Hi Gabe,
I've spent a considerable amount of time in the SoCal deserts and in the High Sierras too. Beautiful country. I still go there whenever I can find the time.
I applaud your interest in the ocean, but you might want to get a little conventional coastal boating experience under your belt before you start pushing the envelope with experimental types of watercraft. Yes, there have been a small handful of ocean crossing on very large and expensive solar powered boats. They have travelled slow and benefitted from exceptional technical and weather support. The Transatlantic 21 was a one way trip, it travelled with the current, along the milder portion of the ocean, at the calmest part of the year. The owners have no plans to attempt another crossing with their $600,000 boat. It's not built to make a north Atlantic crossing to get back home.
As for going to Hawaii, a good friend recently raced in the 2011 Transpac. They stayed in reasonably good weather, but as a long time sailor, he said that the 30' to 40' ocean swells made the 48' sailboat seem rather small. Throw in a crossing 10' wind swell from the typical 15-20kt winds and being in a 26' power boat with a 6kt top speed is going to be life changing experience.
As long as you're thinking about heading offshore, start looking for a cabin cruiser design that specs an outboard of 20hp or smaller, or maybe a 15hp diesel or smaller. You'll have a very difficult time supporting an equivalent electric drive with renewable sources like solar or wind. Start looking at the smallest power cruiser that you can find with a 1500nm range. Start thinking about the differences (it's not just the size of the fuel tanks). As soon as you start thinking about a hybrid to gain more operational power, ask yourself if the extra weight, complexity and cost gets you anything. It turns out that small diesel trawlers like you describe are very effective and expensive enough before you add in an additional electric drive system that will double the cost of your drive train.
Sailboats are easier to go electric because they can travel for days without engine power, giving the system time to recover. Heck, my typical 4-6 hour daysail uses less than 45 minutes of 50% throttle. In a cabin cruiser, that same trip would need 4-6 hours of 50-75% throttle and not cover as much ground.
To gain some practical experience, find a rough cabin cruiser that is operational, spend a few months learning to operate the boat safely, then take it to the Santa Barbara Channel Islands for a week or two. Make sure that the radio works. You'll get an introduction to offshore conditions, while staying within range of help if you need it. Get some deep water miles under your belt. Once you start to get a feel for what the ocean can do, stop and think about what your goals really are.
Electric drives are very well suited for the way that some people use their boats, they are not effective answers for many other boat owners. You need to learn what kind of boater you are to see if you fall into the subset of effective electric candidates.
After almost 20 years sailing off the SoCal coast, with plenty of experience in converting electric cars and now my boat, I don't think that "a 26' cabin cruiser body type of boat (can) cross a long distance on open water as one of those small sailboats to take you anywhere". At least not unless you've got a virtually unlimited budget....
Fair winds and calm seas,
Eric
Marina del Rey, CA
--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, exp30002 <exp30002@...> wrote:
>
> Hello;
>
> I hope everyone is having a nice day. Let me also talk about that guy who
> started this thread.
> OK, so rent. It is not so much the rent. It is what I call the "Huckleberry
> Finn Syndrome".
> In Mark Twin's book Tom Sawyer, Tom friend Huckleberry Finn does not live
> in a house.
> And Huck Finn is used to it. Even when there is money, he does not feel
> comfortable in a house.
> I am getting the Huckleberry Finn Syndrome. I have camped in all the deserts
> of California,
> and more. I think it is time for me to enlarge my world. I have not been
> out on the ocean.
> I could get an RV, but I sleep outside with no tent. I have been on the top
> of all the mountains.
>
> So I saw this book: Twenty Small Sailboats that Can Take You Anywhere, or
> something like that.
> http://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Small-Sailboats-Take-Anywhere/dp/0939837323
> And I guess these sailboats can sail across the waters a long distance. I
> guess some sailing
> experience is necessary. Weather reports, and reliable equipments.
>
> There is this new thing: the solar panels. And an electric boat with solar
> panels. Can these solar
> panel electric boats sail just a far as sailboats? Apparently: yes
> http://planetsolar.org/
> Transatlantic 21 :
> http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/Swiss_boat_claims_first_solar_Atlantic_crossing.html?cid=5706980
>
> I do not need such a long distance: max to Hawaii from California.
>
> Can a 26' cabin cruiser body type of boat cross a long distance on open
> water as one of those small
> sailboats to take me anywhere? I guess that is the question.
>
> The rest of the words just introduction.
>
> I am pleased to meet all of you.
>
> Sincerely;
>
> Gabe
>
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