Back Up Propulsion

[daveme]

As a Cutwater 30 owner, I often think about the single point of failure we are stuck with by only having one engine. God bless diesel engine design as they seldom quit cold turkey (unless there's a fuel problem). After 25 years of cruising single engine vessels I've yet to experience off shore engine failure.

Here are back up engine configurations I've noticed on our boats:
1. Install a small gas engine (9.9 or greater) on a transom mounted engine bracket for a kicker to get home.
2. Have a 9.9 hp or larger dinghy engine to mount on the dinghy and have the dinghy pull you to safe harbor.
3. Have a dinky, like a 2.5 HP engine, and pray that you will never need a backup. And that maybe it can pull you to shore on a calm day at slack tide.

As a God fearing boater, I am going with (3), because I love a small liftable engine. My question is this:
Do any of you have experience moving a CW 30 or RT with the 9.9? Or the 2.5? I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.

Thanks

 

[serpa4]

Someone with a C30 reported this:
25hp Kicker 5.5kts at maybe 75% throttle.

Kickers will move a boat, but most people are more concerned about the motor shaft coming out of the water when the boat rocks/heels over a little.

I plan to have a 20hp kicker on my dingy and use as a BU motor. Will have a long shaft myself.
At 1gph a 20/25hp kicker could move me at 5kts for say 10 hours with a Gerry can of fuel (10gall). That is a decent distance.
However, a 20/25hp kicker is very heavy. Lightest I can find is about 92-94 lbs (Efi, electronic ignition). A 2 stroke might be a little lighter.
I can easily move 100 lbs, I'm 50 years old, but moving while a boat is rocking and bobbing about, I'll likely loose it overboard!

 

[jlhowland]

Another option you don't list is a good anchor and tow insurance. That's my backup. A backup gas outboard just doesn't seem worth the expense or space. It's effectiveness is meh at best and you have to buy and mount an engine big enough to be effective and then store an adequate supply of gas. Not worth the pain considering the reliability of a well maintained diesel. That said, if anyone from Cutwater/Ranger is listening, I would be first in line for a C30 or R29 with twin 190hp diesels...

 

[Shibumi]

I go with the sentiment above that 'backups' are probably not particularly cost or operationally effective...

Personally, I maintain the hell out or a really good motor (meaning, professional mechanics at the factory prescribed intervals with only factory authorized parts), treat it well (in part meaning WOT runs every hour or so if I'm just trolling along) and...pay up for the top level boat US package. And good insurance.

There is no perfect solution, but that works for me.

 

[ALICE J]

On my R 27 2011, I mounted a fixed bracket on the transom where I can fasten my 10 HP Mercury. Used it once in the Bahamas when the engine stopped because of an overheat. A storm was coming and I was about 2 miles from safe harbor. The outboard pushed the mother ship at about 3 knots at full throttle. The only issue was steering via the outboard, the rudder was not effective, needed the prop wash to correctly steer. A tiller extension was helpful, but the line of sight was an issue. however, all ended well and the overheat was quickly fixed, forgot to tighten the radiator cap all the way, coolant leaked, engine shut down, (Yanmar 4BY180) I do have a St Croix davit that hoists the motor from her boat bracket to the dinghy or to the fixed bracket on the transom, so no back issues.

 

[Shano]

Our last boat (Skagit Orca approx 7000 pounds loaded) had a trolling 9.9 trolling motor that would push the boat about 3.5 knots in neutral conditions. It was a high thrust 9.9 and our CW30 has a high thrust 25 which will push the boat about 5.5 at 80% throtttle (can’t quite get to wot because of the drink holder is mounted in the way of the throttle arm). A 9.9 high thrust will definitely push your 30 to safety slowly in most conditions and I’m guessing that a 2.5 high thrust (if they make a HT model) would push it at maybe 1.5 to 2 knots in calm conditions. The lower gears of a HT model would be the way I would go. I had to use the 9.9 as a back up motor years ago on my first trip on the Skagit Orca. The sea trial went great and I handed over the check and we headed off across the Strait. Halfway the across the Strait engine alarms started going off and we did our best to get it going (it was a VP D4) and it would not even start after a while. So we used the 9.9 to get us out of the shipping lane and then of course the wind started picking up etc so we ended up getting a tow because we had about 20 nm to go and it was getting dark (and rough). In the conditions the 9.9 was a making about 2 knots. The issue with the D4 was that the pick-up tube on the fuel tank had a fine meshed screen on it which was totally clogged with algae.

 

[daveme]

Thanks for your feedback guys, interesting experiences


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