Question for seafarers

Morning all.

I have a question for any seafaring folk here.

Years ago, my dad owned a one third share in a decent fishing boat. I can vaguely remember it because he still had it when I was very young. The boat got sold at some point 30+ years ago.

My dad always missed it, so about a year ago he bought another boat. This time though he bought a tiny little fibre glass thing, with a measly 3.5HP outboard motor.

Despite owning it for about a year, and having all the accessories he's never been to sea in it yet. Every time I ask him why he says he's waiting for the perfect weather, or he's too busy. Then recently he confessed that he was worried that a 3.5HP outboard wouldn't be enough to fight the prevail currents and the wind.

So my question is this: In a tiny boat with two grown men (me and my dad), would a 3.5 HP outboard be powerful enough to bring us safely back to the beach?

The prevailing current my dad is worried about is one that nearly saw off my dad and his two mates when I was little, and while about 10 miles out the weather suddenly turned fowl. They couldn't get back to the beach because the wind combined with the prevailing current meant it would have been suicide to attempt to do the 3 miles of rocks between them and the beach, so they ran for the Tees instead. It took them 10 hours to do the 5 mile detour to Teesmouth.

This event has worried my dad. Its not that it put him off going to sea, he went out many times after that incident and merely dismissed it as his routine 'Plan B' if the direct route home became a daft idea. The bit that's putting him off is that when that happened, they had a lot more horsepower and still they averaged only about half a mile an hour.

So lets say we're talking about going no more than a mile out, would a 3.5 HP outboard bring us back safely?

 

Only when i'm going fishing with Woo:D

This was the last boat we had,



I'll ask my mate what size the engine was later.

You don't want to be out there with not enough hp for sure, i'll find out for you.

Also, you'd need the full safety gear, life jackets, flares, radio etc.

The R.N.L.I. will do a free safety check for your boat before you go out, worth its weight in Glod.

I've got a marine radio certificate, the course only took a couple of hours.

Mobiles can work a little way out to sea, but when you are drifting half way to the Faroes its good to have another means of communication. The hand held marine radio has a range of about 5 miles but at least you can contact another vessel who can send out a mayday relay for you.

We always had a spare engine on board in case the first one failed, and spare fuel.

 

I used to live on the coast (meters away from the beach) in south africa, and was a competion angler (rock and surf)

also used to go out deep sea fishing 2-3 times per month .... the rules in south africa stated that one had to have 2 motors on a boat that ventured out to open sea (applied to boats that had outboard motors) .... not sure if that applies here

most of the boats I went on were ski boats, but did occasionaly go with a mate who had a rubber dingy .... that also has 2 outboard motors

a boat with a single engine was allowed to venture in a harbour, but not out to open sea

but also saying that, the waves in south africa were large .... was always tricky launching from the beach, and there is a saying:

there are 2 types of ski boat owners .... those who have flipped and those who will flip

 

Hi Shiney .... I lived most of my live in Amanzimtoti (East coast near Durban)

good weather, big waves and sea was not to be messed with ... my favourite fishing spots were in the Transkei (Wild Coast), and Northern Natal (St Lucia area)

I miss my fishing

 

I went up to see my dad today. He's on about us going out next sunday, weather permitting. I'm up for it as long as I can make sure I keep an eye on him in case he gets a bit carried away. I'll be comfortable if we stay within a few hundred yards of the beach until we know the capabilities of the boat.

He doesn't have flares or radio. I'm not especially at ease with that, but if the test run works works out well, maybe I'll be able to persuade him to get what he needs.

Redcar is in a large bay. Running straight out from the shore, out to about 500 yards, there are two parallel sets of rocks (the scars) spaced about 200 yards apart. At low tide they provide a natural shelter from the worst of the currents, except of course the tidal flow, which is a bit amplified between these two strips of rocks. If we go out at that point at low tide, and keep the rocks in sight on either side of us, then we should be ok because even if the engine is feeble, the incoming tide would push us in (with a bit of luck). However those same rocks that provide natural shelter become a real nightmare at high tide if you get things wrong. At high tide those same black rocks are only just below the surface, and they create some impressive breakers if the wind gets up, so I guess if we launch at that spot then we'll have to make sure we're back in well before high tide.

I must admit I'm looking forward to it, but at the same time I'm a bit nervous about it too

 

Did you get out Dave ?

How to select the right size hp outboard motor for your boat

Found the above & just spoke to John, he recons the engine on the boat above was a 5hp. Now that really did go like an eel out of a greased pipe.

 

Hi

I may not be able to answer many gardening questions however, boats are our other hobby and we have a seaboat with a dinghy on the back.

I can only give my opinion and I'm afraid the engine is too small should anything untoward happen. The winds and currents are very strong down the East Coast, we are further south than you, however I would not dream of being out at see with less than a 7.5hp on a dinghy and would never do it without radio, lifejackets, etc.

You may be fine however if it catches you out, it may involve the RNLI.

Sorry if this is not what you want to hear, however people die every year because they are not prepared enough for sea.

 

Thanks chaps.

It seems my dad's gut feeling was right.

I also consulted a mate of mine who has a boat. He has 40hp on a similar sized boat to my dad's, and he says its a flying machine in good conditions, however he also said he wouldn't go out with less than about 30hp. He's a bit of a speed demon but even so, he's also the sort of chap that fears nothing, but still insists on 30hp.

Ziggy, looking at that site you linked to, I reckon we should be looking at an absolute minimum of 8 to 10hp, but given the local conditions (it can be calm, being in a bay, but there is a strong prevailing current running roughly south east from here, and unfortunately that current runs right out of the bay, past the cliffs and over some very, very dangerous shallow water laden with rocks.

I think I'll tell my dad we need a bigger engine. Thanks for the advice.

 

No worries Dave, I think John might be wrong about the hp on his old boat too.

Not many second chances out on the sea.

 

It may be worth having a look at the below (I hope I haven't broken any rules by posting this link?). Try searching for your area and/or ask for advice. I have to agree in terms of engine size, you really need to be looking at a minimum of 15hp upwards. Also consider, should you get a mile out and the engine conks out, what then?

Yachting and Boating World Forums

 

Wow, I got my first thanks. Thank you Dave :D