Hi
I am still of that opinion.
In a month's sailing I use less than 10 ltrs of petrol for the outboard.
I have a catamaran and it is noticeable that most keelboats motor for short
distances, whereas we sail as putting the main up is easier than getting the
outboard into position.
We used to sail in and out of the marina if the wind was favourable as the
boat was not that manoeuvrable under power. (Until some incompetent got
himself all tangled up, sailing into the marina, and got sailing in the
marina banned).
Not going anywhere due to no wind and a flat battery is not usually a safety
issue. (unless you are close to shore in a strong tide) Start whistling
and the wind always comes.
An outboard that frequently does not start or conks due to lack of use, is,
as you tend to be in places where you would not be if you did not have
power.
EP gives you instant power for short periods, reliably, when you really need
it.
-----Original Message-----
From: electricboats@yahoogroups.com [mailto:electricboats@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of Greg Martin
Sent: Monday, 22 August 2011 8:46 p.m.
To: electricboats@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Electric Boats] Newbie
I have been of the same opinion, that a "sail"boat should really only need
power when entering and leaving the marina... that was my opinion until this
past weekend. Despite the weather forecast, which was wrong, we ended up on
the open water miles from homeport when the winds completely died on us.
There was absolutely no wind for hours and we ended up drifting in a current
and we had to get towed back to port, since our battery range wasn't enough
to overcome the current. Very humbling experience and it made me re-think my
"electric only" cruising philosophy. I'm seriously thinking about how to
extend the range under power with my EP system and if I can't, I just might
add a genset until there is quantum leap in battery technology...
Anyway, the full story about my saga this last weekend (and I might even
post the video, if I'm not too embarrased) is at:
http://www.electricseas.org/forum/topics/is-electric-propulsion-really
-Greg Martin
s/v Intrepid
Bristol 32e
Okinawa, Japan
www.ElectricSeas.org
--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, bill garrison <wagarrison@...> wrote:
>
> correct me if I am wrong, but if you have a sail boat you usually only
need it for entering and leaving the marina until you get to the open
waters. If this is true, then you don't have to have a killer system that
you will rarely use to its full potential. The exception is if there is a
reason that prevents you from using your sails to cruise and need the
electric motor to get back home. That is my two cents.
>
> William A. Garrison
>
> --- On Wed, 6/8/11, pepperwynn <pepperwynn@...> wrote:
>
> From: pepperwynn <pepperwynn@...>
> Subject: [Electric Boats] Newbie
> To: electricboats@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Wednesday, June 8, 2011, 7:13 AM
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> Hello, E boaters. I'm fishing for opinions and technical info in my
hopefully pending conversion of a 40ft sailboat. Its a big heavy cruising
boat (with a dead engine), and I shudder at the thought of putting another
diesel engine in the thing. The problem is where I live in Puget Sound the
wind is fickle, so i'm trying to reconcile changing my cruising habits with
available technology. Now that I can get a powerful enough AC motor, my
issue is how to make a defacto diesel electric. I'm thinking lotsa 8D
batteries and a 10kw genset would allow me to cruise 3 to 4 hours a time
with a 10kw draw at 80% of hull speed.
>
> Has anyone out there tried this?
>
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