SolarCanoe2

The July 4th Maiden Voyage of the Blue Rocket

Click here or the picture to see the YouTube Movie: The July 4th Maiden Voyage of the Blue Rocket

The Blue Rocket is a solar powered canoe with two adjustable outriggers and two electric motors mounted so that the pilot sitting in the stern can control and steer the canoe. The Blue Rocket can be made by a do-it-yourselfer with moderate carpentry skills for about $600, excluding the cost of the canoe. This is the story of the maiden voyages of the Blue Rocket, along with some info on why we built it and about how to build one.

The Blue Rocket sits on a dock being readied for launch at Sebec Lake in Maine. Steering the Blue Rocket is done by controlling the throttles, not by the conventional way of changing the direction of the motors. The motors are clamped so that they always face forward. The maiden voyage proved that this method works really well, especially coupled with the ability to use reverse on the motors. In the original design shown here, a steering wheel and a rudder were included just in case the steering by throttling method had bugs. Steering by throttling worked so well that the steering wheel and rudder were removed permanently after the first run. So ignore the steering wheel in this picture. Also ignore one of our crew asking for another cup of beer in the picture. He donated one of the electric motors, so it’s the least we can do.

In this picture we’ve launched the Blue Rocket and are setting it up for its first voyage.

The pilot is shown here in the canoe lowering the motors and outriggers. The canoe was very stable even with just one person in it. Imagine how fast the Blue Rocket would go with just one person in it. We haven’t tried that yet. We next asked for a volunteer to sit in the bow on the first run. One of our crew's wife volunteered and is shown here supervising. Another crew member is shown here opening the solar collector hatch and securing the one hundred amp-hour lithium battery.

Here we go. The outriggers are down and adjusted by a rope going to cleats on the main 2 by 6 extended thwart.

Our destination is unknown. Our camp is near the narrows on Sebec Lake in Maine. If we go right we enter big lake, a deep water body of water with Peaks Kenney State Park, a cove with the sunken Marian ferry, views of Borestone Mountain which lies along the Appalachian Trail, Canoodlin Rock, the Ice Caves, a castle and numerous other places we could explore. If we go left into small lake, we can check out the town landing, the Marina, the town beach and then several miles along the Sebec river.

That evening, we and our neighbors celebrated the fourth by lighting up the sky with fireworks. Lakes in Maine probably have similar contests where camp owners compete to see who is best at lighting up the sky. Around nine thirty, the night sky is decorated with various streaks of lights followed by loud booms descending from the heights. Observers hidden in the darkness along the shores gasp in delight, their cheers and applause echoing loudly across the lake.

You might be wondering why we built the Blue Rocket. One reason is our gas-powered boat is somewhat finicky. The starter failed and we were left stranded in the middle of big lake on July third. Fortunately some neighbors helped us out. Gas engines actually require more complex hardware than a simple electric motor. Gas engines are ultimately more expensive and more difficult to maintain. The main reason though is that gas powered boats and cars contribute to people suffering due to floods, heat waves, fires and storms. Scientists say the global warming problem will get worse every year until parts of our country become unlivable. Fortunately we have the technology to power our boats and cars with clean energy. This simpler clean technology will eventually cost less than more complex gas powered vehicles.

Unfortunately the US Republican Party is led by a criminal who personally attacks our best experts in medicine, economics and science. Countless have died as he encouraged his followers not to wear masks during Covid. His tax breaks for the rich have exploded the national debt and increased inflation. He claims climate change is a hoax. His personal war on American Truth and Justice must stop. The Blue Rocket is a patriotic symbol showing people a way we can protect and enjoy our environment, and save money.

The moment of truth will be to see what our crew members think when they try it out. Will they like it? Here are some trying it out. I think they like it. It’s not a jet ski, but it has that Harley motorcycle high handlebar feel. It’s cool and the energy is free and clean.

Whoops: He’s gesturing that they forgot to bring the canoe paddles on their first run, just in case something went wrong. We forgot about that in the excitement of the moment.

Note that the 200 watt solar panels are used for charging the battery and are not enough to power the boat on their own. We estimate that we have to leave the panels out in the sun all day to get maybe a few hours of running time out of them. Having said that, note that the canoe is very streamlined and it doesn’t take much energy to run it even at full speed. Our initial test revealed that our lithium ion battery voltage level did not change at all from 13.3 volts after a one hour run on a sunny day.

One enhancement is to replace the current Min-Kota stock propellers with high-efficiency high speed propellers. More tests are needed though and more details may be coming out in a technical bulletin at PhysicsGuy.Org.

The rest of this presentation is for those who are interested in building their own Blue Rocket.

The Blue Rocket has many innovative construction features designed to keep costs low and to simplify fabrication. One feature is the use of a simple 2 by 6 extended thwart for the motor mounts.

Another feature is the use of low-cost outriggers made of simple 8.5 by 27 inch marine buoys purchased from Walmart for 20 dollars each. A mount brace to hold the buoy to the 2 by 6 leg was made of half of a 12 inch long 4 inch schedule 40 PVC pipe cut in half lengthwise. Each half was bent with a heat gun to the radius of the buoy. This PVC brace is screwed to the bottom of the 2 by 6 leg. Smaller PVC angle braces were made and used to strengthen the connection. The buoys are simply tied securely to this mount brace.

Each outrigger is mounted at the end of a short 2 by 6 leg which is connected by a heavy duty hinge at the ends of the main 2 by 6 extended thwart. The ends of the 2 by 6 thwart are cut at 22.5 degrees so that the outrigger 2 by 6 leg is angled at 45 degrees when the outrigger is down.

This allows the outrigger height to be adjusted by a simple rope and cleat system which is another innovative feature.

Note how the motors and the outriggers can be raised for easy transport. The only change to these motors is to reconnect the steering throttle arms so that they face backward instead of forward. This is a simple procedure that can be done with a screwdriver and small wrench by taking the upper housing apart. The reason for this is the steering arm needs to face the pilot in the stern.

The Blue Rocket has two 100 watt solar panels that are mounted on two canoe thwarts. The panels are mounted on hinges so that they can be lifted to store items in the canoe and also so that one can be angled toward the sun if needed.

Total Cost Estimate $573 as of July 4 2024
Solar Collectors             $150 Amazon
Battery                          $143 Amazon
Two 40 lb boat motors    $190 Amazon
   Misc.                              $ 50 Hardware Store
Two Buoys:                    $ 40 Walmart

This is one of many projects for engineers, scientists and do-it-yourselfers described on our PhysicsGuy.Org website. Thanks for checking it out and telling others about it.