On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 20:44:42 GMT, "bowgus" wrote:

Well ... I'm definitely no expert but just had to join in :-). I'd go
outboard in this situation with logic as follows ... safe haven close by,
you can pick up a used outboard for next to nothing and if it was me, that's
what I would do and consider it a throwaway if something goes really wrong.
And if a repair is required, just drop it off and go sailing ... maybe even
beg a loaner off the shop. All they're used for around here is to get out of
the boat basin ... and that doesn't take much hp given a sailboats hull
design and efficiency once it gets moving. Geez ... those things move
forward with a gentle breeze applied to the hull :-)

Well, of course you are right, and until post WWII a lot of smaller
(under 50') boats had no auxiliaries at all, as they were considered
dangerous (paraffin, gas) or balky and too heavy (diesel).

You only need a motor on a sailboat for passagemaking, getting in and
out of confined spots like some wind-locked basins, and to charge
batteries. If you needed to "power" into a basin in heavy weather, for
instance, you might use close to 100% of your available thrust, but
our grandparents used to run or claw offshore or drop anchor. These
days, many of us have to "be somewhere", and the engine helps that
happen.

Maybe the problem is not in our boats, but in ourselves....

R.