Reality Check and Cheap Cruising with The Wife

[kenny chaos]

Hola-

At 53 years of age, I haven't worked in the last three years. "WORK HARD" has caught up with me physically and after looking for something different for almost two years, I told the wife, "I ain't wasting no more time looking for someone else to make money for." I retired (?).

A recent day charter out of Marigot Bay in St. Lucia on a 54' cat kinda pushed some ideas into my head. Someday......

But I digress; Having spent the last twenty years in a big old farm house on 108 acres, I realize that I don't spend much time sitting next to the wife without the ability for a quick escape. It's time for a reality check.
I picked up a 1970 23' O'Day pop-top sailboat. The one that had the whole cabin that lifts two feet up. We're on the Erie Canal and I'm making a little cruiser out of it for weekend/week long jaunts around the canals. There's plenty of free docking, free electric, pump-outs, nice showers, water, etc.. If we can start downsizing and get along together in this little boat, we'll start extending our trips and who knows where it may lead. I wanted a good reliable motor and bought a 2008 9.8 Tohatsu which was almost twice the price of the boat and trailer. Having recently sold the mast, sails, and rudder, I now have about $400 into the project.

Here's the question. I have a 18 gallon plastic gas tank I want to hang off the back of the stern. There's a 4" hole through the transom (self baling cockpit) and I wonder if it'll be too much weight. Between the outboard and tank I figure about 180 lbs hanging back there.
Now I'm obviously not anal about performance with this boat but wonder if it would be better mounted on the foredeck?

Thanks for your comments and opinions.

P.S.- Anybody passing through the canal should contact me and I'd give ya some hospitality (yuengling and buffalo wings?).

[boatman61]

AHhhhhh..... Yuengling

[Khagan1227]

Originally Posted by kenny chaos

Hola-

P.S.- Anybody passing through the canal should contact me and I'd give ya some hospitality (yuengling and buffalo wings?).

Yuengling and wings...

ahhh... Home.... ok, 3 hours west of home, but close enough.

Welcome! Jus out of curiosity, why dod you sale the sails, etc?

[Southern Star]

Kenny, I'm not sure that the O'Day 23 will be a great power boat - the hull design will not plane and you will find that she tends to wallow without the mast/sails. As to your question concerning the gast tank - I would certainly not mount it off the stern (and if it is 18 gallons, I am confident that you will have more than 180 lbs combining the full tank and the 9.8 Tohatsu). I wonder, is there space under the cockpit sole to fiberglass in a platform for the tank?

Brad

[kenny chaos]

Brad- I'm sure it will NOT be a great power boat. There are speed limits in the canals so we'll just plod along the best we can. I've seen lots of old sailboats used this way. We get lots of room with a very small engine. The water is always flat and speed is never a concern.
This is mainly an experiment to "test the waters" with the wife and I co-habitating in a confined area for longer and longer periods of time before I invest the farm into moving out to sea.
I hope to do about 8 knots and get 8-10mpg. At that rate, I'd be refueling every day with the five gallon tank.
I could probably rebuild one of the cockpit benches but that's more work than I can justify for this.
You're right, it's probably close to 200 lbs. which is the same as a heavy person sitting in the back??
I was planning on building a simple, protective, ventilated box, to enclose it (I'd rather weld than do fiberglass). Maybe even use it as an elevated seat.
I wouldn't think it would be much compared to some of the conglomerations nailed to many sterns.
Only 2" below sole.
Other ideas? Where do people store extra gas on their sailboats?

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by kenny chaos

... Other ideas? Where do people store extra gas on their sailboats?

I used 5 gal jerry cans, tied to rails, on deck.
This was adequate for a sailing auxiliary; but would be less so on a purely powered boat.
Of course, on the canals, you'll never be "too" far from shoreside gasoline (easy for me to say).

[Southern Star]

Kenny, I now understand your intentions for the boat and it makes great sense. Gord is right - to increase fuel storage capacity, many people lash jerry cans to the rails on deck. I gather that you already have the tank you are hoping to install and that it won't fit on the cockpit sole, let alone beneath it. If you could fit it aft on the sole it would have less effect on trim; if that is not possible, then for your intended use (in protected canals) , mounting the tank aft would probably not be a killer.

Good luck with your project, enjoy the wings (and the Bill's first win of the season)!!!

Brad

[Vasco]

Kenny,

Enjoy the canal system. It's really great to putter around, lots of places to stop and very few worries. Without the stick on deck (most sailboats that go through have the sticks lashed on deck) you'll have one fewer worry. Lake Oneida'll be the only place you'll have to watch the weather. One question, why did you sell the rudder?

[kenny chaos]

Originally Posted by Southern Star

Kenny, I now understand your intentions for the boat and it makes great sense.
Brad

Me and "sense" is an oxymoron for most who know me. That's why I want to be a cruiser!
Thanks for the ideas.
I gotta say that I really like this forum. I'm way ahead of myself in planning my next boat (liveaboard for long term cruising) and I'm finding answers to questions I didn't know I should be asking.
Thanks again-
Kenny

[kenny chaos]

Originally Posted by Vasco

Kenny,
. One question, why did you sell the rudder?

Selling the mast, sails, and rudder was something I wrestled with for months.
I found a fella who is rebuilding the same boat and he needed a mast.
Him and his wife came out from Ohio and ended up staying two nights and three days. They were awesome folks. I found out while they were here that they really could use sails and the rudder and being a giver, I gave. They were very happy with the price and I was very happy to have less money into this little project. When we're done, he'll have an awesome sailboat and I'll have a cool little cruiser. We plan to meet up on the water next year.

Cheers-
Kenny

(He had an awesome trick for moving the mast. I could post his site if there's interest.)

[keyspc]

boat next to me has a ss braket supporting outboard gives me the idea for mounting genarator and gas jug. just makinging it like a shelf with mahagony and stainless.
For Fresh water galvinized and oak?
Seems a good idea to hang a couple of sand bags or such off the back to see how wheight handles before making perment change

[kenny chaos]

Originally Posted by keyspc

Seems a good idea to hang a couple of sand bags or such off the back to see how wheight handles before making perment change

A good idea yes, but I have excuses for everything. The boat is on a trailer in the barn and when it comes out in the spring, I want to go!

That reminds me, I have one of those spring loaded outboard carriers on the back I won't be using and could make it available to someone.

Bottoms up?
Kenny

[kenny chaos]

How do I deal with this?
I'm ready to buy a 30-40' cat and hire someone for a week to teach me.
My time schedule however is three-four years down the road.

[nautical62]

Fill it with water and temporarily lash it to the back. Go out and see how the weight affects the boat. (Actuallly, for equivalent weight, don't quite fill it.)

Personally, I've always gone with smaller, more manageable containers that provide more options for storage.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
You now have a powerboat instead of a sailboat but with that size engine you'll not make it plane. Also the hull shape in the stern will not let it plane.
Unless you are ever to convert your boat back to a sailboat I'd add about a 2 foot fiberglass scoop/swim step extension to the the back of your boat. Mount the outboard to the center of it and then carry the tanks on either side.
If your bow points to the sky just load a bunch of your stuff (batteries) up in the v-berth.
The lower you can keep weight in the boat the better but you don't want gas in the interior.
kind regards,