The Electrification of MV Dolphin
One Cruising Couples Vision for Zero Emissions Cruising
- MV Dolphin, model 355T was built in 1983 at SeaRay manufacturing in Merritt Island. She is one of 69 models built during 1982-1983. When we found her in 2009, she was just an old boat, well used but we could see the potential. She had twin gas 300hp Crusaders and 5.6 kW generator. For the next few years with some ingenuity and a bit of luck we kept her together and running; we knew she was destined to be something different. In 2015, the Crusaders were removed and replaced with twin 50hp high thrust Yamaha outboards. They have been terrific. While living in the Florida Keys running resorts and winding down a nursing career, we installed 3kW of solar panels acting as a “roof” to the upper helm instead of a Bimini top. We also extended the bridge to support these solar panels. We have been living on Dolphin for the past six years and decided to upgrade her with electric power in the beginning of last year (2022). After sorting through so many options, we decided on Torqeedo. The Torqeedo 10 seemed to fit our needs and we ordered three motors; two for Dolphin and one for our 10’ Highfield dinghy named Wilson.
- The gallery of pictures that follow tell the story of this cruising couples vision for zero emissions cruising and living off the grid by leveraging sunlight and wind.
HYBRID ELECTRIC BUILD
