Here's an interesting take on an electric outboard... 2 E-Tek motors with a belt drive to a common shaft. This is just about what I need.

A second test run. read more »

Found a pointer on the ElectricBoats Mailing List to this nice little video of a 22' Calypso Classic with a Whisper XT Electric Outboard.

This Popular Mechanics blurb shows a really neat design for getting electricity from wind. It's designed for low wind speed, low cost applications, but looks to me like it could be really nice on a boat. Low cost (always good), low wind requirements, I would expect it to be fairly quiet, and no moving blades to hit you in the head. read more »

A recent thread on the Electric Boats mailing list pointed me to L'escale Nautique #54, page 17. This includes a review of several of the new electric and gas small outboard motors: Honda 2.3 hp , a Mercury 2,5hp , Suzuki 2.5hp, Yam 2.5 hp and a Torqeedo Travel 801.
 read more »

Classic Yacht Magazine has their new third issue out. Of particular note to me is an article on electric boats.

Their photography is quite nice, page layout is good. I was very unsure of one of these "turn the page" format online magazines instead of just an HTML page, but it really seems well done and works well, even on a Linux box. read more »

Got my June 2007 issue of Passagemaker Magazine today. One of the cover stories is concerning Trailerable Trawlers. This is definitely worth reading if you don't normally see their stuff. Its a detailed, 15 page article with lots of pictures.

Natalie Friton covers many of the same craft that you have see on this blog: C-Dory, C-Ranger, Chesapeake Marine Design, Devlin, Nimble, Rosborough and others.

She also speaks of trailers and the requirements for trailering a boat of this type, along with some home build considerations, including a nice mention of Cheasapeake Marine Design's Trailer Trawler 28.

This article also led me back to Passagemaker Magazine's web site which I hadn't visited for a while. It has been re-worked and improved. You can register (free) and see various indexes of back issues, including some free articles.

Another addition is the Web Exclusive Articles which apparently are intended to provide further information above and beyond the printed magazine. In support of the Trailerable Trawlers article, there is a detailed discussion of the building of Greenhorn I, a home built, electric 18-foot tug. 

During my recent travels we stopped at the Oklahoma Aquarium in Tulsa, OK... not where you would expect a large and nice aquarium, but its there :-) Displays are nice, signage very good and informative, with quite an array of sea life to examine. But, that's not what this is about...

One "side display" of the aquarium is the Karl and Beverly White National Fishing Tackle Museum. Now, I'll admit, I nearly didn't even go in... that's not really my thing. Anyhow, we wound up wondering through. I never imagined there were that many types of reels, rods, lures, whatnots to collect. In the back of the room were a couple of small boats and several outboard motors from the early 20th century. One was of particular interest to me.

The sign read:

Submergible Electric Motor Co.

Submergible Outboard
1902

The Submergible Electric Motor was the 1st commercial outboard motor.
To reach a top speed of 4.5 miles per hour, the motor required a bank of
batteries which weighed about 500 pounds.

 

And we think we've come so far :-)

Looks a lot like the modern pod type electrics, or trolling motors, doesn't it?