Interesting, I have had the same setup for a couple of years. An added benefit is to assist manoeuvring when the main motor is in a well. Getting off a lee jetty can be tricky. Don’t forget to lubricate the transom bolts. Mine seem to be permanently stuck.
Great tips. One of the first things I did when I bought this motor was to liberally apply silicone grease to the threads on the transom bracket. Like you I have had issues with these on previous trolling motors. Yes they are great for close manoeuvring being able to turn a full 360 degrees in their bracket. Really appreciate the comment as I forgot about that benefit on the video. Cheers Mark
Hi Mark, thank you so much for this vid. I have just purchased one to use as my tender motor on Pittwater. I have a smaller 60AH lithium battery but I’m only 5 mins away from the boat. By what you said that should give me 45-60 min of go juice. Thanks for being one of the only people to review it and help people like me out. 👍
Thanks for the comment. I have a lot of arguments about trolling and electric outboard motors with people. I tried to be as informative as possible and as fair as possible. I know several people who have the electric outboards and even though in some aspects of performance they are better than trolling motors they in my view don't live up to some of their over the top claims of speed and horsepower. Dollar for dollar the Watersnake gives much better value and with its proportional control will give great range on your 60ah battery. You should get at least 60mins run time on full power and in practice it will be more as there will be times you don't use it on full throttle saving even more power. Enjoy! Cheers Mark
@ yeah I agree. We are using it for something different really then what it was designed for but seems to perform better then I was intended. I watched a few on this motor but your one was the most informative and comprehensive by far and I really wanted to reach out to you so you know it was appreciated. It’s also given me some good sailing content to watch now 😁
I’m so appreciative of this video! I recently purchased a Newport Vessels L-Series 62 lb 12v for my 3,000 lb (1360 kg) Jeanneau Tonic 23 to supplement the 9.9 hp petrol outboard (i.e., use in light weather). Excellent to see that a motor in that ballpark performs in normal conditions on a similar vessel. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the comment. Yes I love the electric and as long as people realize it is not a replacement for the petrol it has many great applications on a sail boat. Cheers Mark
are you able to go upstream in this boat with this Water Snake. I live Pennsylvania and I am only on rivers. It's not a powerful river really but it has a times a decent current. The Delaware River near Bushkill, PA. My 34lbs trolling motor on my sea eagle se9 will no really cut it on most days.
Thanks for the question. The best the 70lbs will do with my 2.5ton boat is just under 3 knots in still water. So yes it will go upstream in gentle flow but if the flow reaches 3 knots you will go nowhere. It would certainly do a great deal better than a 34lb trolling motor and to some degree it will depend on your boat, its weight and hull efficiency. I used a 70 lb motor on our trip to the Kimberley where the current can be fierce and I certainly wouldn't even try use it against those currents. It excels a a supplementary power source or a primary one in light winds and low currents, or travelling with currents or supplementing sails in marginal conditions. Cheers Mark
@@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES I am perhaps going to get a new sea eagle 437ps Paddleski .. But the boat I have now because of the hull shape sea eagle se9 I can't go upstream really. The paddle ski only weights 68 lbs. Far from 2.5 ton LOL. Do you think in my paddle ski with the 70 lbs I could go upstream easily or not so easy. Thanks again.
@@sutv6754 The 70lbs will push the paddle ski against a current well but the top speed may only be 4 knots or so. Trolling motors propellor pitch is designed for slower speeds, the additional thrust will make up for the current and should get close to the prop speed. The only thing I would say is how is the motor mounted? The 70lb motor is about 14kg for memory and if side mounted on the ski will cause it to feel unbalanced. I tried the 70lb motor on my double kayak with a side mount and it flew though the water but you had to constantly lean to the opposite side to compensate for the weight of the motor. I currently only use an 18lb motor on the kayak and it pushes it along at and average paddle speed and although not great in currents and strong head winds it does cope reasonably and weighs very little. Hope all this is of some help. Cheers Mark
Hi Mark, I like your set up for the batteries and was going to say how long do you have when you have it connected to the solar panels and you beat me to it. So now my question is, if you had more solar ( with out putting to much on your yacht) could you run it nonstop at say 3 knots?
Hi Mark, It would take a lot of panels. The motor at full power uses just on 50amps. The current panels under ideal solar conditions can produce about 10amp under ideal condition (theoretically 12.5amps). So to run the motor you would need 5 times the current panels which would almost be possible space wise. The problem is that ideal conditions are rare and no matter how you place the panels on a sail boat there will often be times panels are shaded. So to be sure of running a 50amp motor on panels alone you would need 10 times the current solar panels and that would be difficult given the size of the boat. I have some amusing discussions with people saying they are going to make their boat entirely solar running much larger electric motors, induction cooktops, microwaves, water makers, electric hot water, etc etc... and only have 180w of solar panels and 150 amp hours of batteries. When you do the maths the battery would be flattened in minutes and sufficient batteries would take up huge space and the solar panels to charge them in a reasonable amount of time would take a boat 10 times the size. Solar powered things on a boat need to be modest and charging needs time at anchor and supplement from a generator, an outboard alternator, or a wind generator or all three. At the end of the day I am happy to have a 3 hour battery for the trolling motor with some extension of this from the panels and the ability to fully recharge at anchor. Cheers Mark
@@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES Hi Mark, thanks for your reply. My brother wants to do what other have said and I keep coming back to what you said. Was thinking of going down the Murray River just on solar and I kept on saying you need more panels and batteries. I also said maybe you could have a wind turbine as well and maybe a water turbine. But as you and I know it comes back to apps and room and most important money. I tell him it will take a lot on money to set up but I say this… you are sending all your fuel now ( for let’s say 5/7 years) upfront and now you can go for 5/7 years with out having to pay for any more fuel.
With a modest battery bank and a few more solar panels its workable as long as you don't think you can go all day every day and take time to stop for a day or 2 to let your battery bank charge up again. After all that's what most people would do travelling the Murray, stop regularly to enjoy the bush and the river from the bank :)
Yes, but only on the yacht where it added about 0.2 of a knot in speed. The instructions warn not to use it for longer periods as I often do on the yacht as it can cause damage to the motor so I avoid doing so. I am sure on the dinghy it would give 0.5 of a knot or more in extra speed. For the difference in speed I prefer not to over stress the motor. Cheers Mark
Interesting, I have had the same setup for a couple of years. An added benefit is to assist manoeuvring when the main motor is in a well. Getting off a lee jetty can be tricky. Don’t forget to lubricate the transom bolts. Mine seem to be permanently stuck.
Great tips. One of the first things I did when I bought this motor was to liberally apply silicone grease to the threads on the transom bracket. Like you I have had issues with these on previous trolling motors. Yes they are great for close manoeuvring being able to turn a full 360 degrees in their bracket. Really appreciate the comment as I forgot about that benefit on the video. Cheers Mark
Hi Mark, thank you so much for this vid. I have just purchased one to use as my tender motor on Pittwater. I have a smaller 60AH lithium battery but I’m only 5 mins away from the boat. By what you said that should give me 45-60 min of go juice.
Thanks for being one of the only people to review it and help people like me out. 👍
Thanks for the comment. I have a lot of arguments about trolling and electric outboard motors with people. I tried to be as informative as possible and as fair as possible. I know several people who have the electric outboards and even though in some aspects of performance they are better than trolling motors they in my view don't live up to some of their over the top claims of speed and horsepower. Dollar for dollar the Watersnake gives much better value and with its proportional control will give great range on your 60ah battery. You should get at least 60mins run time on full power and in practice it will be more as there will be times you don't use it on full throttle saving even more power. Enjoy!
Cheers Mark
@ yeah I agree. We are using it for something different really then what it was designed for but seems to perform better then I was intended.
I watched a few on this motor but your one was the most informative and comprehensive by far and I really wanted to reach out to you so you know it was appreciated. It’s also given me some good sailing content to watch now 😁
I’m so appreciative of this video! I recently purchased a Newport Vessels L-Series 62 lb 12v for my 3,000 lb (1360 kg) Jeanneau Tonic 23 to supplement the 9.9 hp petrol outboard (i.e., use in light weather). Excellent to see that a motor in that ballpark performs in normal conditions on a similar vessel. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the comment. Yes I love the electric and as long as people realize it is not a replacement for the petrol it has many great applications on a sail boat. Cheers Mark
Thank you for posting
are you able to go upstream in this boat with this Water Snake. I live Pennsylvania and I am only on rivers. It's not a powerful river really but it has a times a decent current. The Delaware River near Bushkill, PA. My 34lbs trolling motor on my sea eagle se9 will no really cut it on most days.
Thanks for the question. The best the 70lbs will do with my 2.5ton boat is just under 3 knots in still water. So yes it will go upstream in gentle flow but if the flow reaches 3 knots you will go nowhere. It would certainly do a great deal better than a 34lb trolling motor and to some degree it will depend on your boat, its weight and hull efficiency. I used a 70 lb motor on our trip to the Kimberley where the current can be fierce and I certainly wouldn't even try use it against those currents. It excels a a supplementary power source or a primary one in light winds and low currents, or travelling with currents or supplementing sails in marginal conditions. Cheers Mark
@@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES I am perhaps going to get a new sea eagle 437ps Paddleski .. But the boat I have now because of the hull shape sea eagle se9 I can't go upstream really. The paddle ski only weights 68 lbs. Far from 2.5 ton LOL. Do you think in my paddle ski with the 70 lbs I could go upstream easily or not so easy. Thanks again.
@@sutv6754 The 70lbs will push the paddle ski against a current well but the top speed may only be 4 knots or so. Trolling motors propellor pitch is designed for slower speeds, the additional thrust will make up for the current and should get close to the prop speed. The only thing I would say is how is the motor mounted? The 70lb motor is about 14kg for memory and if side mounted on the ski will cause it to feel unbalanced. I tried the 70lb motor on my double kayak with a side mount and it flew though the water but you had to constantly lean to the opposite side to compensate for the weight of the motor. I currently only use an 18lb motor on the kayak and it pushes it along at and average paddle speed and although not great in currents and strong head winds it does cope reasonably and weighs very little. Hope all this is of some help.
Cheers Mark
Hi Mark, I like your set up for the batteries and was going to say how long do you have when you have it connected to the solar panels and you beat me to it.
So now my question is, if you had more solar ( with out putting to much on your yacht) could you run it nonstop at say 3 knots?
Hi Mark, It would take a lot of panels. The motor at full power uses just on 50amps. The current panels under ideal solar conditions can produce about 10amp under ideal condition (theoretically 12.5amps). So to run the motor you would need 5 times the current panels which would almost be possible space wise. The problem is that ideal conditions are rare and no matter how you place the panels on a sail boat there will often be times panels are shaded. So to be sure of running a 50amp motor on panels alone you would need 10 times the current solar panels and that would be difficult given the size of the boat.
I have some amusing discussions with people saying they are going to make their boat entirely solar running much larger electric motors, induction cooktops, microwaves, water makers, electric hot water, etc etc... and only have 180w of solar panels and 150 amp hours of batteries. When you do the maths the battery would be flattened in minutes and sufficient batteries would take up huge space and the solar panels to charge them in a reasonable amount of time would take a boat 10 times the size. Solar powered things on a boat need to be modest and charging needs time at anchor and supplement from a generator, an outboard alternator, or a wind generator or all three.
At the end of the day I am happy to have a 3 hour battery for the trolling motor with some extension of this from the panels and the ability to fully recharge at anchor. Cheers Mark
@@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES Hi Mark, thanks for your reply.
My brother wants to do what other have said and I keep coming back to what you said.
Was thinking of going down the Murray River just on solar and I kept on saying you need more panels and batteries. I also said maybe you could have a wind turbine as well and maybe a water turbine. But as you and I know it comes back to apps and room and most important money.
I tell him it will take a lot on money to set up but I say this… you are sending all your fuel now ( for let’s say 5/7 years) upfront and now you can go for 5/7 years with out having to pay for any more fuel.
With a modest battery bank and a few more solar panels its workable as long as you don't think you can go all day every day and take time to stop for a day or 2 to let your battery bank charge up again. After all that's what most people would do travelling the Murray, stop regularly to enjoy the bush and the river from the bank :)
I been told it is cheaper to get a second battery for longer range.@@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES
Whats the weight of the motor? Doesnt say on the website.
13.4kg, its not super light but still quite manageable. Cheers Mark
Did you test out the boost button?
Yes, but only on the yacht where it added about 0.2 of a knot in speed. The instructions warn not to use it for longer periods as I often do on the yacht as it can cause damage to the motor so I avoid doing so. I am sure on the dinghy it would give 0.5 of a knot or more in extra speed. For the difference in speed I prefer not to over stress the motor.
Cheers Mark