Sadly, the Torqeedo has its drawbacks. The maximum power (all 5-10 minutes of it), will not plane the Porta-Bote, and if you act properly to conserve the battery power by taking it slow, it doesn't exactly take a stiff wind to knock you off course. Or maybe I was just getting tired of taking 40 minutes to make the ride to Abba Zabba, while getting passed by kayakers.
Not to badmouth the Torqeedo, of course. It got me to my crab traps daily, for several weeks running, without major problems or difficulty. It just took patience.
Say hello to the brand-new Mercury 6HP four-stroke.
Believe it or not, I did read the entire manual cover to cover, prior to starting it. Fortunately, the manual is rather small. I had it oiled up, gassed up, and running, all inside of about 15 minutes. Finally, I put it in drive. The stern dropped a couple inches as the propeller chopped into the water and the boat begged to hop up on plane, taking me completely by surprise. This was at idle speed. Idle, and already delivering what the Torqeedo would call "max thrust."
I went on a few impromptu tours of Bay Point to begin the break-in process. First hour of break-in, no more than 50% throttle. No problem, I still circled the island with ease, and with no noticeable fuel usage according to the gauge on the fuel tank. Too bad it's so loud, I do miss that about the Torqeedo, it was the quietest engine on the bay.
Then, Grace came home from work and we went on another boat ride. This time, I did hit max throttle briefly, enjoying the feeling of planing on the water, but not wanting to piss-off the neighbors by waking so close to shore.
There will be plenty of time for that. After all, in theory, with this engine, the boat can roam the entire Lower Keys on a nice enough day. I'm already planning trips from Bay Point, through Sugarloaf Key, to Cudjoe Key.
-Chris