I am looking for advice on the “ocean worthiness” of my boat (i.e., potential risk in going offshore), and a choice of kicker motor.<br /><br />NOTE: As this post deals with two separate (though related) questions, I am posting both to the “General OB” and “Boating Questions” forums.<br /><br />First, the pertinent info:<br /><br />Boat: 15’ 1978 StarCraft fiberglass tri-hull with a 1978 70 hp 2-stroke Mercury. All totally restored and in excellent condition. Completely laden weight (hull, motor, gear, 2 adults) of about 2000 to 2200 lbs.<br /><br />Location: San Diego. I have used this boat extensively on San Diego Bay and Mission Bay for the last 6 months and the craft performs very well; this year I am looking for a little more adventure, and would LIKE to be able to reach various artificial reefs, wrecks, and kelp beds within about a mile and a half of shore.<br /><br />Conditions: The inlets on these bays--even at EXTREME low tide--are a minimum of 30’ deep. The reefs, wrecks, etc. are all in 30’ to 100’ of water. Also, anyone familiar with this area knows that the seas are relatively calm and the weather doesn’t exactly “sneak up” on you (unlike the Chesapeake and Delaware bays and Cape May/Ocean City coasts where I cut my teeth). The water temperature, even in the dead of winter (such as it is!), never drops below 55 degrees F. Finally, as with all of Southern California, the coastlines in the area in question are all beach and are completely built up, so there is no “wilderness” there (unlike the marshy coastlines back east).<br /><br />Kicker: For the bays and local lakes, I have been using a transom mounted saltwater Motorguide electric trolling motor with 46 lb thrust. This works OK most times, but barely keeps the boat stationary against a strong tidal inflow…obviously this would not do for any offshore trip.<br />I have been considering my options for a reliable gas-powered kicker for these proposed offshore trips. I would want to use it both for low-speed trolling and for emergency (get back to port) power. It must be 2 (or more) cylinder for reliability and run on 50:1 fuel (same as my main). I suppose it should be water-cooled and have a long shaft. I want it to be fairly cheap (i.e., not new!) and as light in weight as possible. It must be a known name with easily available parts. If it is a Mercury, it must use the same fuel fittings as my main; if any other brand, it should have an integral fuel tank (I prefer not to carry an extra fuel tank with its added weight).<br /><br />Question 1: Assuming the boat was properly outfitted (GPS, VHF w/DSC, sonar, PFD’s flares, etc.), would I be a fool to attempt such offshore excursions?<br /><br />Question 2: Given my boat, my location and my requirements, would I be better off with something like a 1964-1967 OMC 3 hp high-thrust longshaft (i.e., “yachtwin”), or with something slightly beefier, like a 1969-1985 Mercury 7.5 hp (or even 9.8 hp) longshaft? Any other recommendations for an adequate kicker?
