My common readers could keep in mind that two years in the past, I used to be profitable so laborious at life that I purchased myself a brand-spankin’ new boat as a deal with. Don’t get me fallacious, I’m nonetheless on an impartial journalist’s wage right here although, so once I say that I had “boat cash”, I imply I scraped collectively sufficient to purchase a $1,000 electrical boat straight from China. It’s now been two years since that Alibaba supply, so let’s see the way it’s held up and what it seems to be like now.
As a little bit of a refresher first although, right here’s what I received on the time. Inside a surprisingly well-made metal body and plywood-lined crate (that in all probability would have price $1k by itself to have made within the US), my five-seater fiberglass boat awaited me.
It was powered by a cute little 500W inboard motor with a belt and pulley drive connecting it to a rudimentary prop usual out of 1/8″ (3mm thick) metal plate bent and welded onto a piece of pipe.
The boat didn’t have batteries, so I added my very own pair of 12V 200Ah LiFePO4 batteries to create a 5 kWh battery pack that was seemingly manner larger than I wanted.
You possibly can try my unboxing and testing video right here, which went viral with almost 4 million individuals having now joined me initially of this loopy journey.
The boat appeared to work, in that it stayed above the waterline of our native lake and will transfer each fore and aft below its personal energy, fulfilling the main necessities of what it takes to be a motorboat.
Nonetheless, its efficiency left so much to be desired. The prop was solely round 75% submerged, that means there was lots of cavitation and wasted energy churning air by the water. Not solely did that make it inefficient, but additionally gradual.
It was laborious to journey over a single knot, although I did briefly hit 2 knots on my GPS speedometer app (and I’m counting that, even when I can’t make sure it wasn’t a fluke).
In different phrases, the boat was surprisingly first rate, but the efficiency was underwhelming.
For some time now, I’ve been chipping away at a number of upgrades to the boat every time I go to my dad or mum’s home, the place I preserve it. It’s been a tremendous little boat for my dad to take the grandkids out on and train them about boating, but it surely has been due for some deferred love, upkeep, and upgrades.
Initially, right here’s the way it has aged. With out common cleansing, there was some severe marine grime increase, however the fiberglass has really held up surprisingly nicely in two years of harsh Florida solar and UV.
After two years, the chrome railings had a good quantity of corrosion and what regarded like pitting, although it just about all buffed proper out once I disassembled the cover to scrub all the things very well.
After buffing the shine again into the rails, I utilized a transparent coat in order that the rails will hopefully preserve their shimmer and I gained’t should re-scrub the life again into them subsequent 12 months. The remainder of the boat’s hull and cover received a easy soapy scrub down.
As I put the cover again collectively, I lastly made an enormous addition I’ve been planning ever since I received the boat: photo voltaic panels. I put a pair of 100W photo voltaic panels on the cover and wired them into an MPPT photo voltaic cost controller that feeds again into the batteries. The panels don’t cost fairly as rapidly because the boat drains, but it surely has meant that I by no means want to tug the boat out to cost it anymore because it simply slowly costs up all day whereas it’s floating round on the dock.
Photo voltaic panels on electrical boats are a sport changer, particularly these used for just a few hours per week, similar to a Sunday cruise. You possibly can run your battery almost empty on the water in a day, then let it cost itself up over the following few days.
The following massive improve I’ve been planning is extra energy. To get there, I had a slick concept that will let me substitute the outdated rudder and motor in a single fell swoop.
The rudder was horribly rusted out at this level, although amazingly that terribly inefficient propellor regarded almost nearly as good as new, so I believe they really used stainless-steel to manufacture it.
For the reason that design of the propellor shaft meant that its angle pressured the propellor to be too excessive, I made a decision to easily substitute that total system with an alternate. As a substitute of yanking out the propellor shaft and needing to seal the stuffing field, I left the present seals in place and simply lower off the propellor. It ain’t fairly, but it surely’s beneath the waterline. It was additionally a uncommon case of the simplest answer and the most secure answer converging on the identical reply, because the shaft is already completely sealed towards water ingress.
I discovered an 80 lb thrust Minn Kota trolling motor used on-line and snagged it for round $200 (it price over $1,400 new for this American-made motor). It has what Minn Kota refers to as an indestructible shaft, which I consider because it was laborious as hell to chop it all the way down to size utilizing a pipe cutter, which was essential to protect the wires that run down the shaft.
I eliminated the rudder and changed it with your entire trolling motor, now with its shortened shaft, and welded up some new linkage to attach it to the outdated rudder controls. After yanking out the Minn Kota’s management board and wiring it into my batteries, I had a Frankenstein setup that I figured would give me rather more energy and in addition some efficient thrust vectoring since I might management the route of the motor from the wheel, like an actual outboard.
I hadn’t but run the wires as much as the helm, so the boat quickly required a crew of two once I put it again into the water. My dad took the wheel whereas I stayed within the ‘engine room’ within the again to manage the throttle.
It was instantly obvious how rather more highly effective the boat was now, really leaving a wake. Sadly, it was additionally instantly obvious why boats have rudders, since this flat backside boat now had the worst case of oversteer I’ve ever seen.
With the highly effective thrust, the boat principally shoved its ass-end far and wide with only a little bit of nudging. The cool factor was that it might actually flip in its personal size, although we have been principally at all times turning till we might discover impartial on the wheel.
My dad described what we had performed as “like placing an outboard motor on a pie tin”, and I’ve to say that felt fairly correct. It made for some nice laughs (see the testing video right here, extremely really helpful!) however was barely controllable. It felt like a bumper automobile on water.
To repair it, I added a easy bolt-on rudder on the motor shaft. Placing the boat again in proved that there was extra management, but it surely nonetheless tends to oversteer a bit. Don’t get me fallacious, it’s enjoyable as hell, but it surely’s nonetheless doesn’t have the precision management I hoped for. Oh nicely, it’s adequate for a $1,000 Chinese language boat with almost half as a lot added into it as a part of the upgrades!
Now, the boat is solar-powered, so it by no means wants charging, and the facility is significantly better to permit for some really enjoyable cruising at speeds of as much as roughly 5 knots. I don’t suppose we’ll be pulling a water skier anytime quickly, however we’re undoubtedly leaving a wake now.
The very last thing I must do is add a pair of bilge pumps (it’s received two sponsons that create low factors on both facet, so I want two pumps). I had been pushing aside that challenge as a result of I by no means thought I’d actually need them, and it was extra of a precaution in case of some sort of freak accident the place I rammed one thing submerged that holed the hull. I used to be additionally dreading placing a gap in a superbly good fiberglass boat for the pump outlet, even when it was going to be nicely above the water line.
Nonetheless, what I didn’t account for was Hurricane Milton, which put a lot rain into the boat at such a steep angle that it really began working its manner below the rear bench and filling up the “engine room” space beneath deck. The boat is self-bailing, no less than in regular rain, and has a central scupper that funnels rainwater down by the hull. With round a foot (30 cm) of freeboard, it’s by no means been a difficulty, even in laborious Florida rains. However a Cat 3 hurricane is a special animal, and as soon as sufficient water labored its manner below the rear bench and the sideways wind/rain duo began tipping the boat, physics took the wheel and the beneath image is how issues sorted the storm handed.
Luckily, this was just about the one injury my mother and father’ place took. The boat had in all probability 100 gallons 380 liters) of water beneath deck and so my dad couldn’t proper it by himself. It sat that manner for round six weeks till my subsequent go to, once we pumped the water out. The hull was nonetheless safe and he or she floated proper again to her former self.
Having survived two years of use and a Class 3 hurricane, it was time to lastly give the outdated woman’ a reputation. I requested my subscribers for his or her suggestions and obtained a whole lot of nice concepts (together with dozens of Boaty McBoatface) however lastly selected what I felt was the very best title of all.
As you learn this, the Sunny Aspect Up nonetheless floats, basking within the battery-charging solar and cruising the native personal waterways at speeds quick sufficient to get a fist shaken at you in a no-wake zone.
She ain’t the prettiest boat on the market. Nor the quickest. However she’s mine, and he or she’s lovely to me.
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