Happy Fourth Mike, Looks like a well thought out package..... right down to the protection of neighboring boats (LOL) Maybe after some trials you can figure out how many ounces of gas needs to be in the generator tank to run it dry and kill the engine. Enjoy the Summer. Carl
You're supposed to be sailing Man!!!! I've been there, so I feel your pain.
Kyle
C-65 Lucky Dawg
This year will certainly go down as the worst for The Princess and I.
Late start, unfinished projects, burned out motor controller, hit by free roaming sailboats...twice!
Spent the eavning of the Fourth out on the boat, good times, company,etc. after the fireworks we decided to toddle around abit. After a mile or so I smelled a little ozone and the electric inboard shut down. Luckily there was just enough breeze to sail back to the buoy. A couple days later I had time to go check it out and found that the controller was dead. Of course that one is no longer made so things had to be rewired abit for the new one. Still having problems after many frustrating hours.
There is a beautiful new Commander in my buoy field. ( it has no data tag, sail number is 44 but it has a bridge deck so it must be a higher number ) Chris, the owner, has been working on it for years after it was struck by lightning. He has done a truly beautiful job. A week or two after he splash it for the first time the anchor cable on his buoy snapped. As Red Ink drifted by The Princess her untethered buoy wound around The Princesses buoy and the two rode out the storm side by side bucking in the waves. Red Ink rides a little higher than The Princess so most of the damage was to the lovely red boat. (A week or two later her new buoy failed and she ended up against the docks of a condo association down wind. She is now at the town dock waiting for the city to replace the buoys and I think she suffered more damage in this weekends Gustnado. Poor old gal. The Princesses damage was a lot of red paint on her rubrail, some chipping on the deck and a few gouges in the free board.
Then in last weekends Gustnado a Hunter 25 broke free and spent a little time banging into The Princess before playing ping pong down the city docks. More scratches, dings, chips, crack in the recently replaced how sprit and a couple feet of rub rail knocked off. (I should be greatful it's not as bad as this weekends damage to the stunning C157, Polaris. But I'm not. )
I'm about ready to pull her out and call it a season, but Polaris is sitting on my trailer.
Last edited by Commander227; 07-21-2015 at 04:26 PM.
Wow Mike rough year there. It has to be frustrating. And now 3 commanders with damage from the stuff happening there. So where are you going to put the Princess to work on her?
JERRY CARPENTER - C147
A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiam.
Mike,
Kyle said there is a chance you may have one of the cast aluminium cowl vents like he has on his boat. I have the deck plate and was hoping to replace the vent. Any ideas?
Phil, C-025 Bisquit
O.K., here we go.
After this summers minor disasters Chris with Red Ink and The Princess and I have teamed up and rented a heated warehouse to get our boats back in order.
We both have a bunch of cosmetic work to get thru and The Princess will be repowered with a little 2 cylinder Universal diesel. I picked up the diesel last winter when I installed an electric motor in a O'Day 28. It needed a tranny rebuild, water pump and injector retipping. I got her all cleaned up and have dubbed her " the Heart of Gold" after Douglas Adams improbability driven ship.
Hey Mike,
Glad to see you back!
Dissatisfied with your electric drive? Mooring vs dock driven decision?
P.s. Is Red Ink the no-eyes Commander?
Kyle
C-65 Lucky Dawg
" ( it has no data tag, sail number is 44 but it has a bridge deck so it must be a higher number )" We have her in db as number C-049, but that number was likely given to us by Chris when he registered with the association. Sometimes, hull numbers have been found written on the cabin trunk under the liner on Ariels . . .
"No Eyes" is Chance's old boat Ceili. She now has the beautiful lights installed that Chance had bought for her. They were a different dimension so needed to be glassed up and recut when they painted her decks. She was only blind for a year. Rumor has it she will get her freeboard painted and a new bottom this winter. She is well loved and sails often.
I hope to get some pictures of Red Ink's Pheonix like return to this world. She had been struck by lightning and burned. As I understand it Chris replaced the entire bow section forward of the cabin.
As for The Princess's repower;
I will certain miss the ease of use. The quiet, vibration less operation. And until this summer the reliability. So why change?
The range mostly, and the decreased efficiency since moving to a buoy. The range has been fine as long as I'm not in too big a hurry. Cruising at around hull speed really eats up the juice. I'm thinking of racing The Princess regularity this summer and many times in light wind that requires motoring to and from the course which is on the other side of the lake and it's kinda tight to get there in time.
Also, my son will be moving to Door County, WI. after he graduates in the spring. (He landed a job as a Design Engineer with Marine Travel Lift) Door County has wonderful sailing grounds on Lake Michigan and I'd like to keep The Princess there part of the year. The diesel will be a more appropriate power plant for the Great Lakes and safer for my son to use on his own.
Those two commanders look cozy in there. Maybe there will be an Ensign next fall.
Originally Posted by Commander227
Mike
More than most others I can understand your decision to go to the diesel inboard. I had some serious issues with my electric drive initially but since I finally got all of those issues worked out I now have a really good feel for both the electric option and the internal combustion engine option which I have used many times before.
The electric motor things I really like are as follows;
1.) Instantly available aux. power. When you find yourself needing just a little extra forward power just slide the throttle forward and you have it.
2.) Quiet operation. I love coming into the dock and being able to talk to others on board or on the dock in a normal tone. The same holds true for motoring when we lose the wind entirely.
3.) No messy fuel or oil to deal with on board. The boat stays clean and odor free.
4.) Free fuel. Since my slip rental includes electric I have no fuel cost above the slip rental cost.
The electric motor things I am NOT so fond of are as follows;
1.) Getting to the boat to go sailing and finding that the power at the marina was down for an extended time and my battery charge is low. You can't just pour more fuel in the tank and proceed to go sailing. Charging takes time.
2.) Motoring range. I'm finding that in real life the range I was expecting to get from my battery bank is significantly less than the theoretical range I anticipated getting. Also speed with the electric needs to be kept low if you need to go any long distances.
3.) I am reasonably good with mechanics but not as well versed with electrical engineering. So many things I could solve with an internal combustion engine but not so many that might crop up with the electric drive.
4.) Available repair people for an electric drive are MUCH harder to come by than for gas or diesel engines.
5.) Limited places to get repair parts from.
6.) The potential that you could in fact burn your boat to the ground. If these high amperage circuits are not properly wired there is a very real potential to have an electrical fire that would be impossible to contain.
7.) Battery cost. If you need to replace the batteries (and let's face it that is only a matter of time) it is a pretty expensive thing to do. My batteries cost $2500.00 the first go around and things are not getting less expensive as time goes on.
So while I like my electric drive while my boat is on the lake I'm not so sure it would be an appropriate choice for a "big water" boat.
JERRY CARPENTER - C147
A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiam.
Pricey bigger boats are leaving the factory with electric motors and solar panels. They
are sewing panels onto sails now (SolarCloth mains). Retractable OceanVolt saildrive
leg powered by 1/3 AGM weight lithium batteries. OceanVolt also can get a folding
prop to open in neutral and spin it to help charge the system.
Well, only mean to say: electric propulsion is here to stay big time.
J/Boats J/88c is all electric. OV sail drive. SolarCloth sails from UK Sailmakers.
Gunboat G4 Beneteau foiling cat with a retractable OV saildrive leg. Get it up and GO.
Torqeedo has just arrived with a 100lb 20 horse OB with 10,000 watt input power, 5600
watts propulsive power. 5k. Don't know what batts won't drain immediately or how to
keep them charged from a 26' platform. It's coming, but holy conniptions, it's pricey!!
Jerry, Thanks for the pros and cons. You have some cons there never dreamed of! I'm
seriously considering cashing out some of my retirement funds for this still new stuff.
Don't know what I doing really. Keep looking over here for inspiration..sold my Yamaha
8-4... no way will there'll be petroleum aboard... ever again!
Even talked with OV, who could help me for $20,000 or so with a horizontal motor like
you guys! My Ariel always had a well. And the "bank account" is no way deep enough.
Last edited by ebb; 01-11-2016 at 03:10 PM.
After talking to Chris (of Red Ink) I'm convinced that I caused the controller burnout on The Princess by running her off the generator. He had talked to a tec at Kelly Controls who told him the generator voltage was not clean enough for the controllers. Makes sense, I did run her pretty hard a few times.
C227
Mike thanks for letting us know that. I actually contemplated doing something similar myself and now I know better!
JERRY CARPENTER - C147
A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiam.
Repowered progresses;
Mounts in and power plant bolted in and aligned. Was able to slide it in from the cuddy with only minor disassembly. Using a 3 gallon outboard tank modified for the fuel return. Found a used two lever shift/throttle. A little clunky but needed the two lever as the fuel shut off is part of the throttle assembly on the engine. Back past idle shuts down fuel. Wanted engine weight as far forward as possible so the front mount is on the re enforced cuddy sole. Still need to run exhaust, order a shift cable, repair old instrument pan and mount engine cluster then get creative building a doghouse around the engine.
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