The $3.00 Boating Vacation Of A Lifetime
I can’t believe that summer 2006 has come to an end and it’s been as long as it has since my last blog! It hasn’t been for the lack of exciting e-boating news to report - quite the contrary - just the time taken away from these activities to report back to those interested. The next months will give me more time to report on our findings from a chock-full summer of electric boating!The primary activity this season has been my family’s 7-day, 204-kilometer electro-cruise of the Rideau Canal waterway system, taking us on a voyage of electric discovery from Kingston, Ontario, to Ottawa, our nation’s capital. What an amazing trip! And our conveyance on this outing through Ontario’s eastern vacationland was none other than a solar-powered Loon (I’m sure you saw THAT coming) but this one was quite different from the 5 which proceed it. This was the first ever to be equipped with a galley (including microwave, fridge, sink, barbeque, etc.), sleeping accommodations for four people and full weather protection. Think “solar-powered camper-trailer which moves through the water” and you’d have the right idea. The Gisbornes toured the region, via an historic 174-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site canal system, in complete and modern comfort in a zero-emission boat. Think about that. No gas, no fumes, no loud noise, no shoreline erosion, no foreign oil wars to support, nothing but conscience-free boating while actually being able to fully enjoy our natural surroundings without scaring off the wildlife. I hope that everyone, at least once in their life, gets the opportunity to do so either by my prefered method, solar boating, or by sail. There’s no boating experience which could compare and my normally high blood pressure was given a welcome break in the process.And above what the sun provided for free, the “fuel” cost for the entire family vacation was about $3.00 Canadian! I shudder to think what the fuel tab for the same trip would be in a gas-powered craft, but you could easily add two more zeros and then a factor of. Look for more blogs in the weeks and months to come, dealing on a variety of e-boat topics, some technical, some philosophical, some just entertaining and I might even get a little political on ya.
Happy e-boating!
Monte Gisborne
Tamarack Lake Electric Boat Company
http://www.tamarackelectricboats.com/
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Electric Abundance
Perhaps the question most frequently asked of me is "which is the right electric boat for me?" Of all the queries people make about my favourite topic, e-boating, this one is the one I put the most thought into and am prepared to work the hardest to help figure out. The fortunate thing is, there are a lot of options available to us today which didn't exist years ago and we are only limited by our imaginations.
One customer came to me back in the fall with that very question, a gentleman who owns and operates a lodge/camp in Algonquin Park, an Ontario provincial park almost as big as some U.S. states. He tried out a solar-assisted Loon pontoon boat and was completely impressed with its performance, but he already had a sizeable solar array at one of his cottages to tap into, so although he wanted to utilize solar energy to power his boat, he didn't need solar panels fixed to the boat itself. In the end, he opted to purchase a new 8-seater conventional pontoon boat (sans stinkpot) and I fitted it with 8 X 6-volt deep-cycle batteries, the venerable Briggs and Stratton 3 hp electric outboard (remote steer, 20" leg), a Delta-Q charger and other componentry to make the boat safely and fully operable. This boat is slated to provide yeoman's service in quietly ferrying guests to and from the landing to the lodge and camp, a distance of about 2 kilometers, all day long, all summer, all-the-while getting 100% of its energy from the sun. This turned out to be an elegant solution to my customer's needs and will fully displace a gas-powered boat in the process. Fait a complis and a happy customer on a budget!
Just about the only e-boats I don't recommend, even as a starter system, are some of the small, inflatable boats with a small 12-volt battery which seem to be spilling out of the large box-store retailers these days. They don't have any safety equipment and could get some people, especially children, into trouble on our waterways. They are not approved in any way by federal authorities in any known country. There are plenty of better choices which take water safety seriously and are readily available from retailers like myself and others. Just ask and we'll gladly explore the options to find the best solution for your electric boating urge.
Monte Gisborne
Tamarack Lake Electric Boat Company
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
The One-Cent Dollar
Psssst! Hey buddy, wanna great deal? No, I'm not trying to sell you a plot of swampland in Florida, but there are great opportunities to save money which would otherwise be spent in the pursuit of enjoyment on the waterways this summer. Perhaps the best-kept secret is that electric boats often cost much less than one percent to operate of what a similar-sized gas-powered boat would cost. A comparison I made with the owner of a twin-screw Chris Craft boat last summer determined that my solar-assisted boat cost less than three cents per mile at cruising speed (if I depended entirely on the grid to refuel, an unlikely scenario since the sun isn't scheduled to burn out for millions of years, free otherwise) and his boat cost as much as four dollars per mile on plane. A mile is a mile and always will be.
One percent! That stretches a penny into a dollar, so just try that trick in other areas of your life. My accountant would be paying me if I could apply that maneuver elsewhere. I have often been told that boaters don't care what fuel costs, it's just considered the price of admission... does anyone believe that today with all the boaters complaining about gouging at the pumps? Big boats are becoming floating cottages and rarely leave the dock. A dollar is a dollar and always will be and frankly, I'd rather not hand mine over to unstable foreign nations.
So if you really want to get out there and truly enjoy boating, the best method is electric. You'll spend less time in bank line-ups making withdrawals and much more time relaxing under the sun-filled skies.
Monte Gisborne
Tamarack Lake Electric Boat Company
Monday, April 17, 2006
Where Water And Electricity Mix...
Is the world ready for a boat which runs on the power of the sun? This question is perhaps the one which concerns me the most. The answer is clearly yes... why not? We have boats which run on gasoline, diesel fuel and even nuclear, so why not a clean and quiet form such as solar? But isn't that technology prohibitively expensive? Not really and if you look at the overall costs of powering boats by non-renewable forms, solar and battery-electric come up as clear leaders especially as fuel prices at the marina pumps hike ever higher. As we find ourselves at peak oil, the sustainable option becomes the clear choice, never mind the obvious environmental benefits.
I believe that zero-emission, quiet-running electric boats are the clear and bright answer to the future of recreational boating, particularly in freshwater inland bodies of water. We can't continue to hammer the delicate eco-system which sustains us, particularly in the name of self-gratifying entertainment. Like many others, I believe that the purpose of recreational boating is to enjoy your time on the water in safe harmony with nature, not to turn our waterways into a madly-rushed, road-raged frenzy similar in nature to our highway system. Some may scream foul at this comment or brand me as one who would deny others their presumed free-world birthright to burn petroleum until every last drop is gone, but I don't care. Electric boats make good sense, pure and simple, and my purpose is to make the best ones that my customers and the planet can live with.
So please stay tuned in the weeks, months, years and decades ahead as we continue to lead the way to a brighter, sustainable future for boating. I believe passionately in this and having experienced the wonder and magic of traveling on water free of pollution, noise, vibration and wake, I know that it is the right thing to do and now is the time to do it.
Monte Gisborne
Tamarack Lake Electric Boat Company