[C320-list] Dinghy Outboards - Electic or Gas ?

[Mark Cole]

Hello;

I, too, got tired of the hassles of a gas outboard and started looking at electric options.  I ended up with an EP Carry motor and love it.  EP Carry is relatively new on the market and have been shipping motors for a couple of years now.  The outboard and battery combo weighs 21 pounds total and the battery can be easily disconnected and handed down to the dingy separately.  My wife hands down the motor and I mount it on the transom, then she hands down the battery to connect to the motor.  Very simple; no more gas cans onboard, no more need for a motor hoist on the transom, and we can now carry on a conversation while motoring around in the dingy.

We have a 10’ inflatable (soft floor) and, while I can’t ski behind the dingy, it moves along pretty well.  We’ve used the same battery during two-day anchors with frequent trips ashore with the dog and didn’t run out of battery.  I don’t have a great way to recharge the battery (AC charger) when not connected to shore power, so I’ll probably end up with a second battery.  All told, it does everything I want from a dingy outboard except maybe allow use of the dingy as a tow boat for the mother ship, thou I haven’t tried that yet.  I wouldn’t consider going back to gas.

Mark Cole
Fiddler’s Green #8

> On Sep 6, 2020, at 10:15 AM, P.F. Ross <pfrstl at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Roger, thanks for asking since I am beginning my dinghy/motor search now.
> 
> Greg, you have mentioned how happy you are with your Torqeedo but
> intuitively seems like your dinghy type would also impact how well the
> motor performs in the wild.
> 
> Is your dinghy a RIB? How heavy? How long?
> 
> Thanks and regards,
> 
> Frank Ross
> Beta Wave #206
> Naples, FL
> 
> On Sat, Sep 5, 2020 at 8:58 PM Greg Flanagan <greg.flanagan at shaw.ca> wrote:
> 
>> Hi Roger,
>> 
>> Sounds the same as my dinghy. I had a 6HP Yamaha and a davit to manage it.
>> But it still just got too much and I hated having to have gasoline on
>> board. I bought a Torqeedo 2 years ago and have never looked back. The
>> whole thing weighs 34 lbs, however the motor only weighs about 15 lbs, the
>> battery 16-17 lbs and the tiller a few more. So now I move the motor from
>> our mount into the dinghy with one hand, and then the battery. No gasoline!
>> Instant start!  We can go over 4 knots if we are in a hurry but at a couple
>> of knots the battery will last for 20 hours. We have been able to use our
>> dinghy much more and it is quieter than a kayak at very low speed so we
>> have been able observe much more wildlife cruising the shoreline.
>> I initially had a 50 watt solar panel to charge it. Then as I increased my
>> main solar system I found I had free energy at the end of the day and could
>> just charge it from my house system without diminishing the house
>> batteries. However, given the range it doesn’t need much charge to bring it
>> up to 100%.
>> I strongly recommend it.
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> 
>> Greg
>> Hoop Dancer #1076
>> Sidney, BC
>> 
>>> On Sep 5, 2020, at 5:57 PM, Roger Nitkin <rnitkin at aol.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> We have a 10’ inflatable dinghy we use when cruising, mostly short
>> weekend excursions.
>>> 
>>> I’m tired of lugging around and setting up the 4 HP Yamaha outboard.
>>> 
>>> Has anyone had any experience with electric outboards ?
>>> 
>>> Aside from the higher initial cost and shorter range, are there any
>> other issues with electrics ?
>>> I figure that since most of our cruising is one or two nights, the
>> shorter range of the electric battery
>>> won’t be too much of a handicap.
>>> 
>>> Thanks !
>>> 
>>> Roger
>>> Summer Time, 1997
>>> Westport, CT
>>