Re:Electric propulsion on CAL 34 & 40 Bloggage

Interesting Blog. This month's Practical Sailor Magazine has a review on electrical propulsion for sailboats. They reviewed 3 different methods and concluded that the electric boat is not quite ready for prime time. The main disadvantage is cruising distance when compared to diesel systems. Far too short at 15-20 miles, to be practical to the average cruiser. I am ready to re-power and wish that electric made more sense but I'm buying a Kabota diesel from Joe DeMeers. Fair winds & calm seas, Dan S/V Sound Discovery, a classic Cal-34 sailboat

True Diesel does make more sense for most people Dan...but for those interested there is not a lot of quality information around and most of the "Tests" I have come across are of the testing apples sort and then complaining that they are not indeed oranges. Plus most systems out there for sale are less than they could be. A lot of reinventing the wheel when all of the various bits have been more than ready for prime time for years. On the other hand my CAL 34 with an electric drive has been quite the happy camper and done every thing I have asked of it in the last six years with no out of battery woes or coming up short when needed. We use it just as much or more then the Atomic Four it replaced. Then again my wife and I really like to sail so any engine or motor in a boat we own is going to be an auxiliary in the true sense of the word. The added storage space is a godsend as well! Plus being sort of a cheap seats kinda guy there is a lot to be said for a propulsion system that can be replaced if need be for less than most diesel repairs come to( under $1200) or a complete backup system be stored in a medium sized locker. Just for the record the boat is Caribbean based and we routinely sail between St Thomas/St Martin and down to Trinidad at least a couple of times a year averaging between four and five thousand miles a year. So we have put it through it paces in a real world setting. Like I said not for everybody but for those who are interested it is a doable option. Bob http://boatbits.blogspot.com/