Ultimate Utah fishing boat.

[Paddler]

Again, I encourage you to explore the idea of a single main engine.  If you choose correctly you'll be able to troll at ~2.5MPH and have a WOT speed over 30MPH. We trolled 8 hours today and burned about 2.8 gallons including running around.  I burn 0.3GPH at idle.  And again, an autopilot is a real game changer.

One thing that I'm surprised you have not considered or maybe worried about with you single engine setup, is breakdown. If you ever have an engine failiure you could be in big trouble, being that far out on the ocean for sure but even on any of our local lakes and even if it has never happened to you, it does not mean it can't or won't happen. You are taking chances being out anywhere without a backup engine and for that along it's worth having a kicker. Sure, you might say you have a two way radio but then you have to rely on others to rescue you and that is never a great policy, IMO. Self resure is a much better plan and being prepared, in case thing go bad, is the best way to do that IMO.

I have thought a lot about the issue of a breakdown offshore.  Like everything else it's a risk assessment/judgement call.  The problem with limping back to port on a kicker is the time it takes.  At say 6MPH it would take 8 hours, which may put you in the unenviable position of coming home in the dark.  One also needs to consider the likelihood of breakdown.  Given the reliability of modern outboards, and the fact that I don't often turn my engine off during a day of fishing, I think the risk is minimal.  La Push has a CG station with two MLB47's, and Port Angeles has a helicopter, so help is available if need be.  So yes, I have considered the issue and understand the risk involved.  I will say that I'm in the minority on the kicker thing, and you are certainly in the majority.  Many guys on ifish think I'm crazy, but then they're also of the "max out your hull's HP rating" school, too.  Don't get me started on offshore brackets.

Seems to me that a lot of these hunting and fishing boards attract a predominantly conservative or even ultraconservative crowd, and posters are often intolerant of differing viewpoints.  They do things the way things have always been done because they've always been done that way.  No room for other ideas, if one chooses to not follow the crowd he or she is "stupid".  We've seen that in play on this thread.  I will say that some of the posts on this thread wouldn't be tolerated on ifish, as it's very tightly moderated.  Over there differing viewpoints are fine, but insults and personal attacks are not in the least tolerated.  I think that leads to a freer exchange of ideas and less acrimony.  We are an incredibly divided country now, and social media contributes to the division.  I'm not optimistic it will get better.

One poster said that not maxing out your HP rating is "stupid.  Full stop".  Another made a snide remark about "Utah's ocean", as if bad things don't happen here.  We all know that people get in trouble in Utah due to rapidly changing weather.  I was on WB on 4/22/2015 when the weather blew up.  I had earlier seen two guys in a little boat fishing.  When the wind came up I started in at maybe 15MPH.  The ride was bumpy, and I had lots of spray coming over the windshield.  Nothing dangerous, just bumpy.  I just slowed down, flatlined a couple of crankbaits and boated another couple of fish on my way in.

When I got back to the ramp, Parks was launching their boat.  I asked what was going on and they told me they had to rescue some people as their boat had capsized.  I found out later it was probably those two guys, a teenager and his grandpa.  The teen had his cellphone in a ziplock bag, so was able to call for help.  I had no idea or would have helped, and don't know what would have happened but for that ziplock.  They had headed to the south marina, I was out of the north.  Clearly, their boat was too small for the conditions.  But even if it wasn't, going faster than my top speed of 37MPH would have been impossible.  This is a photo of that boat.  The wind waves got much worse, and I took some video but cannot post it here.



The takehome is that I think a lot about what I do and how I do it.  Those who have been critical of me and my approach have never been in my boat and really don't know what they're talking about.  If they had ever fished with me I think they'd understand better.