Yet another question from this new Ericson 23' owner ...

We just took it out for a shakedown cruise ... very satisfying and
promising.

The only part that threw me (apart from an outboard throttle handle that
literally fell off in mid-channel !) was the problem of handling _both_
a tiller and the 5 hp Nissan outboard at the same time. I've done lots
of sailing on dingies without outboards, on dingies where you removed
the rudder when you used the ouboard, and on inboard-equipped boats much
too large to use an outboard except as a possible emergeny
get-me-home-bailout option. I've never befor tried to use both at once.

Suffice it to say that I felt less than competent as I tried to manage
the tiller while at the same time holding the outboard throttle to both
stear and control speed.

The throttle has a bunch of duct tape on it, probably to make up for a
lacking setscrew so you can set and forget the speed setting ? What can
I say, the motor is definitely used and I'm just impressed it runs
reliably :-) Once I dig through the duct tape, should I find such a
setscrew or is there some other secret to holding the throttle setting
in place ?

How about set and forget outboard direction ? I've had my life saved by
an outboard that swung tight starboard once I was no longer holding on
to the control, but in this case I'd really prefer to have the outboard
just point straight ahead if that's what I set it to. Should I be able
to adjust some friction clutch so the outboard doesn't turn once I let
go of it ?

Ideally I'd like to have a removable linkeage between the tiller and the
outboard so that the tiller would turn both the rudder and the outboard.
Are there such linkeages available or would I have to create one ?

Are there remote, cockpit-mounted outboard speed controls for motors as
small as this Nissan 5 hp ?

Insights and asnwers appreciated.

Thanks,




-Sven