Thanks for the input Jan,

I must admit I was on the verge of shelving this boat, ordering a new motor and ECS and starting construction of a twin-engine cat or mono … might still do that.

But I’m quite interested in this thrust offset you mentioned … I figure I’ve come this far so I’d really like to get this boat to the point that I can comfortably hand the controls to the wife, daughter or some of the children who come down to the pond and beg to drive the boat.

How much offset are we talking about? I assume looking from the back of the boat,
I want to move the drive shaft over to the right … correct?

It’s a pity the drive will have to be pulled out again.

Here’s an idea I’ve been thinking about. Right now the 1/8” prop shaft is 2.25” long and the stuffing tube extends 1.5” from the transom. Effectively the drive shaft passes thru the transom about 1/8” or so. I built it this way so I’d have a good bearing surface for the drive (keep it nice and true) and also to minimize the chance of having water come up the stuffing tube.

Do you think I could shorten the drive shaft to say 1.5” that way I’d be able to bend the stuffing tube at the transom to experiment with offset and drive angle. Mind you, I’d only have 3/4” of drive shaft supported by the stuffing tube and the wire might bind if I bend too far.

I’d really appreciate some input … recommended offset angle and a bendable wire drive stuffing tube?

PS: right now all 8 cells are on left side of the boat and she still wants to roll right.