Definitely get an electric outboard, or inboard or both!GarethC wrote: ↑Fri Aug 25, 2023 7:31 am
We've just bought a 46 year old 33 foot yacht..... The seller had installed 200W of solar panels which charge the 300Ah of batteries and keep the fridge going amazingly well. I'm wondering about getting an electric outboard to charge with it. Will reduce fossil fuel usage even more. Quite exciting what you can do. Might get a small wind generator and more batteries.
Replacing the inboard is a whole level up. Batteries even charge under sail as the prop turns. It can be done but it's expensive, disruptive and range is limited (not great in a blow). We're hoping to almost never use the diesel inboard anyway so probably not that big a win.
I can recommend the E-Propulsion outboards, we have a Navy 6 with 9kWh battery on our 3.3m SIB - Community 'Safety Boat' it's great, gets on the plane with me in it, and you could also charge the battery when under sail.
You could get a 15kW Waterworld inboard kit without batteries (Build your own) for £6k
I've had ideas of making a solar canopy, but a SIB isn't really the best boat.. think we need to fundraise for a new one...
