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

[P.F. Ross]

Thanks, Greg and Mark, good info!

Frank

On Sun, Sep 6, 2020, 2:02 PM Mark Cole <boatnboot at me.com> wrote:

> 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
> >>
>
>