Tips on warming up the engine before surf launching?

[bct]

Occasionally I need to launch my takacat from the sand into the surf. Nothing crazy but one issue is cold starting the motor can be slow and we risk getting taken out by a wave while futzing around in the impact zone.

What do you do about this? I think the easiest answer is to fill a bucket with seawater and run the motor for 10 min before shoving off.

[paintman]

Sounds like a reasonable idea.
Would it need as much as 10mins?

[Fenlander]

Yes a fair idea if you don't have a reliable cold start motor.

Pretty well all of the motors I've owned (mostly 2-stroke) have been first time start from cold but even though I don't beach launch into surf it's my habit to sit at the slip or pontoon for a couple of mins until the choke can be pushed home before powering away.

A modern Efi motor would get you sorted too.

[jeffstevens763@g]

We use to sit with the engine running in the water bow to the surf jump in when she was ready off we went

[Oldman2]

Well a bucket full of sea water isnt too hard to arrange but I can see the bucket might get in the way on board, have you considered one of the collapsible ones or even the Lidl waterproof bags that were on offer recently, just dont put it in gear by mistake

[bct]

Oh interesting no I've not looked into the bags. Thing about the bucket is it will be awkward to situate everything so that the boat is high enough off the ground to drag the bucket under.

[paintman]

Don't know if you have Lidl in the USA.
Usually referred to as 'dry bags'.
The bags come up from time to time - not a normal all-the-time stock item - and sell out very quickly!
They are very good indeed & I have several for keeping stuff in on the boat.
A heavyweight PU coated material.

Sounds like you might need a bucket of some sort to fill the bag- a collapsible one would work well (I've got one of the coated material variety!) and takes up minimal room if you wanted to put it in the boat.

[TmMorris]

The outboard doesn't need to be vertical to run so if a bit of angle is needed to get the bag/bucket to cover the leg then that's not a big issue.

The thing that would actually concern me is the water that you'll be using to warm the engine up. You'll be collecting this from the beach I've assumed? If so then it's going to be absolutely chocked full of grit. Sand and shells etc. I can't see that as being ideal to sling through the cooling system?

[paintman]

Pretty much the same content as the surf they're beach launching into.
Using bucket and bag & allowing it to settle would improve matters - as would using a funnel with a built in filter.
But we're going to get to a point where the OP will need a lorry to carry all the gear!

[chipko]

Always beach launch our sib and if the surfs up then agree it can be a stressful affair. Never resorted to pre starting/warming motor up in a big dry bag but yeah a good idea. Agree, any sand/silt in bag will settle and no worse than running in the shallows.

As Jeff mentioned, we hold the boat bow to waves in knee deep water, start motor and if possible let it warm up a few mins. We tend to manually assist lifting the bow into the breaking surf but accept we’ll still have taken on a fair bit of water. Wait for a set to pass, jump in and power out through the surf zone with all bungs open. If your cat has an open transom then a massive benefit to punching through the surf. We let motor warm through properly when out of the surf zone while sorting kit out.

Coming in, wait for a set to pass, pick a wave and commit to ride its back. At the last possible moment kill motor and tilt up, with hopefully enough momentum to land in the shallows. Jump out, turn and hold bows into surf if breaking waves are big.

[jeffstevens763@g]

Coming in we use to go round in circles the wake disturbs the wave patten just enough to give you time to shoot in jump out turn the boat and hold in to the surf.

[bct]

For the grit we can take deeper water because we're wearing wetsuits anyway (we're using the boat to access surf breaks so no problem getting wet).

Thanks for pointing out that the motor can run fine tilted. I've never done it but makes sense.

Getting started in knee deep water would be best but depending on the tide sometimes the impact zone is right on the sand so we need to move fast. So far paddles have been ok but I'd rather just pull the motor once and get out of there.

[bct]

Landing is fun.