Anyone ever mount a dinghy outboard motor on a stern rail mounting bracket?

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McFly
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Anyone ever mount a dinghy outboard motor on a stern rail mounting bracket?

I plan on towing a dinghy, I see a ton of C36s with davits but rarely have I noticed a stern rail bracket for a small outboard.  It seems there may be space on either outboard side of the catbird seats.  Wondering if anyone has gone with this arrangement.

Mike

1999, In-Mast, Wing, Tall, C36 MKII
Phinney's Harbor, MA

Jackfish Girl, 1999, C36 MKII, Tall Rig, Wing Keel, In-mast furling, Monument Beach, Bourne, MA

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Chachere
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We have two wooden blocks that form a sandwich around the stern pulpit (routed out for the railing).
Pictures below, one with the motor off and the other with our old gas outboard attached (we switched over to a Torqeedo electric a few years ago).
Ours is a MkI, but you should be able to fabricate something similar for a MkII....

Matthew Chachère
s/v ¡Que Chévere!
(Formerly 1985 C36 MKI #466 tall rig fin keel M25)
2006 Catalina Morgan 440 #30.
Homeported in eastern Long Island, NY

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pkeyser
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MIke-
Here's a shot of our outboard mount. The davits adequately support the dinghy with outboard when we use our smaller 3.5hp engine. WIth our 9.9hp outboard, we remove it from the dinghy and store it on the stern rail mount. I had to add a 1" thick PVC block to the top of the stern rail mount to raise the outboard so the lower part of it would clear the swim seat. 
Paul

Paul & Wendy Keyser
"First Light"
Rye NH
2005 C36 MKII #2257
Wing, M35B

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LeslieTroyer
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I have on on the starboard stern. The next thing is how to lift the OB safely onto the bracket. There are lots of OB lifts to assist you raising the thing, most are two person jobs, one in the dink to guide and stabilize the motor, one in the lift hoisting it up. Both are strenuous jobs, which my wife when she’s with me won’t do. I went with a Canadian model swing away that only requires one person. Or go with a 2hp that you can lift directly on the mount.

Les & Trish Troyer
Mahalo 
Everett, WA
1983 C-36 Hull #0094
C-36 MK 1 Technical Editor. 

Commodore

 

McFly
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Posts: 200

Great responses everyone...  No davits... not yet.  Was goign to sail a season and see what we thought.  I have a 3.5 four stroke, so its a bit o the heavier side.  I have a lift strap for it, but it would still be a 2 person job.  But I like the idea of buying something off the shelf and mount it on the stern rail.  Have to figure out which product is best.  They range quite a bit in price.  

Mike

Jackfish Girl, 1999, C36 MKII, Tall Rig, Wing Keel, In-mast furling, Monument Beach, Bourne, MA

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pkeyser
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Mike-
We have a Garhauer outboard engine lift. If you look carefully at the port swim seat on the stern, you'll see what appears to be a dark ball. This is the base that the hoist tube sits on. There's a sleve mounted on the stern rail that the hoist tube  tube slides through to rest on the base. The unit takes about a minute to set up. It had a pivot range from the side of the boat to past the centerline before the davit installation, which now restricts that somewhat. In addition to using the lift for outboards it's also nice to have when the boat is on the hard to haul up, or lower batteries, sail bags, and other objects that would be awkward to climb a ladder with.

Paul & Wendy Keyser
"First Light"
Rye NH
2005 C36 MKII #2257
Wing, M35B

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Chachere
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When needed, we have a snatch block that we hang from the bimini frame for hauling up heavy stuff, which we did when we had a gas outboard.  
When we switched over to electric outboard, we were pleased to discover that once the battery is removed the motor is light enough to be lifted by one hand, so not much need anymore for lifting tackle (in fact, we often store it in the lazarette).

Matthew Chachère
s/v ¡Que Chévere!
(Formerly 1985 C36 MKI #466 tall rig fin keel M25)
2006 Catalina Morgan 440 #30.
Homeported in eastern Long Island, NY

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Phil L
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Mine is identical to Matthew's.  I don't have a pic, but it is identical.  Matthew, I love the swim step.  Does it fold up or is it fixed?

Phil L 
Southern Cross
Channel Islands, CA
C36MKI #400

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Chachere
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The swim step can be folded, if need be, by removing two bolts.   We've never had to do so except one time when the boat was hauled out for the winter (when the yard wanted to pack the boats in a bit closer).

It was one of the nicest modifications we've made; in addition to making boarding from the water or the dingy so much easier, it enhances safety when singlehanding since the swim ladder can be easily retrieved from its stored position by a swimmer; and we can store the dingy on it, among other things.  More pictures here:  www.catalina36.org/comment/55328#comment-55328  and www.catalina36.org/comment/55329#comment-55329
and more details about the installation here: www.catalina36.org/comment/56736#comment-56736
 

Matthew Chachère
s/v ¡Que Chévere!
(Formerly 1985 C36 MKI #466 tall rig fin keel M25)
2006 Catalina Morgan 440 #30.
Homeported in eastern Long Island, NY

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alfricke
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Posts: 92

I added a hefty Garhauer lift that hinges on Jubilee's radar mast (which is located on the port side stern). When not in use, it stows below. I have a 9.9 Yamaha (heavy) that rests on the big Davis support I added that fits right on the stern pulplit just to the starboard side of the swim ladder. With this arrangement I have no trouble getting the engine off and on the dinghy by myself (and I'm 74 years old). It takes a little practice tying off the stern of the dinghy in the right place during this operation. We've had no trouble with stress on the pulpit or anything like that for the 10 years we have been using this system. I never tow the dinghy where we sail (San Francisco Bay/Pacific Ocean), so it is nice to be able to pop the dinghy into the water and drop the engine on. If you would like to see pics, let me know.

Hope this helps

Al Fricke
S/V Jubilee San Francisco Bay
Catalina 36' MkII  #1867
Universal 35-B

McFly
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Joined: 10/22/18
Posts: 200

**UPDATE**

Found this nice Edson motor bracket at a marine consignment shop for $200. The motor isn't actually that heavy, about 30#. The important thing is tying the port aft side of the dinghy to the transom while removing or placing the engine. See pic... (note the safety rope so my $200 didn't go over board).

Mike

Jackfish Girl, 1999, C36 MKII, Tall Rig, Wing Keel, In-mast furling, Monument Beach, Bourne, MA

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Anchorsaweigh
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Did mine on the side. Perfect position for the lifting tackle and doesn't interfere with the seat.

Cheers

Bob

Lazybones - 1999 Catalina 36 MkII, M35B, #1731
E. Greenwich, RI
 

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McFly
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Posts: 200

Hey Bob, that looks great.  I ended up with the Edson motor mount, has been a good solution for us.  It does interfere with the seat which kinda stinks when the kids are swimming off the back.  I'll look for lazy bones in Cutty this summer!  

Mike

Jackfish Girl, 1999, C36 MKII, Tall Rig, Wing Keel, In-mast furling, Monument Beach, Bourne, MA

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Catboat Willy
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Mike;
 After looking at the Edson bracket,  we built our own motor bracket out of marine plywood. What was important to us, was that the entire weight of the outboard was not placed directly on the stern pulpit rails and applying a rearward pressure. As you might be able to see from the attached picture,  the 'leg' of this bracket comes all the way down to deck allowing the weight of the motor to rest more on the deck rail than the stern pulpit. The wooden bracket is attached to the pulpit with 1" u-bolts. We also wanted the bracket to rise a little higher in the air to ease in handleing as we have a long shaft engine.

One other crazy thing we did was make a contraption to rinse the salt water out of our outboard in order that we would not have to remove the engine from the boat every time we used the outboard. This is nothing more than a five gallon bucket with a few lines on the top to secure it to the top of the engine with a fresh water hose placed in it. The engine's exhaust water tube is extended outside of the bucket using a small fitting we found at the airplane model shop and a piece of similar size hose (White in the picture).
Crude - but saves our back from having to lift the engine off the boat every time we return from a cruise. 

Bill Dolan 1990 Catalina C-36 MKI - Hull #1041  'Williwaw'
Std. Rig, Walk Through, Wing Keel
M35, Oberdorfer Conversion,
Home Waters; Charlotte  Harbor & The Gulf Islands of Florida
'You are never out of work if you own a boat'

 

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