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Sands Herrin
Brunswick, GA
Boat Name: Cat Tales
Model/Year: C22/84
Hull No.
Hailing Port: Brunswick |
 03/17/2004 12:17 PM Pacific Time
I am interested in replacing the motor on my C22 and am interested in possibly using an electric motor. Does anyone have any comparisons of electric verses gas/ what about electric setups and battery charging?
Thanks, Sands Herrin (Cat Tales) |
Dick King
Melbourne, FL
Boat Name: Twilight Zone
Model/Year: Sport/2005
Hull No. 15546
Hailing Port: Melbourne, FL |
03/17/2004 2:36 PM Pacific Time
I have no experience with electric motors, but I would think to get the power and torque of a 6HP 4 Stroke, you would need a hefty electric motor AND a lot of storage batteries. I ran my 6HP O/B for about two hours last Sunday and used very little fuel. Much less fuel weight than the batteries to power an electric motor. |
mark miller
deatsville al
Boat Name: blue heron
Model/Year: catalina 22 1977
Hull No. 7309
Hailing Port: lake jordan |
04/19/2004 3:35 PM Pacific Time
Sands, I built a 27' sharpie(chessie flyer from GlennL Marine) that weighed about 4000 lbs, which is a good bit heavier than our Catalina 22's, but, with a 70lb thrust trolling motor at full blast, she would only do about 2-3 knots. Need I tell you what happened in the bay at Destin,Fl when we were trying to get back to the dock upwind with the tide coming in? Let's put it this way...we got back and the next morning it was too foggy to sail, so we went looking at the local West Marine for a 4-stroke outboard. We ended up getting an 8-hp Honda($2000) but we have never had to worry about tides or currents or headwinds since. And the Honda pushes our 22 nicely with power to spare. Just a recomendation. |
Lance Anderson
Kenai, Alaska
Boat Name:
Model/Year: 1973
Hull No. 2367
Hailing Port: Kenai, Alaska |
04/20/2004 2:47 AM Pacific Time
I did some research on this last year. To get the required thrust is not only cost but also weight prohibitive. Super cool concept though. You can now get a new (much larger) Catalina with electric power. Also there are some cat manufacturers that are installing this technology. |
Paul Moore
Doylestown, PA
Boat Name:
Model/Year:
Hull No.
Hailing Port: |
05/08/2004 5:35 PM Pacific Time
To really evaluate this you need to consider:
Weight of Gas Motor and Full Gas Tank - vs - Weight of Electric Motor (Large trolling motor just may not be big enough) and the weight of appropriate batteries for that motor.
Then how can you charge the batteries vs refueling etc.
I am willing to bet that from a weight standpoint electric will look pretty good vs an outboard, but you may not be able to find an appropriatly sized electric motor. The Electric set up may be more heavy overall, but the motor will be lighter (on the transom), you can mount the batteries in the best spot on the boat for weight distribution, right up next to the keel trunk, centered and low, perhaps a stability plus.
The added benefit of having 2 sets of batteries (house and propulsion) and with a few solar panels, this may almost refuel for free.
Consider smell - in order of prefrence Electric, 4 Stroke (heavy on the keel), 2 stroke - the worst case. Although my Yamaha 2 stroke (100:1 mix) smells a lot better than I remember small outboards smelling.
Price Batteries and Motor should cost about as much as a nice 4 stroke, but throw in the solar panels and price goes way over. esp if you want to recharge quickly (and where would you put them?)
(Someday they will come up with solar cell filament -silicon hair that is actually a photovoltaic, to make the sails with) When the sales are up you have a couple hundred sq. feet of solar cell and UV resistant. (I am dreaming now....)
Anyway - electric is probably already a good option, but the market - and the suppliers are not ready to develop the products needed. What I like about electric - it is easy to do this yourself, well compared to a combustion engine, if you want to, but a $2000 propulsion(electric or 4 stroke) system in a $2000 boat.....
Ah - I am just frustrated because I ddn't launch today...
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Dave Lilley
Schertz, Texas
Boat Name:
Model/Year: 1977
Hull No. 7629
Hailing Port: |
03/15/2006 9:21 PM Pacific Time
I don't have experience with a gas engine on a C22, but I have a 54lb. thrust electric on my C22. It won't get me anywhere fast, but it has enough power and capacity using a marine battery to get me back to the dock (slowly) across a decent size lake when the wind dies. Of course, I wouldn't dare use it in coastal waters or any location where it would have to fight a current (or the wake from a lot of power boaters and jet skis).
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Gordon Sell
Flemington, NJ
Boat Name: none
Model/Year: Catalina 22/1977
Hull No. 7282
Hailing Port: Spruce Run Reservoir |
03/16/2006 6:46 AM Pacific Time
My experience is about the same as Dave L's, but with a 48 lb minn kota for about 3 years. If you sail on a small lake, where all you need the motor for is to get on and off the dock, then an electric is the greatest thing since sliced bread...the motor is instant on/off/fwd/reverse, and they don't stall at inopportune moments. It's even easier to start than an electric start gas motor, much less yanking on a start cord for 10 minutes. You can pick them up with one hand. Better for the environment for sure. Yes, it only gets up to 3 or 4 knots or so, but I think part of that is the low-pitch of the trolling props. I've had no problem making it to the dock with a 20-knot headwind or motoring for a couple of miles when becalmed. Boat handling requires more anticipation interms of slaming on the reverse brakes at the dock. Get a second battery just for the troller, that way you will still have your house battery as an emergency backup. One disadvantage of using a trolling motors is the lack of an alternator to charge batteries. I used to just take the battery (60 A/H) home every couple of weeks to charge it. I think a 5-watt solar panel would keeep one charged if you only sail once or twice a week. This is absolutely not the solution if you have tides, currents, of miles to go on a regular basis. A 120 lb electric outboard would be cool, but they are expesnive you'd have to carry a lot more batteries. Anything much over 55 lbs requires 24 Volts DC so, you'd need at least two car batteries connected in Series and many more amp/hours. I thought about rigging a spot for a gas generator, but then you might as well use a regular outboard.
I just sold my C22 but I still enjoy reading this list. |
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