Sunday, I wrapped up a four day 100+ mile trip with the electric motor. It
performed admirably!
The first two days were between Pearl Harbor and Waimea Bay resting
overnight in Pokai bay on Oahu’s western shore. Winds were very light and
we spent a lot of time augmenting the sails with about 20 amps to the
motor. This worked extremely well and we were able to maintain over three
knots. We eventually broke out a Ryobi 2 Kw generator and I was pleased to
find out it could cover the 12V house bank charger and the 48V propulsion
bank charger.
On the return trip home trade-winds picked
up. I saw the motor start to regen at about 5.5
knots (gps). We used the motor to anchor in
Pokai Bay Saturday night, and again on Sunday
when strong winds, waves and current made
rounding Barbers Point and traveling the
south coast to Pearl Harbor very difficult. In
these conditions I was using 60 to 80 amps to
pinch upwind and race home before sunset. I
finished the trip with the resting voltage of the
battery bank just over 51V.
