Friday, May 31, 2019

[Electric Boats] DFW Electric saileboat conversion a success -- Yes I got my hubby on board :D

 

Happy kick off of Summer my friends:
We sent a group post early March with questions and wondering if anyone in the Dallas/Fort Worth area had done an electric sailboat conversion.  We didn't hear from anyone locally but we want to thank everyone who responded for all the great information. It helped get my husband on board and a few others who thought diesel was the only legit option. 

We purchased the 10.5W sailboat kit and a few other recommended items from Thunderstruck Motors in Santa Rosa, CA.  We bought our batteries from Sam's Club and battery cables from Amazon and Batteries Plus.  The guys at Thunderstruck have been a great resource and I'm grateful for their patience and the knowledge they shared....  I had a lot of questions for them on several occasions. 

For reference our sailboat is a 1980 /27' Hunter with 7,000# displacement.  It has (had) an 8 HP Renault Diesel (RC8D)

We had a few challenges along the way, one being we are not as young, small/skinny or agile as we once were, so getting 40 years of stuff cleaned up took longer than we thought (and a couple of visits to a chiropractor).   Also, thinking through where to place some items such as the throttle, Sevcon Clearview, and those heavy batteries took some extra time.   We also had a wire wrong but after watching the wiring video from Thunderstruck, we were able to figure it out.....  (fyi - don't fast forward through the video, you might miss something important).

We did have a great resource and expert advise from a gentleman who does a lot of sailboat work at our marina and for a couple of hundred bucks he had our old motor pulled out and hoisted into our truck. He also helped with lining up our coupler and drilling holds in the frame so we could mount the motor.  He's been enjoying the transition as much as us  -- and seeing the success of the electric motor has been something new for him to learn about.  He had only seen the outrageous electric options at boat shows.

I am happy to say we've taken her out on several occasions now and have had no issues or problems.  Our longest motoring has been 1 hour straight with a pretty good headwind.  Our current challenge is keep the GFI from tripping on our shore power..... I guess it's always something!

If anyone is in the DFW area and would like to check out what we've done, look us up.  We'd be happy to share a beverage and talk about boats!

Theresa & Jay Montya


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Saturday, May 25, 2019

[Electric Boats] Re: Success! 37ft electric conversion

 

Hi Ryan, 


Would be happy to show it to you next time you're up in Anacortes.  Sorry I took so long to reply (out every chance I get in this boat).  Also an engineer here (Civil).  Hope you are motoring happily now!

Darin

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Monday, May 13, 2019

[Electric Boats] Re: Success! 37ft electric conversion

 

Welcome to the Electric Fleet.

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Sunday, May 12, 2019

Re: [Electric Boats] Success! 37ft electric conversion

 

How does that 48v 10kw go for moving your boat? From everything I've read a 40' would need at least a 20kw... (sorry to derail)

On Sun., May 12, 2019, 21:01 Terminalift terminalift@yahoo.com [electricboats], <electricboats@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
 

I have same in my 40 ft sailboat. Have 12 v 220 ah x 4.   With thunderstruck 48 v 10 kw.  So far so good 

Terminalift, LLC
9444 Mission Park Place 
Santee, CA 92071
# 619-562-0355 office
# 619-562-2060 fax


On Sunday, May 12, 2019, 9:06:39 AM PDT, armyofpenguins@gmail.com [electricboats] <electricboats@yahoogroups.com> wrote:


 

Hi all, 


Just wanted to thank everyone for the valuable information I gleaned from the group to successfully convert to electric.  I would like to share what I've done so others can benefit.  I started on it in November 2018, worked long hours every weekend and sailed her home from Seattle to Anacortes at the beginning of May 2019..  So far I'm very happy with the results.  I will post some pics and vids later (spending a lot of time enjoying the results right now).  I will also collect and post performance stats to help anyone considering a similar conversion.  Here are the basic build details for anybody interested:


Boat: 1972 Buchan 37 sloop (built on Lake Washington in Seattle). 

Beam: 10 ft.

Waterline: 27 ft.

Displacement: 13k lbs.

Shaft drive (offset).

Previous ICE: Volvo Penta MD2B 2 cyl diesel 25HP


Electric replacement: 

Thunderstruck motors 10 kW Brushless Sailboat Kit

48 CALB 100ah cells arranged in a 3P16S battery, for a total of 15.36 kWh storage, (12.29 kWh useable). For those who prefer amp hours, it's a 300 ah / 48 V battery.


Performance (more to come later):

Top speed between about 5 kts.

Range at 3 kts seems to be way more than I need so still need to push it to see how far.  Most of the time I'm running her about 3.5 to 4 kts with no sails and using around 40 amps.




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Re: [Electric Boats] Re: Trolling Motor in Salt Water

 

I found that Elco link interesting, as I had looked at Ray electric outboards and they were quite a bit more. I'll have to look into the Elco some more as they seem quite reasonable - especially next to some of the high end trolling motors and even the Torqeedo.

" I expect it will have a similar performance at low speed as my wood strip boat where I was able to cruise at 7 km/hr and draw about 360 watts" - Have you run this by the designer? I ask because there are a couple of things that jump out at me. First, you are looking at what appears to be a planing hull, having a flat run aft. While that works great for planing, it means that part of the transom will be underwater at cruising speeds which will increase drag. My dad's old 15' Gheenoe would do about 15mph with three people on board with a 9.8 horsepower opened up. It moved like a log with a 36lb trolling motor wide open though. There is a sail version of the Eco Cat hull that appears to have some aft rocker which would increase cruise efficiency, but it would compromise top speed. Secondly, catamarans tend to have more wetted surface area for the same displacement monohull, which can be relevant at cruising speeds due to additional skin friction.

I would also ask the designer about the boat's ability to handle the conditions that you encountered on the lake. 8 ft isn't really that wide for a catamaran and is likely a compromise for trailering. Most Pontoon boats are that width and aren't really known for their big water seaworthiness.

One thing that ran through my mind when you crossed that rough water was is there adequate foam flotation/sealed air boxes in your disappearing propeller boat to keep it from going to the bottom if swamped?


---In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, <philaboyer@...> wrote :

I never took pictures of making the weed cone as I didn't know if it would work or not. I will take some and also of the weed blade that I will add this year. I have not got the boat out yet but will shortly. 
My next boat that I am planning is the Eco 5 Power Cat which is a 18' long, 8' wide catamaran style boat that only requires a 20 HP motor to cruise at 10 knots and has a top speed of 15 knots.

I am planning to use an Elco 20HP electric motor


I probably won't start this until the fall as my summer is getting booked up.
My wooden solar electric boat that is 18.5' long is 5' wide. The weight with out batteries and motor is about 300 lbs including the canopy, adding the lead acid battery bank and motor it is about 600 lbs total. The canopy itself is about 100 lb due to the 4 solar panels and this makes the boat a bit on the top heavy side. In rivers, canals and small lakes not an issue but if I get into heavy waves then it is a bit scary.
That is why I will be building a bigger boat.
I have built a number of canoes in the past of which three were of the strip built design and two were skin boat designs so attempting the wood strip boat that I did build was within my skill level but took me a very long time to strip the hull. The catamaran will be plywood with the exception of the cabin which I intend to use wood striping to build the side walls of it. I expect it will have a similar performance at low speed as my wood strip boat where I was able to cruise at 7 km/hr and draw about 360 watts while my panels on average would be producing a similar amount. That is why I was able to cruise for 16 days without ever recharging via external power.
It will give me the option of going much faster but also draw a lot more power so I will plan to use about a 22 kw Lithium Ion battery bank.

On Saturday, May 11, 2019, 8:29:50 p.m. EDT, Rob Roy rob.roy1866@... [electricboats] <electricboats@yahoogroups.com> wrote:


 

Good to hear they stood behind the motor and warrantied the part. Is there a video or pic of the weed cone that you made?

With regards to the weed prop - if it is a stock trolling motor prop I don't think it will be acceptable. First off, the weed props are less efficient than normal trolling motor props. The big advantage of the Torqeedo is in its gear reduction, with allows a slower, more efficent prop than a direct drive trolling motor could use. Even with their higher speed, trolling motors are pretty much universally set to go 5mph at max speed regardless of the thrust, and that's not factoring prop slip. I believe you managed to get 7kph out of yours which translates to about 4.5 miles per hour. Probably about as fast as one could realistically get out of a trolling motor and a testament to the streamlined proportions of your hull. Combine the inefficient prop with the slower turning torqueedo and your speed will be quite slow. Incidentally, I know your boat is 18.5 feet, but what is the max beam? Any idea on the weight?

The only boat I have right now is a solo canoe that I bought before I got married. My father used to have a square backed canoe which was made for an outboard but was fitted with a trolling motor. I have very fond memories of the boat, but the stern kept the speed and range down and it was nearly impossible to paddle if the batteries died. I recently joined this forum trying to get ideas for solar assisted boats. I'm looking at used sailboats, but most of them are too beamy for electric conversion and/or they have a forward cabin which would hamper visibility in the narrow waterways around here. That's why I'm entertaining building in plywood. Had you built a boat before this one? It certainly turned out nice.


On Wednesday, May 8, 2019, 9:04:25 AM CDT, Phil Boyer philaboyer@... [electricboats] <electricboats@yahoogroups.com> wrote:


 

Hi Rob, glad you enjoyed the trip and build videos. The Torqeedo motor is now fine, the issue was the remote throttle that they replaced under warranty. The motor has a gap of about 1/16" between the prop and the housing. It will allow weeds to snag there so I made a cone that I siliconed to the housing and it covers the slot. The motor still collects weeds but now I can through it in reverse and I get rid of most but not all. I am going to add a weed blade that you see advertised for trolling motors and I hope that will take care of all the weeds. I am going to make another video this summer after I complete another trip which is only going to be four days and will be where I left off on the Rideau canal and go to Kingston and then into Lake Ontario and around to my dock at Napanee.
In regards to the pictures that you attached, is that your boat and if so how well does it perform.

Regards
Phil


On Friday, May 3, 2019, 9:54:26 p.m. EDT, rob.roy1866@... [electricboats] <electricboats@yahoogroups.com> wrote:


 

Hi Phil. I watched both of your trips on youtube as well as some of your build vids. Truly a lovely boat and an inspiring voyage. My wife is from Ontario, so she watched some of it too. I couldn't do anything as grand in FL, as the waterways don't really work the same way down here. I don't have time for strip planking, either. Still, I'd love a solar boat to kick around in all day..

I like some of the slot top sailboats that Jim Michalak designed like this one https://www.duckworks.com/product-p/jm-jewelboxjr.htm

They are supposed to float on their side, but I'm more attracted to the idea of the slot down the middle to allow both full standing height while keeping the center of gravity low. I remember you crossing a rough lake in one of the videos and thinking I hope I'm never in that situation.

How is the Torquedo holding up? You had some problem with it cutting out on the first trip but no mention of it on the second. Is it worse in the weeds than a regular trolling motor? The rivers I love around here tend to be problematic in that regard.

Thanks for the vids - hope there are more in the future.

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