How I got started in Converting boats from Diesel to Electric power

Always a boater (both sail and power), I started working on boats professionally in the mid 90’s, starting out at the Great Bay Marina in Portsmouth, NH. Then I began working on 12 meter cup boats in Bristol and Wickford, RI. I even met Olin Stevens, when we launched the 12 meter Intrepid in Bristol.

Eventually I wound up at Wilbur Yachts in Southwest Harbor Maine, where I worked with a great group of women and men building classic downeast lobster yachts in the boat building capital of the northeast. I specialized in marine electronics.

One of my favorite projects while at Wilbur was refitting an older Wilbur 46 for its new owner to tackle the northwest passage. I installed a mountain of technology and systems. (The passage went well!)

MY FIRST ELECTRIC YACHT CONVERSION

While living in Maine, I built a barn big enough to fit Cool Change, my 26 foot British built Heavenly Twins catamaran by designer Pat Patterson.

That first winter in the barn I stripped her of every piece of hardware and prepped for new Awlgrip paint job. I removed and sold one of her diesels and shopped for a suitable electric drive.

I was determined to go hybrid - it would give me redundancy while cruising and I wouldn’t take a diesel bath in order to work on at least one of my engines. Electric Yacht had just what I was looking for - I promptly ordered a 5K unit.

ELECTRIC BOATING TAKES OFF

Word spread pretty fast. Everyone was fascinated by my electric stealth cruising on Cool Change. My second electric boat conversion was a 1960’s Cape Cod Marlin, also a 5k unit to replace a smoke belching Palmer 10 hp gas engine. You can read about more of my projects on the customer project page. (Coming soon!)

While I am an electric boating enthusiast, electric propulsion isn’t for everyone. Give me a call and we can talk about whether or not electric can power your cruising/boating style.