Scallop season is almost here and I am thinking of demasting the Gcat and using it to scallop. It came with a cheetah mount and a 45 lb thrust motor but I have never used it. Won't be going far, just out in the bay less than 1/2 mile from shore, but it does get windy, and of course there are tides and such. What can I expect out of a 45 lb thrust? I am willing to look at other options such as a little japanese 2hp with built in tank but the idea of leaning over to yank a pull chord in chop doesn't sound great. I am not going to buy a torqueedo so we can skip that suggestion. I know the short answer is put it in the water and try but I may not get a chance till season gets closer.
Thanks
What can I expect out of a 45 lb thrust?
slow speed and very heavy battery
I own both an electric and 3.5 horsepower gas engine
I use them on my jon boat
the electric sucks.. it's just slow and heavy, plus the battery is crazy heavy
the gas one is much faster and lighter (compared to the electric + battery) - but all gas engines fail at some point
MN3
You won't get the speed that you do while under sail, but if that's not important, 45lb is more than enough.
I picked up my Nacra 5.7 on a miserable cold windy Dec day. It was manhandle everything up a cliff, or get it several miles to the nearest boat launch.
I strapped a 2x6, with a 2x4 nailed to its edge across the transoms, & mounted the cheapest trolling motor available, about 30lbs thrust IIRC.
A cat has little resistance, I could do an estimated 8-10 mph. You need to be able to place the battery up near the mast for better balance, (or a long tiller to get yourself forward), if all the weight is in the rear, the bows rise, wind grabs the hulls & makes steering difficult. I didn't have a tiller extension, or the use of one rudder & it was a chore.
As MN3 says, deep cycle batteries are heavy. I brought both batteries from my stinkboat, but only needed one. Of course if you only use 1/2 throttle you quadruple battery run time.
E C Hilliard
Nacra 5.7
Bombardier Invitation
I've used 2 and 3 hp two stroke outboards on 18 and 20' cats, and can easily get 5 to 6 knots. I can usually find low hours, older motors for three or four hundred dollars. Very fuel efficient on a cat, noisy of course.
Hello Edchris177, where do you sail out of
Hello Edchris177, where do you sail out of
Lake Simcoe, north of Toronto.
E C Hilliard
Nacra 5.7
Bombardier Invitation
Too bad. I am out of Orlando looking for others sailing 5.7's sailing in FL. Know of anyone?
dakjones1 wrote: Too bad. I am out of Orlando looking for others sailing 5.7's sailing in FL. Know of anyone?
We have a Nacra 5.7 skeg boat/sailor on our beach in Dunedin fl - Doug
He is a great sailor and pretty nice guy
MN3
Sorry to bring this thread back around...just my two cents...
I have 3 I bring with me wherever the boat goes. 1 I am not to fond of, it a deep cycle Interstate and it works when it want too, it seems. But it is an Interstate.
The 2 I use the most are both deep cycle marine/RV. One is a Peak and one is Kirkland. I got them both used so I have no idea how old they are, other than both models are still on the shelves, so not really old I am guessing.
These work pretty well (excluding operator error) I use them on a 10.5' boat with a depth finder and a 40lb minn kota.(Oh and I have the yellow Garmin GPS I have hooked to the Battery. probably doesn't suck a whole lot of power) I get around 10 hours in the wind with 3 people on board. And if I only fish 2 guys and no wind I can get about a weekend out of them.
Oh and the Minn Kota is my only motor and I rarely still fish from the boat, so its basically running non stop. But, a few times annually I find myself rowing into that potholes wind a mile or 2 back to the launch, no matter how good the batteries are they dont work to well when you spend more time drinking than the night before than you do charging the batteries the night before.
If you have the money I would highly recommend a maintenance free battery. I put one in my truck 5 years ago, I got it tested yesterday @ Grease Monkey and its still 100%. I went out to check the brand for you, but under the hood is still feeling the last 4x4 trip I did, but I want to say it is an Excide battery and cost around $100 and was purchsed at B&B auto parts, I think, its been a while.