Small Sailboat in a Beam wind landing.

Small Sailboat in a Beam wind

We use a small trolling motor to move our small day sailor on and off the dock. It is a 40 lbs. thrust motor and it is adequate most of the time. In a strong head sea or a beam sea the boat is a little under powered. 

I went with a trolling motor for a few reasons. The first and biggest was I did not have to have Gasoline on the boat. A deep cycle battery for the motor weighs about the same as a gas tank, and it can power all the boat electronics and the small motor. The Motor is about ½ the weight as my 5 horse out board, and the electric motor goes in the motor well just like the outboard, but takes up ½ the space. It is also instant on with a turn of the motor tiller handle when you need just a little assist to turn the boat. Another nice feature is that you can talk and hear easily even when it is running.

Our dock is on a canal off the river. Depending on the wind direction and the river current getting into the canal can be interesting. You almost always have a head sea (wind coming out of the canal) or a beam sea (a cross wind to the canal and add to the wind, a river current that adds to or subtracts the effect of the wind). When you have a following wind, canal width and other boats and docks can be a problem trying to sail in.

As a rule we drop the sails out on the river and motor in with our little motor. Coming in with the sails up can present maneuvering problems. Usually once you get about 60’ in the canal the sails just luff and they can easily be dropped. If the sails do not luff, it can be tricky to steer so it is just easier and safer to drop them out on the river.

To get in to the canal we always go up wind (or current if the current is stronger than the wind) to drop the sails. This lets the wind and or the current  assist the little motor get us in the mouth of the canal. We go far enough up wind that when we start to motor toward the mouth of the canal we can approach it a 45 degree angle. The wind and current can often get the boat moving much faster than you would expect. If you get going faster than you can easily make the turn with motor assist, you can turn back on the river via motor assist to try again. 

We have gotten good at doing a come about like maneuver to slip into the mouth of the canal. Once in the canal the motor has no problem getting us to the dock as it is well sheltered from any wind.

When the wind is coming down the canal and out of the canal you will still need to approach the entrance of the canal at a 45 degree angle and get speed up to turn in the canal. When you turn in you lose much of the speed you had and with that, your steering is reduced. Still with no cross current the little motor works well if the sails are down.

If the wind is going in the canal there is no problem when you turn in to the canal with steering and the little motor can slow you if needed by running backward or reverse.

I have been thinking about a new, larger trolling motor. There are economical 24 volt units with a lot more thrust now. Two deep cycle batteries are not a bad idea anyway. I can remember back when I first was learning to sail and you had no motor assist at all. It was paddle power if you needed it.

I will say it is fun when the wind is going out of the canal and you can sail down the canal with the sails up, and turn on to the river under sail. It just starts the sailing trip on a high note. This ranks right up there with starting sailing off a buoy. You release and start to go.