Dan pretty much hit the nail on the head for the most part about deciding how you want to use your boat and also on fuel issues. It's a concern when you have diesel fuel sitting around in a tank for a long time. Things will grow inside the tank. You'll never know when bad fuel will finally clog your filters. Could be when you need the engine the most. I've had electric propulsion on board since 2008 and would never go back to having a diesel on board. I think back to times when my diesel failed me. Like the time after leaving the dock when an anti freeze leak caused the engine to over heat. I sailed for two hours until it cooled enough and was able to get back. I had the engine die on me coming into Boston Harbor one evening. Again I raised sail and luckily was able to pick up a mooring. Where I changed out a clogged filter. Then on a trip to Canada up the Erie Canal I had to dive under the boat twice to clear blockages in the raw water intake after it became clogged with debris. Another time I had an exhaust elbow corrode through which covered the engine area with a coat of exhaust soot and of course a $200+ dollar repair bill. Another time a barnacle grew in the intake causing me to get a tow to a marina. Then of course there was the final blow which led me to electric propulsion. A leak in the head gasket which caused water onto a cylinder causing it to crack. I will have none of these problems with my electric propulsion system. I've sailed 850 miles since I installed my electric propulsion system. It will be over 1000 before the end of the season. My only real maintenance cost has been about $5.00 and that was to change the oil in the Honda 2000 generator. When it comes down to it my experience has been the electric propulsion system will be more reliable and much cheaper to maintain than my diesel ever was.
Capt. Mike
Sent from on board BIANKA
http://biankablog.blogspot.com
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