Ferg wrote:

"Sherwin Dubren" wrote in message
...
Hi Ferg,

I feel badly being the 'critic' here on some of these replies, but
they
really go against my experiences with sailboat engines at sea.

No problem, but allow me to retort.

If the San Juan 21 is similar to my boat, 5hp is plenty.

That depends on the weight of his boat.

Like I said, I'm not familiar with Bruce's San Juan 21.


I thought running at lower throttle uses less gas.

Of course, but you still have more juice getting sucked through the carb
with a larger engine. My 5hp uses less gas than my 10hp did doing the same
job. I speak from my humble experience.


You probably had the engine height set too high for the longshaft.

Maybe it was just the inate problem of using an outboard on a small
sailboat. Please don't assume that I'm an idiot.

There are no innate problems with outboards. I have been using them
for
over 30 years and although not perfect, they do the job.

The outboard situation on my Catalina 22 is not unlike most trailer-sailors.
The boat itself is lightweight and can get bouncy in a moderate chop. But
if there's chop or short waves, then there is likely wind as well, and wind
is the desired source for propulsion anyhow.

Not when it's blowing directly in your face.


Even if it takes longer to
tack upwind to get home, it's probably SAFER to do what the boat was
designed to do than tinker and struggle with a cavitating outboard.

I have only experienced cavitation with following seas, and even then
it was not a big problem.

You're
much more likely to pay attention to your surroundings if you focus on your
telltales on a tight reach, instead of adjusting the outboard's throttle
during each wave crest.

I don't know what kind of setup you have with your engine, but I have
never
had that problem. One thing that helps, is to be motor sailing with
reduced
sails up. It keeps the boat on an even keel, so unless you are still
forced
to tack, you can set your engine height and leave it there.


You are assuming that you have all the time in the world to tack. If
you are out
at sea and you have only so many hours of daylight, you may want to
get in before
dark, or before the weather deteriorates even more.

And frankly, my Catalina 22 sails better now that I got rid of that old,
beastly, awkward twin-cylinder machine on it's stern.

It's nice to be a purist, but I'm not out to prove anything. I
usually motor sail
in rough conditions into the wind. The sails take some load off the
engine and help
to stabilize the boat. I find that I'm not fiddling with the
throttle, and only in
rare cases do I have to adjust the engine height (with a long shaft
those instances are
extremely rare). Again, all this depends on where you are sailing and
what kind of
boat you are in. For trailerable boats on small lakes, the rules are
quite different
from a fixed keel boat on the ocean or large lake. I also learned to
sail on a Rhodes
19 with no engine, but I wouldn't take that boat to the Bahamas. My
Westerly 22 foot
boat is very heavy and made to take lots of punishment. The rules for
it are obviously
different than for your vessel.

I consider all small outboards problematic and subject to unforeseen
problems... No matter how much you spend on one.

A well maintained outboard engine should give minimal problems. Sails
are not
always perfect either, although I agree with you that they are the
sailor's last
recourse, something power boats cannot enjoy.

It's a luxury on my larger
boat's dingy, but I always carry oars.

If you really want a small trailer-sailor that works well with its outboard,
maybe you should have bought one of these:

I'm not the trailer-sailor type. They are not very comfortable or
secure in
big waves and strong winds, and they usually cannot point very close
to the wind.



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