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We are making a bucket that we will drag underneath the engine well. Once underneath the well, we plan to pump out the water and leave our outboard dry but still clamped to the motor mount. So, in effect the bucket will be the outboard's home.
Has anyone ever heard of an idea like this or actually have seen it successfully in play??
After continuously hoisting our engine out, it seemed like a great way to save our back and our outboard.
Lady J (#312) considered the bucket idea, but dropped it in favor of the hoisting davit from Garhaur (sp). See appendix in manual.
Certainly worth a try.
Hardest part might be getting the bucket down around the lower unit.
Maybe you could slip one of those collapsible buckets down the motor well.
http://store2.yimg.com/I/safetycentral_1765_9959328
I thought about a bucket-like device, but I opted for a Garhauer Lifting Davit instead. Gene Robert's documentation on the installation by Myron Spaudling in the Association manual is excellent. I have provided photos and some text related to my installation of the davit on my Ariel web page,
http://www.solopublications.com/sailarip.htm
Although the bucket might be a fine idea, you have to pull the motor once in awhile for maintenance etc.
What I found intriguing about the bucket idea is that you could slip the bucket in place, pump out the salt water, and then fill with fresh water for flushing, and finally pump out again for long term verticle storage. However, if you have a long shaft motor, that would be one deep bucket.
It’s true that attaching a bucket underneath the boat is harder than it looks! So far we’ve bought 2 buckets, the 1 that seemed to work the best is a huge trash can. It does not go up inside the Motor well but pretty much surrounds the engine.
Because we have a 20 in. shaft we really have to push the bucket down low after about 5 minutes of fiddling we can get a bucket in place. The biggest problem is somehow securing the bucket so it doesn’t bang around in the water or bang against the outboard engine. It cannot float away because the engine is down Inside of it and prevents it from drifting off.
We like this idea because like you said we can pump the bucket filled with fresh water, but I don’t feel comfortable running the engine unless I figure out a good way to attach the bucket.
That fabric/collapsible bucket photograph seems like an interesting idea. I assume it would not be a good idea to run the engine in that fabric bucket, but I suppose you could at least fill the bucket with fresh water. Does anyone know where to get or make a fabric bucket like this? The fabric but it seems like the easiest as far as getting the bucket around the outboard.
Anthony,
Thank you for your bucket question. That really started the creative juices. Maybe this is a bit too creative, but here are my thoughts. Firstly I have a Garhauer lift, and I need it because I have some lifting limitations. Anyone who plans to lift a motor out of an Ariel well would benefit by a Garhauer lift, but I actually have to have one. I couldn't get the motor off the boat to service it without one.
However, your bucket concept could be a benefit to both Garhauer lift users and those without them. Here is my suggestion for a design. Perhaps someone out there could improve on the idea, or throw some water on it before I spend a few bucks to try it. Please see the crude diagram below before reading this.
1. The "bucket": Go to a sprinkler supply or irrigation place where they sell large diameter ABS or PVC pipe. Buy a length of pipe and an end cap. The pipe should be long enough to slide inside the motor well and up far enough above the water line so that there is no danger of salt water intrusion, and wide enough to slide over the lower part of the motor, but narrow enough to slide inside the motor well.
Cement the end cap onto the pipe with the appropriate ABS or PVC cement. Drill two small holes in the rim of the open end of the pipe, and attach each end of a nylon or Dacron line to one of the two holes so that you have a loop or bridle. The bridle should be long enough to slip around and over the top of the motor. You will need to secure the mid point of the bridle to the top of the motor when the "bucket" is in place. I have one of those Davis OB motor-carrying straps to which I have added a lifting ring, so I can attach the midpoint of the line there.
Now epoxy or otherwise attach a ring to the center of the outside of the end cap on your ABS or PVC "bucket". Some surf shops carry glass-on leash attachment points, which are very inexpensive. One of these would suffice. An eight to ten foot line of that inexpensive very small Dacron line that we all have around our boats can be attached to this ring on the bottom of the 'bucket" with a bowline, or anchor bend or any other knot of your choice.
Now make up a second "free" line. This second line should be about eight feet long, and have a loop (bowline or spliced loop) with a small float of some type on the other end. As an alternative, you could use polypropylene or another floating line with a loop on the end.
2. To install the "bucket": SHUT OFF THE MOTOR. Now, since the bottom of the motor well is above the surface of the water, you can reach down into the well beside your motor and insert one end of the "free" line and the attached float, (or alternatively, the loop end of your floating line), but first, secure the onboard end of the line to some fixed object so that it does not run free. Play out some extra line through the well, and climb back onto the dock. From the dock, with your hand or boat hook, reach under the boat and snag the loop or float on the free line and pull it to the dock. Remove the float and secure the loop end of the line that you have retrieved to the bridle on your "bucket". Sink the bucket beside the dock. Now go back to the boat, and using the other end of the "free" line, draw the line up through the well until the "bucket" is over the lower part of the motor. Pull the bridle and bucket up over the motor and secure the bridle to the top of the motor. Remove the "free" line from the bridle. Now the other line still remains secured to the "ring" on the bottom of the bucket. Leave the other end of this line onboard or on the dock while installing your "bucket". Once the "bucket is installed, secure this end somewhere on deck near the transom until you wish to remove the bucket.
3. To remove the bucket: Merely release the bridle from its attachment point on the top of the motor and either reach down and push the bucket deep enough to sink it, or fill it with water to sink it using a hand dewatering pump or a hose. Push the "bucket" by hand or with a boat hook down and off the motor. Retrieve your "bucket" from the dock by pulling on the end of the line that you have secured on deck, and then stuff both lines inside the "bucket" and store the bucket on the dock or in a secure place if necessary while you sail.
4. Practicality: Those without a Garhauer lifting Davit could use the above procedure, and those with a Garhauer davit could either use it, or use only the removal procedure to remove their "buckets" rather than lifting their motor to remove the bucket to save time on the front end of a sailing session.
Provided that the presence of the "dry" bucket does not create a poor environment for storage of the lower end of the motor, it seems that there would be many benefits of this system.
a. The "bucket" once in place and dewatered using a hand held dewatering device, could be filled with fresh water. The fresh water could be used to flush the motor in place and then removed with the dewatering pump. So one could flush the motor in place. I remember Commander Pete or Mike Goodwin posting an early description of using Fresh Step Kitty Litter boxes to flush motors, but I have never quite figured that one out. You can use the search function to find the thread.
b. The motor would be stored vertically, which is generally recommended by OB Motor manufacturers.
c. Storing the motor vertically means that you can check oil levels or work inside the motor housing any time you want.
d. Those small ventilation ports on my lazarette hatch leak right on top of my motor housing when my motor is stored horizontally in the lazarette locker. Storing the motor in its well would solve this problem
Anyway would this work? Anyone want to run to the hardware store?
My fair bride, the lovely and charming Adele, said to me, during an afternoon cruise this spring, "Now don't get mad, just listen to my idea. You know how those awful barnacles and fuzz get all over the motor leg? And then you have to scrape it off and curse? What if we slipped a bag over the motor leg to keep them away while at the dock?" Preposterous, thought I. But being a husband, I said something like "Sure, let's try it."
So after we tied up, we took the storm jib bag, (12'' x 30" dacron) and using the boat pole, jimmied it up onto the leg,inside the well, and tied off the drawstring to a stern cleat. We then filled the bag with fresh water from the dockhose and ran the motor to flush it out. After that, we left it on till next time. We've done this all summer long. Just keep the hose running while the motor is on, and DON'T put it in gear.
It looks wierd, and lots of other boaters pull up to tell us "hay, you got a bag fouled around your motor", But several things happened. First, the motor got a good flush. Second, barnaclees HATE fresh water, and did not attach to the motor. Third, the bag not only cuts off all food to the house hunting barnes, it cuts off light for the flora maxima in my marina, so no plants grow within the bag. THE MOTOR LEG STAYS CLEAN. I still can't believe it.
Over the winter I'll be working up some clever way to install the bag. And buying my wife that steak dinner I owe her.