Ok, try this again...

This is for a small day sailor - nor a rubber raft.

The previous message was...

The outboards on small day sailers seldom have alternators, which means
no way to charge batteries.
Best of the best seems to be the air cooled 5hp Hondas - but no electrics.

I've wondered about powering an electric motor directly from a small generator?
I saw a Honda that makes both 12vdc and 120vac - but (at the store) couldn't
find any info on actually usable output currents.

Retail is often so frustrating...
Outboards are rated in horsepower. No thrust rating?
Trolling motors are rated in pounds thrust. No power rating?

I'm thinking a 60-100 pound thrust motor on a 1500 pound displacement hull
isn't going to win any drag races, but should (eventually?) move out.

The limiting factor is battery charge (as noted this thread).

But with a gasoline powered "battery"?

Somebody want to knock some sense into this idea?


Richard


The one response made good sense.
Convert everything to watts.
I can do the electric part easy.
But I'm not sure how to convert gas power to watts?
Or, as he also pointed out, how closely they will correlate?