My recent electric sailboat conversion, using a space-saving "dense chassis" approach

[@MadelineTasquin]

Such a joy workin on this project with you Paul! You're an inspiring human bean! Some of my favourite moments: (1) Ken's Click and a tick and a ping and a ding quote (too funny). (2) "We're bike people"... something about the way you say it cracks me up every time. (3) The starship enterprise🖖

[@fossilfool]

Was fun indeed! And just so folks know, this is the first video on the channel edited by someone other than me, a big breakthrough! Look forward to more. Thanks so much Maddy!

[@EdwardSeatonSailings]

Madeline! It's Shooter from CG :) how the heck are ya?!

[@MadelineTasquin]

@@EdwardSeatonSailingsohwow no way! “tis a small world after all.” Hi Shooter!!

[@jeffreyblumenthal3057]

best thing that ever happened to that engine. So cool to see the exploded view! smokeeeeey

[@fossilfool]

Another best thing was when the $0 use-for-parts craigslist post found a taker for the used engine. My blown Atomic 4 will help another sailor restore theirs :)

[@TheThirdEdge]

Rawesome! Sidebar: I did the same to the 4-banger in my Ford Courier pickup, May of 1980, returning from receiving an award for an architectural design competition in San Francisco to my dorm at Cal Poly, SLO. Yeah, it seems oil is important....

[@fossilfool]

Got to learn somehow. I think this engine may have been messed up when I got the boat, but I didn't know how these Atomic 4s are supposed to sound when they're performing properly. Adding oil would have made it last a lot longer even tho it was messed up...

[@DanielFreedman-rm9bq]

That is really intricate and creative work you are doing; keepi it up!

[@fossilfool]

I appreciate your kind words. I'll keep at it. Let's go sailing again soon!

[@dominictarrsailing]

Love that the pump glows! Should probably make the whole install glow to make it look real futuristic!

[@fossilfool]

Thx Dominic. Yeah my instinct was to make it look like candy, but now I'm planning to make a cover to minimize sound, and the cover would ideally be made of soundproof materials, meaning the futuristic chassis won't be very visible when complete. But I'd rather have a good sounding system than a good looking system, all other things being equal. Sound is mostly coming from the gear reducer. I'll prob make a transparent window to be able to check the pump is working. Thanks for watching!

[@jeffreyblumenthal3057]

so cool to see the motor build ground-up!

[@fossilfool]

Thanks Jeff, and thx for your help on the lifts:)

[@pathodginsv]

Wow. Impressive undertaking! The planet thanks you. Smooth sailing!

[@fossilfool]

Thx for watching. I hope the planet benefits in the long run from this type of innovation. Keeping old stuff working versus throwing it away is probably a good thing for the planet. In this case I kept the boat working, but had to throw away the engine. In fact we posted it on craigslist for $0 for parts and it got picked up yesterday! So hopefully some of that old motor will still get used while I happily go solar/electric :)

[@bcr07pzu]

so so so cool. man i love how you dealt with that initial call with the expert. such a good approach to life to not take it personally and just take information to support next steps. Amazing project the whole way through

[@fossilfool]

Thanks for your feedback. I appreciate it. Yes I was happy to receive the input from Ken at Moyer because at that point I was hoping my block was worth something. Confusingly it still ran on 3 out of 4 cylinders so I was thinking it could be salvaged even though oil was running right through it and ending up on the floor of my boat. That was one of the last 'free' calls he did because they started charging for that type of consulting. These Atomic Four motors are actually high performers and people who are into them rely on this type of help.

[@EdwardSeatonSailings]

This is awesome! I love the dense chassis idea. I've been thinking about going electric in my Ericson 32... how much do you charge?

[@fossilfool]

Wow, are you serious? Would be amazing to do another build while it’s all fresh in my mind. I’ll contact you on email. And thanks!

[@hurdurdur7rl696]

I'm considering bumping my tiny 20 footer sailboat from a 12v trolling motor to a 24v motor (as i have reached the reasonable limit of amperes to use before the wires turn way too thick). Definitely will stay with electric. I don't want to play with gasoline motors again.

[@MadelineTasquin]

right on! And then do you just charge the battery on a trickle charger at the dock type of thing? with solar or city grid power?

[@fossilfool]

The silence of an electric motor when idle is awesome. And the easy startup procedure. No choke!

[@hurdurdur7rl696]

@@MadelineTasquin i have a solar battery keeping the battery charged.

[@auntymaddy324]

Haha you're awesome. Such an inspiring project; turning lemons into lemonade! (and tbh, unfortunately it's refreshing to see a male talking about making a mistake and learning from it 😂) I wonder if anyone in Oakland has footage of your boat smoking out on the water, from shore.

[@fossilfool]

Thx for watching:) Interesting! Yes, admitting a mistake feels natural to me, not embarrassing. I hadn't noticed this being a male / female thing but I can see how it could be.

[@auntymaddy324]

@@fossilfool Yeah it's of course a massive generalization, but I've found generally men of our generation have this impression that everyone's expecting them to be right or have the answer, but it's definitely changing for the better. (In part thanks to dudes like you gettin out there and showing the fruits of messing up and how much learning can come from it)

[@peter2uat]

i hope you'll never regret it with empty batteries in a storm....

[@fossilfool]

Me too. There is a lot less stored energy aboard than when i carried a full tank of gas.

[@MadelineTasquin]

@@fossilfoolwould this be a matter of adding more batteries to the system? for an offshore / overnight trip? or is it more complex than that?

[@fossilfool]

@@MadelineTasquin You can add more batteries. Doubling batteries would be about the most I could see doing in terms of having good places to put them. But some people would say I need 30-50x the range, like this vid: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3u8fIx_eKqIoqc

[@lamtadatadatada]

Could you do this conversion with an air cooled electric motor? I have an me0708 sitting on a shelf

[@fossilfool]

I think you could but maybe for a smaller boat because that motor has a 5000W rating v 12000W on the ME1304. Good luck and thx for watching :) I would recommend Electric Motor Sport if you want to build up a system around the motor.

[@poepflater]

OOh I had a conrod go through the block in an old little Audi... It was quite the explosion while doing 120 on the highway up a hill.

[@fossilfool]

I think we were doing more like 5 when our Atomic 4 busted, thanks for watching :)

[@poepflater]

@@fossilfool hey, but it was in water... But I know how complacent one can get with sounds from old motors...we both know what a knock sounds like now :)

[@peterbedford2610]

Between solar and sail, you could probably go far

[@fossilfool]

It's been fun to compare wind to solar. A medium drives the boat faster than my electric system can without overheating. Thx for watching.

[@elchaposexcitingadventures1674]

This unfortunately is not an offshore use. Your range is very limited.

[@fossilfool]

Do you feel the same way about coastal cruising? In your mind what is the minimum range you’d want on a sailboat? Thx for watching.

[@yeoldegunporn]

Dam. I stop paying attention for a little and suddenly you are out here living the dream. 🫡

[@fossilfool]

Thanks for watching! When were you last paying attention, what was happening then?

[@MadelineTasquin]

@@fossilfoolprobably living the dream