Greetings. I see that you found my earlier answers on these topics.
I haven't read my earlier answers, so I'll write something quickly, and then read to see what I thought when this was first asked. Hopefully the answers match...
On wet vs dry exhaust:
I spoke with the engine manufacturer, who said that "in the old days" dry exhaust was much better for an engine, but that with modern engines it really didn't matter. My personal belief is that dry exhaust is much better, for a variety of reasons:
- Dry exhaust is much simpler. Fewer parts to break
- There is less risk of back pressure on the engine with dry exhaust
- You don't have the risk of the engine sucking sea water in through the exhaust (unlikely, but possible)
- The exhaust empties above the boat, for less odor inside the boat
There are really only two major downsides to dry exhaust:
- Sometimes soot is dumped onto the boat (and, on neighboring boats) during start-up
- You have a hot pipe running through the main salon, pilot house and fly bridge -- taking up space and radiating heat
On our 68, the issue of Roberta wanting more space in the main salon, and our wanting a hot tub on the fly bridge, settled the issue. We went with wet exhaust.
As to diesel electric:
We were actually signed up, at one time, for diesel electric. It's a really simple concept, and should work. However, it hasn't been done in trawlers, until just recently, and I know that the first diesel electric boat has been a struggle for Nordhavn.
Our 68 already represented many new challenges for Nordhavn. Adding diesel electric to the process would have been too much. Nordhavn made the decision not to go diesel electric on my boat, and I'm glad they did. I do believe it is the right direction, and if 10 years from now I build another boat, I would definitely consider diesel electric. It was just too new a technology to do on my boat.
-Ken W
| Williams, Ken |
2007-02-28 00:15:27
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