Thursday, November 18, 2010

1200 MILES

Well, the third season since BIANKA became the world's first Nonsuch with electric propulsion has come to an end. The travels BIANKA has taken this past season total almost three hundred and fifty nautical miles. Bringing the total miles since the conversion to 1200.  This was the season I thought less and less about the electric propulsion system on board and concentrated more on sailing. I became very confident I could rely on the electric propulsion system. I've also discovered it's usefulness when sailing to be able to help deal with the currents that sometimes keep one from rounding a buoy or other hazards. When I had a diesel engine there was always a reluctance to turn it on for the short time needed to deal with such issues because of the noise and the fact that such short term use is not healthy for diesel engines. With an electric propulsion systems that is not a concern but, even better is how quiet it's operation is when motoring . This makes for a much more enjoyable motoring experience than with the diesel and a better enjoyable boating experience over all. 

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I never saw how you supported your solar panels after the failure. What size pipe are are you using for the two panels?

Capt. Mike said...

TS:

Thanks for the comment and reminder. I will soon be posting about the solar dodger transformation on BIANKA over the years. I'm trying to gather some photos for the post. I used the original 7/8" dodger frame for phase one and 1 inch for the extension. All will become clear in the post.