Thoughts on my plans so far.

[Paul L]

You don't have the budget to do a large, 45ft, offshore cruising boat with an electric drive refit. If you really want to do long distance cruising, then start looking at diesel driven boats that are already on the market.

Relying on a gasoline drive system, whether it is genset electric drive or gas engine direct drive, on a long distance cruiser is folly. Gasoline does not store well in a marine environment, it has a relatively short lifetime, it is a much higher explosion hazard and requires more than diesel per amount of energy.

There is more to learning to cruise than having someone come aboard and teach you to sail. Do you even know if you enjoy passage making or the cruising life? Why not try and get some experience by crewing with other cruisers on some passages. You might fall in love with it and form a much more informed view on what boat is right for you.

[Lasivian]

Originally Posted by Paul L

You don't have the budget to do a large, 45ft, offshore cruising boat with an electric drive refit.

Then I guess i'll need more money

Originally Posted by Paul L

There is more to learning to cruise than having someone come aboard and teach you to sail. Do you even know if you enjoy passage making or the cruising life? Why not try and get some experience by crewing with other cruisers on some passages. You might fall in love with it and form a much more informed view on what boat is right for you.

I don't know how to sail. But I have spent quite a bit of time on boats. If this all turns out to be folly then I will have only myself to blame. As I said above, this is a "Victory or Death" mission for me.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Lasivian

Then I guess i'll need more money


I don't know how to sail. But I have spent quite a bit of time on boats. If this all turns out to be folly then I will have only myself to blame. As I said above, this is a "Victory or Death" mission for me.

OK, but that flippant statement is a far cry from what you asked us to comment on

My max budget for a boat is going to be $100,000 USD. (I plan to come in way under this. But i'll have this much cash available.)

[boatpoker]

Another one ... sigh!

[tradrockrat]

Originally Posted by Lasivian

So, dangerous as this is, i'm sharing my plans so far. Feedback is appreciated. I'm wanting to try to avoid major mistakes or pitfalls. (IE. What am I missing.) Also wondering what hulls I should watch for that would meet my needs.

My max budget for a boat is going to be $100,000 USD. (I plan to come in way under this. But i'll have this much cash available.) This boat will be what I live on for the next several decades while sailing around the world.

My thinking is i'm probably going to just want to start with an older solid hull that has no engine, and perhaps no interior, then just build it the way I want it. (I'm an Engineer for a living, so this doesn't scare me.)

Requirements: (Things that will influence what hull I start with)
Monohull sailboat "Bluewater safe" (Cats seem nice, but they increase the budget too much.)

• Length > 45(ish)(I want comfortable space for 4-5 people.)
• Comfort Ratio > 30
• Capsize Screening Formula < 2
• Headroom > 6'

Regenerative electric drive system. (Oceanvolt or the like. I'm not doing diesel. I can afford to start electric, so I figure it's the best way to go.)
Lithium battery electrical system. (Not sure yet if this has to be something seperate of the lithium drive system. I would prefer to combine to have one big powerbank unless there is a reason not to.)
An 11'(ish) RIB Dinghy (This should do all I need. I'm just guessing it will determine what the davits need to be capable of.)
Rear dingy davits. (Having quick access to a constantly prepared dinghy is critical to me. I'm low on motivation, so having to put a dinghy in thge water, then put on the motor and load it up easily becomes "too much of a chore". Rear Davits seem the best for this, but I might be wrong.)
Sugar scoop transom, or a large swim platform. (I love to fish and swim. So easy water access seems very important.)
A washing machine. (Yes, it's a luxury to many, but to me it's ciritcal. Doesn't have to be large.
Watermaker. (Some people would say this isn't a requirement, but I consider it to be.)
No wood decks. (I refuse to take care of wood decking, or other external wood.)

Thanks for reading all that.

You're at $30- $35,000 with just the electric motor, lithium electrical system, and 11 ft. RIB. - that doesn't include the boat you're going to install them in.

My first bit of advice is accept you're not coming in substantially under 100K.

Next, since you don't care about rig, but do care about sugar scoops, capsize ratio, headroom, and comfort - just look at bluewater cruisers 44-48ft. and buy the cheapest one that fits your profile. If such a ship exists. This is where your project starts - get a damn good boat with a damn good history of safe bluewater crossings. Then get to work building your dreams.

Forget the washer and watermaker at this stage- you're building a boat - you can easily fit them in any boat of the size you're looking at if you design your space well.

As already stated, davits are great when you get where you are going, but dangerous on crossings - your RIB will still have to go on deck for the crossing. Also, many people do just fine with a 10 or even 9 ft RIB, but 11 isn't excessive or anything - just an fyi that you don't need to be locked into 11ft.

And finally, I would say to make sure you fully understand what the differences between cruising, sailing, and live-aboard really are - this will drive many of your decisions and what is good for one is often the worst choice for the other. I used to be a live-aboard many years ago. I'm currently a sailor, but I become a liveaboard again in May, and a cruiser in November next year. The boat, therefore, is a cruising boat being set up for cruising. Every decision we make is driven by the purpose of he boat.

For example - you are sure you want electric motor tech - cool, I think that's awesome, but the facts are the tech is not up to cruising needs yet. Cool. It's not a death sentence or anything, it's just not the best option. Yet. It's your boat, do what you want, but do it informed and armed with real world understanding of the equipment. This decision is squarely in the category of risk tolerance, and you need to be aware of that - this a real issue, not (just) old fashioned sailors being Luddites... ;-)

[Muaddib1116]

Originally Posted by Lasivian

Then I guess i'll need more money

I'm all for you doing whatever you want with your money, as long as it doesn't endanger others. But when we say that you're going to need to budget more for your plan, I think it's on the scale of at least twice as much, maybe three times as much. Starting with the boat itself, depending on your definition of "blue water boat" and assuming you are in the US and are talking about US Dollars, I'm not sure you'll find one larger than 45ft with a sugar scoop transom for less than $100k. I think it's likely that you'll need to spend $150k, probably closer to $200k for the boat itself. Then on top of that, I think an Oceanvolt system for a boat that size is easily more than $50k.

[Lasivian]

Originally Posted by Paul L

OK, but that flippant statement is a far cry from what you asked us to comment on

And most of the comments are a far cry from what I hoped for.

You see, I figured people might say, "These are the limitations of an electric system that you'll have to work around.", or, "A sugar scoop transom is going to be far more expensive and complicated than a swim platform, I would go that direction."

Instead I get "You can't do that." and, "Another one ... sigh!"

Stupid me for being hopeful I suppose.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Lasivian

Stupid me for being hopeful I suppose.

No, just uninformed and naive.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Lasivian

And most of the comments are a far cry from what I hoped for.

You see, I figured people might say, "These are the limitations of an electric system that you'll have to work around.", or, "A sugar scoop transom is going to be far more expensive and complicated than a swim platform, I would go that direction."

Instead I get "You can't do that." and, "Another one ... sigh!"

Stupid me for being hopeful I suppose.

OK, you would rather have comments on the details of the electric system or the stern configuration, rather than the blunt truth that your stated dollar limits are unrealistic for your stated goals. Dream on.

[Muaddib1116]

You didn't come in with the attitude that you were looking for an education. Your post came accross as I'm an engineer, I have a lot of knowledge, I've done my research, here is my budget, here are my goals, what do you think. I think most of the comments have been appropriate for that initial post. It sounds more and more like you haven't done any research, even the most basic type of just looking at boat listings on yachtworld and getting a feel for what's available for what price. Not to even mention that you don't know how to sail and seem to not think it's important to learn or to spend some time on a boat before you commit to the life.

[CarlF]

The best way to have motive power for a sailboat is to make it sail well. In selecting your boat pick one that will sail in light air and point well. You should hardly ever need to start your engine.

The electric motor idea isn't a good one. You just can't fit enough batteries or solar panels to have useful range. It will really cut into your $100,000. Once you decide to have a generator to increase your range then it is far more efficient to connect the engine to a propeller shaft rather than accept the conversion losses of converting between rotational energy to electric and back to rotational.

A boat of the size you're considering might have a 40hp diesel to reach hull speed. That's 30kW. At a cruising speed of 6mph you will be using about 20kW. Do the calculation of how much battery capacity you'll need to go 50 miles with that power draw. Also calculate how much solar panel you would need at sea to recharge that battery bank (remembering that solar panels only yield about 1/2 their wattage rating most of the day)

Equip your engine with a couple of large alternators so that it also serves as a genset. Have a switch at the helm that disconnects the alternator for times that you need maximum power to the propeller.

You'll notice that hardly any sailboats use regenerative power. That should tell you something. And as many sailors are engineers at heart - they have tried to make it work.

If you'd prefer gasoline to diesel, that's fine. It just takes a little more care in handling.

I agree that for cost reasons, you are probably limited to monohulls. Since just 5% shading of a solar panel causes it to lose over 90% of its wattage, you have very few places on a monohull to mount solar panels where there is no shade from rigging, mast or sails. Most monohulls max out with about 500 watts of solar.

Still, with care solar panels and a 800 AH (12v) battery bank should be workable for your hotel electricity needs - including your washer (but probably not electric drying).

The rest of your list is quite reasonable.

Again - you're buying a sailboat - a far more "green" and less expensive source of of motive power than electricity. Make the most of the wind.

[ScottMeilicke]

Something to consider is getting a decent 30’ sailboat that needs an engine and electrify it. Something like a tartan 30. Relatively inexpensive but a good boat. Use it to learn to sail, learn how to deal with an electric motor, etc. then, once you know more, figure out the bigger boat. Or just go in the 30 footer.

[Celestialsailor]

You wanted thoughts, so here you go...Just buy a boat and go sailing. To be honest, you probably really don't know what you want. You're just living in your head. You're an Engineer and doing this work doesn't scare you...ok...Engineers work from their heads, not their hands. I'm a Toolmaker by trade and have been both a Mechanical Engineer and Field Engineer. I have built 2 boats out of steel from scratch and rebuilt 6 others. I have cruised extensively. Not one boat I built or rebuilt was "how I wanted it". Boats are like people (I was going to say women) they are really great in the beginning but soon show you thier flaws. Just go sailing now! Buy a 35' sailboat of fair quality for a $1000@ foot and enjoy yourself if you are able to let yourself do that.

[carlosproa]

Originally Posted by Lasivian

Then I guess i'll need more money





I don't know how to sail. But I have spent quite a bit of time on boats. If this all turns out to be folly then I will have only myself to blame. As I said above, this is a "Victory or Death" mission for me.

So after reading the post, I am thinking is a pity you do not like wood as you can probably get a 44 Used plywood catamaran by Wharram, a TIKI44 for say $30,000 and you can probably do a homemade rooster tail type electric motor if you insist on electric. You can make your own LIPO4 battery kit either Chinese kits or junkyard Tesla car batteries.

http://www.multihulls.uk.com/index.p.../1390tiki44mod


Another solution is to look for a ferrocement monohull for $10,000and go to town on de-gutting the interior to your layout design.

https://www.liveaboardboatsforsale.com/listings/88

Or

Go into marinas looking only for delericted steel hull sailboats. Since you have manual skills, learning how to weld is not too hard.
There is a 38 ft one in Mexico for $20,000

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/198...utter-3682681/

I guess my point is that $100,000 budget and what you want to do, is doable if you start with a $30,000 boat as you will need the other$70,000 for repairs, special batteries, electric motor, and on and on.

Go for it!

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by carlosproa

Another solution is to look for a ferrocement monohull for $10,000and go to town on de-gutting the interior to your layout design.

NOOOOO!!!!!