Nice post, Jason. Like you, I decided to go electric in no small part because of the dependability, low maintenance and ease of service. Well, also because frankly I was about $5k short of being able to afford a new Beta diesel. And because I finally decided that as a matter of fact, I do NOT like the smell of fuel all that much, after all.
My Kelly controllers (I have a 300A and a 500A) are both user programmable by means of a WinDOHs computer and a serial to usb adapter. Unfortunately I don't have a Windoze computer... I use Linux, but if I want to go through the hassle of borrowing one, I can easily change parameters. I do, in fact, have a spare motor. At only $375/ea, it made perfect sense to get two of them, so I did. I also have another bigger motor that I can swap out easily. I have two controllers because when I destroyed the outout power MOSfets in the original 300A controller, I took the opportunity to upgrade to a bigger one and also returned the old one to the factory for warranty covered repair, so the old one is my backup. I see no particular reason not to have a spare motor and controller, whether the system be BLDC or brushed DC. Now the batteries is a different thing. I am using 8 6V golf cart batteries. If one or even two were to suddenly go north on me, I could easily configure the system to run at 42V or 36V temporarily. The motor RPM range would be lower, but that's okay in a pinch.
I like your idea of using identical batteries for house and propulsion, actually. I don't have a separate house bank anymore... I run house loads off the prop bank using a DC/DC converter. But if I did, you can bet I would be using the same GC2 golf cart batts for the 12v system just so I could use one to replace a bad propulsion battery in a pinch.
The user configurationability of the Kelly controllers is the main reason I went with that company, BTW. I installed the 220AH golf cart batteries instead of Lithium because they were $85/ea and I couldn't afford LiFePO4 which I admit are superior to FLA in so many ways.
So, while you prefer not to carry spare controller and motor, I prefer to do so. Great minds don't HAVE to think alike, if they don't want to. But there is another option, for boats in our size range... a 36V trolling motor and a cheap PWM controller if the motor is not already PWM controlled. You won't motor across the gulf stream to the Bahamas with that, but it will generally be enough for docking and stuff. Stows in the lazarette of most sailboats just fine. The dirty little secret is that a 36V trolling motor can be ran from a 48v bank as long as you don't go full ahead with the controller power pot for very long. So there is your reasonably cheap and convenient backup plan for the regular electric drive. Sort of like the diesel guys keeping that 4HP outboard handy, just in case. The trolling motor could come in handy in the event of a badly fouled or bent prop. It could be used for the dinghy, with a 20AH ebike battery pack, or lent to another boat in need. With a bow mount, you could have a bow thruster!
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