Question to those who have used their kicker

[whgoffrn]

The idea of using the anchor if the engine stalls in a dangerous situation is what I considered ....I usually run a 50foot rope back to the cockpit from either side (in the event I have to change sides anchor is thrown from) and I leave my anchor in cockpit so I can hook up an anchor or sea anchor or whatever I need in a pinch quickly ....plus I dont have much time for many mods because we leave in 3 weeks so I may just opt for the super easy 15 min rudder mount kicker bracket mod for now and give the more permanent fix for later ..... I have a 3.5hp dinghy engine and also a 15hp dinghy engine (I use mostly for goofing off in the dinghy in the lake and river) I may just make a quick rudder mount bracket so in the event my engine dies it wont ruin the vacation as I can bolt up the 15hp being a 2 stroke (9.9 with bigger carb) it still only weighs 50lbs or so ....so I think even if worst case scenario the engine dies on me I'd have a decent back up to last me 2 weeks in keys

I have the stainless brackets on my x and also have made a mod to strengthen the bracket as well..... the brackets break from the lateral forces placed on them ....I dont think an engine will put the same type of pressure on them ...it should push straight forward where as the rudders torque side ways when the boat (at a heel falls back off the wave) so I could be wrong but I dont think a broken ss bracket especially after my weld job and vice will be a concern .....I usually store my dinghy motor as weird as it sounds on the sink in the head so if my main engine konks out in a bad spot ...I'm already throwing an anchor .... as it would already take me a few mins to get the motor on the bracket and fired up and in water.... I may put a bracket on it in time but I think I'm already out of time as I only have 3 weeks

[Jimmyt]

Boat,
Not to put words in whgoffrn's mouth; but it appears he wants to have a keys vacation on his boat with no mechanic session causing vacatus interruptus. So he apparently intends; should his main outboard fail; to simply bolt on a kicker and continue the party. Presumably, he would repair the main outboard at his leisure after returning home.

My family would probably rather go on vacation with him than me...

Jim

[NiceAft]

Whgoffrn said:

as it would already take me a few mins to get the motor on the bracket and fired up and in water....

Please tell me that is not the order of getting the kicker into the water. You don’t actually start the water cooled motor before it gets dunked? Just curious. I was always instructed that running the motor without it being in the water could damage it.

Ray

[whgoffrn]

Not my water cooled one I dont .... I have 3 dinghy engines a 3.5 hp water cooled ....a 4hp that is air cooled / no impeller ....and 15hp water cooled...... but yeah I know water cooled engines with an impeller should be in water so if doesn't destroy impeller

[whgoffrn]

I do sometimes start my even water cooled engines out of water if its SUPER BRIEFLY ...so far I've never had an issue if I shut it off or dunked it almost immediately after it fires and runs 1 maybe 2 seconds tops

[BOAT]

Jim said you can contract vacatus interruptu and your family will go on a vacation without you and take whgoffrn to the party instead - I suppose if you take two anchors and call me in the morning I might be able to spare you the headache of loss of friends and family but really - sitting on the hook waiting for me to come rescue you might not be the best solution to incontinence or lack of internal combustion.

Why not just hoist a sail instead of a tall one first? THEN, after your underway start pouring the scotch.

What am I missing here?

[Highlander]

I was assuming that we where all talking about something happening in a restrained area outgoing tide & current poss no wind reason for using the Iron genny in the first place also maybe impending weather forecast ? where one,s day excursion or cruise was coming to an end for the day That Kicker will hopefully get u too ur desired location for the night before nightfall so as to allow u the opportunity to check out why ur big motor quit on a safe anchorage or dock slip the next day if u don,t have a kicker as a back -up engine , the anchor is ur next best option once u have hopefully drifted out of the said traffic channel , commercial shipping lane , restrained area ? , if u r sitting in a duck pond or small lake where u can easily & safely beach or out in safe open water where u have lots of time with no traffic ,or weather issues to either resolve ur issue or try an sail home that night or next day N/ P . but still when u r beholding to the weather gods that,s not an Issue I,m likely to b happy with . But maybe better sailors like u r more experienced in handling these situations as u say ur father taught u well as a true sailor but a lot of people on this site do not have that training so u have to b careful not to give the inexperienced sailors on this site false Idea,s , I,ve done a lot of crazy sh_t while sailing but doe,s not mean I,d recommend doing it , just happened & luck was on my side

J
PS anything to do with safety is always a good learning topic to bring out the doe,s & don,ts for all of us to learn as yourself & family,s is all our best concerns in this big happy family of our,s Gee,s I,m thinkin I,m gettin old !

[vizwhiz]

I will chime in just for fun. I found out after a cooling system kerplooey on my little motor, that i have a kicker. No, i have two kickers. They were like 250 or 300 HP each. And they were attached to a REALLY nice, shiny, new BoatUS catamaran towboat. They only cost me about $175/year, plus one phone call on the day i needed it.

Seriously, if you’re in the Keys, within sight of land, and can use your vhf or a cell phone, there will be enough towing service coverage to get you in. If you have towing coverage on your boatus insurance, and aren’t comfortable with how much you have right now, up the amount you have before the trip. The small annual cost difference of even $100 is waaay cheaper than a motor, mounting, time, effort, etc. IMHO, you can’t spend $200 any better for your boat trip than to have towing on your insurance. And in the Keys, there is so much boat traffic, they have towboats everywhere.

Relax, buy towing insurance, and go to the Keys.

[Sumner]

...Relax, buy towing insurance, and go to the Keys.

+1

Used it once with the Mac and saved our a** with the Endeavour this last year

Sumner

============================
1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

The MacGregor 26-S

The Endeavour 37

Trips to Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[BOAT]

I will chime in just for fun. I found out after a cooling system kerplooey on my little motor, that i have a kicker. No, i have two kickers. They were like 250 or 300 HP each. And they were attached to a REALLY nice, shiny, new BoatUS catamaran towboat. They only cost me about $175/year, plus one phone call on the day i needed it.

Seriously, if you’re in the Keys, within sight of land, and can use your vhf or a cell phone, there will be enough towing service coverage to get you in. If you have towing coverage on your boatus insurance, and aren’t comfortable with how much you have right now, up the amount you have before the trip. The small annual cost difference of even $100 is waaay cheaper than a motor, mounting, time, effort, etc. IMHO, you can’t spend $200 any better for your boat trip than to have towing on your insurance. And in the Keys, there is so much boat traffic, they have towboats everywhere.

Relax, buy towing insurance, and go to the Keys.

Yeah, that makes sense in the Keys, I never thought about that - but over here that's not the case - also - once I get three miles out over here I am in water that is over 1200 feet deep - do you folks all carry 3000 feet of anchor line?

[vizwhiz]

Boat, it does get deep off the Keys once you get out a ways, particularly past the reef line. Heck, in 50’ of water off the gulf side of tampa bay, i wouldn’t try to set anchor with less than (insert really big number) of anchor rode. I’ve done it in about 30’ with 3:1 or 4:1 scope on a calm day in order to fish on a reef. But in anything but calm seas, no way i would try to anchor.

[whgoffrn]

When I lived in FL i used to do the boat us towing but in my area there are zero towing places in any of the waters I sail and use .... so I usually only go to the keys once maybe twice per year and need a kicker mount of some fashion anyway that's why I opted not to do boat us......if they would have had any boat towing I could use even outside contract towing places where they could reimburse me I gladly would have as it's a great deal at under 200 but no towing in my home state of wv and another lake i frequent in ky....so its 15 bux for a bracket is my back up plan

Right now I have 500 ish total feet of anchor rode thay could be used primarily because I run a 50 foot run back from bow to each side of boat to cockpit so 50x 2 ....I also have bridle for the drogue of 50x2 along with ride for sea anchor

I dont imagine I would ever anchor in anything over 100 feet but I do have enough for fishing off the reef in the keys in 100 feet for fishing and a grappler anchor so I can get it off the rocks....if I was just afloat broke down in much deeper that's when I'd put the paratech to work since its just been collecting dust:(

[Catigale]

SOmehwere buried in this thread is my experience using my Nissan 4HP to move Catigale across Atlantic/Buzzards Bay in good conditions at about 3 knots VOG with 4 crew and gear for one week. I actually managed to get it through Westport MA gut at full ebb tide at about 1 knot VOG by picking the path of lowest tide