Maybe I'm just a bad "surfer", but I have not
been able to find anything on the net about electric
motors for sailboats.<br>Is this the place? <br>Maybe
you can help?<br>I live on my 38' sailboat in the
Nederlands Antilles, one of the Caribbean islands.<br>I have
a little sailshop here, and obviously cherish wind,
water and the sun. <br>My boat is fittet with
solarpanels and 1 windgenerator, enough to keep me going on a
daily basis, TV, fridge lights, fans etc.<br><br>I'm
also the unhappy owner of a 32 year old Perkins diesel
engine, ex-40 Hp. (4-107) This engine has seen a lot of
saltwater - also in places where no saltwater should
be!<br>Rather than exchange the old dear for a newer model with
the same smell, noise and polution, I would like to
install an electric motor. <br><br>My thoughts are: I
only need the motor for getting in and out of harbours
and anchorages...and out of trouble. A 1-2 hours
range would be fine. After 2 hours I either sail, am
back in the marina - or on the rocks.<br>The boat is
heavy allready, so more batteries would not really be a
problem. And think about all the weight I'll save dumping
the old engine with its 40 gallon diesel tank! I
figure that the boat weighs 20 ton, maybe a couple more
with all my personal junk on board.<br><br>A new
diesel is $7-9000.00, so hopefully this crazy idea of
mine might even be cheaper!<br><br>Can it be
done?<br>Has it been done?<br>Can existing propeller and shaft
be used?<br><br>I have used electric trolling motors
for a small catamaran, and I loved it! Took tourists
up a small river in the Dominican Republic, and
their faces lit up as we "slid" silently past the
mangroves and listened to the tropical birds!<br>But I'd
probably have to mount 10 of those to propel my
boat....not very practical!<br><br>Speed is not important,
but torque is! Refer to earlier comment about getting
out of trouble!<br><br>There might even be a market
here - cruising boats are normally not in any hurry,
and during 13 years of living aboard, I haven't met
ONE boat without the owner considering his diesel as
a: nessesary evil / mean of travelling short
distances / a charging source / "thing" wich will run
different other appl. as freezers and watermakers from it's
pulleys - as they have to run "it" anyway once pr. day,
so "it" won't sieze!<br>(Need I say, that I'd be
happy to provide my boat for promotional
purposes...!)<br><br>With solar panels and windgenerators we can be truely
independent, especially if we can cut the route to the next
diesel filling-station! We are cruising in the tropics
with lots of overhead sun, and tradewinds blowing all
the time. Most sailboats can fit several panels and
windgenerators, we have much more space than a car. And a lot
more time available to take advantage of "free"
charging.<br>So what, if we have to stop in a pretty anchorage
for a week to charge batteries? That's what we do
anyway!<br><br>Again a word about pollution: On land it's relatively
easy to get fuel, get rid of oil, find a mechanic and
spare parts. On the water - not so! Unfortunately I
have seen buckets of dirty motor oil in otherwise
pretty places, filling the boats tanks with diesel many
times lets the vent overflow with big slicks common in
marinas. <br>Usually cruisingboats have an unspoken
agreement in quiet anchorages: we'll all run our engine at
the same time - that way nobody get pissed off
because of the noise and fumes.<br><br>Sorry that this
got so long, I could keep on writing about this,
obviously it's something that has been on my mind for a
while...<br><br>Hope to hear from you, and thanks for the opportunity
to vent this!<br>kirstidrewsen@...
