Moving under power

[Watto]

Got a question for the group.

When moving under power do you steer with the outboard or do you fix it forward and use the rudder?

Got the inside of my new boat stripped out and cleaned up. Now wanted to go put it in some water without the mast and sales and give it a bit of a wet test.

[Geoff]

Hey Watto,

Steering with the outboard is a mongrel, I assume because it is mounted off-centre. Hard work keeping a straight line, for me anyway.

I have a cord permanently attached to the outboard and lash it to the pushpit stanchion when using it, and set the revs on the tiller. Then only use the rudder and it steers like a dream.

[Watto]

Montoman what you’re saying is the line of thinking I had.

Cheers

[snoopebj]

Good luck with your refit
Agree with Geoff and Dave. I set the motor dead in line then use rudder to steer. Launching and retrieving I use the motor. Out in open water i mostly use Raymarine st1000 to steer the tiller. Best $500 I ever spent. Like having another crew member It relieves the monotony of constantly steering leaving you to trim sails and work on the boat. Very reliable over the years and essential if doing single handed sailing. One important note I always use a safety harness when using auto pilot.

Safety harness point

[Ozzie]

Steering by outboard feels like manoeuvring an aircraft carrier..only less precise . It’s handy to have the OB tiller with an extension attached and have that clipped at the straight ahead so you can bring it into play quickly, such as leaving a mooring or when coming onto a jetty where I usually deposit crew with a forward line and then turn the OB at 90 degrees to the boat to take the stern in. Most obs have a locking screw but it’s sometimes cumbersome to have to reach around and grab it it a hurry.

There have been setups mentioned on various forums that have a connecting pin to the rudder so they work in unison . Never tried it but seems overkill. The 563 at seems fine with fixed OB and rudder only.

Good luck with water test

You might try this one . It would be a first for the forum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4YKOAWk7kY

[Watto]

So an update from my Australia Day week end maiden sails/not sails. Took Fathom out on the Saturday and the Sunday with my two girls and partner. Day 1 Saturday maiden voyage we launched at Sylvania waters and headed west up stream(a bit of nostalgia as I grew up in bonnet bay on the woronora river) passed under tom ugly bridge and Como bridge. Managed to hit a sandbar with the rudder(another post to come as my rudder looks much bigger than the pics I’ve seen of other i363) while frantically trying to pull the rudder I managed to step on the fuel pump and flood the engine. Dropped anchor and assessed the damage while we made lunch and waited for the engine to right. Lunch done managed to start the outboard and make the rudder usable to limp back to where we launched.

Got home and made some “pit lane” repairs to make rudder housing useable to continue the weekend activities however a full rebuild/fabrication is planned for the winter months(end of the day it’s two pieces of timber and two pieces of ply with the associated metal fixtures)

Day two set off from same location, still no sails. Headed east and got ourselves to towra point. Managed to snatch the last remaving public mooring and camped out for the day swimming between/around/to beach etc before returning home. Was a great day with some trick situations, namely from the wake of a massive 5 story boat which saw us breaching the wake and feeling almost airbourne before crashing backing through the next wave of the wake.

We spent the down time of the weekend exploring the boat and further examine each part one by one. Saturday night was spend pulling all the anchoring system apart and finding excessive rope stored along side the achor/chain/rope causing excessive tangling and also dirt and debris blocking the drainage.

The weekend taught me to be more mindful of examining the charts of depth and planning ahead. Things we realised we needed included a Bimini(too much sun and wanting some shelter on the cockpit especially when moored) a better ladder from the water, the kids couldn’t do it by them selves and if I’m honest I struggled and copped a few knocks and bruises from it. Motoring with the offset motor is a continual wrestle to keep straight as the motor wants it to turn starboard continually, straight line speed was 7 knots given the need to steer port with rudder while motor wanted to go starboard.

I’m looking forward to my kids not being there and lifting the rigging to set the sails.

*im sure I got some terms wrong but I’m continuing to learn.

[Watto]

Also my eldest spent Sunday night polishing the metals of the boat. She’s really tuned into the fact we have a boat. Yeah

[Geoff]

Onya Watto, great stuff!

I thought your rudder looked a bit different to most in the first pic you posted. Be good to see a couple more pics.

A bimini is a good thing. Bit more thinking to fit one to a sailboat, you have to factor in boom height and getting as much cockpit cover without fouling the mainsheet. Also mounting so it doesn't cut your access to the foredeck too much. Owners have fitted a few different ones, you can find their posts and pics.

I fitted one a few months ago, I am pretty sure it is the same as a few others. Took a while to get it sited to best advantage but good now. Only a 2 bow, whereas some have fitted 3 bow designs.

[Greg]

I’ll never forget the first time I attempted getting out of the water via the standard Investigator boarding ladder......... my very next purchase was a folding hook on ladder which was an incredible investment in my sanity.