Canadian Yachting October 2022 - 44

certain speeds and conditions that would normally be drowned
out by the sound of the engine. We are still having some problems
getting the maximum out of our solar array.
But then we were off. Aside from running tests on the engine
and a five-day trip that I took by myself as a shakedown cruise,
we had not really used the engine yet as we started learning how
to sail Svala over the next three weeks.
The engine was there when we needed it, and we ended up
using it more than we had expected when we were planning
this and sitting by the wood stove with a bottle of wine in the
winter. It drove us for hours at 4kn when the combination of a
dead calm, strangely rolling swells, stable flies and a Southern
Ontario heat alert made us give up on the sails. It was there for
the last few miles into the wind to get to a sheltered port. I could
switch it on and get 2000 rpm in under two seconds when a jibe
went wrong as we tried to sail into a club when we should have
motored anyway, or when a particularly murderous ferry left the
dock just as we crossed its path. We could easily get up to speed
in a few moments and we fueled a lot of talk on the dock about
how quickly she moved when I accidentally banged the throttle
with my foot and sent us rocketing backwards.
We were out for a total of 19 days, including three final days
lazing on Centre Island to round off the trip. We sailed something
like 300 miles in 13 days and over 100 hours of travel from
Toronto around the Bay of Quinte, out to Main Duck and back,
then home through the outside passage. We used the equivalent
of 2 full charges on the batteries and were easily able to keep
them topped up by plugging into shore power for a few hours in
the evenings when we were at a marina. The motor has a total of
19 hours on it now, but this includes an earlier trip to Cobourg,
some lengthy testing, and some weekend trips near our home
port.
The only time the range and charge played a part in a decision
we made was when we had already decided to give up on
beating through 20kn winds around Prince Edward County and
were debating where to put in. This was only part of a calculation
that included steep, almost spiteful, waves, a wet crew, doubts
about the distance we would need to go upwind and confusion
about how to navigate around Waupoos Island. In the end, we
made for the more familiar (and downwind) Prinyers Cove. If we
had known that we had a much longer range it might have influenced
our decision, but I am not sure we would have changed
our minds.
As far as our needs were concerned, the technology was
" there " for cruising Lake Ontario. This electric motor would certainly
meet the needs of most, if not all, day and weekend sailors
on a similarly sized boat.
The old diesel engine hiding under the companionway.
The bad news is that the marketing and integration of the necessary
components is not really ready yet. In our experience, the
electric motor, battery and solar sectors were still more characterized
by enthusiasm and the specialized knowledge of innovators
rather than fully developed business models marketing to
people that would not know about peukert exponents offhand.
Worse, they all worked more or less separately.
Most boat yards in our region told us that they had had several
inquiries about installing electric engines but did not know how
to do it, and we needed help from Electric Yachts to find Andrew
(McDonald of Lakeside Marine) to do the installation.
Motor manufacturers know something about batteries but did
not recommend or sell them together.
Battery manufacturers knew something about electric motors
This is the Electric Yachts control. One control and the key - simplicity
itself. The control is an on-off key switch and the lever takes you
forward or into reverse with almost no delay.
but could not speak to how the specific proprietary systems
would work together.
The first marine solar dealer we worked with had experience
with lower voltage systems for house batteries but recommended
and sold us an array that by definition could not handle our bigger
power needs and then blamed us for not having done the
research ourselves.
We are happy with the Electric Yacht engine and would recommend
it to anyone, but if I am honest, we might have thought
twice if we had known how difficult and time-consuming it
would be to source the right batteries and solar components with
any confidence. It also demanded the patience of Job from our
44 CANADIAN YACHTING | OCTOBER 2022
Canadian Yachting October 2022

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