thinking about repowering before crossing to bahamas

[JotaErre]

A car with about 5,000 miles on the odometer would probably have about the same 150 hours of total usage that your E-Tec has. Essentially that's brand new.

IMHO it's better to spend the boat bucks on accessories and insurance for the trip.

Why not buy a good dinghy with a reasonably light kicker motor, and add a backup motor mount to the X so that the dinghy motor could be transferred to the X and get you out of an emergency? Spend a couple of bucks at an Evinrude dealer to get a total overhaul and clean bill of health. This would probably be about $5k cheaper than a new motor, and you'd have a new dinghy and kicker. I think I'd prefer to have two reliable low-hour motors available, than one brand new motor.

150 hrs on an outboard, especially on a 2 stroke, is not worth worrying about. Especially if you have a mechanic you trust inspect the thing and replace anything that could be even vaguely suspect.

I agree 100% .

[Seapup]

My Merc 75 HP 4stroke EFI 2008 has 13,000hrs on it & still ticking

Is that in Canuck hours Thats like 8 hours a day, everyday, for 4.5 years straight...or about a bazillion canada summers

[bahama bound]

I picked up on that but was letting it go ? Man I am stuck ,looked at a yanmar 27 outboard for the heck of it ? Supposedly burns .25 gallon a hour at 5.0-5.5 knots ? Etec is down to 7400.00 with free controls and 7 years on warranty ?

[Gazmn]

Confused one say: " Bird in hand is worth $7400 in bush"...

You never answered. Has this motor caused you any trouble?

[bahama bound]

Confused one say: " Bird in hand is worth $7400 in bush"...

You never answered. Has this motor caused you any trouble?

I feel like this motor was a free motor ,I have no money in it and it has done well ,with that said ,while it looks good and runs good if I can get around 4k even 3700 and I can buy a 2015 for 7400 than I would only have 3700.00 in a brand new 2015 with 7 year warranty .as it stands now ,we are planning to head down to the exumas (hopefully further south after checking in at bimini ,after we reach our southern most destination,we plan on coming back up and around spend some time around the abacos .no time schedule ,we also want to hit Tortugas as well as keys ,

[Gazmn]

I can relate to that bro.

When I brought the '10 Etec up from SC. I had what I thought I wanted. After considering what it was going to cost; To put a no warrantee motor on without any guarantee it was going to be significantly better, I decided to upgrade & pay for it over this long, cold winter. I/we all wish you the best, & want to live vicariously through you in the Bahamas -mon

[bahama bound]

We have looked at a nicely equipped late model hunter 376 for the 3rd time Sunday ,I sat in my credit union office today and was quoted like 4% or borrow against retirement c.d at 2% ,with a GOOD insurance policy the cost of ownership starts adding up ,but more so than that is the versatility these boats have and they cost nothing to own ! So I feel like 3 or 4 k is a small price to pay to have that piece of mind ! Bottom job on that boat was over 1900 bucks !

[Chinook]

Hi Bahama Bound,

Assuming you get down to the Exumas or even points south, I would be interested in hearing about the route you take getting up to the Abacos. The long way would be to head up the east side of Abaco Island, which involves jumping off from the top of the Berrys or from the north end of Eleuthra, a substantial open passage until Little Harbour. The alternative involves running up the west side of Abaco Island and crossing remote shallow banks, and through a shallow passage into the most popular of the Abaco Cays. This route is more sheltered and shorter, but does involve very skinny water in places. I've considered it a little and am intrigued by it, but would love to talk with someone with actual personal experience. Some waypoints would also be great.

[Seapup]

So I feel like 3 or 4 k is a small price to pay to have that piece of mind !

I agree with that...

but...

with your planned destination and departure date does it have real value, or offer a false peace of mind instead? I have read many outboard forum posts of people complaining about problems on new motors under warranty that should have never happened...but still do. Reason for lengthy shake down is to work the bugs out.

Personally, unless I knew of a specific concern with my current motor, I would run the one I am familiar with for the trip, rack the use up on it, and replace it when I came back.



Brings to mind a Chris Farley quote from Tommy Boy

Tommy:Let's think about this for a sec, Ted, why would somebody put a guarantee on a box? Hmmm, very interesting.
Ted Nelson: Go on, I'm listening.
Tommy: Here's the way I see it, Ted. Guy puts a fancy guarantee on a box 'cause he wants you to feel all warm and toasty inside.
Ted Nelson: Yeah, makes a man feel good.
Tommy: 'Course it does. Why shouldn't it? Ya figure you put that little box under your pillow at night, the Guarantee Fairy might come by and leave a quarter, am I right, Ted?
Ted Nelson: What's your point?
Tommy: The point is, how do you know the fairy isn't a crazy glue sniffer? "Buildin' model airplanes!" says the little fairy, well, we're not buying it. He sneaks into your house once, that's all it takes. The next thing you know, there's money missing off your dresser and your daughter's knocked up, I've seen it a hundred times.
Ted Nelson: But why do they put a guarantee on the box?
Tommy: Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of sh~t. That's all it is, isn't it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I've got spare time.

[Chinook]

I understand the feeling of wanting to do everything possible to assure reliability before heading for the Exumas. When you look at a map of that part of the world they sit way out there, in the middle of a whole lot of big water. To get there, you have to make a 45 mile crossing of the Gulf Stream to Bimini, an 80 mile crossing of the Grand Bahama Banks to Chub Cay in the Berrys, a 30 mile crossing to Nassau, and another 35 mile crossing of the Yellow Banks just to reach the top of the Exumas. Then you cruise 125 miles south, down the chain of Cays to Georgetown. Additional cays beckon to the south, below the tropic line, however, by that time it's hard to not be impressed by the fact that you're in a really tiny boat, in a remote part of a third world country a whole long way from home port. It's felt to me like climbing a very large tree and out onto the longest limb. The closer to the tip of the limb, the shakier it feels. I recall being anchored overnight alone, in a remote cove 6 or 7 miles south of Highbourne Cay in the Exumas. When I arose in the morning and turned the key to start the engine, she just cranked and cranked but no fire. My anxiety level immediately shot through the roof. I checked to see if the fuel tank was empty, pulled the cowling and examined plugs to see if they were fouled, made sure the fuel line was properly connected, and looked at the fuel filter to see if it was clogged. All looked just fine. Just as I was mentally evaluating the dismal prospect of spending the rest of the day trying to sail upwind in light air, back to Highbourne Cay, Sandy happened to ask about that red plastic spiral cord and clip, which was dangling below the oat keys. "Shouldn't this be connected to something?" she casually asked. I felt immediate embarrassment and relief, put the cowling back on, stowed the tools and fired up the engine. And this engine was our original Nissan TLDI 50 hp, which at the time had well over 1000 hours on it. It was still running fine before we went on this trip, but I had been informed by Todd at BWY before the trip that he hadn't been able to replace the high pressure fuel filter like he'd wanted, because one of the bolts he needed to remove refused to break loose, and he was afraid of shearing it off. I couldn't afford to replace the engine before the trip, so went with it. It performed flawlessly throughout the trip, except for that one start refusal because of the clip which had accidentally pulled out. I did end up replacing the Nissan next season, primarily for the peace of mind factor when cruising long distances from home port. I guess the point of all this is to do everything you reasonably can, before an extended cruise, to help assure reliability of the boat and her key systems. However, it's worth paying attention to your mechanic when evaluating engine, and not feeling you can buy a guarantee of reliability by repowering. You may buy the guarantee but it can't assure that nothing will go wrong, and cashing in on it when 700 miles from service isn't easy.

[Sumner]

... I would be interested in hearing about the route you take getting up to the Abacos. The long way would be to head up the east side of Abaco Island, which involves jumping off from the top of the Berrys or from the north end of Eleuthra, a substantial open passage until Little Harbor. The alternative involves running up the west side of Abaco Island and crossing remote shallow banks, and through a shallow passage into the most popular of the Abaco Cays. This route is more sheltered and shorter, but does involve very skinny water in places. I've considered it a little and am intrigued by it, but would love to talk with someone with actual personal experience. Some waypoints would also be great.

Great question and it got me looking at the charts, which I've been doing every day now. Take a look at this route and see what you think. I laid it out using the NV digital charts (which some have criticized) with OpenCPN. I haven't checked it yet against the Explorer Charts, which I will do. It might offer some benefits to me being alone as I wouldn't have to make that one long jump from Bimini to the Berry's and could make smaller jumps going in at West End and maybe leaving there also.

Anyway here is the route and I have it posted as if you were coming from the south, as you did from Egg Island, but started it after you left Sandy Point.



You enter the Bight just northwest of Gorda Cay. The chart shows a couple routes in there.



Then you travel north, to the west end of Little Abaco where again they show a passage out of the Bight of Abaco.



Above is a rough route of the trip with of course West End to the west .

I'd be interested in your view of that course and also wondering if you thought there were any negatives to more or less doing your trip and reversing the route and going further to the east at first instead of last? Also are you interested in going back to Eleuthera, Cat and Long or would you spend more time in the Exuma Chain? You could also e-mail or PM me if you wanted.

Thanks,

Sumner

============================
Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[mastreb]

I know you feel like you've got "found money" in your ETEC-90 (because you do) but by far the best way to achieve value is not to spend any more than you need to. ETECs are so reliable these days in my opinion that there's simply no need to replace it. A routine service and it's fine.

You're FAR better off IMHO to spend $1500 on a brand new auxiliary 6hp pull-start motor that you can rig if you have any problems. It's enough power to get you across at 5hp and more efficiently than an ETEC, so a perfect emergency backup to a big motor. Small enough to carry in the v-berth or aft-berth (whichever you don't sleep in) or best bet mount it on a jack-plate. Plenty of ideas on how to do that.

And you've got a motor you can mount on a dinghy as well. Paired with a flat-bottom 10' dink that can ride upside down on the bow, you've got a nice setup for going to shore in the skinny waters of the bahamas. You can also to the MacGregor from the dinghy should the need arise, such as to pull off of a grounding etc. Finally, it's a setup that can get you all the way home if it has to.

Dinghy, motor, and jackplate and you're still less money than a re-power, plus you get a lot more capability

There's no better insurance than redundant systems at sea.

Just my advice.

Matt

[SENCMac26x]

You're FAR better off IMHO to spend $1500 on a brand new auxiliary 6hp pull-start motor that you can rig if you have any problems. It's enough power to get you across at 5hp and more efficiently than an ETEC, so a perfect emergency backup to a big motor.

^ This
When I do my big trip down there, I plan to do exactly this.

Mount a Dinghy OB on the back to use with the dinghy or as a back-up main engine if my Yamaha dies

[bahama bound]

This is why I love this forum .i still have my 9.9 that came with it and I bought the bracket ,I may go ahead and mount it anyway !

[Gazmn]

Hi Again Bahama,

I'm glad others, experienced others, have chimed in. You're a grown man & no one here is trying to Tell you what to do. Some have already made this trip & others have also added valuable insight & expertise. Your success is our success; & I'm your biggest fan

Check out the mods for the bracket. I also copied it but never posted it. You have the 9.9 which is free but probably 80 lbs. You'll deal with it - but it's heavy. I have a Porta - bote [while I have had them all, I've settled on a 10']. Others have used inflatables. Just make sure your dink can take the weight & HP.

I've wanted to do this trip, but don't have the time, balls or experience. Maybe one day

My P.O. made the trip [Taurus Two]. I'd look up various small boat blogs who've done it, starting with Chinooks.

Re: an enclosure, you can get by with a good high Bimini & something like this strung over it & the companionway hatch + screen for the front hatch. Spray 'em with deet. Per Dave B.