Boat Bits has an excellent guest post on electrical auxiliary power by sailor Merrick White of S/V Rising Star. Here’s an excerpt:

My recently installed electric motor would provide the occasional assist required and be quickly re-charged by my large solar panel.
[…]
I turned it on, powered up to 20amps (50 amps is max) and started the Honda 2000i generator. I plugged the generator into our shorepower receptacle and turned on the battery charger. We motored 33 miles into the ICW (intercoastal waterway) and to our first anchorage in Ingram’s Bayou AL.

 

Since that first day we covered 595 miles before stopping for hurricane season in Fort Myers FL. We sailed 352 miles and powered the rest.
[…]
During this first season our electric motor has performed flawlessly. We have met other cruisers along the way that are unable to say the same for their diesel engines.

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