Monday, March 21, 2011

Re: [Electric Boats] Portable generators

 

Well said Dave. In my experience when there is rough weather that is when the generator is needed least because the winds are available to provide the propulsion. I also think that we need to remember that electric propulsion is still in it's early stages of adoption for recreational craft. So we are using reliable but, economical available technologies (like Honda 2000i generators etc...) But, the beauty of electric propulsion is the adaptability of a well designed system. While I don't expect my Honda 2000i to last forever and it will require maintenance and vigilance on my part. At some point Honda or another manufacturer may provide a more "marinized" unit in the future with more power etc... The same goes for battery storage.  In the meantime I find the current technology to be very suited for my needs. But, I believe things will only improve in the future and those boats with electric propulsion are well positioned to take advantage of them when they come along.
Capt. Mike
 

--- On Mon, 3/21/11, David Hughes <davidhughes_casaba@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: David Hughes <davidhughes_casaba@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Electric Boats] Portable generators
To: electricboats@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 12:46 PM

 
As boater it behooves us to use proper care and judgment, most importantly, the proper selection of the boat for the application. One would never use a pontoon boat to cross the Atlantic, but it is not unheard of doing a major crossing with sails alone. If your situation requires you to have inboard diesel, that is what you need to use. That said it doesn't make other designs inferior. Someone mentioned the risk of setting up a generator during rough weather, the same could be said about an outboard auxiliary, which there are certainly many more. However, with the outboard, that is their primary auxiliary, not the secondary auxiliary as would be the generator. I sailed for many years without an engine on a 28 foot sailboat. When I did some coastal cruising and needed to make up time, I would use my dingy as a yawl boat, not something I would set up during rough weather but a perfectly acceptable process.

Dave

--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, Matthew Geier <matthew@...> wrote:
>
> On 20/03/11 02:31, James Lambden wrote:
> >
> > Hopefully there is a fuel cell coming soon.
> >
> But what do you intend to run the fuel cell on ?.
>
> They typically run on Hydrogen, but Hydrogen is expensive to make and
> difficult to store.
>
> The first commercially viable fuel cell could very well end up running
> on a light hydrocarbon fuel. You still won't have escaped from having
> petrol on board.
>

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