Venture 26 / 25 Cruiser kicker for hull speed +
- Thread starter serpa4
- Start date
colbysmith
Active member
Hey Alain, yeah, it does get complicated. lol. But for the most part, it works pretty well. You guys still way down south? While we had our deep freeze last week, we hit almost 60 today. (I've been saying, Christmas is over, let's get on with summer now. lol) I'm ready to take C-Traveler out from under it's full cover and launch somewhere. But not enough warmth long enough to thaw the ice out on the lakes! 
A couple more months, and we'll head down to Florida. Colby
A couple more months, and we'll head down to Florida. ColbyMost are avoidable except:
*Engine or equipment breakdown. “The biggest reason why we tow people is because of mechanical failure,” says Capt. ..
2018 Cutwater, Volvo Dielse failure at lake powel.
2012? Surger sand, stranded miles from marina on a weekday with no cell service. Was a lake boat with no VHF (16') boat. Lucky got towed back by the only person I saw for the entire day.
2015 Stingray 230 LX. Bad ground, wouldn't start (didn't know till was home). Pull start kicker would have solved this.
Fuel issues: Not always apparent. May be an issues. Never happened yet.
Out of gas, dead battery, ran aground. Should...be able to avoid those. I have for 30 years.
Phil Barnes
New member
I will share our kicker experience for the mix. We had a 9.9 on our 22. Lost the main 90 hp due to a failed thermostat housing just outside of Dodd Narrows. Managed to get through Dodd at slack to have the 90 looked at. We were on the way to Desolation Sound. Turns out the motor was not repairable as water leaking from the housing had filled the hood and gotten into the oil. It was Canada Day weekend. We talked to some shops and they smiled and asked what month we might want to come in. We went from Nanaimo to Orcas to Cornet Bay on the 9.9 over several days with careful attention and planning to tides, wind and larger ships. Worked out fine but I did feel a bit exposed on the more open sections with no back up other than a radio. Same with going through Deception Pass, although there are a lot of open fishing boats in the pass that are running 9.9 hp and they are there often!
Our 25 has a Tohatsu 20 hp Kicker. Figured we could manage the weight as the 15 and 20 were the same. The 20 was fuel injected which seemed like an advantage. I can get hull speed at about 50% throttle, so it is a lot more engine than needed. It has a "power prop". It is set up with inside controls so it is a good "get to safety" or "get to home" engine. The extra HP helps with wind or current. Having been in a bit of a spot once, I wanted a bit more safety net. Truth is I could run long distance in mild winds or currents with the 20 hp at reasonable fuel consumption, relatively low noise, good control and comfort without taxing the engine. Long as I wasn't in a hurry. So far I have not had to use it as a backup but we do run it some days when enjoying hull speed cruising, which we do quite a bit of. Doesn't qualify as a "twin" but might as a "little brother" to the 150? We are happy with it for what we do. If in areas with many other boats and one wanted a trolling motor and get to safety motor on a 25, going with the wind and the flow, I would think a high thrust 9.9 hp might work pretty well. But I wonder how much current or wind you could push. Others who have them would know better than I from their experience. 15 hp gives ample power for the 25 but if it is the same weight, a 20 hp is attractive but for the cost. The fuel injection was a bonus for me.
Our 25 has a Tohatsu 20 hp Kicker. Figured we could manage the weight as the 15 and 20 were the same. The 20 was fuel injected which seemed like an advantage. I can get hull speed at about 50% throttle, so it is a lot more engine than needed. It has a "power prop". It is set up with inside controls so it is a good "get to safety" or "get to home" engine. The extra HP helps with wind or current. Having been in a bit of a spot once, I wanted a bit more safety net. Truth is I could run long distance in mild winds or currents with the 20 hp at reasonable fuel consumption, relatively low noise, good control and comfort without taxing the engine. Long as I wasn't in a hurry. So far I have not had to use it as a backup but we do run it some days when enjoying hull speed cruising, which we do quite a bit of. Doesn't qualify as a "twin" but might as a "little brother" to the 150? We are happy with it for what we do. If in areas with many other boats and one wanted a trolling motor and get to safety motor on a 25, going with the wind and the flow, I would think a high thrust 9.9 hp might work pretty well. But I wonder how much current or wind you could push. Others who have them would know better than I from their experience. 15 hp gives ample power for the 25 but if it is the same weight, a 20 hp is attractive but for the cost. The fuel injection was a bonus for me.
Having spent 7 months a year cruising the PNW (inland passage to Ak 4X years) in a motor sailor, which we usually ran at 6 knots,(Max speed is 9 knots--rarely done-8 knots was easily do. I can say that it is no problem with good planing to go anywhere you want to go. The difference is that you can figure on doing one pass (at slack water such as Dodd Narrows, or even Seymour Narrows) each day. You usually do high slack water, but often just slack water works. With the 25 or 22 you can hit 2 or 3 passes away.