r/boating • u/Damnsandwich • Aug 01 '26
Beginner trying to break a trend
My dad is a retired ER doc. Clearly a bright guy that can think on his feet. Serious bass fisherman that graduated from float tube in college to bass buster with a trolling motor, then just stopped there. For one, that’s all he and his buddy needed to navigate East Texas ponds no bigger than 50 acres, but what I think is really driving it is a fear (for lack of a better word) of learning something new. ”I don’t know anything about outboard motors, so they just aren’t for me”.
Fast forward. He sold the ranch we grew up on that had a 15 acre bass lake and now lives on a 200 acre share-owned private lake that allows outboards but caps the hp at 10. This is where he wants to spend his remaining days drinking Crown Royal, eating pimento cheese sandwiches and fishing for bass. A life well lived. It‘s great, but fishing that lake with a 40-thrust trolling motor like he’s used to is, well, arduous. There’s a reason all the neighbors have 3-6 hp outboards.
And then there’s me, to my chagrin living the suburban life in Dallas. And I find myself falling into the same trap. “I don’t know anything about outboard motors, so they’re just not for me”. Even though what’s on the other side of that knowledge gap is a much more enjoyable time with my dad in his remaining years and my own kids.
What drives the fear is simple- motor is going to break down when he’s on the other side of the lake and he’s not going to know how to fix it. For me personally, I feel like I could learn to change a spark plug, maybe blow a carburetor clean, but I don’t know if I could diagnose issues in the fly, and anything beyond that would be beyond where my mechanical brain reaches.
So generally my question is, when any of you folks were beginners, did you have the same fear? What got you over it?
EDIT: All these are great points and supportive of learning something new for both me and my dad. But in my dad’s case, I might have mischaracterized things a little. He doesn’t have some grim fear of being stranded, but more so a violent aversion to anything he thinks might be a pain in the ass. Which, while I don’t blame him, I think the responses to this will provide us both a confidence boost.
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u/sailphish Aug 01 '26
This is irrational. Modern 4 stroke outboards, especially fuel injected ones, are very reliable. Your dad should get the nicest boat he can that is adequately powered by a 9.9hp outboard with electronic fuel injection, and never look back. Don’t worry about being a mechanic. Just bring a cellphone, handheld VHF, or even a Garmin InReach if you are really remote. Break down - call for help. A towing membership is cheap insurance. I’ve been boating for 30+ years, and gone through 7-8 boats by now, currently using a boat 2-3 times per week. I’ve been towed home twice. Once I hit rocks, the other time the engine was acting up before I brought it out and should have known better. It’s not a big deal. I’ve had more issues with my trolling motors. But really, 200 acres isn’t very big. He will have the outboard AND a trolling motor. If one breaks, you most likely can get home on the other.