08/05/2011
Eleccentricity Launched!
On July 31, 2011, a day ahead of schedule, we launched Eleccentricity, my electric launch (and someday, lobster boat) from the ramp at Lamoine State Park. My friend Chuck Weber, the veggie farmer at Lamoine Corners towed my trailer the mile to the park and the launch proceeded without incident. What happened after was a little off-script, but in a funny way.
Author/builder on right
Once the boat became afloat and upright (an achievement in itself, I might add) all that remained was to drop in the electrified outboard and connect the big thick wires providing 36 volts of current to the permanent magnet motor. This I did while chatting with Ben Fuller, curator of the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, ME. He and many other small/wooden boat enthusiasts were present for the Small Reach Regatta winding up at the park for the second year. My frenetic preparations prevented me from attending the event, but I was bathed in attention from the crowd during my launch.
Connecting steering with Ben Fuller
Once I got a push off shore from the helpful crew I encountered the reason why my friend Dr. Jim counselled me to launch the first time in the dead of night. I twisted my throttle (actually, a little knob like you’d find on an old transistor radio), I noticed the motor humming but no forward motion. In fact the boat was moving in reverse, back toward shore. OK, easy enough. Just reverse the big wires on the motor. It took about a minute, and I managed not to drop the nuts in the ocean. Now everything was set for a spin around the harbor. I goosed the throttle and away I went. But the steering was weird…I turned the wheel and the boat went the other way. BACKWARDS STEERING!! I had connected the steering backwards and never noticed! I was so confused I steered the boat into the shore and my alert shore crew prevented me from grinding on the bottom as I cut the power.
Cruising with electrons
So the steering’s backwards! OK, just deal with it. I steered my boat to the dock and picked up three more friends and we took a cruise into Frenchman Bay. Among them were several who were sure the batteries would go dead within seconds of departure, but they were proved wrong. We cruised back and forth to Mount Desert Island and around the bay without depleting the batteries more than 30% from a full charge. I brought along my car’s GPS so I could see my speed and managed to top out at about 6.1 MPH, real close to the calculated hull speed (note: “hull speed” is used in reference to “displacement hulls”, which have a maximum theoretical speed, based on the square root of their waterline length. Speed boats have planing hulls which rise out of the water and can go much faster. Eleccentricity is a displacement hull design).
Prop wash
In the week since I have been working on getting power to recharge the boat and putting together a mooring. Currently Eleccentricity sits at anchor, slowly discharging as batteries do. Soon I will take her mackerel fishing.
Related Posts:
Filed under Acadia, Lamoine, Out on the water by on Aug 5th, 2011.
Leave a Comment