Offshore Fishing Outboard Question

[J-Sea]

All,

Wanted to take a consensus on something - in the past, have heard about 50/50 split on this - for those of you that venture offshore (30-50 miles plus++) in an outboard powered boat without a generator and combine any sort of drift fishing (e.g., sharking) with trolling for pelagics - i wanted to get a sense for how many of you shut down your engines while drifting - again, we don't need to get into the debate of all the safety equipment assuming rafts, EPIRBS, PLBs, offshore pyrotechnics kit and well maintained boat/engines, etc etc etc - question is purely on who shuts down their motors versus who keeps them running to mitigate even the .00000001% chance of them not firing back up when you look to leave and head home - - just interested on feedback re: who powers down vs those that just keep engines running in idle.

thanks much.

 

[fishbust]

I shut them down and drift all day, with electronics on. When I go offshore I am sharking.

If your battery management is good and you have spare batteries in reserve, why not?

 

[reelserious]

Shut mine down everytime regardless of what I am fishing for. If the boat is not moving other than a drift then why not shut them down? If I only had one engine then I might reconsider when 30 to 50 miles out, but then again, I might reconsider being that far out if I only had a single.

 

[Doc Stressor]

I shut my engine down every time. Only once had a problem restarting that turned out to be a loose ground stud connection. I was able to diagnose it on the water after a few minutes.

Every time I got stuck out there over the years was the result of engines blowing up while they were running. Modern outboards are much more reliable and easy to start than in the old days. Idling engines just causes them to load up with carbon. As long as you have a radio and an EPIRB, turn the engine off and run your electronics from your house battery.

 

[fischer]

Our 2005 Marlin 300 has a genset and an updated charger but I don't rely on that to get me going if the batteries went dead. It's never happened, but if we needed to jump start the engines, we carry a portable battery pack. We keep it charged up and just stow it under the port side seat. I know from experience that it will start a diesel truck engine, so an F250 shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Pez Vela]

I used to shut down, but haven't done so for many years. Whether it is a fishing superstition or plain fact, many tuna fisherman on the west coast believe that it's best to leave the motors running. Now true, many of these guys are running diesels, and that's not your question, but I have had some good bites shut off when I shut down my OB motors. That only has to happen a couple of times until you go with what works. With whisper quiet 4-strokes barely sipping fuel at idle, letting them run offers peace of mind while running a bait tank and other stuff. I think it largely depends on the type of fishing you're doing, and how long you anticipate you'll be on the drift without having to move back on the spot. I was on a 4 hour drift with yellowfin tuna last year and never shut down. When we ran out of bait we headed home, and I'm sure the 60 mile run cleaned out any of the deleterious effects of a few hours of idling.

 

[g0tagrip]

When I am 50-75 miles out, I typically leave mine running, at idle they run fine. I also leave all my electronics on, refrig, live well, wash down pump, etc,. It gives me and mate some peace of mine when I am that far out.

 

[VeroWing]

I always shut down for drifting offshore. I do keep engine(s) batteries, etc in top shape, or won't go.

 

[River Rat]

Pea,
"Deleterious" .....I always knew the Grady guys were smart!

 

[Marty grady 272]

I shut down. I also carry a fully charged battery jumper box. I only needed it one time for someone else's boat. The boat with the dead battery was an inboard.

 

[J-Sea]

thanks for all the input - i also carry the jumper pack as well - appreciate it.

 

[Doc Stressor]

Here's another thing to consider when you let your 4-stroke outboard idle:

Large 4-strokes draw a electricity from the battery at idle speed instead of charging it. The typical draw is between 10-20 amps to run the computers, electric fuel pumps, and sensors. The alternators don't put out that much current at 700 rpm. That's why Yamaha specifies batteries with high reserve capacity.

 

[Great Escape]

At 30 miles offshore, we would routinely shut the engines down.

 

[Pez Vela]

Here's another thing to consider when you let your 4-stroke outboard idle:

Large 4-strokes draw a electricity from the battery at idle speed instead of charging it. The typical draw is between 10-20 amps to run the computers, electric fuel pumps, and sensors. The alternators don't put out that much current at 700 rpm. That's why Yamaha specifies batteries with high reserve capacity.

Now that there is some useful information. I recently purchased a mini-clamp multimeter from Blue Sea http://www.bluesea.com/products/8110/Mi ... er_-_AC_DC so I'm going to check that out.

 

[fishbust]

Pez, the clamp on is very useful. Good to turn things on and see actual current draw of your gadgets. I was surprised how little power DC the fridge uses.

And yes, the rated alternator charge on motors is definitely not at idle speed.

No need to run motors anyway all day long. You can bank on 8 hours+ out of a group 27 deep cycle running dc fridge, FF, VHF, GPS and radar (intermittently in and out of standby. I do my test runs on land in winter while tinkering around with other projects.

You will see a grp 27 deep cycle is rated for around 180 minutes reserve capacity. A bit deceiving in my eyes because what it actually means is in 180 minutes you will still have 10.5 volts (considered adequate to run electronics) drawing 25 amps @ 80 degrees F. That is how they calculate reserve capacity. I have found electronics start blinking out long before 10.5 because we are usually using more than one device. I am not comfortable bringing batteries down below high 11's. So what I came up with is I can run all I want all day, less than 7 amp draw, still not kill the house battery and still having yet another house battery in reserve and still not having drawn a single amp from my twin cranking batteries. So, there really is no need to run motors all day long, especially having twins. Worst case if you do a long day and run too many devices, you still have 3 out of 4 batteries. Plenty of peace of mind built in there. In over 20 years I have yet to run down a single battery excessively, although I will admit I do not run fridge offshore, do not consider it a vital device. A group 29 will add a little more of a safety margin.

 

[Pez Vela]

Thanks for that. I'm running group 29's for what it's worth, but as you can see from my post, fear of draining my batterie's reserve capacities is not much of a factor for me. It's keeping the bite going with fish around the boat. My theory is the change in sound when shutting down may spook the fish. I'll never really know 'cause they ain't talking. I'm going to chart the various current draws when I get a chance, as well as the motors current output at idle. Should be interesting.

 

[ocnslr]

Shut them down whenever not moving, whether drifting for flounder in the Bay or deep dropping at the Norfolk Canyon.

 

[Doc Stressor]

What does a boat refrig draw? I've toasted several Grp 31 deep cycle batteries in my camper by forgetting to switch the refrig from DC. I also ruined a Grp 31 Trojan deep cycle on a 7 hr trip when I forgot to plug the camper in to the truck wiring harness.

An RV refrig will drain a battery in about an hr on a hot day.

 

[fishbust]

About 5 amps running. But they are small fridges and keeping it on 1 or 2 setting minimizes run time. I have not used it in summer yet, so not sure on cycling times yet.

Killing a battery in an hour? Must be a serious fridge. They do need good ventilation where they are installed. It is helpful.

 

[Doc Stressor]

I just looked up marine DC refrigerators. They use a compressor for cooling, which is far more efficient that the evaporative cooling of a 3 way RV refrigerator/freezer. 5 amps sounds about right. So you should be able to run one off of a 100 amp hr house battery for a day without charging.