FORWARD ENERGY

My apologies in the delay getting back to you however it was a busy August with vacation and some great sailing!

Everything is going great with the electric drive. The installation took a little longer than initially expected (don’t they all) so we didn’t complete the work until the end of July last year.  We have thoroughly enjoyed using the electric drive since to get in and out of the harbour and for the occasional augmentation during light winds.
We have the QT 10.0 drive with 4 – 214 Ah Odyssey PC1800-FT AGM batteries for the motor. The charger is an Analytic System BCA 1000 battery charger. The installation was designed to be compliant with ABYC marine electrical safety standards. (See attached photo)

The electric drive makes for more pleasant sailing. Not having to deal with the noise, maintenance and smell of the old diesel is very gratifying.

Sometimes the quietness works against us. More than once I have had to announce our presence returning to our berth as boats coming out of their slips don’t seem to realize we are approaching!

I have also found the electric drive very useful to employ during light winds to help maneuver around other boats. Just speeding up a couple of knots allows us to get out of the way of oncoming boats without having to bother with tacking or altering course. The ability to have access to practically instantaneous power is a nice safety advantage in my opinion.

I have had few issues with the battery monitor. When returning under power the meter will suddenly drop when power is reduced approaching the dock.  A little nerve racking the first few times as the meter beeps as it drops and the power drops below 30%.  However once at the dock the battery eventually comes back (last time to 92% and prior to plugging in).  EY This is a result of the regeneration and is corrected by turning the motor off and then on.

I have also not been able to consistently use the spinning propellor under sail to generate power for the batteries. We have had it working a few times when the boat was near hull speed (excess of 5 knots) but it doesn’t work all the time (at those speeds). We have a two bladed prop. (Regeneration setting is 30)

We occasionally get a little bit of a whine from the grounding connection on the shaft (see attached photo) but for the most part everything works well.

Cheers

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