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Old 08-12-2009, 18:42   #1
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Your Longest Sail without Motoring

I have had it with my "gas" outboard. It's pretty new, pretty unreliable, pretty loud and idles too fast(even after 3 tune-ups).

SO, I am seriously thinking of going electric.

Of course EVERYONE is trying to talk me out of it because of lack of power and lack of distance capability(on the motor).

NOW . . . unless I missed something, these ARE SAILBOATS, right?

I mean, these boats should generally be sailed . . . not powered.

ANYWAY, with this thought in mind, I wonder how long(time) or far some of the members have sailed without ever turning on their auxillary power?

I know Lin and Larry Pardey sailed without a motor, but they're rather extraordinary.
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Old 08-12-2009, 18:46   #2
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Can't remember exactly as most long sails I've done we usually cranked the engine if the wind died and we had enough diesel to spare. I do recall on sail from St Thomas to Ft Lauderdale we had perfect winds the whole way and cranked the engine just to charge batteries.

I personally would not off the engine. Sometime real handy if you need to get home and the wind dies or you need a little extra push against a current or getting into your slip, whatever.
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Old 08-12-2009, 18:56   #3
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We have gone over a month in the Bahamas island hopping, sailing on and off the anchor without starting the motor... but that is on a small boat. (An Ariel, a more narrow and heavier full keel Person).

I think a Sailor would be fine with an electric outboard... unless you are cruising the ICW or other restricted waters. Then a small (we use 6hp) outboard would be preferable.
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Old 08-12-2009, 19:44   #4
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Had an inboard die on me in the Bahamas. Continued on with out it and back to Florida without even a dingy motor. I was surprised at how little a burden not having a motor was. (until it was time to go up the Okechobee waterway).
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Old 08-12-2009, 20:56   #5
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When I'm sailing offshore, I'll run the engines every day for battery charging. When I'm anchored in the tropics with the tradewinds blowing, I may go for weeks without running an engine because I have good wind generators reliabily providing power.

When I am sailing, I have an electric boat. There's refrigeration, fans, radar, gps, computers, lights, radar, autopilot, and watermaker all sucking amps. If I'm charging my batteries, I usually put my engine in gear to give me a little extra push.
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Old 08-12-2009, 21:20   #6
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Interesting thread. We usually use the motor to leave the anchorage and when returning.

But I have had some amazing sails. One memorable one was when we were returning from one September ME to Greenport located between the two forks at the end of LI. We were anchored in Cuttyhunk, MA.

It was a long sail, perhaps as much as 80 miles (guess I don't have the charts handy). We awoke to a strong NE with a lee shore and a good think the anchor held. I turned the motor on to retrieve the anchor with the windlass and continued NE to raise the sails. I went for full hoise main and rolled out the 135. And killed the motor and set our course to the west.

We departed in the AM before 7, I would have to check the log, but it was light out as I recall. We arrived at 4pm

We hit the tide exactly and got lifted by it. The only boats we encountered that windy day were a few trawlers coming out of New Bedford MA and a fleet of big racing sailboats south of Newport.

Never had the motor on and was sweating bullets as the wind built to almost gale force and I had the full main. I rolled in the Genny and dread a gybe as the wind backed and we were often on a dead run.

I finally was forced to gybe OUCH that was scary in the last mile or two. By the time we sailed into the protected Stirling Harbor at about 4 pm we had covered the distance of about 100 miles with no motoring except to run the windlass and set the sails in 9 hrs. So we had done it at hull speed plus a lift of several knots of current the whole way. WOW that was some sail.

I've also sailed from Shelter Island to Newport on a SW without the motor - 55 miles several times and recently sailed from Stonington to Sag Harbor without the motor a mere 30 miles or so.

The longest runs were heading south between Bermuda and Antigua where we wouldn't fire up the engine except to charge the batts for days.
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Old 08-12-2009, 21:47   #7
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ditto

Quote:
Originally Posted by maxingout View Post
When I'm sailing offshore, I'll run the engines every day for battery charging.
One of the reasons I finally installed a wind generator is that I couldn't sail much more than 48 hours without needing to turn on the engine to charge the house bank.

It's never seemed fair that it takes so much more power to sail than to anchor.
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Old 08-12-2009, 22:25   #8
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I have never had an engine in my sailboats. Larger boats included a 26' ketch and a 34' gaff rigged schooner, hard chine aluminum. Sailed the schooner from Puget Sound to Calif, out to Hawaii and home. Ocean sailing without an engine is the easy part. I guess all told somewhere around 10,000 miles under sail, no engine. Longest single sail was from Honolulu to Seattle. when my partner and I got to Honolulu from Port Townsend we were a bit tired, and really looking forward to cold drinks and ice cream. A big fancy boat came in shortly after we arrived, probably more money in engines than I had in my entire boat. They were a mess. Turns out both [yeah!] of their engines had quit half way over. Lost all their food, because it was in the freezer, no running water, etc. Engines are more trouble than they are worth, and without one you can be comfortable in a boat 1/2 to 2/3 the size of the boat with an engine. They take up enormous amounts of room, they stink up the boat, and when you really need them, they quit. I have been long distance sailing on three auxiliary boats, and the all three engines quit. When we 'needed' them. If you have a Pearson Renegade, you can sail that thing into and out of any slip in America. That sweetie sails like a dinghy. Sell you motor and put the money into a couple of solar panels and a couple of batteries. That will give you all the electric power anybody needs. Reading light, running light, laptop. You need something else?
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Old 09-12-2009, 00:28   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SURV69 View Post
I have had it with my "gas" outboard. It's pretty new, pretty unreliable, pretty loud and idles too fast(even after 3 tune-ups).

SO, I am seriously thinking of going electric.

Of course EVERYONE is trying to talk me out of it because of lack of power and lack of distance capability(on the motor).

NOW . . . unless I missed something, these ARE SAILBOATS, right?

I mean, these boats should generally be sailed . . . not powered.

ANYWAY, with this thought in mind, I wonder how long(time) or far some of the members have sailed without ever turning on their auxillary power?

I know Lin and Larry Pardey sailed without a motor, but they're rather extraordinary.

If you're looking for a propulsion system to not use very often why spend any money on it, when you already have one?

Electrics need batteries, which are heavy and expensive, a system to charge them - expensive, and after all that money, you still want to use them as little as possible.

In answer to the question, we sailed a cat (fitted with outboard motors) across the Gulf Of Carpenteria, 350nm in 44 hours without running the engine apart from leaving the anchorage.
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Old 09-12-2009, 01:58   #10
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Guess you are really asking the question on similar sized boats - those who tend to go day sailing as opposed to longer distances? One of our earlier boats was a 30 foot aluminium racerr and it was too much hard graft putting the outboard on and off - so we went almost a year without using it at all.
Once you get familiar, and if you've set up your mooring / pen OK, then sailing in and out gets to be quite easy - and lots of fun.
But don't throw it way - you never know when the mast will fall down.

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Old 09-12-2009, 02:29   #11
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In recent times I've never been without a motor and I'm not afraid to use it.
Thirty years ago, I sailed from Gibraltar to Mar Del Plata without an engine using a towed generator for power.

P.
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Old 09-12-2009, 03:19   #12
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5 days on the same tack. From Cayman to Columbia. We had wind gen and solarpower and 20-30kts wind on beam. Then had to motor last 3 hrs into harbour(zero wind). Couldn't be without engine for long and enjoy being where we are or where we have been. Here in Cayman we only use it to get on and off dock but being down a canal we would have difficulty getting on or off the dock about half of the time.
We use about 5 gals every 3-4months.

Electric has come a long way but check the discussions, it's not for everyone.
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Old 09-12-2009, 04:54   #13
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Last year, I broke the drive saver on my shaft and sailed the next 800 miles into the Village Key Marina on Tortola. Didn't need the engine anyway as the wind was great. The only problem was stopping the 70,000 pound boat when we reached the t-head.
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Old 09-12-2009, 06:43   #14
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If no time pressures you can get about any where w/o engine, its been happening for thousands of years with boats that did not sail like any thing available today. Bridges and the ICW are adifferent story but have gotten buy by begging tows from passing boats.Still,i love my engine when it works nowadays.Get a boat that sails well,go minimal with electrics,provision s etc. .and pretend its the 17th century .Its totally doable. Tell all you may not be back to work monday and keep a good log it may the most exciting time (and often boring) of your life.
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Old 09-12-2009, 11:16   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SURV69 View Post

I have had it with my "gas" outboard.


SO, I am seriously thinking of going electric.
I had a similar experience with my previous boat (21 footer with 2200 pounds of dry displacement). Replaced a Yamaha with a 36V Minn Cota trolling motor fed by 3 group 27 batteries. This set up afforded motoring up to 3 hours at 3.5-4 knots or so at 1/2 to 2/3 "throttle" in calm conditions.

I never had a problem with motoring range sailing around Miami/Florida Keys 2-3 days at a time, but I would not take the electric boat to a longer trip, such as to Dry Tortugas, unless I could recharge the batteries during the trip and/or had enough time to wait for the right weather.

The main problem was motoring against the wind. With a 20 kn wind, the boat could only reach 2 knots or so. In a narrow channel where you cannot tack it can be a problem, particularly if there is a current.

If I did it again, I would double the power of the motor to get approximately 1 kW per 1000 pounds of displacement.
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