & even more so when the fishing boats are backed up to unload their catch at the adjacent to the Marina, Cannery. I don’t see the fishing boats being affected much in this situation, but the C-Dory will be & much more unpredictable in how it does. The same occurs at the Petersburg fuel dock, especially when it’s crowded. The twins have really helped me maintain control in these situations.

Peter & Judy’s experience at Lake Powell, shows well how the more powerful twin could have lessened the stress in their loss of the main, but even more so the value of having either the kicker or twins.

 

[starcrafttom]

The cabin end wants to turn downwind as soon as the power comes off (sometimes sooner)

The answer to this question is to learn to dock in reveres. I had to learn that it some times is not worth while to try to get the bow around in to the wind when you can just allow the wind to hold the bow down wind and back up to the dock or buoy. i see people fighting the wind in all sorts of boats because they believe they have to pull bow first to the dock.

 

[ssobol]

The cabin end wants to turn downwind as soon as the power comes off (sometimes sooner)

The answer to this question is to learn to dock in reveres. I had to learn that it some times is not worth while to try to get the bow around in to the wind when you can just allow the wind to hold the bow down wind and back up to the dock or buoy. i see people fighting the wind in all sorts of boats because they believe they have to pull bow first to the dock.

I do this if necessary where possible. But sometimes you have no choice but to fight the wind and the boat to get it docked where you want/need to. I boat mostly on the east coast. In the mid-Atlantic region, the dock style is often fixed pilings and short fingers. The slips are generally sized for boats larger than a C-Dory. This can limit your docking options. If you have to go bow in because of the wind, you might find it difficult to get on/off the boat because of the dock layout.

 

[hardee]

I would challange anyone with a single and kicker to turn their boat 360° within it's own length, or walk it sideways while maintaining it's fore/aft axis like you can do with twins.

harvey my friend you would lose money to me all day long on that one. i can ans often do turn my 27 in a boat length or less. with the single main.

Jay , my kicker is the same set up as my main. Hi the down tilt button and then the start key. its already hooked to the steering, game one.

Tom, and the advantage goes to you, because you would be so much more healthy after all that exercise :wink:

Harvey
SleepyC :moon