T-Pain Is On A Boat: [Electric Boats] Re: 29' CAL Looking to switch to EV

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

[Electric Boats] Re: 29' CAL Looking to switch to EV

Hi Keith.

Thanks for the interest in my problem.

First we sail mostly in our Home port of Sandusky Bay in Ohio on Lake
Erie, and around the islands. It's great to be able to go out in almost
any weather condition and not have to face 8-10' short waves if you
don't want to. Although I do that sometimes as well when it's warm and
I want a change of pace.

My comment on the under power is more concerned with head winds and
waves. A short story, We went to Put in Bay for the weekend. took 2
hours to get there. Great Sail at hull speed. Wanted to get back the
next moring before the wind really picked up to 35. Reefed the main,
unrolled a little Jenny and off we went. Great sail again till I had to
turn more south and had to tight haul into the waves and wind. (It took
us 8 hours to get back, not fun).

Started motor went about 30 mins into the wind, only problem was we
could only go about .5 KPH over water speed. Then beacuse of age of
boat and tank and engine, the engine died from a plugged fuel filter. I
Guess the rust in the tank wanted out of the boat as much as we did.
;-).

We get 6 knots at 2500 PRM in flat water which is great. Don't really
need much more than that except in certain conditions (you know the
stupid one like I described above).

We rarely go through more than a few gallons of fuel during the summer.
It's mostly used for going to the weekly race course or in/out of the
marina.

Every place I have stayed has shore power, But I know I will need some
other way of charging the batteries. I plan to do the solar panel but
that won't be enough for long trip recharges. I also think that a small
Honda generator would suffice for power for the chraging system as well
as house needs if we are not close to shore power.

As far as range. We have always sailed in the Bay/Islands but we now
want to go cruising with the cruising fleet at SSC. I am thinking that
4 hours of running at dead calm could get us to almost any port up or
down the shoreline in Lake Erie. We are not fans of motoring so I don't
see us leaving a dockage without good wind forecasts.

As far as your comment about repacing the W-B, Everyone I have contacted
here has quoted in the 5500-10,000$$$$$ range for a diesel. NOT CHEAP.
That's why I am looking seriously at the electric option.

Randy

CAL 2-29, Ariel, Sandusky Sailing Club

Sandusky, Ohio

--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, "aweekdaysailor"
<aweekdaysailor@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Randy,
>
> Welcome! I have a boat very similar to yours that I converted to
electric a while back. When you say the Westerbeke is underpowered - can
you elaborate? What kind of speed do you get at full-throttle? At
cruising-throttle? And if you know the size and pitch of your prop that
will also help.
>
> Also please describe the sailing conditions (typical, as well as
worst-case) - currents, wind-patterns, etc.
>
> We also need some sense of how much speed and range you expect
(without auxillary power like a genset). On your weekend trips - will
you have access to shorepower?
>
> The Thunderstruck kit is not intended for direct-drive - they just
leave the mounting as an exercise for the reader :) Note that there are
vendors with more turnkey systems, but are priced accordingly. This
system will typically need a 2:1 reduction.
>
> Best-case - you are looking at about $3K for a setup
(motor/controller, batteries, cables, trays, meters, transmission, etc)
including a lot of DIY effort. You probably already know you can replace
your w-b for about the same or less.
>
> The pros and cons are going to depend a lot on you and your
expectations. Your inclination to being fastidious (I am not) and
detailed oriented (ditto) will mean a lot. Mechanical/electrical skills
also count (much to my dismay).
>
> It is helpful to put electric in context - think about all the trips
you have taken - now imagine you started with 1 gallon of fuel and think
about how the trip would have changed.
>
> Regards,
>
> -Keith
> e-S/V "Aja" - 1978 Hunter 30
> San Francisco
>
> --- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, "r.ramjet@" r.ramjet@ wrote:
> >
> > I have a westerbeake 1 lung 9hp diesel that is woefully
underpowered. This winter the JB Weld that was dealing a cracked block
in the water jacket sprung a leak. It is now time to take a serius look
at an inexpensive EV system.
> >
> > I looked at the Thuderstruck page and it seems to be the cheapest
and fairly simple to install.
> >
> > We pretty much do day sailing with some weekends in the plans.
> >
> > It also looks a\like a direct drive system rather than a belt
system.
> >
> > Can anyone enlighten me on the pros and cons?
> >
> > Thanks
> > Randy
> >
>