Got a new battery and had to test it out.
It turns out that my original battery was fully charged, but too small (35 Amp Hours – AH) for my motor. I picked it because it was light (20 lbs) and easy to carry. Fifteen minute run time just won’t do for crabbing. I need 30 to 45 minutes run time. Did a little research and found that my motor needs a battery minimum of 50 AH. So I got a 104 AH battery. Weighs about 50 lbs.
Headed out at 9:30 am – an hour before high tide. Pleasantly cool and no wind.
A pair of harbor seals were hangin at the left channel marker. They watched me till I got about 20 feet from the post, then they dove out of sight.
Quiet – had the water to myself
This is about 20 minutes out. The motor is still going strong. Battery at full charge, YAY!
Reached the Wildlife Reserve in about 20 minutes – This tells me that I can get to my crab pots
and get back to harbor at full speed with this battery.
Decided to see how far I could go, so I headed north towards Twin Spits.
Reached the first of the Twin Spits. New house going up.
Rounded the first Spit. That dot just to the right of my bow is a depth marker at the end of the second Spit. I powered up to that marker and turned back. One hour of motoring and still going.
Just as I turned around, the tide started going out and the wind came up. At this point the battery is lest than half charged.
I tried rowing with the motor running. Worked well. A pair of eagles soared above me. No good pictures.
Took me 45 minutes to get back to the dock. The last half hour, the motor ran much slower – about the same speed as my rowing. Landed at 11:15 am. Got 1 hour and 45 minutes out of one charge – more than enough for a crabbing run. YAY! Nice to know I’ve got reserve power in case I have to deal with contrary winds and tides.