Outdrirve to auxillary motor connector?

larry steffen (lsteffen@webtv.net)
Tue, 22 Jun 1999 21:08:50 -0700 (PDT)

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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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I have one of those S/S gismos which connects from the outdrive to the
auxilary outboard, but have not put it on my stinkpot yet! Its great
for trolling for salmon and using your light auxillary instead of main
engine, but think it would be an overkill for your problem.

For the Potter, I think either a propGuard or a standard DoelFin (sold
at KMARTS) would keep the rudder out of the outboard. I would shy away
from a "link to rudder" arrangement because you may need the
"hard-over" ability of the motor by itself to turn on the centerboard in
tight quarters.

I steer with the rudder, but keep the motor tight enough to not move
except with some force as in an emergency. An example was at 4:00 AM
several years ago, I was headed out of S/Barb to Santa Cruz Island, went
below to stow stuff, rudder slowly fell off and when I came up, my next
sight was the breakwater 30 feet dead ahead! Rudder AND motor went hard
over in record time! (Murpheys' Law).

A homemade version would be a piece of PVC with brass snap hooks at
ends, and eye hooks on engine cowling and on rudder at stern rail for
QUICK release.

My thoughts only . . . .
Larry Steffen, Monterey Bay, CA
YUUKI HMS 18 #35