Greetings to you.
My name is Kwame Copeland, I've been a sailor on SF Bay for the last 11 years or so. I'm on my second boat, a 1972 Marieholm International Folkboat named 'Espresso'. I'm looking to re-power with electric sometime in the 2012 calendar year.
Espresso currently sports the original Volvo MD6A 10 HP diesel installed by the factory in Sweden. It still runs OK, though my mechanic says it certainly is not delivering it's full power anymore. It still does the job of pushing me out to the wind and back.
For those of you who are interested, and aren't sure what an IF Boat looks like, here's John Vigor's article about them. It is kind of cool, in that my boat, Espresso, # 1121, is the one that he used to illustrate the article!
http://www.clickbert.com/IFboat/techtips/vigor.html
I'm sure everyone has a story about why they switched / want to switch to an electric motor. Here are my reasons.
1) The engine compartment is directly under the cockpit floor, accessed through a gasket-sealed hatch in the cockpit, and a wooden cover in the cabin below the entry. The little 10 HP diesel juuust fits in that hole, and is very difficult to service and work on. There is no comfortable way to access the sides of the engine, and doing repairs on the thing with the boat moving around a lot is inearly mpossible. An electric motor, with less complexity, fewer regular service needs, and fewer moving parts then the diesel, would be a better fit for this reason.
2) Because of the very small area available, I believe that the only possible re-power with a diesel would be with another old Volvo or similar engine. The modern small diesels are just too wide at their bases to fit. While diesels are dependable and efficient, I balk at spending $$$ to install another antique engine into the boat, which would end up costing quite a bit to have rebuilt, and would still be ancient and difficult to find parts for. Even if I could put a new diesel in there...have you looked at the cost of even a small diesel these days?
3) OK, picture my boat, with it's engine above the bilge. Imagine trying to clean, paint, or even access the bilge area. Can't really do it, and it's been that way for 39 years! It's pretty nasty--when I bought the boat I went to work with sticks, long handed brushes, vaccuums, prayers, whatever I could find. a lightweight electric engine, and batteries that are designed to be able to secure and remove, would allow me to access all area of the boat, both for emergencies, and just to keep the thing nice. Not having an old diesel engine, with the inevitable drips of oil and fuel into the bilge, would bring some of the pleasure back to pleasure boating for this sailor.
4) The prospect of removing the diesel tank from the rear lazarette, and never putting it in again, fills me with joy. As near as I can tell, it's a galvanized water tank that some Swede thought would work great for a diesel tank way back int he early 70's. Peace out.
5) I. Hate. Outboards. nuff said.
6) Surfing the web, searching this user group, and talking with vendors, tells me that my re-power is possible without either breaking the bank or forging new and risky ground. Most of my sailing is day-sailing, and I'm sure I can figure out how to find space for 2 banks of batteries, which will get me around the bay OK, as I don't plan on using Espresso to go around the world any time soon.
Thanks for your interest, and I'm looking forward to reading about your projects.
Regards,
Kwame A. Copeland
Alameda, CA
My name is Kwame Copeland, I've been a sailor on SF Bay for the last 11 years or so. I'm on my second boat, a 1972 Marieholm International Folkboat named 'Espresso'. I'm looking to re-power with electric sometime in the 2012 calendar year.
Espresso currently sports the original Volvo MD6A 10 HP diesel installed by the factory in Sweden. It still runs OK, though my mechanic says it certainly is not delivering it's full power anymore. It still does the job of pushing me out to the wind and back.
For those of you who are interested, and aren't sure what an IF Boat looks like, here's John Vigor's article about them. It is kind of cool, in that my boat, Espresso, # 1121, is the one that he used to illustrate the article!
http://www.clickbert.com/IFboat/techtips/vigor.html
I'm sure everyone has a story about why they switched / want to switch to an electric motor. Here are my reasons.
1) The engine compartment is directly under the cockpit floor, accessed through a gasket-sealed hatch in the cockpit, and a wooden cover in the cabin below the entry. The little 10 HP diesel juuust fits in that hole, and is very difficult to service and work on. There is no comfortable way to access the sides of the engine, and doing repairs on the thing with the boat moving around a lot is inearly mpossible. An electric motor, with less complexity, fewer regular service needs, and fewer moving parts then the diesel, would be a better fit for this reason.
2) Because of the very small area available, I believe that the only possible re-power with a diesel would be with another old Volvo or similar engine. The modern small diesels are just too wide at their bases to fit. While diesels are dependable and efficient, I balk at spending $$$ to install another antique engine into the boat, which would end up costing quite a bit to have rebuilt, and would still be ancient and difficult to find parts for. Even if I could put a new diesel in there...have you looked at the cost of even a small diesel these days?
3) OK, picture my boat, with it's engine above the bilge. Imagine trying to clean, paint, or even access the bilge area. Can't really do it, and it's been that way for 39 years! It's pretty nasty--when I bought the boat I went to work with sticks, long handed brushes, vaccuums, prayers, whatever I could find. a lightweight electric engine, and batteries that are designed to be able to secure and remove, would allow me to access all area of the boat, both for emergencies, and just to keep the thing nice. Not having an old diesel engine, with the inevitable drips of oil and fuel into the bilge, would bring some of the pleasure back to pleasure boating for this sailor.
4) The prospect of removing the diesel tank from the rear lazarette, and never putting it in again, fills me with joy. As near as I can tell, it's a galvanized water tank that some Swede thought would work great for a diesel tank way back int he early 70's. Peace out.
5) I. Hate. Outboards. nuff said.
6) Surfing the web, searching this user group, and talking with vendors, tells me that my re-power is possible without either breaking the bank or forging new and risky ground. Most of my sailing is day-sailing, and I'm sure I can figure out how to find space for 2 banks of batteries, which will get me around the bay OK, as I don't plan on using Espresso to go around the world any time soon.
Thanks for your interest, and I'm looking forward to reading about your projects.
Regards,
Kwame A. Copeland
Alameda, CA
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