Jeremy
Well, I did my conversion for what... about $2100 or a bit more, after deducting for the $400 I got from selling the old Atomic. That includes a 10.56 kw/hr battery bank. To be fair, though, I didn't really use a kit per se though I did buy the original controller mounted on an aluminum plate with contactor, fuse block, etc installed. And now, I see that if I had been willing to go with a brushed motor, I could have gone even cheaper. My boat was mine for $2k, and I don't regret spending that small amount of money for the conversion. No way I would have spent over $3k on it, though. A well designed turnkey system will beat the pants off most DIY jobs, and is probably the way to go with a nicer boat. But I am okay with the performance I get from my DIY e-boat, and I could care less about the resale value. I got my money's worth out of it just from living aboard instead of paying for an apartment or house, not to mention the many days and nights spent tootling along out on Lake Pontchartrain with clean and convenient electric power. I could have waited until like "never", to buy a hull worthy of a $6k electric drive setup, but I chose to do what I could with what I could get, instead of just daydreaming about it, and it worked. Quite well, actually, for what I spent. Now, I am looking at putting up a solar canopy over the entire boat, and adding a second battery bank. Sure, one big bank is better than two little (well, not so little, actually) ones, but I did what I COULD do, instead of what I SHOULD do. To paraphrase, "Wish in one hand, repower a boat in the other, and see which one fills up the quickest." I hope to end up with about 2kw of solar. Shade and electricity, both from one modification. Sails? Oh, I gave those away, and mast, boom, and wire.
I wouldn't discourage a DIY'er with a basket case boat from having a go at electrifying. It is do-able and practical, and can cost considerably less than that new suit of sails. And it is kinda fun.
Posted by: "P. Jeremy Baker" <childscrick@yahoo.com>
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