Thought I'd toss in my recent (and some past) experiences with electric and diesel.
In February 2011 we set off for Hawaii from San Diego on our electric 30 foot Alberg. Had a great trip, 26 days 15 hrs.
Had the usual gales and calms and some gear failures which are normal.
The electric setup performed very well and I'm very pleased with my choices.
I had a diesel I was going to install but really wanted to go electric.
I've had my fare share of issues with diesels offshore....but more on that in a bit.
I sold the little diesel I had for $2500 and bought the brush-less electric kit from Thunderstruck. I think it was about $1500.
Don't know the fellows there or have any affiliation with them but would like to say they treated me really well and spent a lot of time answering my questions and helping me understand what was required to make it all work.
I bought four good AGM batteries for about $1200, fabricated a bracket or two, added a charger for at the dock and we were on our way.
After the offset of selling the diesel I have about a thousand bucks into the system and am very pleased with it.
I'm a sailor with over fifty thousand Blue-water miles and tens of thousands more doing sailing charters and commercial fishing up and down the west coast.
I've had a lot of boats over the years, ranging from 26 feet to 53 feet. Some with engines, some without.
I read with interest the gentleman's post regarding the "elitist " sailor that would not accept a tow, and the police that would probably not allow Capt Mike out of the harbor with that non marinized generator.
I found myself reminiscing; I was off the west coast after a 48 day passage making the final approach to Ucluelet on the west side of Vancouver Island in my engine-less 26 foot sailboat. It was a pleasant passage but long as the High played with us and we had sunny skies and light airs for a lot of the way.
As I approached the channel a fisherman passing by noticed we were hardly making way and offered a tow. I accepted the tow and was towed up the channel too the dock where I thanked the fisherman and offered to buy a round for his crew.
Almost a year later I received a registered letter from his brother who was an attorney demanding payment for his brothers "rendering assistance". To make a long story short: the tow cost me two thousand dollars! And I vowed to never accept a line again unless I really, really, needed a tow. I had been warned by old salts not to accept a tow for this very reason but did not think it would happen to me in my own home waters.
1994 I was hired to teach a doctor how to sail offshore in his newly purchased boat. We were off of French Polynesia when the Doc was on night watch and saw a ship and flipped on the running lights, turned the battery switch to all, then fell asleep. In the morning I dug out the cheap little "non-marinized" Taiwanese genset I always brought with me, got it running, and charged up the batteries, started the engine, and motored into port.
I was glad to have that little unit aboard. We kept it wrapped in a garbage bag and lashed to a stanchion on deck.
I'm a Marine Surveyor; In regards to the police not letting someone out of the harbor with "that rig". If the generator is not below, and is not bolted down, it is a portable set and there is no regulation that says you can't have it on deck.
Although diesels are quite robust I have had a number of mechanical failures with the diesel rigs offshore. From starters that go bad (quite a few), to transmission clutch packs, to fuel issues.
No engine likes to be tossed around like they are subject too in a small boat at sea with long periods of inactivity thrown in. Add the humid salt air and dubious fuel quality in some ports and I have yet to complete a jaunt around the pacific without the diesel or its accessories failing at some point.
As far as having a diesel to get you home after a roll over or other catastrophic event; though I've been fortunate enough to have never been rolled or in a hurricane,it seems to be in the numerous books I've read of people who have rolled or been in severe storms, the engines often fail at some point. Better to plan ahead on what sails you can jury rig than to rely on any form of engine to get you home.
To each his own....but this old salt is certainly glad I made the switch to electric. No more diesel smell below, no more walking fuel jugs to and from the dingy and rowing them out to the boat in foreign ports where there is no fuel dock, no more messy oil changes, and a lot less heat and noise below when the engine is running.
Cheers, Don
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