Hello to all. I bought a Catalina 30 3 years ago, (30 foot sloop sailboat, 10,500lbs). It's a 1986 model with a 21hp 3 cylinder diesel.
Ironically, I'm not having any problems right now. However, a diesel is noisy, smelly, requires constant maintenance of filter replacement, oil changes, fuel, etc… You guys know this, I'm preaching to the choir.
Electric propulsion is an attractive option for me; but I do have some concerns.
1) I know electric propulsion will work for 90% of my sailing; 15 minutes out, an hour or three later, 15 minutes of motoring back to the dock.
2) BUT, my concern is how this will work when I cruise up the canal from Elizabeth City North Carolina to Portsmouth Virginia, a 50 mile, 8 to 10 hour journey … can I do this with electric propulsion?? This trip cannot be done at a slow 3 knots or less to conserve amps; one must keep up 5 knots or so, to make the lock schedule, and to keep out of others way coming up behind you in the relatively narrow canal.
In other words, can one feed charging juice to the batteries with either solar, wind, and/or generator while still moving at 5 knots, without stopping to recharge, making it possible to make a 50 mile trip at full speed non-stop?
The title about being crazy … fellow members of my yacht club think I'm from Mars when I suggest converting to electric. This may simply be I'm a reader and keep up a bit more with current events than many others; although this topic isn't exactly current events since electric powered sailboats have been around for many years.
I also realize new lithium-ion battery technology may change the formula significantly in the near future … that's what I'm hoping for anyway.
BTW … anyone want to take a stab at what a 25 year old, 21hp 3 cylinder, model M25 Universal diesel in working condition, worth?. The exact hours unknown. It was showing 1,000 hours when purchased, but the hour meter wasn't working at that time.
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