Just wondering

bucky wrote:
So you're out on your boat in 5 foot seas. Why would you want to shut off your engine?

With 5 foot seas I wouldn't even consider going fishing in the first place. Having said that most people who offshore fish don't turn their engines off until they get back to the dock.

riven1950 wrote:
Turning sideways in a 5 foot sea not fun,if you survive. Keep engine running facing into waves if possible. Not good time to work on a starter for sure:)

correct answer

Bionic Man wrote:
FWIW, there are still places that will rebuild your old starter. That is what we did on our houseboat. Always good to have a spare.....

I did have mine rebuilt from a retired guy that's the go to guy in our area. He worked for an Automotive Electric place for his career. The starter never seemed to "SPIN" the 350 like it should. Recently it started kicking out while cranking. It's now stored in the boat for a backup.

New ARCO starter is working VERY well!

FWIW, there are still places that will rebuild your old starter. That is what we did on our houseboat. Always good to have a spare.....

I was out today in 3-4 waves, 5 foot swells, and cut the motor off to drift fish for sharks. I was not fishing, just steering to stay straight with the swells.

Luckily the swells were far apart, but still not really fun. Visitors from out of state who wanted to catch a shark. Well, we got 2 and one passenger helped my chum bag.:) No one argued when I called the day and we moved to fish the ICW.

"A sea anchor is like a small parachute you deploy in the water and as the boat gets push by the wind and waves it drags in the water to hold you bow that direction."

THAT is what I need to get!!! Thanks for the reminder.

wanderingbob wrote:
More important than the height is the distance between the tops . In open sea five feet ain't much if a mile apart , or even fifteen or twenty if far apart .

That's the issue right there. 5 feet is the max I can handle in my quasi-river-salt boat with a jet (fortunately got 360 ponies upstream).....but when even small seas (3' - 4') are stacked, it's a pretty rough outing.

I shut my engine off twice in circa 4' - 5' seas: Sucked up a bunch of jelly's one time and cut off the cooling water flow. Other time, I was just wearing out the throttle linkage off-on-off-on as I would crest (go to idle to avoid cavitation) and then sink into waves (go to 70% + power to climb up the swell). Took a gamble that the weather forecast was correct...and it was...so held position with the kicker for a couple hours until the seas subsided a bit then beat feet into harbor.

Cummins12V98 wrote:
His question was directed at me I assume. I made the comment below on a closed thread.

"Just bought a $260 Marine Starter for my Boat, could have gotten a Communist Chinese Made for $100. Out on the water in 5' seas, what starter would you want to depend on???"

Things do happen as in running out of fuel and having to change from one tank to the other. YES I have done that. Not much fun as I was thrown from one side of the boat to the other. :B

Marine starters cost more because they are sealed to prevent a spark for the brushes for igniting gas fumes. As far as 5' seas, I know that would not have been comfortable with our 33' twin diesel yacht or in any of the smaller boats we have owned(15' 21' and 27'). That is when a "sea anchor" is used to keep the bow into the wind. A sea anchor is like a small parachute you deploy in the water and as the boat gets push by the wind and waves it drags in the water to hold you bow that direction.

This is all funny. I was just busting on Cummins12V98 because once again the original thread had been closed. He even called it.
Boater wise I've been in for about 20 years with stern drives, outboards, cuddys, and bow riders. I never bet on a boat restarting unless there are plenty of other boaters around just in case.
And certainly not in 5 foot seas.

wanderingbob wrote:
More important than the height is the distance between the tops . In open sea five feet ain't much if a mile apart , or even fifteen or twenty if far apart .

Very true. Noticed wace changes locally with tide shifts. 1-2 knots a current against the wind makes for close together, talker waves than when going the same way.
Short steep harms more boats than longer ones.
Also, length of wave top to wave top. If that same as loa of boat, also bad.....
Marty