Morgan Out Island and Fitting an Outboard Temporarily

[Abo]

Hi Family of Cruisers,
I recently purchase a Morgan 41 and need to temporarily fit an outboard motor to move the boat till the motor is fully functional again, I am having it overhauled but I need to move it now before this task is completed. I am not able to measure the boat at the moment but am wanting to get a bracket/support made up to support the outboard motor so it is ready for me when I get there. Any advice and help would be very much appreciated.



If anyone can please tell me the width of the stern of the boat 12inches above the water line, and how far the rudder protrudes behind a point 12inches above the water line I would be most grateful, and would you mount the outboard in the center of the stern or to one side to avoid interference from the rudder.


I am planning on using 3/8 thick aluminum in a u-shape, the vertical sections being about 10 inches high, and the horizontal about 12 inches wide. I will get gussets welded between these so that the plates retain their shape and strength. Should I extend a section below the U shape that rests against the transom for added strength or is this a waste and too much overkill? I would like the section that touches, and is bolted through the hull to be almost as wide as the transom of the yacht, or is this too much overkill also? Any advice will be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your help in solving my problem.
Kind Regards,
Abo

[Benz]

I have an outboard mounted on the port side so it doesn't interfere with the stern-hung rudder.
The bracket is one I made of aluminum structural angle, bolted together. It was simple to make once I figured out how far off (enough to tilt the engine up) and how far down (enough to get the prop far into the water with the head not getting soaked) to put the engine pad. It all rested against the transom on two vertical pieces of that same angle, bolted through to the lazarrette.
Essentially: two upright pieces against the transom, four struts going from those to the engine pad, and some crosspieces to stiffen it against racking.

[tkeithlu]

One vote in favor of Ben's design. You are talking about a temporary mount; bending and welding aluminum plate will run the cost up considerably when bolted-together aluminum angle, or even steel angle, would do the job.

[Mickeyrouse]

Placement on the centerline is not critical- think of all the day sailers that have motors similarly mounted. Assuming your boat movement will be confined to the harbor or other equally protected waters- any kind of seaway will cause the prop to rise out of the water on wave crests. Expect the controls and lines to be below transom upper edge.

[Madehn]

How far do you have to go? Could you not hip tow with a dinghy. Seems like a lot of work and expense for a one time move?

[skipperpete]

Originally Posted by Abo

Hi Family of Cruisers,
I recently purchase a Morgan 41 and need to temporarily fit an outboard motor to move the boat till the motor is fully functional again, I am having it overhauled but I need to move it now before this task is completed. I am not able to measure the boat at the moment but am wanting to get a bracket/support made up to support the outboard motor so it is ready for me when I get there. Any advice and help would be very much appreciated.



If anyone can please tell me the width of the stern of the boat 12inches above the water line, and how far the rudder protrudes behind a point 12inches above the water line I would be most grateful, and would you mount the outboard in the center of the stern or to one side to avoid interference from the rudder.


I am planning on using 3/8 thick aluminum in a u-shape, the vertical sections being about 10 inches high, and the horizontal about 12 inches wide. I will get gussets welded between these so that the plates retain their shape and strength. Should I extend a section below the U shape that rests against the transom for added strength or is this a waste and too much overkill? I would like the section that touches, and is bolted through the hull to be almost as wide as the transom of the yacht, or is this too much overkill also? Any advice will be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your help in solving my problem.
Kind Regards,
Abo

I don’t have the requested widths and heights but am interested in what horsepower the outboard will be. I had a Morgan OI 42 that got beaten up and sunk by the tsunami in Langkawi and had to use the RIB with a 15 hp Yamaha Enduro to move her into a marina after the haulout and repair.... a distance of about 8 Klms and in calm conditions, it was not a good plan even though it was successful.
Had the wind, tide or seastate varied from the almost perfect calm and light favorable breeze this could have been a real disaster (well I might have had to anchor up for a few hours or days) and the Enduro developed an insatiable thirst pushing my chubby sailboat at 3 kts while hipped up on the port quarter. Notably, the outboard motor needed to be steerable for entering the marina , at 1 knot the main rudder was of little use....... and I’d prefer to not try stopping her with an outboard ever again. Ahead was ok but slow, astern was excruciating, almost no effect.

[Abo]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

One vote in favor of Ben's design. You are talking about a temporary mount; bending and welding aluminum plate will run the cost up considerably when bolted-together aluminum angle, or even steel angle, would do the job.

Thank you tkeithlu, I am understanding this now, so this just hangs with the main weight resting vertically on the lazarrette area of the boat and there is no 'pull out' stress on the stern of the boat. That being said, I think I will go for steel angle, the weight will be minimal but the strenght will be higher so I can use 1/8" steel I think and maybe buy a welder to do this or as you say, just bolt it all together, that sounds a lot better. I just needed to get my head around the angle and the mounting so I could understand exactly what I needed to do. Also I didn't read Benz's explanation carefully enough, my fault.


Kind Regards,


Abo

[Abo]

Originally Posted by Mickeyrouse

Placement on the centerline is not critical- think of all the day sailers that have motors similarly mounted. Assuming your boat movement will be confined to the harbor or other equally protected waters- any kind of seaway will cause the prop to rise out of the water on wave crests. Expect the controls and lines to be below transom upper edge.

Thank you Mickeyrouse, you are correct, many day sailors to this with no problems. I am gaining a lot of information that is going to be very useful. I was going to take it out of the harbor for a few miles but will try to keep it in the harbor. I am at Tampa, I really just need somewhere to park it for a week or two while I rebuild the motor and then I am leaving for open waters.


Kind Regards,


Abo

[Abo]

[QUOTE=Benz;3774959]I have an outboard mounted on the port side so it doesn't interfere with the stern-hung rudder.
The bracket is one I made of aluminum structural angle, bolted together. It was simple to make once I figured out how far off (enough to tilt the engine up) and how far down (enough to get the prop far into the water with the head not getting soaked) to put the engine pad. It all rested against the transom on two vertical pieces of that same angle, bolted through to the lazarrette.
Essentially: two upright pieces against the transom, four struts going from those to the engine pad, and some crosspieces to stiffen it against racking.[/QUOTE


Thank you Benz, I am understanding what you meant now, as it will just be a temporary measure I will use 2 inch x 1/8 inch steel angle, this will be much cheaper and I can weld or bolt it myself. Bolting is probably what I will do as I don't have a welder at the boat.


Kind Regards,


Abo

[Abo]

Originally Posted by skipperpete

I don’t have the requested widths and heights but am interested in what horsepower the outboard will be. I had a Morgan OI 42 that got beaten up and sunk by the tsunami in Langkawi and had to use the RIB with a 15 hp Yamaha Enduro to move her into a marina after the haulout and repair.... a distance of about 8 Klms and in calm conditions, it was not a good plan even though it was successful.
Had the wind, tide or seastate varied from the almost perfect calm and light favorable breeze this could have been a real disaster (well I might have had to anchor up for a few hours or days) and the Enduro developed an insatiable thirst pushing my chubby sailboat at 3 kts while hipped up on the port quarter. Notably, the outboard motor needed to be steerable for entering the marina , at 1 knot the main rudder was of little use....... and I’d prefer to not try stopping her with an outboard ever again. Ahead was ok but slow, astern was excruciating, almost no effect.

Thank you skipperpete,


I was thinking of 8 to 10 horse power, but upon reading of your experiences I am thinking 20 to 40 horsepower may be the order of the day. This being the case, I will try to hire one for an hour, I only have to move it about 1800 feet within the harbor area, and this is very sheltered, this should only take about 1 hour maximum I feel.


Kind Regards,


Abo

[Benz]

Originally Posted by Abo

Thank you skipperpete,


I was thinking of 8 to 10 horse power, but upon reading of your experiences I am thinking 20 to 40 horsepower may be the order of the day. This being the case, I will try to hire one for an hour, I only have to move it about 1800 feet within the harbor area, and this is very sheltered, this should only take about 1 hour maximum I feel.


Kind Regards,


Abo

If you're only moving it a short distance, get someone with a skiff to hip-tow it, and don't bother with building things and drilling holes. Give them a hundred bucks for their trouble.
Yard workers in my area move all sorts of boats with a little hip-tow skiff every day, from a slip to the lift, and it works perfect.

[Abo]

Originally Posted by Benz

If you're only moving it a short distance, get someone with a skiff to hip-tow it, and don't bother with building things and drilling holes. Give them a hundred bucks for their trouble.
Yard workers in my area move all sorts of boats with a little hip-tow skiff every day, from a slip to the lift, and it works perfect.

Thank you Benz,

That seems like a good solution, just concerned if something goes wrong, lines snap, somebody runs into the line or the boat while it can't maneuver, which would be worse.



Kind Regards,


Abo

[DefinitelyMe]

It seems like you've found a solution, but I thought I'd just mention this:

A friend of mine had a Beneteau 375 that we sailed for years without an engine. One day though we had to get it through a gorge and were concerned that we might need some help. I made up a simple bracket out of plywood that hung from the swim ladder mounting brackets. Stuck the 4hp dinghy motor on it and the little thing pushed us along surprisingly well. I've also towed a 180-foot steel ship with a skiff with a 40hp. My point is that you don't need much in the way of either engineering or horsepower.

[Abo]

Originally Posted by DefinitelyMe

It seems like you've found a solution, but I thought I'd just mention this:

A friend of mine had a Beneteau 375 that we sailed for years without an engine. One day though we had to get it through a gorge and were concerned that we might need some help. I made up a simple bracket out of plywood that hung from the swim ladder mounting brackets. Stuck the 4hp dinghy motor on it and the little thing pushed us along surprisingly well. I've also towed a 180-foot steel ship with a skiff with a 40hp. My point is that you don't need much in the way of either engineering or horsepower.

Hi DefinitelyMe, that is amazing, both the size of the outboard and the size of the steel ship you towed with a 40 horse power outboard. Thank you so much for your input, you give me a lot of confidence in moving this boat with a much smaller boat.


Kind Regards,


Abo

[donradcliffe]

I hip towed a 40 ft sailboat the last 7 miles into Hilo with an 18 hp Tohatsu on a 10 ft rib. 5 miles was open ocean. No drama, but the big boat had grown 4-6 inches of crap on the bottom during the 70 days they took to sail from Panama, so it took me 3 hours.