Thanks  Reuben and Stan. I remember when Reuben had his R22 built, and his
reply is very detailed and helpful. When I’m closer to a decision, I’d like
to drive down and see Reuben’s setup.

I’ve been doing a lot of online research, because I’ve decided I also want
a power pocket cruiser with 1 or 2 electric outboards. If you’re nuts or
Bill Gates, and if you’ll settle for inboard, it’s not hard to spend $500k.

(An aside: I currently lean toward the C-Dory TomCat. At 25.5 feet it’s an
unfancy power catamaran with very shoal draft. Though C-Dory has built
with Airheads instead of marine toilets, they haven't tried electric
outboards. Because of my dock situation, I’ve got to stay under 30 feet.
Toyota has an inboard hybrid, the Ponam 28v. It looks like just the boat
I'd love, but it's not available in the US--I can’t even get a price or a
reply to emails.)

Electric propulsion is booming, though much of it hasn’t reached the US
market or is pretty untested. Europe is way ahead of us. Were I younger,
I’d wait a few years in both quests, electric on the R22 and the power
cruiser.

The best site I’ve found is plugboats.com, which has an extensive survey of
electric outboards and loads of good links.

When doing the research that led to my R22, I was impressed by the
helpfulness and store of knowledge on the R22 list. Still am. What I didn’t
allow for is this: I’m not much of a mechanic or DIYer. I thought that
might change in retirement. Well, what ever happened to all that time and
boredom I anticipated?

Peter Klappert
s/v Aeolia