Missing the boat on electric outboards?

 I've been researching electric outboards this winter and, as usual, have found that most of my big ideas have already been put into practice by someone else.

My first idea was that while mono hull boats have little room for batteries and solar panels, pontoon boats have lots of space and weight-carrying ability. Pontoon craft are all the rage right now and I have been impressed at what they they can do.

Sure enough, a search for electric pontoon boats on YouTube brings up production models on the market in Florida. But the higher-performance ones seem to rely strictly on shore-power charging of batteries which can weigh 800 pounds. On a pontoon boat 800 pounds isn't much of a factor. 

Searches of solar-powered pontoon boats brings up boats with roofs covered from end to end with solar panels and then propelled with a low-powered electric motor. My little bit of experience with solar generation at the cabin makes me think both systems are missing the mark.

Nowhere is there as much sunlight as in a boat. That sunlight not only strikes from above but reflects off the water. So access to energy is not a problem. You just need to get it to the motor. The battery is slowing things down. You can only charge batteries so fast. That is why you have charge controllers on solar systems -- to keep from charging too fast and from overcharging. So why can't we have a system where the motor gets its energy right off the panels and bypasses the batteries? It could do both at the same time, of course.

And then there is the electric motor itself. I think it should be capable of at least two voltages, a higher voltage when the power is coming off the panels and then a lower voltage when running on the battery. Dual voltage electric motors exist right now, just not for boats.

The panels don't have to be on the roof either. They can be on the skirting below the rail. If the panels were the type that generate electricity from either side, a boat could get twice the electricity. 

Pontoon boats that charge their batteries from shore are just substituting batteries for fuel tanks. That's a waste when the boat is flooded with sun -- read that electricity -- while on the water.

I think solar boats should be able to go faster when there is lots of sun, just like a sailboat does with wind.

I'm telling you, the power coming off solar panels is incredible.

Ice-out on Red Lake will be May 8!

 How do I know this?

Well, April is just about here and using my system that says April's weather is the only month that matters when it comes to ice-out, I look at the Weather Network's 14-day forecast and see that the first two weeks of April are expected to have normal temperatures. Normal ice-out is May 8. So there you have it.

If the actual weather differs from the prediction or if the last two weeks of April are not normal, I will adjust my ice-out time.

I'm 'in the pink' with new wooden lures

 I'm looking forward to trying new wooden lures made by my neighbour, Dwayne Kotala. I'm lucky to get prototypes of what might become production models in the future.

Dwayne hand-carves these from native tree species like pine. Many are modeled on historic lures from 100 years ago. Some come right from Dwayne's imagination. 

I'm going to use these to fish for northern pike, my favourite species. I cast for these fish, mostly, and an advantage of wooden lures is they are heavier than plastic models; so, I can use my baitcasting rig which is ideal for handling big pike. The drag system on a baitcaster is so smooth compared to a spinning reel.

I surprised Dwayne, I think, years ago by telling him that pike like pink. As you can see he has painted many of these models just for me.

I replace the trebles on Dwayne's lures with single salmon or siwash hooks. The reason is the fish tend to take the entire bait into their mouths and the trebles are too difficult to extract quickly. 

I left the trebles on one of the lures in the photo to show how much larger a single hook needs to be to work effectively. 

Salmon lures almost always have single hooks. The reason, I'm told, is that when a fish is caught with a single hook it nearly always stays on.

If you are considering changing hooks as I have done you need to know that ordinary single hooks will not do the trick. You can't use a baitholder hook, for instance. It needs to be a salmon hook. These have long shanks, both on the standing part and the barb part. 

Siwash hooks are just salmon hooks with an open eye that you can close with pliers. You can only do this once. If you try to re-open it, it will likely break. 

Make sure your hooks on plugs face forward. That way you will pull them into the fish's mouth when you set the hook. 

****Update****

Dwayne now has a website where you can order his creations.

You might want to move to Thunder Bay

The Sleeping Giant as seen from Hillcrest Park. To its right are The Welcome Islands and in the distance, Isle Royale

 I would suggest that if you live in Canada. If you are from the United States, Duluth might be a better choice. 

Here is my reasoning: summers are going to get progressively hotter. Places where you could cool off in the shade or just by opening the windows in the house already demand air conditioning the entire summer. Eventually you are going to experience a power failure during a heat wave and that could be fatal in the sweltering heat.

Thunder Bay and Duluth are located on the shore of one of the world's coldest water bodies. When the wind blows from the lake onto shore it is like a refrigerator. It provides natural air conditioning. And if the heat is unbearable and the winds are not obliging, get in the lake itself. At this point it has a summer temperature of 4 C. 

Also, it has plenty of water to drink. That is going to be a factor in the future too. Lake Superior is more than 1,000 feet deep. It will take a long time for it to evaporate.

I had been thinking about this in the context of what we can do personally about climate change when I saw this article on Reuters News Service about people moving to Duluth. I love the slogan: Duluth -- Not as Cold as You Might Think.

Lake Superior could become a haven for climate migrants. 

Thunder Bay has a lot going for it. It is a city of 109,000 people. It is a major harbour, has light industry, a university and a college, a pulp and paper mill and other forest product mills. There is also an agriculture sector. At present this is mostly dairy, hay and potatoes but with longer growing seasons ahead we can expect diversification.

It has a thriving music and theater scene, probably a hundred restaurants and a couple dozen hotels and motels. Its Community Auditorium is a premier site for concerts.

Thunder Bay also has something that many people don't think about -- a large, bustling airport. It is the third-busiest airport in Ontario behind Toronto and Ottawa.

The average house here sells in the $300,000 + range. That is about one-third what houses cost in the Toronto region. Housing is in short supply, though. There is a move afoot to build 6,500 more homes in the decade ahead. Some of that will be to accommodate the thousands of mining jobs that are expected in the near future. These would come from new mines for minerals used in electric auto batteries. A few mines are nearing completion and more are likely on the way. 

Finally, Thunder Bay is known for its spectacular natural wonders. The Sleeping Giant land form is right across the bay from the city. There are square-topped mountains, deep canyons and waterfalls. Ski hills and cross-country ski trails, sailing, boating and fishing are right at your doorstep.

Kakabeka Falls, not far from our home in Nolalu, is the second highest falls in Ontario. The other is Niagara.

Thunder Bay has another thing that most people don't think about: it is surrounded primarily by hardwood forests. They are not as susceptible to forest fires. 

Food for thought.

Looking south you see the square top mountain of Pie Island and Mount McKay at the right