A Strange Shaped piece of wood

[Bigplumbs]

So you buy a second hand boat. You look in all the lockers and you find fenders Ropes, a spare prop, a spare anchor and this piece of wood. After wondering and trying to fit it on things you give up and put it to one side.

Then you contact the previous owner of the boat to have a general chat, you have a nice chat and he says did you find a strange shaped piece of wood, You say yes and he tells you what it is for................... I am very pleased.

See if any of you can guess what it is for. It was carefully thought out

Dennis

[BruceK]

bracket for hanging the tender /aux motor off

[Bigplumbs]

Well that was a good guess. It is a cleverly shaped bracket that fits over the top/fixed part of the swim ladder to make a mount for the Aux motor. I had to mod it a bit for my motor. I tested it on the boat today and I think it will work. The only issue I have is whether it will be deep enough into the water. The prop is just above the cavitation plate on the leg so I think it will work.

Now all I have to do is clean it up, Strengthen it a bit and give it a coat of varnish. I have a piece of waste pipe that fits over the handle of the little outboard for steering and throttle. It will be interesting to see if it will work. I think I will be tying a rope to the outboard when I try to put it on, on the water

Aiden who made this thought it out very well. So how to mount a aux motor on a Fletcher 19 GTS

Here are a couple of pics

Dennis

[Ianfs]

Great idea. Looks like it hangs on the lower tube but won't the Motor twist inwards when in forward gear and up when in reverse?

[Bigplumbs]

Great idea. Looks like it hangs on the lower tube but won't the Motor twist inwards when in forward gear and up when in reverse?

He thought of that. First thing is it has forwards only, But also the piece of wood is shaped in such a way that it not only pushes on the step but it also pushes on the vertical part of the swim ladder so it cannot rotate. The ply is of the correct thickness that it forces over the swim ladder and is nice and tight. When I push on the bottom of the outboard all that happens is it stains on the wood/ply. Now that I understand how it works I will make it all stronger and add a few more bolts and some epoxy.

I hope I never need it of course but nice to have if I go on a longer trip. The little 3 hp malta should give me at least some control of the boat.

Dennis

[Bigplumbs]

Another small point. In the pic you can see my sterndrive after I painted it with Trilux Prop-O-Drev .................. Black........................... I recon I got grey !!!!

Dennis

[NikTheGeek]

He needs to patent that and have it done in plastic and sell it for £100. I've been wondering for years where to mount an aux engine to my boat and never thought of the swim ladder!!!

[NickT]

this is an alternative to the clever bit of wood....