Ultra efficient boats

[ttrainxl]

Originally Posted by freebeard

So I followed that video to this one:

A twisting wing hydrofoil for steering coupled with active ride height. What's not to like?

WOW, that’s amazing. Looks like a 1.4 million dollar 30 ft boat though. If you can buy one.

I’m still thinking of my simple two cylinder commuter boat, and using that hard dodger, running a freshwater cooled engine (uses raw sea water running to a heat exchanger to cool typical engine coolant), and off of that, run a heater core to ductwork in the dash to have heat for the colder months. The back of the dodger, which is open on sailboats, could employ a clear vinyl windshield material with a zippered door to keep the heat in. Sailboats use a clear vinyl full enclosure like this on the bimini sometimes, but they don’t have heaters. The sun makes heat in there pretty well too. In the summer, it unsnaps from the dodger and gets rolled up into a locker. The front windshields off dodgers usually open to give you a nice breeze on warm days. So you could essentially build a small commuter boat that drives like a car and has heat and a stereo, but the cockpit is still open to stand up and fish and do all the recreational boating things. But get 60-70mpg.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by ttrainxl

an 18 hp two cylinder diesel

Finding one with a reasonable power-to-weight ratio used to be more of a PITA until some years ago at least.

[ttrainxl]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Finding one with a reasonable power-to-weight ratio used to be more of a PITA until some years ago at least.

Even though they’re cast iron, they’re really small engines. I can move it around myself, and I’m not very big. And the transmissions are tiny. Would probably only add 200-250 pounds with the engine, transmission, propshaft, and prop.

EDIT: The Volvo Penta 2002 I spoke of is 306 pounds in its lightest form. Much heavier than I thought. I was guessing the weight based on an Atomic Four (popular iron four cylinder gas engine I pulled out of another boat of mine.) Two of us put it in the trunk of a car, so I thought the two cylinder would be lighter. Guess I was wrong.

I still think it’s a viable option for a lightweight boat with proper reinforcement in the bilge stringers and hull.

[aerohead]

I met a woman in Hawaii from Kodiak Island, Alaska.
She and her 9-year-old son commuted to the mainland for mail.
On one occasion, the sea 'came up', their boat capsized, and her son drowned.
Even the Edmund Fitzgerald succumbed to Lake Superior's 'Fall' weather.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* You're fighting wetted area, and the viscous shearing drag of the water acting along it's total exposed area ( 833-times more powerful than air drag ).
* And your fighting wave drag, bow and stern.
* The once-top-secret bulbous-bow technology addresses bow wave drag.
* A fully-boat-tailed trailing body addresses stern drag ( at the cost of directional stability ).
* The hydrofoil technology addresses wetted area, but requires some significant speed to get up onto the foils.
* Soviet 'bubbler' technology addresses wetted area also, but requires a double-hull and powerful air compressors.
* Reducing 'size' addresses wetted area, but then you REALLY want onboard weather radar if you're out for extended periods.
Quite a balancing act!

[freebeard]

For safety's sake maybe a Whale-back semi-submersible?


https://greatlakeships.org/fullimage...5&ifid=2220239

High wetted area. but it could be coated with nano-scale glass hydropobic beads.
duckduckgo.com/?q=nano+clear+coat+hydrophobic&ia=web

[ttrainxl]

You guys are trying to get way too technical. The post is just about a small, fuel efficient commuter boat. Nothing in the multi million dollar range and nothing outrageous, from what I gathered from the original post. Likely used in mostly protected waters in an urban setting, and if weather was really bad, the poster would likely be using other transportation. It isn’t meant to be a blue water boat.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by ttrainxl

You guys are trying to get way too technical. The post is just about a small, fuel efficient commuter boat. Nothing in the multi million dollar range and nothing outrageous, from what I gathered from the original post. Likely used in mostly protected waters in an urban setting, and if weather was really bad, the poster would likely be using other transportation. It isn’t meant to be a blue water boat.

I'm not sure how far "up the coast" the OP was looking to move but the Straight of Georgia gets some big waves. It isn't water I would want to venture out in using something like a 16 foot aluminum boat - at not least as a daily commuter.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by ttrainxl

You guys are trying to get way too technical. The post is just about a small, fuel efficient commuter boat. Nothing in the multi million dollar range and nothing outrageous, from what I gathered from the original post.

Once a thread loses steam, us regulars just use it to post about our favorite things. cripple rooster posts dog photos. freebeard posts an old VW vehicle (or something from that era). I post some newfangled techy device.

[freebeard]

You guys are trying to get way too technical. The post is just about a small, fuel efficient commuter boat.

Maybe I just stopped too soon. The Great Lakes whaleback was a response to rough water concerns. What would a small efficient example be? A kayak.

So you could take two two-person kayaks and lash them togeher into a catamaran. Then fill the 'deck' with solar panels.

[ttrainxl]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Once a thread loses steam, us regulars just use it to post about our favorite things. cripple rooster posts dog photos. freebeard posts an old VW vehicle (or something from that era). I post some newfangled techy device.

Haha fair enough. Don’t think the original poster is coming back anyway. I’m still hung up on a 14ish foot shallow V hull with a two cylinder diesel that cruises at 18 knots and can cut across two foot shoals. Think ecomodding a small boat presents new challenges that could be a lot of fun.