After last summer’s visit with Serina to the Helford, I thought it would be fun to have an electric outboard for the dinghy to allow us to visit some of the places I’m not brave enough to take Serina.

But then it occurred to me that if I was carrying an outboard around, wouldn’t it nice to be able to use it to drive Serina – if the need arose? That led to one of this winter’s projects.

I chose a Torqeedo Travel 1103 because I didn’t want to have to carry petrol on Serina – and because I knew the motor would only get light use. It seemed like the best compromise to go electric; good for the environment and not overly harmed (mechanically) by not being used very often.

I talked to Simon Beaven – from Quayside Marine – about where and how to mount the motor – and what length of shaft it should have. I settled on the long shaft option (750mm). I reckoned that although this would be a bit of a disadvantage in shallow water with the dinghy, it would be very frustrating to find the shaft was too short when using the motor on Serina.

We eventually decided on a side-mounted arrangement – as shown in the image above. My thoughts were that if we mounted on the stern, there was a risk that the prop would come out of the water in moderate seas.

It was then a case of finding and attaching a suitable bracket. After a lot of hunting on the internet, we decided to work with one of the local fabricators to make one. Simon contacted Roger Figures at Fusion Welding in Lymington.

This is what they came up with. The outboard bracket attaches through the deck via a pair of bolts, and rests on a stainless plate – to spread the load. The bracket is held in place by a steel arch that rests on the rubbing strake and cantilevers onto the lower strake.

And here it is with the engine in place.

I managed a two-hour sea trial before the lock-down started and was pleased with the results.

I was able to reach just under 4 kts and 75% of the battery charge propelled me for about 3 miles. With careful use I think I could probably get 5 miles on a single charge.

The prop was well-covered – except when Serina rolled to starboard. When she rolled the prop was partially exposed. Not a serious problem, but worth looking out for.

Since the trials, we have made one modification to the bracket. Simon and Roger lowered the attachment point by about 4cm – to counter the prop uncovering.

Here is the modified version. I haven’t tried it yet because of the Covid lock-down, but am sure it will be fine and help with the prop uncovering.