Slow Boat

SlowBoat is tied to the lock wall in Baldwinsville, NY, waiting for the lock to open so she can complete her trip. Here's a word from the Captain: How does Dragonfly, a homebrew hybrid electric vehicle, stack up against the competition? We've been eagerly watching for hybrid electric boats on this trip, and the pickings have been slim. Boating magazines are full of articles about "green" boats, sporting rooftop solar panels, auxiliary electric propulsion motors, etc., but they appear to be mostly: 1) as-yet unbuilt concept vessels, 2) small boats with limited ranges, or 3) fantastically expensive "green" yachts with gimmicks that don't begin to compensate for the enormous fuel-burning engines that drive the vessels most of the time. (Note: We have encountered a few noteworthy exceptions, such as Ted Moores's Sparks, built by Bear Mountain Boats.

Factor	Dragonfly	Prius
Model year	1990	2010
Weight (lbs)	28,000	3,000
Seats (driver and passengers)	8-10	5
Sleeps	7	0
Engine (hp)	63	98
Motor (hp)	12	36
Fuel consumption, engine only (mpg)	5-6 mpg	N.A.
Fuel, consumption, engine only (gph)	1 gph	N.A.
Fuel consumption, engine-motor actual use (mpg)	10 mpg	50 mpg
Fuel consumption, engine-motor actual use (gph)	0.5 gph	1.0 gph
Fuel storage	100 gal	12 gal
Range, engine-motor actual use	1000 miles	600 miles
Bathrooms	2	0

As you can see, the canal boat is clearly the better performer in the category, "Number of bathrooms." The rest is a little harder to compare. After all, we're contrasting a floating 2BR/2BA house with a car. (A nice car, for sure.)

Here are a couple of other carefully selected facts:

• Every mile of Prius travel is powered, directly or indirectly, by fossil fuels. The energy for the vehicle's electric motor comes from the vehicle's gas engine. (Even the brake regen energy comes--indirectly--from the motive force of burning gasoline). In contrast, when Dragonfly is running on its electric motor, all of the energy used to move it is solar photovoltaic. (For our Great Loop trip, we had no other way of recharging the propulsion batteries).
• For full-time cruising boaters, a boat is not just their vehicle; it is also their home. For us in 2010-11, Dragonfly was not just a replacement for our Honda Fit; it was also, from an "ecological footprint" perspective, a replacement for our 4-bedroom house (which was rented to someone else, and consequently part of their ecological footprint).

 In later posts, we'll look some more at the issue of hybrid vehicles, including comparing our hybrid boat with a typical non-hybrid boat, and assessing the "cost" of hybridization in our boat and in two other Toyotas: the hybrid and non-hybrid versions of the Camry.

Why name your boat "Electric Fisherman"? Going after electric eels?

From Manatee Pocket, our next stop was Fort Pierce, a town that's invested lots of money in a tastefully spruced-up downtown that, for all its colorful stucco buildings, felt like a ghost town. An exuberantly modern city hall, loads of public art, and . . .  no one to enjoy it, except the handful of homeless men basking on waterfront park benches.

Leaving the next morning, we spotted the boat at right. My first guess:  Homage to the 70s movie "Electric Horseman" (you remember, starring Robert Redford as a washed-up former rodeo star riding around in a light-bulb-studded suit that lit up like Liberace?) Second guess: Going after electric eels? Third guess: This guy invented some crazy electric-powered fishing rod. 

Then I wondered: Could  Electric Fisherman be an electric-powered boat, like ours?  No, said the guy on the dock who was hosing down the hull.  It's just that the boat used to belong to a guy who was an electrician.

There IS a guy in Florida who's famous for his electric boat. A fellow Looper, Allan Goode, told us about Rueben Trane, a Miami-based boat builder who designed the "Island Pilot DSe Hybrid" (that's cool-speak for "diesel-electric hybrid"). Trane is known for his luxury cruising boats, but he got the idea to go solar back when fuel prices went crazy in 2006.

Click this link to check the boat out.  The parent company, Island Pilot, uses the slogan "Let the Sun Set You Free!" to bill this luxurious trawler as "America's First Hybrid Yacht Using Solar - Diesel - Electric  Drive. (Clearly the marketing department had not heard of SlowBoat, which is also an innovative diesel-electric hybrid. And we're told that since Dragonfly is more than 40 feet long, used primarily for recreation, andeach berth has its own head, we also earn the luxury designation of "yacht!")

The H.M.S. Turtle is a bit more secure on the high seas than Dragonfly. Notice the sealed bow (where we have canvas and screens).  That keeps big waves OUT!

Sunday was another idyllic day on the Okeechobee Waterway, and I want to tell you more about it. 

But first, fast forward, because the past two days have been jam-packed with exciting family reunions (and one TV appearance).  

(Meanwhile if you can't wait to know more about the area around Okeechobee, check out the photos HERE.)

The Waterway connects Fort Myers to Florida's east coast in the town of Stuart (about an hour's drive north of Palm Beach).  We knew we HAD to stop in Stuart, because of a special resident we just had to see.

Backing up just a sec: Whenever we dock the Cap'n says, "Whoa! Look at all the canal boats!" JOKE!  There are hardly any canal boats in North America.  In fact, we estimate there are about 25 of the quirky vessels.

But in Stuart, there IS a canal boat!  Indeed, a canal boat constructed by Mid-Lakes Navigation, the same company that built our own dear Dragonfly.  

We got in touch with the Captain of the H.M.S. Turtle, Dick Harding, and Sunday evening, having been delayed en route by a lock that--unexpectedly--closed down for several hours, we finally groped our way, after dark, past the crab pots and mooring balls to the dock. Dick was there to grab our lines.

Fellow electric-boat owner: Thomas Alva Edison

The SlowBoat "Visitors" page has been freshly updated; however one august visitor we failed to document photographically was the Mayor of Fort Myers himself, Randy Henderson, Jr.!  The mayor stopped by the boat Monday morning with his son Marcus. 

From the moment we stepped onto Fort Myers docks and noticed the multiple recycle bins (including one for batteries!), we knew this was our kind of eco-minded town. Mayor Henderson told us one current project is a downtown water feature that will reduce stormwater runoff.  City Hall is also about to get solar panels on the roof.

The mayor introduced us to Chris Pendelton, CEO of a fascinating local attraction, the Edison and Ford Winter Estates.  This museum-plus-historic homes-plus botanical gardens complex has a brand new solar installation that provides light for (fittingly enough) exhibit halls documenting Edison's invention of such modern essentials as electric power and electric lights.

One of America's most important inventors and innovators (he pretty much gave you your modern lifestyle!), Thomas Alva Edison ("The Wizard of Menlo Park")  took his family to Fort Myers in the winters to escape the cold weather in New Jersey.  Chris gave us the insider's tour of the amazingly preserved laboratory where, spurred by the threat of shortages in World War I, Edison worked to develop a domestic substitute for an essential foreign import (rubber).

Brave guest boaters Scott and Jan Berger

"You're going WHERE for a vacation?"  

My brother Scott and his wife Jan are Yankees, sort of . . .   they live in New Jersey.  When Jan told work colleagues she was headed to Alabama for a getaway, not everyone was convinced it was a glamorous destination.

But actually, this neck of the woods makes a fine place to vacation in autumn. Daytime temps are in the 80s, and at night it's refreshingly cool.

Meanwhile the leaves are turning colors--bright red sweet gums, orange maples, rust-colored oaks--adding interest to a shoreline already ornamented with narrow coves and crenallated layers of limestone cliffs.

Scott and Jan flew in to Huntsville and joined us in Florence, Alabama (just across the Tennessee River from Tuscumbia and Muscle Shoals).  This region has a bunch of attractions, not the least of which is the Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard (est. 1937).  

A vintage 1930s, bascule-type, cast-iron bridge opens for a "tow" in downtown Joliet

As we've mentioned, Dragonfly was formerly the Honeyoe, one of a fleet of "hire boats" (hire boats being boats you can rent and pilot yourself) operated by Mid-Lakes Navigation in Macedon, NY. Here are some interesting aspects of our boat's design.