Friday night on a bit of a whim my wife and I decided to take the boat around to the sandy beach below Gwynn’s Island for the day. We got launched around 11:30 am and Henry had an absolute blast in the boat. The last time we took him out all he did was scream and try to climb overboard! Once we got there the beach was packed with probably a good 30 boats at times and it was fun to compare and contrast the $50,000 and 310hp boat that pulled up and anchored beside me. Henry had a great time splashing around in the edge of the water, we caught some moon jellies, saw a fiddler crab, and made a friend with Palmer who wanted to play with his beach toys. My trolling motor setup consumed 272 Wh over the 5.3 mile trip for an average of 51.3 Wh per mile which matches nicely with my estimate of 50 Wh per mile from the motor testing.
Headed out to the sandbar. We had coolers, beach chairs, two tents, toys, and who knows what else! Everything with a kid takes twice as long and twice as much stuff as you’d think.
Tucked up by the beach. Recently I melted 6.5 pounds of lead into the stock on my three piece fisherman anchor and capped the ends. It really sets firmly and the lead replaces the need for chain which at this scale wouldn’t weigh enough to do much of anything but chew up the finish on the boat.
I tied a stern line to the beach umbrella to pull the boat close to shore and Henry had a great time swinging the rudder back and forth.
Helping me steer on the way home. I told him all about how starboard and port came to be and how daymarks are red triangles or green squares. Not sure much of it stuck though.
I am in the process of finishing a First Mate. Having your blog really helped me during the build process. Thanks.
I had a few questions about your trolling motor setup that I was hoping you might be willing to answer.
1) What to what length did you cut your shaft?
2) Do you sail with the propellor in the water or raised?
3) If raised doesn’t doesn’t the rudder hit the propellor?
Very cool, glad my blog has helped! I cut the motor shaft down to 24″ from the centerline of the propellor to the mounting bracket. I sail with it raised as there’s a noticeable drag with it down. When I raise it I also turn the shaft 90º so the propellor is hanging out the starboard side and the rudder will clear. Here’s a page about my motor experiments: https://sailingmoga.com/trolling-motor/