Something I did not know about landfills, an interesting read, and some Cosplay Barbie news…
The June issue of Caribbean Compass has an interesting article about crossing the Atlantic west to east entitled Crossing the Atlantic, an Electric-Powered Passage: Part II. It’s worth the read. However, I have a few quibbles with the methodology and how it might play out with someone on a VolksCruiserish budget. I expect I’ll say more on the subject in the not too distant future.
I mention this because all boat projects should really have a realistic budget attached before one gets into it. I’m not sure what the above project was costed at before starting, but whatever it was, it’s not the sort within the realm of VolksCruising. That said, if I had very deep pockets I might very well do a similar system. Like I said, the article is well worth reading (as is part 1).
So, here’s a thought… what would you consider a potential propulsion system for a VolksCruiser voyage with plans to sail from St Martin to the UK. Tell me what sort of hypothetical boat and the desired budget and I’ll try my best to sort out a doable sustainable system that you don’t have to sell both your kidneys to afford.
Let me know what you think…
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A friend did St Martin- UK without an engine, or to be more correct, a non functional outboard on a lightweight 38ft ply sloop.
If you want to stop at Azores even the main anchorages can be sailed into. The bigger question would then be, what are you doing with the boat when you get to the UK, because if its getting off permenently, then paying for a repower is the biggest waste of money.
15Kw of lithium! I did the same journey in the opposite direction with a single 120Ah battery.
I just dont get it anymore. Since when does waiting for wind if becalmed become a no-no? Have a schedule to keep, a podcast to broadcast from mid ocean?
A 10hp diesel, a 200AH lithium and some solar would do me. I must be doing something wrong as i dont have a washer/dryer or fridge freezer, electric windlasses or starlink.
I only have one question, do these people believe they are getting a good return on investment? I didnt realize i was such a minimalist until i read articles like this and figure how the cruising budget could be significantly extended by dropping “stuff”. To each their own.
That’s my question as well…
We once crossed the Atlantic with a 9.9 HP outboard and six gallons of gas. Needless to say we were not going to doing any passage making under power. We also found ourselves stuck in the middle of a high which left us in a windless hole for a few weeks. I read a lot of books, listened to music, and found peace in the situation.
So it goes…
I had 4 days in a wind hole with the peak of Madeira in sight. Fact is, I still remember those 4 days. I think its those times when we are forced to stop and look around is often what we recall most, rather than just charging through life in one monotonous moment.
Electric propulsion is cheap as chips… if you are willing to go slow.
It’s hilarious to me that people here think a 10hp diesel is somehow more economical than equivalent electric propulsion (less than 15KW, more than 5. Strictly speaking it’s 7.5KW but y’know)
Yes, the 7KW of batteries is expensive… I cost it out >4k (6x WattCycle 12v 100AH batteries would cover it at a cost of >$3k
My solar panel is a 100 watt unit from Harbor Freight. I expect I could get 4 for about a kilobuk
Electric outboards seem to have all their own power electronics built-in, which is probably good, but before I attempted an ocean crossing I expect I would have built a system in which the electronics are separate boxes, all alike, which I can repair and keep spares. I friggin love electricity, and I would a hundred times rather work on electric equipment than diesel or gas motors.
Additionally, it’s possible to put electic motor modules (motor, housing & prop) on the outside of a boat without making holes through the hull. Of course, if they are permanently installed you will have to drag them through the water when sailing.
Anyway I am a boat dope with lots of electric knowledge and little boat knowledge. I feel, from having read this blog from beginning up to this post, that y’all here are thinking out of a different context & either missing something I’m seeing or know reasons why things I think will work, won’t.
But I am going to electrify the heck out of mboat, and it will be un-engined. So I will find out what works and what doesn’t.
Nothing is wrong with electric propulsion, all the time you have the sun-hours to charge it. Look what happened to “sailing Uma” when they went North, had to buy a generator and the petrol to run it. Its is FAR less efficient to run an engine to produce electric with the losses involved, than to just run a simple diesel with twice the energy density of gas. For those living in Northern regions without access to land based plug-in charging, electric does not work so well.
When the time comes that a towed generator can input more power than being consumed by the motor driving the boat through the water, give me a shout!
Why did they “have” to buy a generator?
Has no one else has ever crossed the Atlantic on electric power?
Why is the comparison of gas vs. diesel relevant to the usability of electric power?
You said all these things in reply to my casting doubt on the proposition that 10hp of diesel is “more economical” than 7.5KW of electric.
I don’t know why “sailing Uma” sailed away from the sun. The whole thing of the Earth’s axial tilt with respect to the Sun is pretty well-known. If you let a planet get in between you and the Sun, you are going to have some issues recharging from solar.
It also presents some difficulties with sailing, but sailing at night is, I concede, a lot more practical that solar-charging at night.
As a side note: I don’t know if this will surprise you, but it surprised me: I once got a noticeable charge from a full moon! Enough to wake up the solar controller, anyway. It couldn’t have been more than a few milliamps, I don’t imagine (this was a single 100w panel). But still- neat!
BUT, if you go away from land, the only way to get diesel is to have someone bring it to you, probably burning diesel. Every drop of diesel you burn costs money. Paying to burn diesel to get diesel to burn costs more-than-double money.
You were fine with spending 4 days in a wind hole (sounds like a nice time to me tbh), but UMA “had to” buy a generator? It sounds like your priorities and plans are different from theirs. Possibly they had an appointment they needed to catch?
It sounds to me like they got into a hurry and had to spend money to get out of it – but I’m not going to watch a bunch of youtube to find out, yuck
I’ll just weigh in here and say I’ve never heard of any sailboat in our size range (20-40 feet) that has crossed an ocean using only electric propulsion. Or, for that matter, with an internal combustion engine. While some boats may have used engines or motors to assist a crossing from time to time but it’s a lot different than actually crossing the Atlantic under power.
You never heard of Sieko? I met him in St Lucia. 2.5hp tohatsu.
https://www.tohatsu.com/marine/na/news/seiko.html
I thought about adding that link to the post but decided not to because it was not a sailboat and built to a specific purpose of crossing the Atlantic with a 2.5HP engine.
Also these guys….
http://soundingsonline.com/news/tiny-trawler-crosses-atlantic/
Though that amount of fuel burn is beyond my pocket, its minor compared to bigger yachts.
Why did they “have” to buy a generator?
They lacked in solar array and places to get a shore charge. Sailing around ice bergs and ice pack without a means of propulsion would be silly in the extreme too. I guess they use more electric as youtube content makers and running a starlink system. To each their own, but it gets irritating to hear from the Green crowd about how eco friendly they are ,charging 15Kw of lithium dug out of the ground using child labour, using a petrol generator, while complaining about someone using a 30 year old diesel that can get 50mpg. Oil is consumed in the production off all that stuff too.
They couldn’t get a shore charge at the place where they bought the generator?
Diesel is good, but I don’t believe you’re going to get 50mpg in a boat unless you are also sailing.