Scary Incident - Lapstrake Penn Yan and 62 Evinrude

[timmeraw]

This is very strange and I gotta tell you scary when I was on the narrow Erie Canal. I was water testing a friends 1958? 16' Penn Yan Lapstrake with a 1962 40 hp Evinrude. We got it up to about 1/2 to 3/4 throttle and it was working well. Then just as I started to ease the throttle back the boat abruptly started to veer hard left and i thought we were going into the bank. It was all I could do to steer it right while listing hard right to avoid it.
What the heck would cause this? It was tracking along fine and straight before that. There is no hook in the keel or deflection in the bottom of the wooden hull btw.

Any thoughts?

 

[jtexas]

Re: Scary Incident - Lapstrake Penn Yan and 62 Evinrude

What happened after?

When you inspected the motor, hull and steering mechanism, did you discover anything?

Are you saying the motor made an uncommanded movement on the transom?
Or did the boat turn while the motor remained pointed dead ahead?

Is the motor tight on the transom? Dead center and vertical? Has it shifted or did it shift?

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Scary Incident - Lapstrake Penn Yan and 62 Evinrude

I assume you have the old cable and pully steering? Sometimes the springs are too wimpy for the pull of the motor. The motor can start moving back and forth, or perhaps pull one way or the other.

Normally a 40Hp motor is not strong enough to do that, however.

 

[Rick.]

Re: Scary Incident - Lapstrake Penn Yan and 62 Evinrude

My friend told me of a similar incident with his boat. Much newer than yours. I'll ask him for the details. Until then, stay out in the middle. Rick.

 

[BigB9000]

Re: Scary Incident - Lapstrake Penn Yan and 62 Evinrude

is the transom designed for a short-shaft engine?
if so, is your engine a long shaft?

Back in my early boating days (4 years ago) I had that problem. Took me awhile to figure it out.

 

[will941s]

Re: Scary Incident - Lapstrake Penn Yan and 62 Evinrude

I've caught strong directional tidal under currents that have done that before. They happen really quick and scare the crap out of you, then a second later its gone. Just like running at 5,500 rpm's and hit a current that races your rpm's up to about 6,500. Yours though.....I would be a good new teleflex NFB system and roll with it

 

[JimS123]

Re: Scary Incident - Lapstrake Penn Yan and 62 Evinrude

Sounds like your tiller cable slipped. It probably needs new springs, or a tightening up.

Or, the water gods played a trick on you since you were in a no-wake idle zone.

 

[boobie]

Re: Scary Incident - Lapstrake Penn Yan and 62 Evinrude

I had the same thing happen to me many yrs ago when wooden boats were still around .The first time it happened to me it scared the s&#t out of me. What we found out the bottoms on most of them had "hooks" in them.

 

[timmeraw]

Re: Scary Incident - Lapstrake Penn Yan and 62 Evinrude

Thanks for all the replies. Yes the motor is centered and tight and yes it is the cable pulley deal. No there is no tidal currents in the Erie Canal and no here is no hook in the stem or keel. Perhaps the cables/pulleys and springs are not sufficient but this happened going straight ahead. It might be an issue of it being a long shaft on a 15" transom...I did not measure or anything but it appeared that the cav plate was maybe a bit below the bottom of the hull come to think of it.
I'll have my buddy measure tomorrow.

Thanks