OUTBOARD INNOVATIONS
ELECTRIC OUTBOARD
Hamish Southby-Tailyour explains the modifications he’s made to make his Torqeedo 603 electric outboard work better for him
There’s no smell of fuel and no chance of spilling fuel on me, in my dinghy, down my topsides or into the sea. It starts instantly. There are few servicing requirements… and no need to carry spare plugs, tools, fuel, oil, funnel and all the other accoutrements associated with our familiar 2- and 4-stroke petrol workhorses. I like my electric outboard a lot.
There’s no shaft grease to get spread over everything when handling it from car to slipway, slipway to dinghy, dinghy to aft deck… and back again. There’s no expansion of fuel tank problems in hot weather splitting the tank. There’s no mixing of fuel and oil if you are still using a 2-stroke. No problems of the modern eco fuel eating your seals and no stress of starting it in a small dinghy overloaded with stores.
And I love my outboard simply because motoring against the strong flood tide in full acoustic immersion of the oak wooded hillsides of Devon, full with its resident and migratory wildlife from a secluded slipway, 500 yards up the estuary from my swinging mooring is now a soundscaped joy. Day or night there is silence and that adds beautifully to the transitioning from land to my sailing cruising home; my Moody 33, Equinox. Since first mounting the Torqeedo 603 on the transom of my long-suffering wooden dinghy two years ago the quiet and peace are still a wonderful novelty.
Conversation, if it happens at all, is in hushed tones and there is no frightening of the egrets, heron, curlew or oystercatchers, and no shouty voices just to point something out. Arriving alongside calm and already enveloped in the nature of it all. These moments are a large part of why I have a boat. I just love stealth mode, and I’m sure this is a familiar story from the last few years for many owners of these outboards as they have become increasingly popular.
The issues
But in my opinion, the Torqeedo 603 would be better fit for purpose as it comes out of the box if it had a few modifications.
So here is a description of my observations and practical needs, with associated modifications, that have kept me in love with this still new part of my cruising kit.
These are things I’d hope Torqeedo might consider –small redesigns for the cruisin
