On Saturday, my dad and I circumnavigated Anacapa Island from Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard, CA. Anacapa is the closest of the Channel Islands, with the East End 10.3 nautical miles from Channel Islands Harbor. This was our 4th trip out in the Weta, with dozens of trips in the past on my dad's West Wight Potter 15.
It's a quick trip out in a powerboat, with excellent fishing on the backside (there are restricted MPAs on the front side.) In a small sailboat, it's a big day, a full circumnavigation is ~30 nautical miles. We launched around 9:30 from the ramp and motored out past the breakwater where the wind picked up enough to sail. Unfortunately, it was from the WSW so we made a few tacks up wind for an hour until the wind shifted to the W and we could make our layline to the West End of the island. Boat speed was between 2-6 knots depending on the wind speed, which was annoyingly variable. Visibility was about a mile which made crossing the north and southbound shipping lanes more of a challenge than usual. Luckily, there was only one ship, which passed several miles in front of us in the fog, hard to miss a container ship's fog horn.
Four miles out from the West End, the fog finally lifted and the wind picked up, we averaged 5-6 knots close hauled. We had a nice run down the back side of the island wing and wing, 50-100 yards offshore, enjoying the view. There's one good anchorage on the back side, East Fish Camp, which is usually fairly protected from the prevailing NW wind and swell. Today, it was a little bumpy due to a building southerly swell so we kept going.
After rounding the east end, we popped the gennaker and set off on a beam reach back to Channel Islands Harbor. The afternoon prevailing wind from the NW slowly built and held steady in the 10-12 knot range. With the NW wind swell just behind us enough to surf the boat, we averaged 8.6 knots on the return trip with a top speed of 13.2. Not bad for 2 people, electric outboard, anchor, emergency gear, etc.
Once back in the harbor, we motored into the wind and I dropped the sails, having auxiliary power is really nice.
The ePropulsion eLite outboard is a great match for the Weta. At 17.4 pounds it's the lightest outboard on the market I could find. My criteria was fairly specific: light, completely waterproof, no issues being inverted and submerged in salt water. I planned on using the motor for leaving the dock when wind is unfavorable, transiting harbor entrances when wind/tide are unfavorable, motoring into the wind when dropping sails, general laziness, and for anchoring on coastal and island trips. Range was not too important, it was really for the start and end of a sail. This eliminated gas motors and trolling motors, leaving Torqeedo style electric outboards. The next decision was internal batteries or external. I decided internal would be ideal, eliminating the need for storing a battery in the cockpit or inside with cables running to the motor. This left the eLite and the Torqeedo 903. I picked the eLite eventually for a few reasons; it's half the cost, half the weight, has plenty of power, and enough range for my needs.
Next up was mounting the motor, ideally somehow without drilling any holes in the boat, while also being easy to install and remove. I ran though a few prototypes, all variations of canoe style gunnel mounts that would clamp on the gunnels behind the rear alma beam sockets. These proved to be heavy, in the way, complicated, and prone to flexing fore and aft. I ended up with a working prototype that lashes onto the underside of each alma beam and runs along the gunnel under the trampoline.
Construction was quick and dirty, kiln dried 2”x4”, epoxy, 1/2” marine ply, and coated deck screws.
For the lashings, I used 2.8mm spectra leftover from my main halyard replacement project. I haven't weighted the mount, but I'd guess it's around 5 lbs. Conveniently, the mount and motor bracket can be left on the boat when de-rigged, so there's no additional setup time besides popping the motor on.
I was additionally concerned about side to side flex but so far, I haven't had any issues. The majority of the torque transferred to the mount is fore and aft, which is spread out evenly on arguably the strongest parts of the boat. Raising and lowering the motor is easy and due to the outboard/aft location and hasn't presented any line handling/tiller extension issues. It's hard to even notice under the tramp.
Performance has been impressive so far. Motoring in the harbor in no wind/chop conditions with two people produces boat speeds around 2 knots at 50W (lowest setting), 3.5 knots at 250W, 4.2 knots at 500W, and 4.5 knots at 750W in “Sport Mode.”
On Saturday, motoring from the ramp to outside the breakwater (1.5 miles) used 9% of the battery. On a previous trip to Anacapa with my wife, motoring a mile back up the channel into a good 15 knot headwind at full throttle used 30%, producing ~3.5 knots of boat speed. We could of make adequate progress at half throttle, but she was cold and tired! In that situation, the motor made life real easy, she steered the boat while I dropped the jib and main, resulting in no need for a sketchy docking maneuver under full sail.
We have also motor sailed a few times in light air conditions. With motor running around 50-75W, it allowed us to double our boat speed while using very little power, you can watch the wattage draw on the screen drop to zero as the motor load decreased in a little puff and then ramps back up after. The minimal additional drive it supplies seems to reduce the hobby horsing in chop and helps maintain airflow over the sails, any puffs just add to boat speed.
Additional range testing will be done to figure out maximum range in the ocean with no sails up, in case of a rig failure or complete loss of wind.
I have a solar charger for the motor on order, which combined with a folding solar panel should allow for recharging at sea.
If anyone is interested in dimensions for the motor mount or any other questions, please reach out. Anacapa is great destination sail for the Weta and fairly safe with proper gear, VHF radio, GPS, and local knowledge. The next few months are a great time to make the crossing, hopefully we can get a swarm together!
Andrew Amenta
Instagram: @fishmeatbike
Awesome!!!!! I have been wanting to put auxiliary power on my Weta since forever. I am not very handy and did not want to do anything irreversable; however, your mount looks doable.