Soundboats

As a newbie to this group I have not followed many discussions yet. However, I noticed that there have been few discussions of electric propulsion in small boats that we use for messing about. Is there any interest out there in discussing and sharing stories about electric power? I built my first electric 24' St Pierre Dory 17 years ago and have been cruising then in Puget Sound since then. I am now on my third dory. This one is 26 ft (Lucky Pierre plans from Glen-L marine) and powered by two 36 V trolling motors. I would love to share stories with those who use electric power or help answer questions for anyone that might be interested. Here are some numbers on my dory. My hull speed is a little over 5 knots and the two trolling motors can easily get there. One motor will drive me at 3.8 knots at max power. My range is 50 nautical miles since I installed lithium batteries. It was 20 miles when I use lead-acid batteries. I have also installed solar panels (540 watts) that will supplement shore power for recharging. Four hours of sunlight will give me 1 hr of cruising at 4.5 knots. For those interested, I have attached a picture of the latest dory. Tom

Thanks Chick, This is just the information I needed. I love it that the magazine still has the same cover, and I will definitely subscribe to it. Tom

Hello, I am newbie on this site, but I have enjoyed messing about in boats since the 1970's. Back in those days I was in Gloucester and Woods Hole and a subscriber to a small magazine called "Messing About in Boats" by Tom McGrath. This was a one man operation. He wrote and illustrated most of the articles. I have saved some them in a folder, but would like to know if anyone has collected and re-published his stories? His stories are perfect for this forum and others might enjoy them. He sailed a Townie all around Massachusetts with titles such as "Townie to P. Town... all OK until the land got in the way," and "Whale watching in a Townie." Great adventure stories with a great deal of humor.