Do you carry a spare outboard?

[ericoh88]

Wow! Thank you for all your replies.

Using oars are a great way to work out instead of the gym. Problem is my anchorage is usually far away from landing and away from the crowded spots. Not to mentioned headwind and choppy seas.

Out of 11 replies, 7 carry a 2nd outboard as spare. I see most boats do not carry a spare. a 2hp and 3hp seems to be preferred o/b due to the lighter weight.

Last year after a month long cruising when I wanted to run the carb dry for storage, the 8hp Yamaha would start and dies after 10 seconds. Tried everything - changed to a spare carb (yes I have a used spare carb), new plugs, spare eletronic black box. Several ppl came over to help but the outboard would start and dies within 10 seconds. This went on for a week or two.

One friend who had similar problems, suggested that I use fresh gas/petrol. I did and the o/b ran properly. Problem - bad fuel. Normally I would just kept using old gas and add new ones.

I have decided to keep the main 8hp o/b and get rid of the 5hp Yamaha. Will get a used 3hp or 2hp o/b which I can carry without the hoist system. Small enough to hide somewhere on the stern rail.

Thank you again for all your suggestions. Great info.

Fair wind and calm seas. Eric

[RaymondR]

On my previous boat I carried a 9.8hp two stroke on the dingy and a 3hp two stroke spare. I tended to use the 3hp fairly often in places where there were large tides and consequently long drags to the water. On the new boat I have two times 3hp two strokes and more wheels on the dingy because of the advancement of age and inability to heft around a heavier outboard.

Oars are for poor people.

[thinwater]

My spare, in addition to oars, was always a kayak. I can paddle that far in any conditions, including waves. totally reliable, and I had it anyway, for fun.

[alansmith]

Many small fishing private boats carry a spare o/b. They call it a kicker.

Man, the problem with outboards are usage. Fresh gas is essential. Make sure you use them a lot. If not make sure you add stabilizer and run the motor till she stops. Then...drain remaining fuel in the carb.

Can’t use 2 strokes on many lakes in California due to environmental concerns. I have a trimaran down in San Carlos Mexico that is about 5 years old. I bought a new Suzuki 9.9 EFi engine. But she is way too much weight for an old guy to be throwing around. I will use kayaks or Portabote for tender. I keep thinking about using my 4 hp 2 stroke if i decide on the Portabote. It weighs only 35-40 lbs. many guys seem to be going to the electric outboards due to maintenance of the outboards. In my home i have sold or traded my gas weed eater and my gas tree saw in the last year due to continuing problems with starting. I do the proper stabilizing of fuel ...but they can sit half a year or more before use. I have grown to hate them. My honda engine lawnmower ....going on 14 years has never given me a lick of a problem. Change oil and run gas with stabilizer at end of season....run her dry. Starts up first pull.

So, after a long windy reply...my advice ...be careful what you ask for with extra motors....they can be diabolical little ba$tards.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by FlyingScot

My 9.5' RIB with me at the oars, I'm more likely to paddle in circles.

I am seriously considering buying a 1.1kw Torqeedo to supplement a 15 HP 2T Yamaha Enduro.

This is my preferred approach too. Just a small generic brand electric OB that can be pulled out in a hurry if needed, then grab one of the house batteries, they are small enough and accessible enough to lift out without much fuss. Using one out of the bank a few times won't do any damage.

I only envisage it would be used in a situation where you knew in advance that the main OB was unusable and you wanted to shuttle back and forth to a nearby jetty/beach.

Other than that, the oars are always on the dink, and I have put a small sit-on-top kayak on my shopping list for short shopping trips.

[nortonscove]

Originally Posted by roverhi

They have this newfangled invention called oars. Work great and almost always start on the first stroke

Good luck with that when you have to hip up to the mothership if you ever have main engine problems. Did that once when I had a line around my prop in surprisingly windy conditions. It doesn't hurt having your father in law aboard in these situations when he's been a tug captain for 45 years.

[Pete7]

On a smaller yacht we don't have the room and can't afford the weight penalty of a second larger engine, so we have a Honda 2.3hp. Life is good.

Pete

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by nortonscove

Good luck with that when you have to hip up to the mothership if you ever have main engine problems. Did that once when I had a line around my prop in surprisingly windy conditions. It doesn't hurt having your father in law aboard in these situations when he's been a tug captain for 45 years.

Is your luck so bad that you will have both engines fail at the same time? Maybe two spares, for a total of 4 engines?



There are two additional boat moving options. Warping and sailing. So you already have:

• Main engine
• Dinghy motor
• Oars
• Warping
• Sailing
• Swimming

Perhaps you should quit pissing in the ocean.

[Singularity]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Is your luck so bad that you will have both engines fail at the same time? Maybe two spares, for a total of 4 engines?

There are two additional boat moving options. Warping and sailing. So you already have:

• Main engine
• Dinghy motor
• Oars
• Warping
• Sailing
• Swimming

Perhaps you should quit pissing in the ocean.

From your blog:
"I'm writing for coastal cruisers. I haven't circled the globe, but I have sailed 25,000 miles round and round the Chesapeake and along the Atlantic coast over the past 30 years...
...But mostly I've accumulated the sort of 15- to 50-mile day sort of experience that you need, navigating shoals, anchoring or docking daily, and returning to my real life after a few days to week afloat."

So the OP and several responders appear to be global cruisers with needs different from that of a coastal cruiser who cruises off the coast of perhaps the most resource-laden country on earth. To contend that all those long-distance cruisers carrying a spare outboard are crazy or environmentally inconsiderate is a bit much. Horses for courses (and not just backyard courses).

[winschwab]

Last cruise mostly Bahamas had a 6hp 4 cycle Tohatsu and a Honda 2hp 4 cycle backup. Would prefer larger primary OB.
Has anyone considered one of the super-cheap Chinese outboards as an emergency backup? I suspect they don't hold up well in salt water, but I would keep it greased and wrapped in a locker for emergency only. 2.5 hp new under $200-cheap insurance.

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by winschwab

Last cruise mostly Bahamas had a 6hp 4 cycle Tohatsu and a Honda 2hp 4 cycle backup. Would prefer larger primary OB.
Has anyone considered one of the super-cheap Chinese outboards as an emergency backup? I suspect they don't hold up well in salt water, but I would keep it greased and wrapped in a locker for emergency only. 2.5 hp new under $200-cheap insurance.

I bought both a 3.8 and a 9.8 HP Parsun 2 strokes in 2011. The 3.8 lasted about 3 years before all the elastomers on it seriously deteriorated rendering it scrap. The 9.8 is still going strong and other than a couple of spark plug changes has never given any problems.

[Sojourner]

20hp yammie as main, 9.9hp as backup stored winterized in the transom...

[alansmith]

Thinwater, Sir, did you hit your head in the cupboard this morning? Such a cranky reply! Tsk tsk... smile.

[daletournier]

I have 15hp mariner and a 3.5hp tohatsu.
I very rarely use the 15hp now, the little one is just so convenient, easy to pull up beaches, easy to get on and off etc.

If I have to cover distances or we're diving the 15hp comes out.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Singularity

From your blog:
"I'm writing for coastal cruisers. I haven't circled the globe, but I have sailed 25,000 miles round and round the Chesapeake and along the Atlantic coast over the past 30 years...
...But mostly I've accumulated the sort of 15- to 50-mile day sort of experience that you need, navigating shoals, anchoring or docking daily, and returning to my real life after a few days to week afloat."

So the OP and several responders appear to be global cruisers with needs different from that of a coastal cruiser who cruises off the coast of perhaps the most resource-laden country on earth. To contend that all those long-distance cruisers carrying a spare outboard are crazy or environmentally inconsiderate is a bit much. Horses for courses (and not just backyard courses).

I didn't mean to imply they were environmentally inconsiderate with that comment about pissing in the ocean; I was unclear. What I meant was that if all of these systems are failing at the same time, you have really bad luck and must have done something to offend Neptune.


Just because I have not cruised globally does not mean I haven't been in and out of a lot of harbors and dinghied a whole lot of times. That's what coastal cruisers do.


And seriously, that was hardly a crank reply. Sometimes people forget just how many traditional alternatives there are. And it's just a watercooler conversation. A spare outboard would never have occurred to me, so I find it humorous, particularly when I think of all those with no outboard (which I would not choose).


But it's just a conversation and I did not intend to offend.