Been so long nearly forgot my password !

With the progress so far with Johnnie's boat, the visionarry in
latest stage of development, the aux drive has left me with some
questions and possibilities for input from our distinguished
forum. Albeit a quiet forum.

Outboards is the current plan, a pair of 15 horse honda's which
is a highly reliable 4-stroke. Certainly the most economical
choice and most likely to succesfully get it in the water.

The question I have,... is there better choices ? Lot's of history
with swamped outboards and propulsion woes with prop out
water in sloppy seas. I find the outboard closest to the WW hull
most at risk since it is not really close to the hull itself but
suspended part way across the beam due the WW hull
expansion. Yes OB's are a workable solution in moderate seas,
and perhaps a little awkward with initial manuevers in close
marineas cause the motor is not evenly spaced across the
beam, but functional. Rob's & Mark's plan includes 24 hours of
fuel aboard.

As food for thought to kick off the discussion I suggest a single
electric drive near the LW hull either as outboard or extendable
from inside the LW hull. Must be kept close to the hull,
upstream of the rudder to insure better helm control and the prop
stays in the water. At the other end would be a bow thruster
likely just aft of the leading rudder. An electric drive is sufficient
to replace both outboards (an equivalent 20-25 HP diesel) and
slow speed maneuvering can be deftly handled by the bow
thruster.

Anybody ever had a bow thruster ? Some issues remain such
as the thruster tube nacell, will it cause excessive drag in a
bi-directional shunting kind of mode ? There are retractable
options but much more costsly than an electric thruster and 2
batteries. (est 210-220 Lb force required)

Taking input, preferences, previous experience, or technical
saavy !

Regards,

JT