Electric power is HUGELY dependent on what you expect to do with your
boat. I just got back from taking my boat to the yard. That was 4 hours
at 6.5 knots. If I had enough batteries to do that with electricity I
could forgo the keel. It wouldn't be unusual for us to cover 60-80 miles
under power in a day on a cruise and one memorable trip - for bad
reasons - we motored from Annapolis to Long Island sound. When you have
2 or 3 weeks vacation, someplace to be, and no wind forecast for days on
end electric isn't going to work at all. It wasn't real fun, but we got
to see all of Long Island Sound and actually had 30 knots on the beam
from Block Island to Cape May going home :)
OTOH some people live where there is a consistent breeze and only need
to get in and out of a marina or mooring field. Electric is great for that.
Joe
Coquina
On 8/11/2020 3:51 PM, Nathan Post via CnC-List wrote:
Chandler,
Glad that my ramblings were useful. Honestly, I do think that
electric systems are the way of the future and with an engineering
background it should be entirely doable for you. I am a mechanical
engineer and work wind wind energy so I have a pretty good grasp of
the fundamentals although I am no expert in batteries and controllers
- in any case feel free to run things by me if you want. Sounds like
an exciting project and I would love to follow along and see what you
decide. I also didn't know that Rob Ball had converted his 34 to
electric so that is encouraging and a nice data point! Starting with
a good motor and controller and some cheap batteries that can be
upgraded later could be a good way to go. Maybe I'll start putting
together the specs for a system for my boat this winter ...
Anyhow, if you can limp the old engine along, getting to head out and
sail your new boat a this season while you figure it out sounds like a
great plan. Definitely the best to get out sailing and then see what
things you want to change/improve. I suggest you invest in a US Tow
Boat gold membership (something like $250/year I think) so if your
engine dies and there is no wind you can get a tow back home without
breaking the bank.
BTW, Stu (who manages the list) requests that we all trim out the
previous messages from our replies so as not to fill up the list
server storage faster than required (otherwise every message gets
stored multiple times).
Nathan
S/V Wisper
1981 C&C 34
Lynn MA
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every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal
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