Nothing beats a good discussion of motors

[GreenLake]

Nothing excites the forum community more than a good discussion of outboards for the DS.

I suspect that there are two reasons for this. One is that everyone is happy with their own choices (and few have experience with more than one outboard). The other is that the usage scenarios, whether actual or anticipated, can differ quite a bit.

Your mileage may vary.

I have personal experience with 3 setups on the DS. I've sailed with someone on a weeklong trip who had a 2.5HP without reverse, I've sailed on my boat, both with a trolling motor and a modern 0.3HP electric outboard. (I've used an outboard a few times on a non-DS boat).

The internal combustion outboard was awkward to use and after working the first day, utterly refused to start again. This was doubly annoying as it was intended as a means to "self rescue" from a sparsely populated area. It was noisy and there was some oil leak during transport, some of which got in the water. I would not recommend outboards with no reverse, especially not if you expect crew that is not trained in that to take over while docking. While it had the range to get us home, that became immaterial once it refused to work. (I had better success sailing in and out of marinas and anchorages for the remaining trip, compared to trying to dock under motor).

The trolling motor I used for many years was intended for use in protected waters (some with tides) in (densely) populated areas. Its main drawback were the lead acid batteries. Very heavy and each only good for 40min full power. In over a decade of use, the motor failed once, due to a battery that was dead on arrival at the dock. Maintenance was limited to keeping the batteries charged (and keeping them from discharging out of season). Tidal currents I deal with either by timing, or by motoring close to shore where the currents are weaker.

The electric outboard is super light (including batteries it weighs less than the trolling motor, but despite it's low rated power actually moves the boat a tad faster). No maintenance, and so far, no observed degradation of the battery. The motor is so efficient, that it can be run via DC-to-DC converter from a 100Ah LiFePO battery (the ones sold as dropin replacement for 12V batteries) and should give nearly 5h of runtime. With the builtin battery it does about 1h. I've never had to do any maintenance, and never had the motor or battery fail. (The builtin battery can easily be carried to recharge if your destination or mid-day stop has electricity). Main use is to cross calm spots, traverse under bridges and get in/out of the dock when we don't feel like doing that under sail. And to get to and from the start line if we are racing on a light wind day.

I can attest that this "minimalist" system is strong enough to hold the boat into the wind at around 20kt. (I tried that when I wanted to take my sails down because the winds got stronger and more gusty that what I was happy to be sailing in). I can also attest that it's strong enough to tow another sailboat (a bit smaller than the DS) back to the marina.

I don't have experience sailing or motoring in chop, nor any anticipated scenario where that might be an issue.

But that's the point: each of us has different scenarios. I'm quite happy to rely on what I can do under sail when it comes to planning my trips. That makes any outboard a true auxiliary. I particular, I like not counting on it to bail me out, in the sense, that I avoid going into situations that I feel safe in only because of having a motor. I like to keep it quiet and reduce weight at the stern. I like the utter reliability of an electric system (my success in keeping anything that's small engine internal combustion in reliable working order on or off the water has been mixed). I like the fact that some of the newer outboards are even lighter than traditional trolling motors and I'm seriously eying an upgrade to allow extended range, now that prices for that have come down.

[Bud]

My experience with electric outboards is limited to what I've seen on YouTube. (Sailing Kate Luise, and Roger Barns) I don't recall, if they even said, what the particulars are but both of them ended up needing towed more than once. Not saying that electric outboards are a bad idea: I really have no experience with them.

I used an electric trolling motor on my DSI for a few years. Besides the battery issues that you mentioned, it usually got me from the dock to open water and back but it also let me down a few times. I recall a time when the wind was straight on my bow and I had to get past the cattails in order to have enough room to sail. I ended up chest deep in the water trying to pull the boat into open water. After struggling for about half an hour two guys in a fishing boat offered me a tow.

Sailing to and from the dock is great as long as the wind is at least 45 degrees off the bow. It rarely is in my case.

Last spring I broke down and purchased a 2.5HP 4-stroke Mercury outboard. It runs great and has only let me down 2 times. 1: The idle was set too low and it died as I was trying to dock the boat. 2: I ran out of gas (not the fault of the outboard). The only real complaint that I have is, like you said, it doesn't have a reverse. I asked about a reverse and the dealer told me that outboards don't include a reverse until you get up to 4 hp (I haven't verified this myself.) which would cost triple what I spent for the boat besides that, it would have to be special ordered. I agree, I wouldn't recommend an outboard without reverse, but it's one of the compromises that I'm willing to accept.

[GreenLake]

Our experiences do shape our opinions on this matter, and they are a combination of both the types of propulsion we've dealt with and the conditions we sail in or have sailed in. That allows for quite a range of combinations. That's not the only reason why there's little advice that can be "one size fits all". Because there's also different personal styles and preferences, and, with anything having to deal with boats, almost everything is a compromise.

For example, I don't need winds at 45 degrees to sail off the dock. That's really rare around here. But I do have the benefit of having a sheltered boat launch location so that the wind rarely hits full force until I've had a chance to push off. I do have to sail out of a moderately narrow fairway, it's just wide enough to allow tacking with the wind on the nose. I do not always have the patience for it, but motoring is a choice.

The majority of times I'm on the water, it's for an event. "Race" would sound too pretentious, but they have starts and finish and lots of lovely boat traffic (sail and otherwise) to dodge in between. I use the motor to get to the start line many times during the season, as time required to sail there is too unpredictable, but I don't want to have something very heavy dragging down the stern, especially not on light wind days. Because as laid back as those events are, there is still an element of competition.

I also use the motor to pass through canals and under bridges quite regularly. Sailing is rarely an option, and, at best, in one of the directions only (never seen a strong enough blow going the other way, just the way local conditions are). For that use case, I wouldn't mind, if I could go half a knot or even a knot faster. But I'm not tempted to upgrade for what amounts to an hour or two (combined total) each season.

When using the motor to traverse calm spots (or get out of a wind shadow), I don't mind that it doesn't push the boat at hull speed or even close to it. Because I like the knowledge that just a little wind will let me sail as fast of faster than I can motor; that helps me focus on sailing as that heady mix of skill and meditation vs. the "get me there" mentality.

Lastly, I also go on "extended" cruises, a few hours sailing each direction. I might break down and get some form of extended battery for that, currently if something happened, like a torn sail or a dismasting, I might only be able to count on making it to the nearest shore, instead of all the way home. However, as the "worst" I've run into was a balmy summer's night with only a whisper of the wind, so I was "forced" to enjoy moon, stars and city lights while ghosting home, I've not been too willing to spend money on extending the range. But with prices having come down as far as they have, it seems less of a stretch. For less weight than a single lead acid battery, I could motor 5 or even 10 hours at max speed (depending on whether I get a 12V or 24V battery @ 100 Ah). It's moving from a hard choice to something so practical that it would be silly not having that around for extended cruises.

The 24V would be cheaper (no need for converter) but also less versatile (there are some 12V things on and off the boat a new battery could be used for).

I'm hoping you will be around in a season or two to answer how easy/hard it is to keep your motor serviced. After a single season, there wouldn't have been a lot you'd have to do yet in that department. I can only compare to other small engines (land based) that I've owned and where that aspect was both frustrating and time consuming, especially after the first few years of service. The utter lack of required service, to me, is one of the main selling points of an electric outboard.

While I love the one I have, I may yet break down and upgrade to a faster one -- perhaps.