How to Fish Boat Engines & I am speed
Buy travel. Dynamite is the fly stunt. Dual Motors is the last engine, not a skip.
Boat engines in How to Fish buy time between rocks. They do not unlock islands, they do not spawn bosses, and they do not satisfy I’m the bird now. Patch 1.0.5 already stopped sailing to locked water; a faster motor will not draw a new Radar dot. This page splits the documented engines from the physics joke through Patch 1.0.10.
You need Boat Keys from the Lighthouse Spider Crab before any of this matters. Handheld Radar ($10) is still the map. The dashboard Boat Radar ($200) is a Rocks convenience upgrade, not an engine. See Radar and Boats.
Documented engines
| Upgrade | Island | About | Achievement |
|---|---|---|---|
| First engine | Forest | ~$230 | Getting an upgrade |
| Dual Motors | Rocks (red shack) | ~$860 | I am speed |
The Forest motor is the one you buy when the crawl between Lighthouse and Forest starts to waste the session. It is enough for a normal story clear. Dual Motors sits in the same red beach shack as the Boat Radar, below Lucky Bait Company. Press E on Dual Motors; purchased listings flip to Already Bought. Bean runners still want this before the Volcano clock gets rude, but they should not confuse it with a skip — the island lock remains.
There is no third “rocket engine” in the shops this wiki documents. Community lists that invent a jet ski or hovercraft are mixing games.
What engines do not do
They do not fly. I’m the bird now is dynamite under a floating hull on Forest, about $25. Place the bundle, back off, detonate. Patch 1.0.10 capped explosion velocity so loot yeets less often into the void; the achievement still pops when the boat leaves the water. Guide: Flying Boat.
They do not replace Dual Motors with a Volcano purchase. Island 5 sells guns and Scientific lures. Travel speed was already decided on Rocks if you bought the shack kit.
They do not fix a missing island. Hand in Shell, Skeleton, Fin, Head, then Fin again. The Radar writes coordinates. Read Walkthrough.
Co-op prices quoted in some guides are lobby prices; solo upgrades can be a little cheaper. Match the live shop label. Private lobbies from 1.0.5 do not change engine stats.
After 1.0.10 you can leave a spare motor crate on the dock within the 64-item ground save, but you cannot drop Dual Motors as a gift for a client who never bought it — each player’s shop flags are their own.
When to buy, and when to wait
Buy the Forest engine when the crawl between Lighthouse and Forest is eating the session. Skip it only if you already have cash for Dual Motors and you are heading to Rocks the same sitting. Bean runners usually take both: the cheap motor keeps the hour honest, Dual Motors keeps the Volcano clock from eating the last ten minutes.
Do not buy Dual Motors hoping the Radar will invent Volcano. The red shack also sells Boat Radar; if you can afford only one Rocks convenience, the $200 map on the dash is more useful than speed when you still cannot read a handheld gadget and steer. After the Albatross head is in, speed matters more than a second map.
Co-op hosts should buy engines on their own character. Clients who never open the shack still ride the host boat, but they will not have Dual Motors on a boat they spawn later in a different lobby. Private rooms from 1.0.5 do not change motor stats; they only change who can join the circus.
Related pages
- Rocks Island — shack location
- Items — Radar vs engine
- Achievements — Getting an upgrade vs I am speed
- Gear Hub — full buy order