Friday, April 17, 2015

A Pretty Ingrid 38

From the launch site to where we raised the sails was a three hour motor to the ocean, in very favorable conditions. We held the RPM at 1000 - 1200 and the monitor read between 1.7 and 2.2 KW at 3.9 to 4.2 knots. At that speed, the motor indicated that we had 3.8 hours. Ocean we stopped the motor and raised the sails, we had a six hour sail across the strait, followed by another one hour motor to the anchorage. Without using the generator, the monitor indicated that we still had 67% charge remaining, so we recharged the batteries, using the generator, which took about three hours.

The second was dead calm so we had to motor the entire distance. Again, we set the throttle at about 1200 RPM, which gave us about 4.4 knots and a projected run-time of 3.8 hours.

The motor had absolutely no difficulty moving the boat and we lost only about .8 of a knot compared to the old diesel. The generator was far less obtrusive.

The entire trip on the second day involved an eight hour motor! By the time we arrived at our destination, the monitor indicated a 70% charge remaining.

So, in my opinion, the motor performed flawlessly. When we arrived at our moorage, the electric motor maneuvered the boat effortlessly into its slip.

Finally, if you were to ask if I believe that I made the right decision installing an electric motor at the beginning of the trip, I would have said that I'm worried about the size of the motor for a boat this heavy. If you were to ask me now, after this test run, my response would be, "Hell yeah!" Granted, it'll never have the range of a diesel; but if I have to motor anywhere, regardless of the power plant, for eight hours, I'd much rather stay moored and go for a paddle, or a hike, or a run. I think you get my point...this is a sailboat and I'd rather not go anywhere if the winds aren't right.