Trolling Motor Update

[Dave R1]

Despite the lousy weather here, I've made some progress in getting my Weekender motorized. Unfortunately I have no pictures at the moment. Soon, though.

I made a motor mount from a piece of white ash I had leftover from another project. I ended up with just a single board the is bolted to the transom and extends a bit above the taffrail. The board is about 7" wide and has a 1/2" deep notch cut in the top edge. This notch prevents the motor from sliding from side to side if the clamp screws loosen.

Yesterday I made a mock up of the upper part of the rudder from a scrap of MDF. With that mockup installed in the rudder box, I discovered that there's no conflict between prop and rudder when the motor is lock in the straight position.

I still need to check and see what happens if the rudder is up and I use the motor for steering. I'll also need to see how the boat performs that way.

I also ran 6 ga. wires from the forepeak to the the lazarette. This gives me less than a half volt drop at 30 Amps. The battery will be installed in front.

I have a weather resistant quick connect plug and socket so I can quickly remove the motor when needed. The socket will mount in the lazarette bulkhead with a cherry bezel that is being varnished right now.

I found a neat solar charger available for not a lot of money--here's a link to one on eBay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7973764413&category=6763

That should keep the battery topped off.

Now, if the nice weather and time away from work would just coincide, I could finish this thing up and go sailing.

[Bill Paxton]

Sounds like it's time to get that boat in the water for some testing, Dave. Let me know if you want to test her some this weekend. If it ever stops raining we could sneak out and go sailing.

[Dave R1]

Bill, if I can get her finished up this week, we'll go sailing. Looks like Sunday is going to be the only day I'll be able to get her out. Let's see what the weather does.

Dave