janice142
Guru
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2011
- Messages
- 1,245
- Location
- USofA
- Vessel Name
- Seaweed
- Vessel Make
- Schucker mini-trawler
I kinda wonder if an electric trolling motor with some kind of solar charger would work over long-ish distances... but paddling, mostly, with the motor being more like an auxiliary... or an "I'm tired, but we gotta keep moving for a while."
Chris. I have one of those dinky solar chargers that covers the front seat of Algae. It's "pretty to look at" but as far as recharging? No. Doesn't work. It's only a trickle charge.
If you went with a Group 27 or bigger you'd be set.
I have the larger capacity of the two Group24's -- essentially lawn mower batts, and it's not enough.
When a friend was borrowing my trolling motor he had a Group 31 and a 10' marshmallow. He was a big guy and it took him back and forth to shore (1/4 mile) for a week without the voltage going down past 12.5. No charging took place.
And he ran it on #4 most of the time.
A 100 amp hour battery would give you plenty of range at speeds 3 or lower. And frankly, that's fast enough in still waters.
I did see a 35 watt panel rigged on a dink with a trolling motor. I asked the fellow and he said it provided sufficient charging during the day to bring him back to his boat at night. He also mentioned his set up allowed the battery to be sucked down on overcast days.
An added advantage to the battery is having a little Orca bilge pump in Algae. My bailing days are over! Orca's (by Whale of Gusher fame) are 12-volt and designed for fresh or grey water only. $11 or so, not automatic. They do have a three year warranty and I've had two of them go belly-up.
Failure Points:
#1) at the impeller (the shaft broke) Routine maintenance means I clear the pump of hair every Monday. Failed within months of purchase.
#2) Burned up. And yes, I know how to hook up the wires. Did so properly, and within moments of starting, it started smoking. I dumped water over it to stop the smoke.
The third unit is now in Algae and functioning well.
(And what y'all call thread drift, my Kidlet calls bunny trails. I am known for my Bunny Trails.)