Completely agree, I've been a machinist working within aviation for 40yrs. What corrosion can do to a helicopter that is inspected regularly can make a grown man cry. These large aluminum boats have so many areas that will never be regularly inspected until that area fails.
The aviation/space Museum in McMinville Oregon used to have wrecked Zero fuselage section that been recovered from the coral sea…50 years or so later. It was a corrosion laboratory…..the sheet metal (probably an 6061 or 24st/2024 alclad equivalent) was unscathed. The extrusions exfoliated like puff pastry. Form, alloy, and even temper have to be undertood and controlled. It’s all about Grain structure and chemistry.
I am an engineer, specifically in the electrical, electronic, and computer fields. While I have studied structural and mechanical areas extensively, I am not fully literate in those domains. Although I have never personally designed a boat, I possess considerable knowledge about boats having owned many and electronics, and I can assert two things quite definitively: 1) It is entirely possible to build the ultimate electric or hybrid electric aluminum boat-be it a catamaran or a monohull-that would be perfectly safe and free from all the issues you have outlined. And, this can be done today with currently available technologies. 2) Having watched all the content I could find on this topic and examined the ongoing projects of various manufacturers-an interest of mine-I can say that none of the manufacturers or self-build projects I have encountered come close to executing the necessary aspects correctly. From my perspective, it resembles watching a group of blind cats attempting to play with a cotton ball.
I have designed a blue water boat, A hydrofoil kite boat that is 100% fossil fuel free , I am going to build the hull out of Aluminium for its durability , in watching these shows I'm also learning of the pit falls, It is possible to build a boat that addresses all these issues, sodium ion batteries (they dont overheat or catch fire), hydrogen generators, you can make hydrogen while under kite power (salt water + electricity), specially designed wind generators, hydro power (inlets on foil struts), enough solar panel room to power a small house, AI first mate. If you design from the ground up, anything can be built, the prototype I am building to prove hull and foil design works, I have accidentally designed a new sport, the prototype will be capable of 70km/hr or more depending on wind conditions. watch this space as things progress. 👍
I explained to my two daughters that a tounge stud was an insulated radio receiver and they would pick up John Laws( an obnoxious radio host here in Australia) it worked.
Work with a company that uses 4 aluminum boats in salt water and tropical climate. Corrosion is a major issue. The key to longevity is being very diligent about inspections of the whole boat. Fortunately these are work boats with very few hidden areas. Everything needs to be kept dry. Bildge is towel dried at the end of the day. Anything that is dissimilar needs to be cleaned up immediately. This means vacuuming up any metal fragments after any electrical work or grinding. Can’t imagine it would be possible to inspect everything on a boat with a built out interior. Plugging into shore power is avoided as much as possible. Even with these precautions our boat >20 years old has had multiple hull plates replaced.
Just to pass on something that I read years ago ... If you are docked near a boat that has no sacrificial anodes, you can pick up stray electricity just by being near that boat. And that didn't include the added issues of an aluminium hull. Maybe it is worth a regular check for all boats ?
My plan was to build an aluminum hulled catamaran with zero through holes and a pair of electric outboards to drop in when no wind. I agree about the batteries, but big strides are being made with solid-state batteries, so I was thinking about starting the build in about 4 years. Thanks for the reminder about varying metals.
I'm no electrician, however I own a small outboard powered aluminum fishing boat. Usually I flush the engine, and remove it from the boat after use. One time I had the boat and motor in the water for a week at a small docking area,(no shore power), and fresh water. The very next time I used the boat the engine was very hard starting. Looking into things I found that corrosion had eaten a hole through the water jacket of the block, and turned the head into a piece of swiss cheese, so I believe you.
At this point electric is stupid for mere mortals like us, but these big youtubers doing it, I think is actually the right thing (as long as they know what they're getting into). It brings in more views because it's new and different, they can get sponsorships to save costs, and they can be the guinea pig for us to prove and improve the technology. Although somebody at SV Delos has got to improve that bus bar botch job because that will kill them.
I think Delos2 will be a successful boat most of all because it is a redundant design as far as I see it. Yes it has electric propulsion but with that completely down it can still cruise using the diesel. Also, my guess is soon after launching they will sail that boat up to Scandinavia and sail out from there in the Arctic zone while Sierra is attending school so she grows up in a greater family and society. So they will not be out sailing for months on end - just my bet. All materials have their own quirks no way around it. Brian was successful modding his Amel because he is an engineer and does what it takes and deep dives into the technical background. That said, seeing him pondering how to insulate the boat when the hull was mostly welded up made my eyebrows raise big time. Am not that into boat design but am an engineer myself. If heat insulation is a key part of a structure - and it obviously is on an aluminium vessel meant for permanent occupancy - it should be designed around it! How could they release the plans for production without having a clear concept regarding this? I struggled a lot to retrofit insulating my house - several magnitudes less critical - and even then I suffer a lot because the structure was not designed with this level of insulation in mind. How can anyone improvise this on a brand new vessel which even I landlubber know is useless without a very good insulation? The electrical power channel is another astonishment for me - not because he uses busbars but because he placed them into an inaccessible place within the metal structure. I DIYd my off-grid solar system and for this exact reason - being no experienced pro - I intentionally placed every piece of wire and cable to a totally exposed position, with minimal conduits and invisible sections - and even those bother me enough to sometimes pull them out and take a look. They literally welded them inside, and yes they should be totally protected, but it is completely impossible to even look at them or assess their condition. I only hope he will decide to invest into some big ass cable and route it through visible areas on that boat. No I don't think it will kill them. But I do think he will have to put much more energy and money into modifying it than it would have taken to build it properly in first place. And that propulsion will be out of commission for quite some time. Just my bet atain.
Even if the aluminum boat is built right it can still be affected under certain circumstances. I saw a lower unit of an outdrive (aluminum housing) that was partially in the water almost completely eaten away due to a faulty dock power cord near it that the current ate away at it in a relatively short time.
Aluminum isn't 'prone to corrosion' (and since it is less dense, it's lighter than fiber glass). To the contrary, aluminum hulls don't even need a paint coating due to the initial oxidation of the surface, leading to less maintenance than fiber glass or steel at much lower cost than carbon fiber. Galvanic corrosion is easily avoided - or managed (since all non-noble matter decays) - by using e.g. brass fittings, instead of stainless steel. Electrolytic corrosion is avoided by measuring for stray current, isolating any electric equipment to a marine standard (e.g. with potential water ingress in mind - today many appliances, like lights can be mobile and thus self-contained) and - arguably - using the boat for exploring off-shore, instead of exploring a marina with 'dirty' emissions from other boats. For social media influencers who travel the Caribbean, instead of the Arctic, a fiber glass hull is the better choice as they can fix it by themselves (looks polished and colorful on camera, too), the same goes if electric propulsion is the focus, rather than wind craft as it befits sailboat - any metal hull looks like an afterthought if strong currents and large batteries are to be installed, yet, all military navies would disagree (a case can be made about the failure of the 'Littoral Combat Class' which had suffered, indeed from hull disintegrating corrosion). Your sole point of this video is thus the 'gum flapping' on the sailorship of others. Have some patience until their boats have sunk, then make videos about it...
@@SgtKenway "the wynns boat" I actually commented at their site and it turns out that *'Curiosity' isn't made from aluminum **_at all_** , but a balanced composite of carbon fiber and fiberglass* (one highly conductive, but not prone to corrosion, itself - the other isolating from electric currents and moisture) - which makes the apparently strong galvanic/electrolytic corrosion, they had documented on all their metallic components 'curious', indeed. I would assume that the carbon reinforced polymer structure is to be separated from metals by the fiberglass and I haven't heard of such galvanic corrosion on all-carbon sailboats (which again my not sport shore electric appliances beyond the bare minimum equipment of e.g. ocean racing)... The criticism of fantasies of total electric propulsion, here seems valid to me, though - there is no way to compete with fossil diesel fuel in an actually sustainable way for propulsion - a fantasy, arguably hyped by agents of un-elected 2050 Net Zero Carbon policy organizations. There used to be _windcraft_ for propulsion, though, even if long passages will have to be re-scheduled along the currents and the weather (as proven e.g. in Globe racing)...
Was watching the Wynns video and thinking it looks like the same issue that is happening in the Tesla’s. When ever you see the channels pulling these cars apart there is always a comment on how much rust or corrosion there is in very newish vehicles. The car is a whole bunch of dissimilar metal and in the Salt Belt it’s especially bad. I have a Caterham and that is Aluminium panels over a steel chassis. Yep we have issues with the aluminium floor going paper thin. Now on the yacht I sailed on we had a lot of issues with the anodes disappearing at an ever increasing rate when the boat was tied up in the marina… someone’s boat was obviously creating problems with the electrical system plugged in 24/7 and a dehumidifier running. The wynns boat is a giant battery is isolation is not designed into the systems…. Mmmmm something else to think about
Aston M's are ally skin fitted badly over steel - a lot of classic cars the same. I'm restoring my Mercedes bus 'cause it had alloy windows badly fitted in a steel body. The _fact_ is that alloy boats done right are more than tougher than all the other materials out there and far more practical than expensive carbon fibre. I can weld my boats and cars, wouldn't know where to start with carbon/kevlar! I could list all the successful alloy boat building companies and their fleets but it doesn't matter what people who don't know what they don't know - think!
It's not just metal hulls that have galvanic issues, I have a vintage (1927) wooden sailboat that has suffered severe rot around the anchor chain locker because a previous owner thought they needed 300 feet of galvanized chain rode. 😢
Ah ...yeah. Marine engineer here. 30 plus years. There are aluminum alloys made for saltwater 6000 series. There are commercial aluminum electric hybrid ferry's that have little issues with corrosion. Yes you do have to be very conscious of how you design and install your electric systems. Galvanic corrosion index has to be followed with dissimilar metals. With modern materials, all the above is not an issue, nor is it "doom and gloom" .
One of the required classes to get an unlimited master's license as a mariner is 'ship construction and stability.' There'a an intro class to become a 3rd mate, and an advanced, to sit for the Master. In this module, similar arguments were historically made on steel hulls until mitigation techniques and refinements were made. Point being, materials choices are always a matter of compromise; matrices of risk/reward, cost/benefit, availability/suitability, durability/longevity, plasticity/fatigue cycling... While interesting, the video reminds me of wooden boat shipyards' reception to fiberglass construction 60 years ago
Not mentioned was the dangers of Lithium batteries. If there is a slight crack in the plastic housing of the battery and water and especially salt water gets in then watch out. Instant catastrophe. You could burn down a marina with one of those. Not a huge risk but worth noting to design and care for your batteries well. Great video. I love the slightly ironic tone.
I watched a couple do the great loop on an aluminum cat. I think it was sailing life on Jupiter. A place he had issues was the chain storage. He finally put a thick mat in the chain locker area and then still had issues. You are in a boat that moves around so it won't stay on that mat if you are rocked by a tug boat wake. His chain locker wasn't exactly a sealed walled in area.
Interesting. Is this specific to sailboats? I have been Looking at Globemaster YETI and BOR. Aluminum Yachts. It is odd that Someone had them built for personal use and have them for sale so Quick. They have Hybrid Battery systems. Just curious.
Thank you Chris, awesome video! It is totally in resonance with my thoughts, based of my physics and chemistry knowledge from school and university. You are the man of common sense.
the one thing I do feel strongly about is that the diesel/electric parallel hybrid is probably going to eventually win out among the various "electric" options on the market. Basically allows you to still have a basic diesel engine, the electric component is just a bonus.
Ain't gonna happen until new tech is developed but Toyota are abandoning ev cars and going back to hybrid. They were always against ev cars due to their knowledge in the area but we're pressured to do it. They are also pursuing hydrogen.
Go watch last Friday's Delos. Brian has put a coper buss bar down the length of the boat. Not only that, he ran both positive and negative in the same gutter separated by piece of fiberglass. Granted on land this is more than adequate insulation. However on a boat that lives in saltwater not so much. It's not going to take a whole lot of salt water intrusion into that fiberglass gutter to make things go BOOM. The positive buss bar has over a 1000 amps of fault current readily available. Probably more than that but Brian designed the buss to cary 1200A. I am in the dark on the battery he is planning on installing but I have a feeling the available fault current is very much higher than a 1000A.
@ electrolysis between copper, bronze, and fiberglass? I was thinking the high conductivity of salt water shorting positive to negative this generating an enormous amount of heat possibly burning right through the thin fiberglass barrier between the two buss bars. Then you have what we call in the electrical world a bolted fault. Hence the boom.
Chris, I've been following SV Delos new build. I love watching what they do and how they go about it. However, I was not comfortable with the electrical bus design for the hybrid engine on their recent episode. Brian (SVD) is an electrical engineer and I respect his circuit theory skills but my gut tells me the duct that houses this bus will be a potential electrolysis hazard, should water ingress into the duct. Anyway, time will tell...
Aluminum and it's alloys are very easy to mig or tig weld, but if you abuse the process, you will be punished. It is not just the rarity of good welders and their tools, but the fact that there are 20 bad welders eager to ruin your boat or work, and I have met a pig sty of weird qualified welders. Aluminum's temperature condensation can be squashed by insulating your boat interior with cork. Zinc electrodes work fine with 5052 and many other aluminum alloys, but you won't succeed with some alloys. Inside the faraday cage of an aluminum boat, electrolysis is diminished. Aluminum is far far easier to maintain than a rustable ferrous iron hull. Only cost keeps the big boats made out of flimsy steel. Aluminum comes in more extrusions and shapes than any metal.
I will stick to wood or fiberglass or cement, that's it. Dare you to drop a copper penny into the bilge of your aluminum boat, and forget it. Or, I don't know, a small piece of copper electrical wire.
I totally agree with you look how everybody wanted to make electric cars, the future immediately and look at their decline in sales and price. Maybe the future but the future is it now
I'll stick with the more traditional builds... Also, simpler is better, IMO... I'll let others be the guinea pigs - the full electric and even hybrids are like EVs... The limited distances they provide just don't cut it... Having said this, I do have an e-cycle rigged up to look like a motorbike... I like it, use it, and know it's limitations... For my use puttering around it's great. For longer trips, I stick to real motorcycles! Good tips and I guess some of these sailors didn't consult with you before stepping into their nightmares! 👍😎👍
I like the garcia for sure. But i prefer the alures 52 the hulls are also made by garcia but built out by alures has a fiberglass choach house so no issues with deck gear corrosion. Best of both worlds.
I am surptised by the almost universal one sidedness of thinking about galvanic corrosion in boats. Anodes can only protect metal items the are connected to from corrosion if the anode is in contact with the same body of liquid. You need a complete electrical circuit. An anode on the outside of a hull protects from the water you are floating in but does not stop bilge water corroding from the inside. You also need an anode immersed in any water within each separate compartment inside the hull. That needs to be absolutely as low down as you can make it so even a thin film of condensation is in contact with the anode and the metal to be protected. Without that you need to keep all metals (including heads of keel bolts) above the inevitable inch or so of bilge water.
What do you think about steel? I have seen a couple for sale where I'm at, but they are not young boats. Maybe 50~60% passage ready. Seems me it would a loud beast in waves but less than aluminum.
@@Docsimple Bare steel doesn't have any means of surviving so has to be coated air-tight and that protection must be maintained. An aluminium hull only needs coating below the waterline.
Throttle necking gum bumpers, that's what they're called bro. I know exactly what you mean. Once the throttle gets WIDE open, it's like whiskey throttle, and the gum bumping gets going to the degree that its uncontrollable, and only subsides once a complete swamping occurs!!!! Hahhahaaa Have a great day, keep up the good work, you crack me up.
It’s a real issue. Can’t really control what is happening on the boat next door at the dock. Inspect the anodes regularly especially if someone new moves in. If your anodes start disappearing faster than normal with no other changes start looking around for the cause. No one wants to be replacing expensive parts because of galvanic corrosion.
Hi, It's not very correct what you say in this video, any boat can get electrolytic corrosion, small starter battery is enough to make you big troubles. -The key world - any system need to be properly build and maintained! - The more complicated boat system the more comfort you get and more maintenance it's require! the right balance is personal decision. - The limited range of hybrid is not true! it's the same if not bigger than of regular boat! You still have petrol generator take more fuel - have more distance:) (This is only correct to fully electric boats) - the heavy battery this is correct, but light electric motors will compensate this issue, and at anchorage (most people spend 80% of time) big battery this is advantage! - what you see now is modern poor quality of building advance technology boats leading to big failures, technologies is here already you need to use them correctly.
I have been deeply interested and concerned about the hull type and if I could manage to get our Trawler upgraded to electric. This video does help answer many of those questions. Love this kind of videos! Chris, what is the feasibility of replacing a on board generator with solar/lithium system? BTW, the shirts are great lol
What do you think of the system in the Island Spirit 525E? They will have a 55kw yanmar powered generator, a 210 LFP battery bank (automotive grade) to power electric motors (not hybrid), a 24 KWH house bank.
what many do not consider: there are situations where you need to be able to motor against current/wind for hours, e.g. to avoid getting crushed on a riff. With the current electric options, including (most) hybrids, this is not possible. Aluminium is great, possibly the best material for larger sailing yachts - but stick to reliable diese engines!
Hybrid propulsion is not new .Germany had diesel electric u boats in world war 2. Diesel electric boats and submarines are still used by navies all over the world today. We can send space ships to moon and mars so corrosion and stray electric issues on aluminum boats can easily be solved with available technologies . Boat builders just need to implement the available options
Nice that they are pushing the envelope of electric and hybrid boats. Somebody has to do it and it's best if they have deep pockets or sponsorship. If I'm lucky enough to get a cruising cat for extensive ocean sailing, I'll take the tried and true diesels, and preferably diesels with very little electronic controls. In my 45 year career as an electrical engineer, I've worked on a Deep Space/Defense Radar, MRI machines, Electric Utility grid, Communications Infrastructure and recreational electric bay boats. Much of my career has centered around making sure this gear is running right or fixing it when it fails and Electrical/Electronic equipment crapped out all the time. But after troubleshooting, it was always nice to have a large building full of spare parts a couple miles down the road or to be able to expedite the parts to the airport 10 miles away.. When something fails in some far off anchorage or in the middle of the ocean (and they will be failures), just getting the parts is going to be a real challenge, and that's after you've accurately troubleshot the system.
Update from H&H: According to a video posted today, they've solved the stray current problem. It was an ungrounded water pump. The pump has been grounded and they say there is no problem on the boat they were filming from. They appear to be taking the problems seriously and working to resolve them.
I agree about Aluminium being too high maintrnance and basically the issues it has are too high tech for the average person to understand and therefore protect against. It also has some good qualities but they do not protect against the inevitable. I think Delos us doing a good job, he's a bright man and an engineer by trade. So while he might not get it 100% correct, the way they do their videos, everyone can learn from what they do right and where they went wrong. So hats off to them for giving it a go and a good go at that. Perhaps in a couple of years when the true solid state batteries are commercially available with a power density of +500watts/kg, then we could start seeing yachts with 500kw battery power storage capacity. They'll need a massive solar array to recharge them, so perhaps only on multihulls. But you're right, electric yachts today for cruising is a dangerous pipe dream and hybrid yachts in my opinion is the worst of both worlds as has very well been demonstrated by the Wynns.
Agree, there are many floating disasters right now on the water, and many to come. Sadly, it will not do good to the traditional blue water cruiser industry. Social media created a monster regarding generating income. Just look where the whole prank issue is today. Now all follow each other to keep the income rolling in. Recipe for disaster. With all said, give a new meaning to a channel like Salt and Tar. They stick to the basics, namely Wood as building material. No floating solar farm.
Sailing Magic Carpet, Acorn to Arabella, Tally Ho , Wave Rover have all been great at well. Sailing Uma I respect for showing electric as it is and doing their own work. I'm more of a wooden boat building fan watching competence in action and them enjoying the reward. Yabá also has that wooden soul but as a non sailor I'm not sure how blue water she is.
I totally agree on aluminum and electricity, a poorly installed power converter is enough to see "bubbles" of aluminum salt coming up at strange places. You would have to be very careful indeed to make that work, especially with DC Voltages of several hundred volt - which you will need for anything above 50KW. On the hybrid concept though I disagree - why not putting in a diesel genset running all the time at optimized (and less noisy) 1500rpm together with an electric engine - pod, built in, whatever - is far more efficient than a diesel direct drive. And as a collateral damage you get a power source and a real big house battery on top. The battery in my dream model would be relativly small, say for 30 or 45 min of electric operation, for anything exceeding that you´d use the diesel - indirectly. Get an electric outboard on top (say the 10KW golden motor, torqueedo & friens are ridicolousdly expensive), an induktion cooker and the only flammable liquid you got aboard is diesel. Just another collateral damage - no need to carry 50 liters or more for the dinghi, no triple 11kg gas-bomb.....I´d love it! On a nice solid steel monohull.... 🙂
Might just be me and I understand that a really popular channel has the potential to generate a great deal of money - However during the pandemic it seemed that the whole adventure sailing thing was a bit limited - Yet now it seems so many of the popular channels are launching new, larger, much more expensive boats. I'd be really nervous about the financial burden I was taking on.
Submarines dating back to WW1 were diesel/electric, and lead/acid batteries, imagine it, must have been 'interesting' when they were recharging cruising along the surface, I know where I'd want tobe.....Lucky they weren't made of Alluminium!! So in essence you could say hybrid technology is quite old.... Great video and on point!! I have no desire for hybrid, or electric, and especially not Alluminium boats, not for me.........the condensation is a real thing, I just saw a video where this was a big problem for a couple of youtubers heading to the Arctic in their Aluminium Sail boat.
Back in the early 2000s, living on my boat in the S of France, we had word one morning that an aluminium yacht, had sunk in the marina just down the coast in Cannes.. Turned out to be a racing yacht somewhere between 60 and 70 feet.. Had been moored stern to the quay between two classic yachts, all wood with bronze fiittings.. these two had set up a flow of current between them, the one caretaker crew of the racing yacht was woken by a loud Bang, within minutes the yacht was on the way to the bottom with a split hull, he made it off the boat ok. As you always say.. choose the boat that's right for you.. Aluminium might not be the best for global cruising.. BTW, for those wondering why on this side of the world it's spelt differently, it was simply registered differently each side of the Atlantic..
Oh my lanta, you are out of control. Tell me more. lol. 😂awesome episode. I would rather take a vessel made of plywood, fiberglass and epoxy than a salty antenna made of aluminum.
Unfortunately, it's a trend in boating now for things to be more "green" (not a bad thing, just seeing a repeat of what the RV industry and, to some extent, the housing industry has already seen). Aluminum recycles well, so it feels like it is being promoted as this almost "magic bullet" to fiberglass's landfill issue for new builds. Even Bering is now offering an aluminum power cat because they had enough demand (and at least one person who put up a lot of money) to build them. As a company known for explorer class steel weld hulls, if even they say aluminum has A LOT of challenges for use in hull design, maybe the other manufacturers should listen.
However due to the problems created by carbon emissions from combustion engines, such propulsion systems need to be phased out in the near future as maintaining emissions from fossil fuels is not an option if we are to limit global warming
Hard pass for me on electric or even hybrid electric boats. A friend of mine lost both props and out drives, aluminum, after an engine upgrade ironically for the same issue, (aluminum anodes in the engines instead of zink) due to negligence, they were not properly isolated electrically. Took only a couple weeks to literally rot away, made a video for him.
You asked for opinions at the end of this video. My son, age 20, welds for a marina company that has several locations on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. He says welding aluminum is no different than welding steel. There is a process to do it right but the ability to manipulate the puddle is no different. He is certified on several types of metals in the marine field of welding. Don't ask me the certs he has... I don't do the welding thing. I was in the wood construction field while working.
After some experience on a hybrid electric ferry project, I came to the conclusion that this technology is a dead-end for yachts. Hybrid systems in the marine environment have proved to be complex, expensive and unreliable. The benefits are too few for the added problems. A well installed marine diesel is reliable, inexpensive and well understood in any port.
Chris, FWIW... we're Great Lakes sailors & so our goals DON'T include sailing away to Pango-Pango in search of head-hunters. Heading south one of these days on our Beneteau 411 to hang out in the Key & Bahamas is plenty enough adventure for us. IMHO... all your obsevations about Aluminum Boars are spot on. We sure feel sorry for the Winn's... they would have been better off sticking with their lagoon !!! ''Film at Eleven''... for the Shards & Delos.
I was talking to my wife about this the other day. I told her that I thought that the problems could come from the carbon fiber hull. I kinda remembered that graphite is highly conductive. Oh and btw, global warming and the CO2 thing is a scam.
Fitting a Tesla battery on a yacht would horrify me. Just finished my 4th season with a 700ah Lifepo4 bank with external BMS. Still performs like new, smaller footprint and half the weight of equivalent lead/acids
At first thought it sounds like a good ideal. But the boutique be in deep dodo if the sun causes an emp at least with diesel you can make something it will burn. I'd rather not hope it don't or I'm on the right side if it does.
I have never, ever felt ok with aluminum in any boat - I have been ridiculed and kicked from one post to the other - but with the value and opportunity to inspect hundreds of different boats/yachts for the last 10+ years - my best advice is - stay away from aluminum. Just my thoughts.
You’ re talking a lot of the disadvantage about electric boat which are pretty true but aren’t we talking about hybrid electric which mean you can also turn the key and be on a diesel engine or a generator that will get u anywhere as long as you have diesel like any other sail boat ? And have a bigger ability to produce power !!
Anyone knows that ownes an Aluminum tinny/johnboat if you drop lead weights or steel hooks in the hull it electrolysis corrosion pretty fast.... being a sheet metal worker by trade i would not own a Alu cat, monohull yes....it stress cracks very easily with movement, temp and welding.
This happened to Sailing Insieme, it was not an aluminum boat but they had a line from the solar panels short and a current ran through the boat when the sun was up: ua-cam.com/video/52sxW0rpjhc/v-deo.html survey starts at 7:14 and you can see the corrosion, also the crew was getting zapped around the boat. It was just an Atlantic crossing.
I’m like better steel boat it’s more durable easy to fix and if you know how to painting the boat it’s will last for ever there is many all old boats from steel ! Aluminium have a problem if you one time hit the boat and second time you hit the same place that could be very big problem! If you’re easily late very well from inside and you have an air flow you will never have condition ! There is ceramic a paint as well !
its not just aluminum boats carbon fiber boats are the same. Gone with the Wynn and that rapido with the moustache same problems. Million dollar boats f----d
If you seen svdelos newest video you would have made this video about how that boat is going to kill them. He ran industrial busbars instead of wires. Hopefully an inspector stops it. Batteries are going to get better soon so I understand why people building new boats want to future proof and not have to change the motor. Hybrid ain’t it. All electric isn’t ready (yet) so combustion is the only reasonable choice. Also aluminum is the best. If I woke up rich that’s the first thing I would buy. You have to be diligent, but I seen enough evidence with the stuff to know the corrosion problems are overstated.
Condensation always occurs on the "warm side". So, I would say, an aluminum boat soaks up the colder water's temperature and condensate when in contact with Florida's hot and humid air. That's why you need a proper insulation with a perfect vapor barrier on the inside of your boat/house. Any tiny hole in your vapor barrier, condensation will occur.
The problem is simple. And the solution is complex. The manufacturer knows little about grounding theory and analysis. This is an electrical engineers subdomain specialty. Very few electrical engineers have the knowledge and analysis skills. There is no designer in the world that can make it work. But all that said, all the problems of boats like these have solutions. Unless a qualified electrical engineer is contracted with, the company will never solve the problems they created for the Wynns.
As for everything it's all a bunch of pros and cons to balance out depending on what one wants and how one plans to use the boat. Presenting those as if it's only cons is dishonest. When you talk about hydro and solar and your counter argument is "what about when there's no wind or sun, huh ?", it's like saying "what about when you're out of fuel ? HAH". It's stupid. Listen, you can say that about just having solar. You can't say that if there's solar, and wind, and hydro. Yes it's still going to happen, and yes, people are aware and will be mindful of that. It's rare to have neither solar, or wind, or movement/current, like, none of those. Rare doesn't mean it's not going to happen, just that it's rare. If you're not fine with that, don't do it. The range is a known thing to consider ; if one is not willing to get becalmed/too impatient to wait, I can understand, but if you're on a sailboat and if you have the time, you don't need to motor. The real problem is when you need to not get pushed against rocks/reefs, and the only way to do that is to motor, _that's_ going to be something to consider too, and that is way more important than just "oh no I can't get into port by motoring for 8 hours because I should be there in 5 hours"… plan better. Regarding aluminium, let's see how non-aluminium boats fare when they crash into a rock, versus how aluminium fares in that same situation. Not long ago, some other content creators got their boat on a coral reef. The boat is wood and fiber glass, the damage was minimal. It was essentially just scraped, they're not taking in water, but the hull still has a gash that needs to be fixed asap or else it will cause problems. Put the same boat with aluminium instead of wood/fiberglass, I'm not sure the hull is even close to being at risk. It'd need a new paint job/fairing, probably, but it wouldn't be nearing sinking from that. See, it's different materials for different problems. Aluminium also creates a Faraday cage. Plucky from Sail into Freedom got zapped by lightning directly once, had to save his boat from sinking, because he was actively sinking, then got zapped indirectly another time on his following boat, lost most if not all his systems, lived in that for some time. Maybe that's why he's going aluminium (even though _he_ doesn't have the money, and is still just past halfway his kickstarter campaign for financing it) ; not everybody has been zapped like he did. But if that's something he wants to avoid, I can understand wanting to go aluminium (I still think he should have gone fiberglass for a cheaper, smaller, and lighter boat, that's just me, clearly he has other hurdles in mind). You're also talking like those boaters won't insulate their boat, or like they're going in blind regarding materials. Surely they've researched it, no ? Or do you give them so little credit, that you can do some research and they can't ?
Some dude and his wife built a hybrid cat.. prius on the water. something happened at sea and they are dead now.. they were in the news a coupld months ago. I think folks were saying something about the batteries on board.being responsible. sailing is hard enough, untested tech in the middle of the ocean prob not the best idea.
There was a Canadian couple found dead in there inflatable while crossing the Atlantic. They had made it a electric boat. The sea never tells.but speculation was fire. They survived the fire but no mayday. drifted and died of exposure.
Yes, the worst things you can do during going electric with your boat, is save on money, not using the right tools, buy cheap batteries.. The "dude and his wife" obtained a cheap car battery from a totalled prius.. To my knowledge, it is Tesla, who now is starting to use LiFePo4 batteries in their newer model-3. All other car batteries are still more dangerous because of the thermal runaway issue: They sustain their own fire, and when they combust, there is no stopping them! LiFePo4 does not have thermal runaway issues, is much safer, but you still must be careful, always use thrusted brands for batteries, tools and electronics. Never ever use second hand batteries! You don't know their history! When your car is on fire, big chance that you can get out in time, and have all kinds of help nearby, on a boat in the middle of the ocean, its a different story... Alway have safety as your primary source of life ❤❤
We live in a world where a lot of people think they are invincible, and do things without knowing the dangers involved! Why do you think there are so many safety rules in companies? The most deadly thing you can do, is living ! Life is full of of dangers, from crossing roads to staying home and being hit by a meteorite! If you do nothing, you don’t get anywhere. So do your thing,explore! But be as safe as possible in any situation! If you mean ‘Sailing Theros’ when you say “dude and his wife”, they had a mono hull, not a cat. They used a car battery from a Nissan Leaf. First of all, you never ever should use a (second hand) battery of which you don’t know the history of. Secondly, with Theros not being a cat, they more probably had their battery pack under the water line, which also makes it even more dangerous! I believe it is Tesla who now starts to use the much safer LiFePo4 battery cells in their newer model-3, which is a clear message. So on this date, mainly all other car batteries are having the thermal runaway issue: When things go wrong, for example due to overcharging by cheap electronics, they go over a certain treshold, combust, and start a fire in a very drastic way! They create their own fuel, so you cannot distinguish that fire! Here on YT, you can find many examples of how dangerous even the way smaller LiPo cells inside smartphones can be.. Safety first: Some YT-members make you believe that making big battery systems is easy, well, think again.. Even when LiFePo4 cells do not set your house or boat on fire, cheap electronics and badly manufactured cables still are pretty well capable of doing just that! Never ever save on tools, always use battery cells and electronics from well known thrusted brands! Use high quality hydrolic crimpers to connect cabel lugs, shrink wrap them with glued shrink wrap, to prevent air from corroding them.. I even use a IR (thermal) imaging camera, to check the entire system on hot spots. And, with my catamaran, it is easy to keep the batteries above the water line, and easily accessible for check ups and maintenance.. There are many more things you should think of, when you convert your boat to electric, too many to post here i’m afraid. When your car starts to be on fire, big chance you can get out in time, and find help nearby, with a boat, in the middle of an ocean, its a different story! Be safe!❤❤
Hey Chris, your updates are great. I am not looking to pick or shame , but what are some of these S/V channels thinking! Yeah all is great till the CRY FACE starts. And most of the sailors probably won’t be able to collectively fix these issues, major issues. When will the Mayhem stop ! I am losing interest in these builds, so much at stake $$$! Will it ruin Boat Insurances because of these almost Novice builds. Are these companies using the channels to promote their product? I will be watching , your channel and loving you & your content, No CryFace HERE! 😅
Hey Chris. I was also wondering why Delos Brian didn't just buy a Garcia. I guess they are just looking for 'filler' content which I find to be a big yawn. I'll check in back with them when they are on the water again. Re: Sailing into Freedom - Where is that wanker finding the $$ to build an aluminum cat? He looks like he can't even afford a new pair of board shorts. Sure, aluminum is stronger than fiberglass but there is one couple out there that had their new Garcia 45 sunk by a whale. :) The other thing about aluminum.. the sun can heat it to the point where it's too hot to walk on.
There is so much nonsense in this video and in the comments. Have people lost the ability to think clearly and critically? To check facts? It seems that way. Hello Jane. My name is Rick. I owned a Garcia Exploration 45 and know the owners that you have incorrectly identified as having their Garcia sunk by a whale. And yet here you are, perpetuating total nonsense. Did it ever occur to you to check your facts before making claims that are complete bullshit? The couple you are talking about bought a Garcia Exploration 45 to replace their Hallberg-Rassy 48, a GRP boat, which sank after being struck by a large whale. The owner's view is that the whale struck the boat as a protective, defensive action after the HR 48 first bumped into the whale, ostensibly while it was sleeping. So it was their Hallberg-Rassy which sank, not their Garcia. They bought their Garcia as a measure to dramatically reduce their chances of being sunk by impact with a whale, as they quite sensibly didn't want that to happen again. There's lots of ill-informed comments about aluminium boats, Garcias, condensation, etc in the video and comments. If anyone has questions they would like answered by someone who actually has the technical background and sound knowledge of these matters, feel free to look me up at my channel, or reply with your questions here. I'll happily provide some good, useful information. Regards, Rick.
KISS, after 60+ years sailing , delivering the more you got in her the more to fix , Putting a generator on a perfectly good diesel motor ??? & in an Alloy boat , Are these guys getting funded by WEF ? Look at the secondhand EV market , Crashed .
Since you mentioned, Delos,' batteries are good for 1 hr @ 1/2 power. Recharge requires the better part of the day. Other than tooling around the harbor, Why? Her 700+ litre fuel tank offers much range, but still, the wind does what it does.
I don't agree. While some comments are true, they way you talk about is not really fair. You can find a lot of problems with people with diesel engines and bad electrical connections with deep cycle batteries. If the boat is properly fabricated and maintained you can lower most of the risks. Also, Aluminium is lighter than fiberglass, what are you talking about??????? Get your facts right, please.
As a A&P aircraft mechanic for 25 years you went deep on this one man. I totally agree they are gonna have some serious issues.
Yeah it's a disaster
Completely agree, I've been a machinist working within aviation for 40yrs. What corrosion can do to a helicopter that is inspected regularly can make a grown man cry. These large aluminum boats have so many areas that will never be regularly inspected until that area fails.
'You went deep on that man'........
The aviation/space Museum in McMinville Oregon used to have wrecked Zero fuselage section that been recovered from the coral sea…50 years or so later. It was a corrosion laboratory…..the sheet metal (probably an 6061 or 24st/2024 alclad equivalent) was unscathed. The extrusions exfoliated like puff pastry. Form, alloy, and even temper have to be undertood and controlled. It’s all about Grain structure and chemistry.
I am an engineer, specifically in the electrical, electronic, and computer fields. While I have studied structural and mechanical areas extensively, I am not fully literate in those domains. Although I have never personally designed a boat, I possess considerable knowledge about boats having owned many and electronics, and I can assert two things quite definitively:
1) It is entirely possible to build the ultimate electric or hybrid electric aluminum boat-be it a catamaran or a monohull-that would be perfectly safe and free from all the issues you have outlined. And, this can be done today with currently available technologies.
2) Having watched all the content I could find on this topic and examined the ongoing projects of various manufacturers-an interest of mine-I can say that none of the manufacturers or self-build projects I have encountered come close to executing the necessary aspects correctly.
From my perspective, it resembles watching a group of blind cats attempting to play with a cotton ball.
I’m super curious to hear an outline of how you would do it (and where current builders are going wrong). Your post is a tease! Lol
@@hillaryc.3727 first time I've ever been accused of being a tease. LOL
I have designed a blue water boat, A hydrofoil kite boat that is 100% fossil fuel free , I am going to build the hull out of Aluminium for its durability , in watching these shows I'm also learning of the pit falls, It is possible to build a boat that addresses all these issues, sodium ion batteries (they dont overheat or catch fire), hydrogen generators, you can make hydrogen while under kite power (salt water + electricity), specially designed wind generators, hydro power (inlets on foil struts), enough solar panel room to power a small house, AI first mate. If you design from the ground up, anything can be built, the prototype I am building to prove hull and foil design works, I have accidentally designed a new sport, the prototype will be capable of 70km/hr or more depending on wind conditions. watch this space as things progress. 👍
ua-cam.com/video/_rUUlnHr40c/v-deo.htmlsi=YzB1-w5C6CA87R6E
I explained to my two daughters that a tounge stud was an insulated radio receiver and they would pick up John Laws( an obnoxious radio host here in Australia) it worked.
Work with a company that uses 4 aluminum boats in salt water and tropical climate. Corrosion is a major issue. The key to longevity is being very diligent about inspections of the whole boat. Fortunately these are work boats with very few hidden areas. Everything needs to be kept dry. Bildge is towel dried at the end of the day. Anything that is dissimilar needs to be cleaned up immediately. This means vacuuming up any metal fragments after any electrical work or grinding. Can’t imagine it would be possible to inspect everything on a boat with a built out interior. Plugging into shore power is avoided as much as possible. Even with these precautions our boat >20 years old has had multiple hull plates replaced.
Just to pass on something that I read years ago ...
If you are docked near a boat that has no sacrificial anodes, you can pick up stray electricity just by being near that boat. And that didn't include the added issues of an aluminium hull.
Maybe it is worth a regular check for all boats ?
My plan was to build an aluminum hulled catamaran with zero through holes and a pair of electric outboards to drop in when no wind. I agree about the batteries, but big strides are being made with solid-state batteries, so I was thinking about starting the build in about 4 years. Thanks for the reminder about varying metals.
I'm no electrician, however I own a small outboard powered aluminum fishing boat. Usually I flush the engine, and remove it from the boat after use. One time I had the boat and motor in the water for a week at a small docking area,(no shore power), and fresh water. The very next time I used the boat the engine was very hard starting. Looking into things I found that corrosion had eaten a hole through the water jacket of the block, and turned the head into a piece of swiss cheese, so I believe you.
GREAT explanation! You've convinced me to never own an aluminum boat. Just not worth dealing with all the issues, especially with a homemade one😂
At this point electric is stupid for mere mortals like us, but these big youtubers doing it, I think is actually the right thing (as long as they know what they're getting into). It brings in more views because it's new and different, they can get sponsorships to save costs, and they can be the guinea pig for us to prove and improve the technology.
Although somebody at SV Delos has got to improve that bus bar botch job because that will kill them.
It 100% will
I think Delos2 will be a successful boat most of all because it is a redundant design as far as I see it. Yes it has electric propulsion but with that completely down it can still cruise using the diesel. Also, my guess is soon after launching they will sail that boat up to Scandinavia and sail out from there in the Arctic zone while Sierra is attending school so she grows up in a greater family and society. So they will not be out sailing for months on end - just my bet.
All materials have their own quirks no way around it. Brian was successful modding his Amel because he is an engineer and does what it takes and deep dives into the technical background. That said, seeing him pondering how to insulate the boat when the hull was mostly welded up made my eyebrows raise big time. Am not that into boat design but am an engineer myself. If heat insulation is a key part of a structure - and it obviously is on an aluminium vessel meant for permanent occupancy - it should be designed around it! How could they release the plans for production without having a clear concept regarding this? I struggled a lot to retrofit insulating my house - several magnitudes less critical - and even then I suffer a lot because the structure was not designed with this level of insulation in mind. How can anyone improvise this on a brand new vessel which even I landlubber know is useless without a very good insulation?
The electrical power channel is another astonishment for me - not because he uses busbars but because he placed them into an inaccessible place within the metal structure. I DIYd my off-grid solar system and for this exact reason - being no experienced pro - I intentionally placed every piece of wire and cable to a totally exposed position, with minimal conduits and invisible sections - and even those bother me enough to sometimes pull them out and take a look. They literally welded them inside, and yes they should be totally protected, but it is completely impossible to even look at them or assess their condition. I only hope he will decide to invest into some big ass cable and route it through visible areas on that boat.
No I don't think it will kill them. But I do think he will have to put much more energy and money into modifying it than it would have taken to build it properly in first place. And that propulsion will be out of commission for quite some time. Just my bet atain.
Even if the aluminum boat is built right it can still be affected under certain circumstances. I saw a lower unit of an outdrive (aluminum housing) that was partially in the water almost completely eaten away due to a faulty dock power cord near it that the current ate away at it in a relatively short time.
I'm watching two aluminum builds and doodles. All three are electric hybrid. Time will tell how successful. Doodles boat looks heavy to me.
Aluminum isn't 'prone to corrosion' (and since it is less dense, it's lighter than fiber glass).
To the contrary, aluminum hulls don't even need a paint coating due to the initial oxidation of the surface, leading to less maintenance than fiber glass or steel at much lower cost than carbon fiber.
Galvanic corrosion is easily avoided - or managed (since all non-noble matter decays) - by using e.g. brass fittings, instead of stainless steel. Electrolytic corrosion is avoided by measuring for stray current, isolating any electric equipment to a marine standard (e.g. with potential water ingress in mind - today many appliances, like lights can be mobile and thus self-contained) and - arguably - using the boat for exploring off-shore, instead of exploring a marina with 'dirty' emissions from other boats.
For social media influencers who travel the Caribbean, instead of the Arctic, a fiber glass hull is the better choice as they can fix it by themselves (looks polished and colorful on camera, too), the same goes if electric propulsion is the focus, rather than wind craft as it befits sailboat - any metal hull looks like an afterthought if strong currents and large batteries are to be installed, yet, all military navies would disagree (a case can be made about the failure of the 'Littoral Combat Class' which had suffered, indeed from hull disintegrating corrosion).
Your sole point of this video is thus the 'gum flapping' on the sailorship of others. Have some patience until their boats have sunk, then make videos about it...
Yet the wynns boat is already out of the water and in ruin because it’s obviously not that easy
@@SgtKenway
"the wynns boat"
I actually commented at their site and it turns out that *'Curiosity' isn't made from aluminum **_at all_** , but a balanced composite of carbon fiber and fiberglass* (one highly conductive, but not prone to corrosion, itself - the other isolating from electric currents and moisture) - which makes the apparently strong galvanic/electrolytic corrosion, they had documented on all their metallic components 'curious', indeed.
I would assume that the carbon reinforced polymer structure is to be separated from metals by the fiberglass and I haven't heard of such galvanic corrosion on all-carbon sailboats (which again my not sport shore electric appliances beyond the bare minimum equipment of e.g. ocean racing)...
The criticism of fantasies of total electric propulsion, here seems valid to me, though - there is no way to compete with fossil diesel fuel in an actually sustainable way for propulsion - a fantasy, arguably hyped by agents of un-elected 2050 Net Zero Carbon policy organizations.
There used to be _windcraft_ for propulsion, though, even if long passages will have to be re-scheduled along the currents and the weather (as proven e.g. in Globe racing)...
Was watching the Wynns video and thinking it looks like the same issue that is happening in the Tesla’s.
When ever you see the channels pulling these cars apart there is always a comment on how much rust or corrosion there is in very newish vehicles.
The car is a whole bunch of dissimilar metal and in the Salt Belt it’s especially bad.
I have a Caterham and that is Aluminium panels over a steel chassis. Yep we have issues with the aluminium floor going paper thin.
Now on the yacht I sailed on we had a lot of issues with the anodes disappearing at an ever increasing rate when the boat was tied up in the marina… someone’s boat was obviously creating problems with the electrical system plugged in 24/7 and a dehumidifier running.
The wynns boat is a giant battery is isolation is not designed into the systems….
Mmmmm something else to think about
Aston M's are ally skin fitted badly over steel - a lot of classic cars the same. I'm restoring my Mercedes bus 'cause it had alloy windows badly fitted in a steel body.
The _fact_ is that alloy boats done right are more than tougher than all the other materials out there and far more practical than expensive carbon fibre. I can weld my boats and cars, wouldn't know where to start with carbon/kevlar!
I could list all the successful alloy boat building companies and their fleets but it doesn't matter what people who don't know what they don't know - think!
This is all food for thought as I continue learning about sailboats. I am in no hurry and have a lot to learn. Thanks Chris.
It's not just metal hulls that have galvanic issues, I have a vintage (1927) wooden sailboat that has suffered severe rot around the anchor chain locker because a previous owner thought they needed 300 feet of galvanized chain rode. 😢
Ah ...yeah. Marine engineer here. 30 plus years. There are aluminum alloys made for saltwater 6000 series. There are commercial aluminum electric hybrid ferry's that have little issues with corrosion. Yes you do have to be very conscious of how you design and install your electric systems. Galvanic corrosion index has to be followed with dissimilar metals. With modern materials, all the above is not an issue, nor is it "doom and gloom" .
One of the required classes to get an unlimited master's license as a mariner is 'ship construction and stability.' There'a an intro class to become a 3rd mate, and an advanced, to sit for the Master.
In this module, similar arguments were historically made on steel hulls until mitigation techniques and refinements were made. Point being, materials choices are always a matter of compromise; matrices of risk/reward, cost/benefit, availability/suitability, durability/longevity, plasticity/fatigue cycling...
While interesting, the video reminds me of wooden boat shipyards' reception to fiberglass construction 60 years ago
Not mentioned was the dangers of Lithium batteries. If there is a slight crack in the plastic housing of the battery and water and especially salt water gets in then watch out. Instant catastrophe. You could burn down a marina with one of those. Not a huge risk but worth noting to design and care for your batteries well. Great video. I love the slightly ironic tone.
Lithium ion is generally not used for live aboard. Iron phosphate batteries do not have these issues and are much more stable.
I watched a couple do the great loop on an aluminum cat. I think it was sailing life on Jupiter. A place he had issues was the chain storage. He finally put a thick mat in the chain locker area and then still had issues. You are in a boat that moves around so it won't stay on that mat if you are rocked by a tug boat wake. His chain locker wasn't exactly a sealed walled in area.
I think Delos used an isolated aluminum bus bar to distribute power?
No it's copper tin plated , but he's nuts putting pos and negative in the same tray , hope he gets it right
Interesting. Is this specific to sailboats? I have been Looking at Globemaster YETI and BOR. Aluminum Yachts. It is odd that Someone had them built for personal use and have them for sale so Quick. They have Hybrid Battery systems. Just curious.
Chris is back awesome videos. Dude I saw an Aluminum Cataraman here looks in horrible condition ,, owner told me in the summer its like an oven
Yeah they roast , and you don't hear any of the youtubers even mention it
Thank you Chris, awesome video! It is totally in resonance with my thoughts, based of my physics and chemistry knowledge from school and university. You are the man of common sense.
do you have a similar break down on a steel hull?
Yep. Steel rusts. Putting it into the water means endless maintenance. If you were thinking of buying a cheap steel boat … don’t.
the one thing I do feel strongly about is that the diesel/electric parallel hybrid is probably going to eventually win out among the various "electric" options on the market. Basically allows you to still have a basic diesel engine, the electric component is just a bonus.
Agree, some day they might work out the kinks on that one
What is the bonus?
Diesel will eventually be banned leaving full electric as the _only_ option, with maybe a hydrogen or alcohol genset as a backup.
@@Dennis-vh8tz I think we are still 40+ years from that point.
Ain't gonna happen until new tech is developed but Toyota are abandoning ev cars and going back to hybrid. They were always against ev cars due to their knowledge in the area but we're pressured to do it. They are also pursuing hydrogen.
I totaly agree with you, there is also the new brand Portofino, let's see how it goes...
Go watch last Friday's Delos. Brian has put a coper buss bar down the length of the boat. Not only that, he ran both positive and negative in the same gutter separated by piece of fiberglass. Granted on land this is more than adequate insulation. However on a boat that lives in saltwater not so much. It's not going to take a whole lot of salt water intrusion into that fiberglass gutter to make things go BOOM. The positive buss bar has over a 1000 amps of fault current readily available. Probably more than that but Brian designed the buss to cary 1200A. I am in the dark on the battery he is planning on installing but I have a feeling the available fault current is very much higher than a 1000A.
@ electrolysis between copper, bronze, and fiberglass? I was thinking the high conductivity of salt water shorting positive to negative this generating an enormous amount of heat possibly burning right through the thin fiberglass barrier between the two buss bars. Then you have what we call in the electrical world a bolted fault. Hence the boom.
Watch the exemple of the new hybrid HH44 with multiple problems of corrosion
He is so screwed if salt water gets in there.
Chris, I've been following SV Delos new build. I love watching what they do and how they go about it. However, I was not comfortable with the electrical bus design for the hybrid engine on their recent episode. Brian (SVD) is an electrical engineer and I respect his circuit theory skills but my gut tells me the duct that houses this bus will be a potential electrolysis hazard, should water ingress into the duct. Anyway, time will tell...
Aluminum and it's alloys are very easy to mig or tig weld, but if you abuse the process, you will be punished. It is not just the rarity of good welders and their tools, but the fact that there are 20 bad welders eager to ruin your boat or work, and I have met a pig sty of weird qualified welders. Aluminum's temperature condensation can be squashed by insulating your boat interior with cork. Zinc electrodes work fine with 5052 and many other aluminum alloys, but you won't succeed with some alloys. Inside the faraday cage of an aluminum boat, electrolysis is diminished. Aluminum is far far easier to maintain than a rustable ferrous iron hull. Only cost keeps the big boats made out of flimsy steel. Aluminum comes in more extrusions and shapes than any metal.
You know what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna buy a big ol' aluminum boat, and I'm gonna weld it myself! Lol
@ChasingLatitudes Get a little French one.
Thanks Stanley...
I will stick to wood or fiberglass or cement, that's it. Dare you to drop a copper penny into the bilge of your aluminum boat, and forget it. Or, I don't know, a small piece of copper electrical wire.
We'll see what happens with Delos's 50kwh/1000+ Amp "electrical backbone"...
I totally agree with you look how everybody wanted to make electric cars, the future immediately and look at their decline in sales and price. Maybe the future but the future is it now
I'll stick with the more traditional builds... Also, simpler is better, IMO...
I'll let others be the guinea pigs - the full electric and even hybrids are like EVs...
The limited distances they provide just don't cut it...
Having said this, I do have an e-cycle rigged up to look like a motorbike...
I like it, use it, and know it's limitations... For my use puttering around it's great.
For longer trips, I stick to real motorcycles!
Good tips and I guess some of these sailors didn't consult with you before stepping into their nightmares!
👍😎👍
I like the garcia for sure. But i prefer the alures 52 the hulls are also made by garcia but built out by alures has a fiberglass choach house so no issues with deck gear corrosion. Best of both worlds.
I am surptised by the almost universal one sidedness of thinking about galvanic corrosion in boats. Anodes can only protect metal items the are connected to from corrosion if the anode is in contact with the same body of liquid. You need a complete electrical circuit.
An anode on the outside of a hull protects from the water you are floating in but does not stop bilge water corroding from the inside. You also need an anode immersed in any water within each separate compartment inside the hull. That needs to be absolutely as low down as you can make it so even a thin film of condensation is in contact with the anode and the metal to be protected. Without that you need to keep all metals (including heads of keel bolts) above the inevitable inch or so of bilge water.
What do you think about steel? I have seen a couple for sale where I'm at, but they are not young boats. Maybe 50~60% passage ready. Seems me it would a loud beast in waves but less than aluminum.
Steel needs protection from the environment - good aluminium self anodizes!
@@dancarter482 Thank you, that is what I was thinking. A bunch of sacrificial zinc plates.
@@Docsimple Bare steel doesn't have any means of surviving so has to be coated air-tight and that protection must be maintained. An aluminium hull only needs coating below the waterline.
Well then, I'm glad I didn't buy one 😊
Throttle necking gum bumpers, that's what they're called bro. I know exactly what you mean. Once the throttle gets WIDE open, it's like whiskey throttle, and the gum bumping gets going to the degree that its uncontrollable, and only subsides once a complete swamping occurs!!!! Hahhahaaa
Have a great day, keep up the good work, you crack me up.
It’s a real issue. Can’t really control what is happening on the boat next door at the dock. Inspect the anodes regularly especially if someone new moves in. If your anodes start disappearing faster than normal with no other changes start looking around for the cause. No one wants to be replacing expensive parts because of galvanic corrosion.
Hi, It's not very correct what you say in this video, any boat can get electrolytic corrosion, small starter battery is enough to make you big troubles.
-The key world - any system need to be properly build and maintained!
- The more complicated boat system the more comfort you get and more maintenance it's require! the right balance is personal decision.
- The limited range of hybrid is not true! it's the same if not bigger than of regular boat! You still have petrol generator take more fuel - have more distance:) (This is only correct to fully electric boats)
- the heavy battery this is correct, but light electric motors will compensate this issue, and at anchorage (most people spend 80% of time) big battery this is advantage!
- what you see now is modern poor quality of building advance technology boats leading to big failures, technologies is here already you need to use them correctly.
I have been deeply interested and concerned about the hull type and if I could manage to get our Trawler upgraded to electric.
This video does help answer many of those questions. Love this kind of videos!
Chris, what is the feasibility of replacing a on board generator with solar/lithium system?
BTW, the shirts are great lol
What do you think of the system in the Island Spirit 525E? They will have a 55kw yanmar powered generator, a 210 LFP battery bank (automotive grade) to power electric motors (not hybrid), a 24 KWH house bank.
If your doing aluminum, just spend the extra cash and get steel.
what many do not consider: there are situations where you need to be able to motor against current/wind for hours, e.g. to avoid getting crushed on a riff. With the current electric options, including (most) hybrids, this is not possible.
Aluminium is great, possibly the best material for larger sailing yachts - but stick to reliable diese engines!
Hybrid propulsion is not new .Germany had diesel electric u boats in world war 2. Diesel electric boats and submarines are still used by navies all over the world today. We can send space ships to moon and mars so corrosion and stray electric issues on aluminum boats can easily be solved with available technologies . Boat builders just need to implement the available options
Nice that they are pushing the envelope of electric and hybrid boats. Somebody has to do it and it's best if they have deep pockets or sponsorship. If I'm lucky enough to get a cruising cat for extensive ocean sailing, I'll take the tried and true diesels, and preferably diesels with very little electronic controls.
In my 45 year career as an electrical engineer, I've worked on a Deep Space/Defense Radar, MRI machines, Electric Utility grid, Communications Infrastructure and recreational electric bay boats. Much of my career has centered around making sure this gear is running right or fixing it when it fails and Electrical/Electronic equipment crapped out all the time. But after troubleshooting, it was always nice to have a large building full of spare parts a couple miles down the road or to be able to expedite the parts to the airport 10 miles away.. When something fails in some far off anchorage or in the middle of the ocean (and they will be failures), just getting the parts is going to be a real challenge, and that's after you've accurately troubleshot the system.
Totally agree with you. I want fiberglass and diesel. Sure I'll take some solar and lithium but only for powering my laptops and such.
wood and diesel ....both float
Charging your laptop/ phone/ battery drill/ spotlight are way more risky than charging a correctly installs Lifepo4 system
@@gordondyer4587 a lot of truth in that. I have been trying to make a system to charge my laptop in the boat and its more complicated than I thought
@@gordondyer4587 Why so? I think you may have a good point that I just don't see.
Customer service helps define a great company!
Couldn't agree more!
Update from H&H: According to a video posted today, they've solved the stray current problem. It was an ungrounded water pump. The pump has been grounded and they say there is no problem on the boat they were filming from. They appear to be taking the problems seriously and working to resolve them.
That's awesome
I agree about Aluminium being too high maintrnance and basically the issues it has are too high tech for the average person to understand and therefore protect against.
It also has some good qualities but they do not protect against the inevitable.
I think Delos us doing a good job, he's a bright man and an engineer by trade. So while he might not get it 100% correct, the way they do their videos, everyone can learn from what they do right and where they went wrong. So hats off to them for giving it a go and a good go at that.
Perhaps in a couple of years when the true solid state batteries are commercially available with a power density of +500watts/kg, then we could start seeing yachts with 500kw battery power storage capacity. They'll need a massive solar array to recharge them, so perhaps only on multihulls.
But you're right, electric yachts today for cruising is a dangerous pipe dream and hybrid yachts in my opinion is the worst of both worlds as has very well been demonstrated by the Wynns.
Ever seen a lipo fire! Lithium gas is absolutely lethal!
These are not lipo, are LFP, very different batteries.
Agree, there are many floating disasters right now on the water, and many to come. Sadly, it will not do good to the traditional blue water cruiser industry. Social media created a monster regarding generating income. Just look where the whole prank issue is today. Now all follow each other to keep the income rolling in. Recipe for disaster. With all said, give a new meaning to a channel like Salt and Tar. They stick to the basics, namely Wood as building material. No floating solar farm.
Sailing Magic Carpet, Acorn to Arabella, Tally Ho , Wave Rover have all been great at well. Sailing Uma I respect for showing electric as it is and doing their own work. I'm more of a wooden boat building fan watching competence in action and them enjoying the reward. Yabá also has that wooden soul but as a non sailor I'm not sure how blue water she is.
I totally agree on aluminum and electricity, a poorly installed power converter is enough to see "bubbles" of aluminum salt coming up at strange places. You would have to be very careful indeed to make that work, especially with DC Voltages of several hundred volt - which you will need for anything above 50KW. On the hybrid concept though I disagree - why not putting in a diesel genset running all the time at optimized (and less noisy) 1500rpm together with an electric engine - pod, built in, whatever - is far more efficient than a diesel direct drive. And as a collateral damage you get a power source and a real big house battery on top. The battery in my dream model would be relativly small, say for 30 or 45 min of electric operation, for anything exceeding that you´d use the diesel - indirectly. Get an electric outboard on top (say the 10KW golden motor, torqueedo & friens are ridicolousdly expensive), an induktion cooker and the only flammable liquid you got aboard is diesel. Just another collateral damage - no need to carry 50 liters or more for the dinghi, no triple 11kg gas-bomb.....I´d love it!
On a nice solid steel monohull.... 🙂
Odd Life Crafting is also building an Al boat. The take away is don't have an electric personality when sailing your Al boat.
Well done, Chris. I'd like to see you return to the topic of solar powered boats.
I don't see the advantage of an aluminum sailboat over fiberglass.
Might just be me and I understand that a really popular channel has the potential to generate a great deal of money - However during the pandemic it seemed that the whole adventure sailing thing was a bit limited - Yet now it seems so many of the popular channels are launching new, larger, much more expensive boats. I'd be really nervous about the financial burden I was taking on.
Energy density is the key, the difference between liquid fuels and renewable electric with batteries is humongous!
Didn't the aluminium yacht Beowulf, made with the right wind, over 300 miles in 24h during ocean crossing passages?
Submarines dating back to WW1 were diesel/electric, and lead/acid batteries, imagine it, must have been 'interesting' when they were recharging cruising along the surface, I know where I'd want tobe.....Lucky they weren't made of Alluminium!! So in essence you could say hybrid technology is quite old....
Great video and on point!! I have no desire for hybrid, or electric, and especially not Alluminium boats, not for me.........the condensation is a real thing, I just saw a video where this was a big problem for a couple of youtubers heading to the Arctic in their Aluminium Sail boat.
Back in the early 2000s, living on my boat in the S of France, we had word one morning that an aluminium yacht, had sunk in the marina just down the coast in Cannes.. Turned out to be a racing yacht somewhere between 60 and 70 feet.. Had been moored stern to the quay between two classic yachts, all wood with bronze fiittings.. these two had set up a flow of current between them, the one caretaker crew of the racing yacht was woken by a loud Bang, within minutes the yacht was on the way to the bottom with a split hull, he made it off the boat ok. As you always say.. choose the boat that's right for you.. Aluminium might not be the best for global cruising.. BTW, for those wondering why on this side of the world it's spelt differently, it was simply registered differently each side of the Atlantic..
Oh my lanta, you are out of control. Tell me more. lol. 😂awesome episode. I would rather take a vessel made of plywood, fiberglass and epoxy than a salty antenna made of aluminum.
Unfortunately, it's a trend in boating now for things to be more "green" (not a bad thing, just seeing a repeat of what the RV industry and, to some extent, the housing industry has already seen). Aluminum recycles well, so it feels like it is being promoted as this almost "magic bullet" to fiberglass's landfill issue for new builds.
Even Bering is now offering an aluminum power cat because they had enough demand (and at least one person who put up a lot of money) to build them. As a company known for explorer class steel weld hulls, if even they say aluminum has A LOT of challenges for use in hull design, maybe the other manufacturers should listen.
However due to the problems created by carbon emissions from combustion engines, such propulsion systems need to be phased out in the near future as maintaining emissions from fossil fuels is not an option if we are to limit global warming
Yes tig... aluminium...😂..I think you are playing dumb 😂😂😂❤
Hard pass for me on electric or even hybrid electric boats. A friend of mine lost both props and out drives, aluminum, after an engine upgrade ironically for the same issue, (aluminum anodes in the engines instead of zink) due to negligence, they were not properly isolated electrically. Took only a couple weeks to literally rot away, made a video for him.
You asked for opinions at the end of this video. My son, age 20, welds for a marina company that has several locations on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. He says welding aluminum is no different than welding steel. There is a process to do it right but the ability to manipulate the puddle is no different. He is certified on several types of metals in the marine field of welding. Don't ask me the certs he has... I don't do the welding thing. I was in the wood construction field while working.
Gum flapper, that's my wife. I like the Garcia's but they are expensive.
Yeah i can't afford them
After some experience on a hybrid electric ferry project, I came to the conclusion that this technology is a dead-end for yachts. Hybrid systems in the marine environment have proved to be complex, expensive and unreliable. The benefits are too few for the added problems. A well installed marine diesel is reliable, inexpensive and well understood in any port.
Chris, FWIW... we're Great Lakes sailors & so our goals DON'T include sailing away to Pango-Pango in search of head-hunters. Heading south one of these days on our Beneteau 411 to hang out in the Key & Bahamas is plenty enough adventure for us. IMHO... all your obsevations about Aluminum Boars are spot on. We sure feel sorry for the Winn's... they would have been better off sticking with their lagoon !!! ''Film at Eleven''... for the Shards & Delos.
I was talking to my wife about this the other day. I told her that I thought that the problems could come from the carbon fiber hull. I kinda remembered that graphite is highly conductive. Oh and btw, global warming and the CO2 thing is a scam.
Most people who are early adapters of new tech are ones who can afford the associated risk. I can't.
Whatever your boat is made of learn how! Aluminum isn't rocket surgery. And YES The simple thought of having a lipo battery on a boat horrifies me!!
Don’t worry, LiFePo4 is much, much safer than lipo !!
Fitting a Tesla battery on a yacht would horrify me. Just finished my 4th season with a 700ah Lifepo4 bank with external BMS. Still performs like new, smaller footprint and half the weight of equivalent lead/acids
At first thought it sounds like a good ideal. But the boutique be in deep dodo if the sun causes an emp at least with diesel you can make something it will burn. I'd rather not hope it don't or I'm on the right side if it does.
I have never, ever felt ok with aluminum in any boat - I have been ridiculed and kicked from one post to the other - but with the value and opportunity to inspect hundreds of different boats/yachts for the last 10+ years - my best advice is - stay away from aluminum. Just my thoughts.
i go with steel
You’ re talking a lot of the disadvantage about electric boat which are pretty true but aren’t we talking about hybrid electric which mean you can also turn the key and be on a diesel engine or a generator that will get u anywhere as long as you have diesel like any other sail boat ? And have a bigger ability to produce power !!
@alexandreronin7515 the cost to benefit ratio is not there yet for 90% of sailors
Oh, come on 66 watching and an only a few likes ?. Not hard to hit that like button.
Anyone knows that ownes an Aluminum tinny/johnboat if you drop lead weights or steel hooks in the hull it electrolysis corrosion pretty fast.... being a sheet metal worker by trade i would not own a Alu cat, monohull yes....it stress cracks very easily with movement, temp and welding.
This happened to Sailing Insieme, it was not an aluminum boat but they had a line from the solar panels short and a current ran through the boat when the sun was up:
ua-cam.com/video/52sxW0rpjhc/v-deo.html
survey starts at 7:14 and you can see the corrosion, also the crew was getting zapped around the boat. It was just an Atlantic crossing.
Intresting video thank you
I’m like better steel boat it’s more durable easy to fix and if you know how to painting the boat it’s will last for ever there is many all old boats from steel ! Aluminium have a problem if you one time hit the boat and second time you hit the same place that could be very big problem! If you’re easily late very well from inside and you have an air flow you will never have condition ! There is ceramic a paint as well !
You've convinced me to never own a boat...
its not just aluminum boats carbon fiber boats are the same. Gone with the Wynn and that rapido with the moustache same problems. Million dollar boats f----d
If you seen svdelos newest video you would have made this video about how that boat is going to kill them. He ran industrial busbars instead of wires. Hopefully an inspector stops it. Batteries are going to get better soon so I understand why people building new boats want to future proof and not have to change the motor. Hybrid ain’t it. All electric isn’t ready (yet) so combustion is the only reasonable choice. Also aluminum is the best. If I woke up rich that’s the first thing I would buy. You have to be diligent, but I seen enough evidence with the stuff to know the corrosion problems are overstated.
In buildings with fire supression systems and fire exits and no movement but on a boat - sorry but he's playing with fire.
Tounge flappers 😂love it
Condensation always occurs on the "warm side". So, I would say, an aluminum boat soaks up the colder water's temperature and condensate when in contact with Florida's hot and humid air. That's why you need a proper insulation with a perfect vapor barrier on the inside of your boat/house. Any tiny hole in your vapor barrier, condensation will occur.
The problem is simple. And the solution is complex. The manufacturer knows little about grounding theory and analysis. This is an electrical engineers subdomain specialty. Very few electrical engineers have the knowledge and analysis skills. There is no designer in the world that can make it work. But all that said, all the problems of boats like these have solutions. Unless a qualified electrical engineer is contracted with, the company will never solve the problems they created for the Wynns.
"This is an electrical engineers subdomain specialty. "
Yep, spot on.
Just stuck some aluminum or magnesium, (avoid zinc), anodes and presto... problem solved...!
Sailing Dawn Hunters are buying an aluminum sail boat from South Africa instead of building one.
As for everything it's all a bunch of pros and cons to balance out depending on what one wants and how one plans to use the boat. Presenting those as if it's only cons is dishonest.
When you talk about hydro and solar and your counter argument is "what about when there's no wind or sun, huh ?", it's like saying "what about when you're out of fuel ? HAH". It's stupid. Listen, you can say that about just having solar. You can't say that if there's solar, and wind, and hydro. Yes it's still going to happen, and yes, people are aware and will be mindful of that. It's rare to have neither solar, or wind, or movement/current, like, none of those. Rare doesn't mean it's not going to happen, just that it's rare. If you're not fine with that, don't do it.
The range is a known thing to consider ; if one is not willing to get becalmed/too impatient to wait, I can understand, but if you're on a sailboat and if you have the time, you don't need to motor. The real problem is when you need to not get pushed against rocks/reefs, and the only way to do that is to motor, _that's_ going to be something to consider too, and that is way more important than just "oh no I can't get into port by motoring for 8 hours because I should be there in 5 hours"… plan better.
Regarding aluminium, let's see how non-aluminium boats fare when they crash into a rock, versus how aluminium fares in that same situation. Not long ago, some other content creators got their boat on a coral reef. The boat is wood and fiber glass, the damage was minimal. It was essentially just scraped, they're not taking in water, but the hull still has a gash that needs to be fixed asap or else it will cause problems. Put the same boat with aluminium instead of wood/fiberglass, I'm not sure the hull is even close to being at risk. It'd need a new paint job/fairing, probably, but it wouldn't be nearing sinking from that.
See, it's different materials for different problems. Aluminium also creates a Faraday cage. Plucky from Sail into Freedom got zapped by lightning directly once, had to save his boat from sinking, because he was actively sinking, then got zapped indirectly another time on his following boat, lost most if not all his systems, lived in that for some time. Maybe that's why he's going aluminium (even though _he_ doesn't have the money, and is still just past halfway his kickstarter campaign for financing it) ; not everybody has been zapped like he did. But if that's something he wants to avoid, I can understand wanting to go aluminium (I still think he should have gone fiberglass for a cheaper, smaller, and lighter boat, that's just me, clearly he has other hurdles in mind).
You're also talking like those boaters won't insulate their boat, or like they're going in blind regarding materials. Surely they've researched it, no ? Or do you give them so little credit, that you can do some research and they can't ?
Can you say that again...I was busy watching the girl on the beach.
Hahah
Some dude and his wife built a hybrid cat.. prius on the water. something happened at sea and they are dead now.. they were in the news a coupld months ago. I think folks were saying something about the batteries on board.being responsible. sailing is hard enough, untested tech in the middle of the ocean prob not the best idea.
There was a Canadian couple found dead in there inflatable while crossing the Atlantic. They had made it a electric boat. The sea never tells.but speculation was fire. They survived the fire but no mayday. drifted and died of exposure.
Yes, the worst things you can do during going electric with your boat, is save on money, not using the right tools, buy cheap batteries.. The "dude and his wife" obtained a cheap car battery from a totalled prius.. To my knowledge, it is Tesla, who now is starting to use LiFePo4 batteries in their newer model-3. All other car batteries are still more dangerous because of the thermal runaway issue: They sustain their own fire, and when they combust, there is no stopping them! LiFePo4 does not have thermal runaway issues, is much safer, but you still must be careful, always use thrusted brands for batteries, tools and electronics. Never ever use second hand batteries! You don't know their history! When your car is on fire, big chance that you can get out in time, and have all kinds of help nearby, on a boat in the middle of the ocean, its a different story... Alway have safety as your primary source of life ❤❤
We live in a world where a lot of people think they are invincible, and do things without knowing the dangers involved!
Why do you think there are so many safety rules in companies?
The most deadly thing you can do, is living ! Life is full of of dangers, from crossing roads to staying home and being hit by a meteorite!
If you do nothing, you don’t get anywhere. So do your thing,explore! But be as safe as possible in any situation!
If you mean ‘Sailing Theros’ when you say “dude and his wife”, they had a mono hull, not a cat. They used a car battery from a Nissan Leaf. First of all, you never ever should use a (second hand) battery of which you don’t know the history of. Secondly, with Theros not being a cat, they more probably had their battery pack under the water line, which also makes it even more dangerous! I believe it is Tesla who now starts to use the much safer LiFePo4 battery cells in their newer model-3, which is a clear message. So on this date, mainly all other car batteries are having the thermal runaway issue: When things go wrong, for example due to overcharging by cheap electronics, they go over a certain treshold, combust, and start a fire in a very drastic way! They create their own fuel, so you cannot distinguish that fire! Here on YT, you can find many examples of how dangerous even the way smaller LiPo cells inside smartphones can be..
Safety first: Some YT-members make you believe that making big battery systems is easy, well, think again.. Even when LiFePo4 cells do not set your house or boat on fire, cheap electronics and badly manufactured cables still are pretty well capable of doing just that! Never ever save on tools, always use battery cells and electronics from well known thrusted brands! Use high quality hydrolic crimpers to connect cabel lugs, shrink wrap them with glued shrink wrap, to prevent air from corroding them.. I even use a IR (thermal) imaging camera, to check the entire system on hot spots. And, with my catamaran, it is easy to keep the batteries above the water line, and easily accessible for check ups and maintenance..
There are many more things you should think of, when you convert your boat to electric, too many to post here i’m afraid.
When your car starts to be on fire, big chance you can get out in time, and find help nearby, with a boat, in the middle of an ocean, its a different story! Be safe!❤❤
SOMEBODY STOP BRIAN PLEASE, I DON'T LIKE WHAT DELOS IS DOING
Those who watch him feel good about it, know nothing about the ocean.
If only there some alternatives to Carbon Fibre... Well, there isn't so. There it is. Carbon Fibre or wood, that's it. NO QUESTIONS!
Hey Chris, your updates are great. I am not looking to pick or shame , but what are some of these S/V channels thinking! Yeah all is great till the CRY FACE starts. And most of the sailors probably won’t be able to collectively fix these issues, major issues. When will the Mayhem stop ! I am losing interest in these builds, so much at stake $$$! Will it ruin Boat Insurances because of these almost Novice builds. Are these companies using the channels to promote their product? I will be watching , your channel and loving you & your content, No CryFace HERE! 😅
Seems to me you are arguing against pure electrics but saying hybrid electrics. That's a big difference.
hybrid in my opinion offer no benifit for the costs
Hey Chris. I was also wondering why Delos Brian didn't just buy a Garcia. I guess they are just looking for 'filler' content which I find to be a big yawn. I'll check in back with them when they are on the water again.
Re: Sailing into Freedom - Where is that wanker finding the $$ to build an aluminum cat? He looks like he can't even afford a new pair of board shorts.
Sure, aluminum is stronger than fiberglass but there is one couple out there that had their new Garcia 45 sunk by a whale. :)
The other thing about aluminum.. the sun can heat it to the point where it's too hot to walk on.
Have you ever seen teh Dehler sailboat crash tests. Makes you appreciate German workmanship. I would Tak a Dehler over aluminum any day.
There is so much nonsense in this video and in the comments. Have people lost the ability to think clearly and critically? To check facts? It seems that way.
Hello Jane. My name is Rick. I owned a Garcia Exploration 45 and know the owners that you have incorrectly identified as having their Garcia sunk by a whale. And yet here you are, perpetuating total nonsense. Did it ever occur to you to check your facts before making claims that are complete bullshit? The couple you are talking about bought a Garcia Exploration 45 to replace their Hallberg-Rassy 48, a GRP boat, which sank after being struck by a large whale. The owner's view is that the whale struck the boat as a protective, defensive action after the HR 48 first bumped into the whale, ostensibly while it was sleeping. So it was their Hallberg-Rassy which sank, not their Garcia. They bought their Garcia as a measure to dramatically reduce their chances of being sunk by impact with a whale, as they quite sensibly didn't want that to happen again.
There's lots of ill-informed comments about aluminium boats, Garcias, condensation, etc in the video and comments. If anyone has questions they would like answered by someone who actually has the technical background and sound knowledge of these matters, feel free to look me up at my channel, or reply with your questions here. I'll happily provide some good, useful information. Regards, Rick.
Damn, missed the Premier!
Sad day
KISS, after 60+ years sailing , delivering the more you got in her the more to fix , Putting a generator on a perfectly good diesel motor ??? & in an Alloy boat , Are these guys getting funded by WEF ? Look at the secondhand EV market , Crashed .
Since you mentioned, Delos,' batteries are good for 1 hr @ 1/2 power. Recharge requires the better part of the day. Other than tooling around the harbor, Why? Her 700+ litre fuel tank offers much range, but still, the wind does what it does.
Buy a Kraken
I don't agree. While some comments are true, they way you talk about is not really fair. You can find a lot of problems with people with diesel engines and bad electrical connections with deep cycle batteries. If the boat is properly fabricated and maintained you can lower most of the risks.
Also, Aluminium is lighter than fiberglass, what are you talking about???????
Get your facts right, please.
Algo got electrocuted