An outboard push a benetau 42?

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by CharlesBTaylor

There is so much wrong First switch from diesel to gas wrong!! Next if you cannot take care of Perkins most reliable on the water best advice is stay on your dock and take a seamanship school Sea school. Make sure you realize how utterly stupid this whole idea is!!
M

read the full thread this is a temporary movement down the canal to home .

[Davo1404]

I have seen some totally crazy ideas on these forums & this one is towards the top. Sort of in the same league of the guy who thought that the roll bar on his anchor wasn't necessary, so wanted advice on cutting it off!! The work to strengthen the stern & build a bracket to hold this weight will far outweigh fixing the Perkins.

[dfelsent]

Dinghy and hip tow. That will get you out of a canal jam assuming the combined beam fits in the locks.

[wingssail]

To start off with, that Beneteau First 42 is a great boat. Don't ruin it with an outboard on the back, even for a short time. I don't buy the "short time for a delivery" story. If you are short on money to fix the diesel now you'll be even shorter on money after you install the outboard. Once you do this abomination it'll stay there, and you'll regret it forever.

Secondly you'll have a bigger project than you imagine getting the Suzuki installed with a strong enough bracket, on the back end of a hull which is pointed and not very strong there either. And if you plan to tilt it or steer it, even more engineering nightmares. AND rigging the wiring for battery and ignition and shifting. If it is not a kluge it will be expensive, and still be a kluge.

Just don't do it.

[Shaneesprit]

Perkins is not an unreliable engine, suggest you get it serviced properly and not just a basic service.
Compression test
Replace starter and Alternator and batteries, re-wire everything.
Replace fuel system, including chucking out the fuel pipes and filter housings
Change the exhaust
Change the injectors
Get the fuel pump serviced
Thermostat
Coolant and oil’s obviously.

Add and delete as needed, but if you cannot rely on it restore it.

[IslandInfedel]

This seems like a bad idea, if it’s temporary you’re going to do a good bit of damage to the stern with the mcgyver mounts, plus the transom was not intended for this use.

Id but a beta marine, or a rebuilt yanmar, hire someone and just fix it and be done with it, something tells me it will be less money and you are going to have a much safer trip

[White Feather]

Quit trying to save a dollar and put yourself and family in danger. Fix the diesel. Overhaul it or replace it. If big sailboats were safe with little outboards that would be fine but a sailboat transom lifts high and comes down low. Outboards work on little sailboats but are dangerous if not handled right in rough seas. You can get rough seas in the river or bay without notice. Why take the chance?

[wingssail]

Let me tell you a story of a sailboat with an outboard motor on the back.

We were anchored one night in Inati Bay on Lummi Island in Washington State. Around 9:00 PM, after dark, we became aware of a sailboat motoring in to anchor. He clearly had an outboard motor.

Well he dropped an anchor and started to back down, but the anchor did not hold (there is eel grass in this bay) and soon he was drawing close to the next boat behind him.

I motored over to him and took a line, then pulled him up to the head of the bay where he intended to reset his anchor. However it again did not hold and again he dragged his anchor backwards trying to get it to grab. Again he gained some speed in reverse and again there was a boat astern of him getting worried.

He threw the motor in forward to avoid collision. We observed all of this from about 100 feet away.

His forward power did finally stop his sternway but then he quickly gained headway, towards another boat, which was in front of him. After yelling at his partner, who was in the bow pulling up the anchor, he realized that his motor was not going to stop his forward motion. He ran to the bow to fend off, leaving his motor in full throttle reverse.

With two persons on the bow his propeller was raised out of the water at the stern and screamed for a second or two...then silence.

With no anchor, no sails, and no motor, he drifted out of the bay and into the night.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by wingssail

Let me tell you a story of a sailboat with an outboard motor on the back.

We were anchored one night in Inati Bay on Lummi Island in Washington State. Around 9:00 PM, after dark, we became aware of a sailboat motoring in to anchor. He clearly had an outboard motor.

Well he dropped an anchor and started to back down, but the anchor did not hold (there is eel grass in this bay) and soon he was drawing close to the next boat behind him.

I motored over to him and took a line, then pulled him up to the head of the bay where he intended to reset his anchor. However it again did not hold and again he dragged his anchor backwards trying to get it to grab. Again he gained some speed in reverse and again there was a boat astern of him getting worried.

He threw the motor in forward to avid collision. We observed all of this from about 100 feet away.

His forward power did finally stop his sternway but then he quickly gained headway, towards another boat, which was in front of him. After yelling at his partner, who was in the bow pulling up the anchor, he realized that his motor was not going to stop his forward motion. He ran to the bow to fend off, leaving his motor in full throttle reverse.

With two persons on the bow his propeller was raised out of the water at the stern and screamed for a second or two...then silence.

With no anchor, no sails, and no motor, he drifted out of the bay and into the night.

Great story and a serious description of the need for proper seamanship. I sailed wirh an outboard for many years. Rarely ever used the motor to set the anchor . Knowing how to sail well does include knowing how to properly set the anchor under sail . Makes you pay much more attention to what you are doing .
That being said the op is looking to do a canal run to home waters and likely home shop for repairs

[Elie]

Originally Posted by CharlesBTaylor

There is so much wrong First switch from diesel to gas wrong!! Next if you cannot take care of Perkins most reliable on the water best advice is stay on your dock and take a seamanship school Sea school. Make sure you realize how utterly stupid this whole idea is!!
M

I'm always surprise by the rudeness of some comments. Or to be more precise, not to understand the lack of decency and jugemental abusive behavior and the familiarity of some interventions. As if being in a forum, one would have the right to rudeness, categoric and unecessary vulgar comments. Where is the moderator of this forum?....

[barnakiel]

Yes. It will work if you get the bracket right.


But 30hp outboard is not much for this boat. Outboards are not optimised for driving such carft, they are optimised for fast going in a light craft.


You can sometimes update their prop to one that fits the boat better.


b.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Elie

I'm always surprise by the rudeness of some comments. Or to be more precise, not to understand the lack of decency and jugemental abusive behavior and the familiarity of some interventions. As if being in a forum, one would have the right to rudeness, categoric and unecessary vulgar comments. Where is the moderator of this forum?....

Elie, to change the question a bit, Where is the responsible CF member who saw a post he deemed unsuitable and DID NOT report it using the "report post" button that appears in every post?

Moderators can not possibly read every post on CF, so we rely upon members to report objectionable posts so that we can act on them if appropriate.

And, just to remind you, public comments on moderation are specifically forbidden by the community rules that everyone agrees to follow when they join CF. I'm only allowing your comment to stay posted as a reminder to everyone about your responsibilities as members.

For the mod team,

Jim

[sailr69]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

Just fix the bloody diesel. A 42 ft sailboat with a transom mounted outboard is stupid and dangerous. How are you going to shift it?

I am glad someone had to say this, I was just going to leave it alone .I did not think it even needed an answer

[dgmyles]

Originally Posted by Lawrence plante

I'm refitting a benetau first 42 1982 with reverse transom. I want to put a Suzuki 30 hp outboard on it because the Perkins 50 is unreliable. Will it work?

Having owned outboards on smaller fishing boats for nigh on 30 years now I would strongly recommend rebuilding the diesel.

You should be able to do a full rebuild on the diesel for less than buying a new outboard. That should solve the reliability problems and there is no doubt the diesel, will last longer, cost less to run and should allow the boat to handle better. On my current fishing rig I have a stern drive and bless the day I sold my last outboard. And mine lived on a trailer not permanently on the water.

[BlackHeron]

Cruiser's Forums never disappoints.

I don't think the NYC system would allow you to traverse the Erie Canal's many locks with a dinghy powering the vessel using the hip tow method.

Even if all the lock operators allowed you to do this there are many times when you have to be flexible about which side you use inside the lock. One would need to call ahead and be sure to have the dinghy hip-tied to the correct side of your vessel for each lock. At busy times they often raft vessels double-deep and on both sides as is necessary. One would need to coordinate with the lock operators at each lock as you go along depending on how many other boats were there and waiting to go in.

A transom-mount outboard would be the way to go but you would definitely need to have reliable remote control cables and practice docking in tight spots on both sides. Wakes and waves will not be an issue except for on Lake Erie and Oneida Lake. Pick your weather windows there.

Hopefully you will not be single-handing. Handling the lines in the locks on a 42' sailboat will be a task in itself. With a mast on deck, and probably overhanging significantly fore and aft if it is keel-stepped, even the slightest misstep inside the lock may become quite the shipshow once the boat ends up crooked or you drop or miss a line. But the lock operators have seen it all and the locks are built tough. Your masthead crane, step base, shroud tangs, other delicate bits on the mast, and the general extrusion profile may not be so tough...

The current is extremely strong at Tonawanda where most people have their mast unstepped. Make sure have sufficient thrust to maneuver there. You don't want to get sucked down to Niagara Falls