Last summer, I was zipping around on my electric motorcycle. Stopped to talk to a guy with a golf cart. He mentioned that he had seen a guy on the lake with an electric boat.
I tracked down the boat owner and spoke with him.
He has a
Duffy Electric Boat
The boat uses 12 Trojan 125s (6V each) in two parrallel 36V legs. The on-board charger is 15 amp 120V. Zips around the lake all day. Goes around 10 mph.
This boat uses a GE golf cart motor.
This boat has a roof shade, so solar panels could be installed on top, but why bother if you can just charge up at the dock?
Otherwise, if you are more into sailing, get an ok sized sail boat, set it up with an electric motor and batteries, use that to get in and out of port, and use the sails while out in the open.
Sailboats sometimes also use wind turbines. They are cheaper for the power output, but solar is so slick because of its quiet simplicity.
The photo at the top uses the same motor I have in my motorcycle. Here is an interesting little web page about an
electric boat conversion