Trolling motor

[Spartan]

 I really like the trolling motor it works well in my situation.  I have my boat in a marina at a state park lake.  I have no current, no tides only wind to deal with. 
It is a 45lbs thrust Minn Kota Endura.  You do have to cart deep cycle batteries around, but I prefer that to gas.  5 forward speeds, 3 reverse and starts every time with a twist of the handle.  Boat speed is about 2.5 mph by gps max. 

[Citroen/Dave]

Nope.  Last name is Woolley, not trying to pull the wool over any . . . well you get the idea.

[Salty19]

The battery can be charged a number of ways:

-Lug it home to charge it using an appropriate charger for the battery type you choose (bring a cart/caddy to help save your back)
-Charge via a dock power outlet (if available) with the same charger as above.
-Mount a solar panel and charge controller to the boat (rail mount is best)
-Mount a wind generator with charge controller ($$$).  Note there are DIY instructions on how to make one yourself.
-Use an outboard or dedicated generator to charge them (which kinda defeats the purpose of avoiding ethanol)

I've had zero problems with ethanol on the 2 stroke yamaha 8hp.  it has large jets that don't clog easily, I drain the gas each season and spray "deep creek", which is Seafoam in an aerosol can, in the fuel line to keep the carb free of gunk that may of built up at seasons' end.  And I only fill the tank with 2 gallons and keep it fresh with seafoam and Starbrite enzyme treatment.  I usually add 1 gallon at a time, about once a month.

I think the smaller jets on the carbs of the 4 strokes are much more particular to dirt. And by dirt I mean solid particles in fuel (either by accident or by chemical reactions with rubber).   Small dirt particles pass through larger jets, but clog smaller ones. 

[Jon898]

Just installed a trolling motor on my Picnic Cat.  Even at the minimum size 30lbs thrust model, it moves her quite well and the silence is wonderful after the racket of the old 3hp Yugoslavian Tomos 2-stroke air-cooled beast.  The Group 24 Deep-cycle battery is in a Minn-Kota battery box in the locker in the bow just aft of the mast step with 8ga wires run back to a socket near the motor.  Interesting that Minn-Kota tell you to use 8ga minimum but only have 12ga on the pigtail attached to their motor (cheapskates)!  Since the boat is kept in my garage (one of the joys of the PC), charging is from a charger attached to the house supply.  The locker lid is kept open when charging in case H2 is evolved as a consequence of overcharging (minor correction to skip1930's post...H2 can be generated when charging but not when discharging).  Unless your CP16's cabin is unusually airtight, H2 is probably not a major concern, but I'd still be cautious of it if it was left charging unattended, especially with a solar (or wind) set-up as I'm not sure I'd trust the regulators to shut off completely at the full-charge point.

Unless I were in a major tideway/current or in a narrow channel, I wouldn't worry too much about size of motor as you could be using the sails in anything other than a flat calm anyway.  The French are masters of this and, when I learned to sail in the English Channel, we were always amazed at how many French boats would arrive on the our side with no motors at all in 20 to 30 foot boats and the only means of auxilliary propulsion being a single sculling oar.

[hinmo]

i just bought a used Nissan 3.5 2strk yesterday off CL. It has F/N. I am familiar with this model engine, cuz I already own one......of the three different manufacturers I own, the Nissan/Tohatsu 2s seems the most reliable, and its carb is easy to remove and clean. We'll scrap the electric motor thought for now, until the next ethanol debacle.

Thanks