Bet that wind sounded like it was blowing 100 mph. Too bad you weren't going the other way for a "Nantucket Sleighride.". On Wed, Jan 15, 2014 at 5:56 PM, David Grah <d_b_grah@yahoo.com> wrote:
A bit over a year ago I replaced a 2.5 horsepower two stroke Tohatsu with a 2 horsepower four stroke Honda for my Montgomery 15. I have been completely happy with the motor and would want nothing else (although I do occasionally find use for an electric trolling motor). It is a great motor and I have never had a doubt that it has enough power except for an experience last May at LakePowell. This experience didn't show me it didn't have enough power but it did make me wonder.
The forecast that day was for gusts to 45 miles per hour and it was very windy on the lake. At the time we were attempting to motor up a channel in a quarter to a half mile wide with canyon walls on either side. The wind gusts were enough to lift spray 20 to 30 feet in the air although the waves were not large because of limited fetch. I'd guess the wind was Force 7 to 8 which I guess would be close to a gusts to 45 mile per hour situation.
In the strongest sustained wind with the Honda full throttle and locked straight ahead and the centerboard up I found I did not have enough rudder authority to motor anything but off the wind. We were wanting to go approximately to windward and I couldn't make the boat go that way because the wind would blow us to one side or another. The best I could do is go about straight across the wind. I did not attempt to steer with the motor. It was suggested later that I should have tried it with the centerboard down, which makes a lot of sense but I didn't have the chance to try it.
David Grah Bishop California Montgomery 15