Inboard vs. Outboard for Cruising

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

- Fuel efficiency with modern 4 strokes is drastically better than the old 2 strokes. The 50-75% fuel efficiency gains would be comparing an old 2 stroke. I would say the new 4 strokes are closer to 10-25% difference, so not nearly as important.

The diesel inboard's 50-75% fuel efficiency advantage I mentioned earlier was a mistake. That adavantage is for a diesel inboard over a gas/petrol inboard. For a 4-stroke outboard it would be about twice the range for the same amount of fuel and for a 2-stroke 2.5 or so better range.

[Cheechako]

It can be done with an outboard, but inboard far better.
-an outboard is too far aft and thus dips in and out of the water in a wind/wave chop.
-While working on inboards can be a pain at times, outboards are not that easy to work on even on a stand in your yard, on the back of the boat they are very hard, in the cockpit they are a mess.
-Everything starts to corrode on an outboard over time. You will find bolts that wont come out , the attachment hand screws will freeze up constantly etc.
-In order for an outboard to be convenient, you have to get it rigged with fuel and shifting cables etc. All that stuff gets frozen and corroded also.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by Goosebumps

The type of cruising and your personal needs will determine in or out! I respect all choices, but for me, now living on the hook East Africa sinçe 2007, the redundancy argument of having two diesel inboards geats all arguments easy! I have 34 foot dat with spacious engine compartments woth access from cockpit, absolute necessary to stress that. To liveaboard cruise in cruising zone far from any chandker, marina... you have to delend on number one yourself. If an inboard packs up fir whatever reason Insimply yse the other one until get access to parts! I have 5hp and 15hp two stroke light weight outboards for 14 foot alu dinghy, again if I travel far in my dinghy if one outboard packs up got 2nd one on board if dinghy. The 5hp ofcourse is very economic and is used most in nirmal tudal current and wind, sea state! The 15 hp can be third motor cat, imagine both inboards give up, don't exclude it condensation in diesel tanks difficult to control, dirty diesel same! I absolutely abhor keeping gasoline on yacht but unavoidable fir outboards, I organized gasoline locker which ventilates in its bottom between cat hulls, also use proper jerrycans. Electricity is lyxury but imagine depending on outside power to charge batteries, refrigerate.... solar helps to charge batteries as do inboards!

Goose:

I believe the OP is looking to buy a sailboat. Consequently:
1. Double inboards are impossible on any vessel where outboards are a realistic alternative to the inboard.
2. Sails are the primary motive force so any motor is a backup. A second motor is a backup to the backup.

[nortonscove]

Where we sail the steep chop would make an outboard illogical. A friend has an outboard and lives with it out of the water some times and getting dunked the other half. Issue was the following search upon returning. Fine option in many areas just not north atlantic.

[gjordan]

I started cruising in a small boat (26 foot) with an inboard that had been special ordered (much too large) when the boat was built. It was crammed into the engine room and because of that, was poorly maintained. I did some coastal cruising and finally took it out to rebuild it. I liked the boat so much without it, that I left it out and put an outboard on the back. I took off on a longer cruise and learned that the issue with the outboard wasnt the prop coming out of the water. That was a horrible sound but didnt do damage, but if the boat rolled from waves or some damn powerboat, the engine head would go underwater and require maintainence. If it was needed in nasty conditions it was useless. I went through a couple of outboards in the first few thousand miles of cruising and gave up and gave one a decent sea burial. I did long passages after that and felt no need for an engine other than being stuck outside a pass a little before dark and knowing I wasnt going to make it. My next 2 cruising boats had reliable inboards, but they were large enough to fit them . Would I do it again without an inboard? Only if I was dirt poor and was determined to cruise anyway. Life was so much easier with a reliable inboard. For a while on the small boat I had a Seagull Featherweight for the Avon. It lived on a bracket on the stern pulpit. It siezed up during a passage and I held another burial. You can cruise with no engine, with an outboard, or with an inboard, but life will be much easier with an inboard. Just another opinion. _____Grant.

[roverhi]

If you are of the mind that an engine is a safety factor, outboards on the transom don't hack it in high wave conditions. The motion of the boat and the waves will constantly have the prop out of the water with possibly disastrous results to the engine as it over revs. Will work fine for most conditions but if you really need it in rough weather, it might not be there. As Benz says, it's a sailboat so who needs an engine when it's blowing stink?? Let's see, you are in an anchorage and the wind suddenly changes and pipes up sending increasingly larger waves into the rodested. You will probably have to slip your anchor and rode, possibly losing it, and may not have the room to sail out to safer water without an inboard engine or outboard in a well.

So, yes you can sail long distances without an inboard or outboard in a well. There may come a time when you wish you had it though. If it's a matter of cost, would leave in a minute with an outboard hanging off the back but just want you to realize an outboard hanging off the stern isn't the ideal way to power a boat.

One negative of an engine in a well is what do you do with it when you don't need it?? If you leave it in the well it will be a drag. Don't know whether they make folding props for outboards but it would be a way to significantly cut the drag factor. If you remove it to store in a locker, you'll have to manhandle the monster possibly in inhospitable conditions and it will take up a lot of space that could be better used for other storage.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by roverhi

One negative of an engine in a well is what do you do with it when you don't need it?? If you leave it in the well it will be a drag. Don't know whether they make folding props for outboards but it would be a way to significantly cut the drag factor. If you remove it to store in a locker, you'll have to manhandle the monster possibly in inhospitable conditions and it will take up a lot of space that could be better used for other storage.

James Baldwin, Atom Voyages - Good Old Boats List, puts a slot in the stern to allow his "well outboards" to be raised.

I believe this is a picture of one in an Alberg 30

[astokel]

This is just my opinion. 4 stroke outboards are probably similar in fuel economy. Which costs more ; taking an outboard to a mechanic or having a mechanic come to your inboard? Which is quieter in the cabin; a well maintained four stroke outboard or an inboard?

I chose the outboard but recognise with larger boats an outboard may not be practical.

Having a tiller outboard as well as a rudder, I can turn almost within the size of the boat by turning the outboard and the tiller at the same time.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by ET12

What's the average HP outboard for a 30ft and under?

What is the lowest and highest HP outboard in general?


Thanks.

I have an 8 hp, but someday a 9.9 four stroke . the main issues for me are weight aft and more hp is more weight. My old Columbia 24 ha a well for the ob and I cut a slot in the transom like Baldwin does. It was great... no prop coming out of the water in steep seas, and with engine covered, no problem with swallowing water, and when not in use tilt it up and prop/lower unit are out of the water. Limited range and fume issues were the only problems. My Columbia 29 came built with a well designed for a Seagull ob, but it's too small for anything else.

[gjordan]

Another disadvantage of a cockpit well is exhaust. I havent used an outboard in a well, but a friend told me that his smoked up the cockpit so bad the he hated to use it. There lots of different ways to do things, but some work better than others. Lack of money has a lot to do with how you outfit your boat. I am outfitting on a budget right now and luxuries have to weighed against the cruising fund. _____Grant.

[Ken Z]

yes its possible to cruise long range with a outboard,a good one. I motored across from cat cay to maimi in a dead calm, and from ft.meyers to k y west in a dead calm with a 10 hp. honda. Rough seas are a nightmare with the engine coming out of the water, a headache entering a harbor, if its mounted on your stern. Better if you have a well. I love inboards, esp. diesels,sometimes harder to work on. Any boat over say 32' id go inboard, id go inboard anyway if you can afford it. Depends on the boat and space.

[smj]

All depends on what type of boat and the installation. Hanging of the stern of a monohull I'm pretty sure the outboard would have cavitation or ventilation problems. On a catamaran a well installed outboard or outboards have quite a few positive aspects and rarely have cavitation problems.


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[Cadence]

Originally Posted by ET12

Thank you for your opinions, and information!

This whole thing is hypothetical. What type of boat?

[brianlara 3]

Originally Posted by Hud3

A friend of mine set off from the Chesapeake Bay, headed for Maine, in a 24' sloop with an outboard engine. After leaving Cape May, he found himself in a stiff on-shore wind off the coast of southern New Jersey. The waves were steep and short-period, making the boat hobby horse. The outboard spent so much time out of the water, he couldn't make way against the strong wind and waves, and was washed up onto the beach.

To me, this is the biggest downside of an outboard. I've been caught off a lee shore in a sudden wind increase up to 35-40 knots, and once to 55 knots. My 56 hp Yanmar kept me safe.

My stb side cockpit locker is so big I can climb into it. Opposite on port side is my O/B engine locker, prop offset but almost three feet forward of the transom. The locker is blower ventilated and in 7 years & 7,000nm of New South Wales coastal cruising the prop has never cavitated. Usually pretty rough conditions too. I have a Sceptre 45 litre tank.
What's really good is that 2 of my 4 X 120ah batteries are where a diesel would normally be.
Also in the same engine space are power tool and heaps of other stuff.
I'm headed for Tasmania in Jan with an extra 100 litres of fuel in jerries on the rails.
My outboard uses about 4 times the fuel of a similarly thrusting diesel.
I made a crane out of one and a half inch 316 ss and when not motoring I lift the motor out of the well and clamp it down tight in the cockpit. Short shaft Tohatsu 8hp elec start with 80 watt alt.
Yes, a compromise, like most things but it works well and the motor can be replaced in 5 minutes for very little money, comparitavely.
Just another view.

[Cadence]

Take all the low HP things with a grain of salt. I doubt some people know how to figure there flat water speed with no current or wind?JMHO