The first--and last--time the clamps on my motor loosened while I was under power was pretty scary. With the motor running and cock-eyed in the well the boat was veering to port. That didn't help my balance any as I dove for the kill switch. Being dead in the water, in a narrow creek, with a high heart rate on a breezy day was no fun either. Over the winter, I recounted the story to a repairman who was fixing some other problems on the outboard and he quietly pointed to some holes in the mounting bracket that straddles the mounting board and explained their purpose.

It seems nobody tells us sailors until we have a major problem with an outboard that those clamps were not designed to be the only fasteners. The holes in the bracket are meant for throughbolts to hold the motor onto the boat. I keep my motor in the lazerette between trips. When I drop it in the well I have two bolts and wing-nuts that I run through the bracket and the front wall of the well to fix the motor to the boat in addition to the clamps. I assume the clamps are the first line of defense and the bolts are the back-ups. I feel a lot safer with the motor running now but I still check those clamps often.