Gheenoe oops…
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Well I made it through two good seasons in my Gheenoe without any major incidents. That changed on Friday night…
Cruising upriver from the flats at about 8:30PM, I managed to let a submerged log sneak up on me that could not be avoided by the time I saw it. The log was floating just below the surface and the boat skimmed over it but the motor was not so lucky. The force of the collision managed to rip the motor off the back of the boat and that was the end of that.
The momentum of the boat kept me going for a good 40-50 yds and by the time I got back to where the motor dropped in, it was on the bottom of the river in a section that is around 20′ deep. It was nowhere to be found.
I never bolted my motor onto my boat because I liked having the ability to switch between the gas motor and a trolling motor. Also, I don’t like to trailer the boat with that much weight on the relatively weak transom of the Gheenoe. My question for any of you with similar setups is: What measures do you take to secure you motor to the boat while still allowing it to be removable?
I never hit anything so hard it knocked the motor off, but I had an auxiliary outboard on my sailboat. It was mounted on a outboard motor bracket attached to the transom. As a safety line, I used a stainless steel cable with a snap shackle on each end. When the motor was mounted, one end was attached to a pad eye on the back of the boat and the other attached to the motor.
The main reason I used it was to be able to remove the motor while on the water without fearing dropping it in. I moved the motor to the center of the cabin when racing to center the weight. My motor was an air cooled 5hp, but if the padeye is reinforced and a strong cable is used, the setup should work on any engine.
PS:
Both of those suggestions are along the lines of what I was thinking. My only reservation is that Gheenoe transoms are not super sturdy. It seems like it might be better if the safety line had some “give” to it to keep it from damaging the transom if the motor was ever knocked again.
Sorry about the bad luck. A stainless cable is what I typically see. If you want some give, you could attach a large spring in-line, similar to what you see on a door or dog tie-off
There are nylon ropes that would be strong enough and you could incorporate a snubber as a shock absorber.
Sorry to hear about the motor…bummer.
Do you have a transom plate on the boat? I wouldn’t worry about clamping an appropriately sized outboard to that and leaving it on when the boat is being towed. And you can unscrew the clamps very quickly when you want to remove the motor. I’ve fished with gheenoes for 15 years and never had a problem with the the transom being too weak (8hp, 4 stroke on the smaller model and a 15 on the larger (60″ beam) model).
If you’re motor popped off with the clamps being secure, I’d suggest not locking the motor in the running position when you are uncertain about underwater structure. This way the prop will just kick up out of the water instead of stopping dead.
Jason
http://trophyfishingtn.com/smf/index.php?topic=5877.0
This is a good friend of mine in Chatanooga. Good price I think.Thanks for the ideas and comments.
Great idea on the spring Mike.
Jason,
I do have a transom plate. The clamps were tightened all the way on the transom and the motor was not locked in the running position. It just hit really hard.The transom is in great shape now that i have rebuilt it and added plates to both sides. Originally it was pretty weak though, which is why i have always been nervous about too much weight on it.
Zach,
The setup that you described is pretty much what I have been thinking about doing. I am going to make sure it is bulletproof moving forward. And you are correct. Certain models are rated for certain motors. Mine is rated for up to a 10hp.Oh. Yeah, the Highsiders aren’t rated for a 25 hp.
I’d still bow mount the trolling motor though. 🙂
bd
Brian,
I rebuilt my boat for fly fishing, and the design is based around a clean casting deck up front with nothing to tangle line on, so a bow mounted tolling motor would kind of defeat the purpose.Brian,
I rebuilt my boat for fly fishing, and the design is based around a clean casting deck up front with nothing to tangle line on, so a bow mounted tolling motor would kind of defeat the purpose.Sorry for the minor thread hijack, but I assure you, my Gheenoe is 100 percent geared for fly fishing. That’s pretty much all I do out of it. I have a raised front deck that is large and clean. However, I also have a bow mount trolling motor – specifically a Minn Kota PowerDrive V II. It’s mounted all the way at the end of the nose cap and it has a very small “footprint,” so unless you stand right up against it, it would take a klutz of the highest order to have trouble tangling line on it. It’s not a problem for any flycaster who is remotely competent.
I’ve got a poling platform too, which is all well and good, but (1) a poling platform is no good unless you’ve got a second person along to pole you around, and I fish solo a lot; and (2) I can direct my boat a whole lot more precisely with the bow mount trolling motor than most people can with a pole.
The Minn Kota can be controlled with a low-profile foot control, or if even that is too much of an obstacle for your flyline, you can get a wireless control that fits around your wrist like a watch. Either way, there’s no tiller handle to get in your way.
Without a bow mount motor, fishing solo means either running a trolling motor off the back, which doesn’t maneuver well, or using a paddle in your free hand to make course adjustments, which inevitably costs you a fish sooner or later because one hits while you’re screwing with the paddle.
bd
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