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e-Canoe

Fantastic for canoeing in stiff winds and long stretches of open water

After thinking about the problem and researching a lot, I decided I wanted an e-canoe to meet the following needs:
  • powerful motor to fend off the toughest winds
  • long cruising range, at least 20 kms
  • solo outings - one person can load/unload and paddle
  • canoe and batteries roll on wheels
  • solar trickle charge for longer trips
  • fast switchover between paddling and motoring
  • motor kicks back in the event of striking an underwater rock
  • motor raises instantly when approaching weeds and shallows
  • Tough canoe that is stable, carryable and decent to paddle

Why an e-canoe

What it needs to do

I love to paddle. Especially those intimate scalloped shorelines with interesting bays full of wildlife. What I don't like is crossing long boring and sometimes dangerous expanses of water to get to the good paddling, especially if a big wind brews up unexpectedly. After getting caught in a nasty wind situation some years ago I set out to create an "e-canoe" that can be optionally powered by a quiet clean electric motor.

the ultimate canoeing machine

The canoe

A Grumman 17' lightweight aluminum which weighs about 65 lbs - about the same weight as a shorter fiberglass canoe yet it holds a lot more and it's surprisingly nice to paddle. And of course aluminum lasts forever with no maintenance. And it has aircraft grade reinforcement so its really stiff so it feels solid with the motor mounted. The middle reinforcement bar is replaced with a birch yoke which is good for solo carrying over short distances.

The motor

A Minnkota Maxxum 55 which is the most powerful 12 volt trolling motor you can get. Minnkota sells a lower line motor, the Endura, but those don't have the continuously variable speed control that also conserves power. I upgraded the propeller to a speed prop made by Kipawa which is not only faster but quieter for use on a canoe - the stock propeller is designed for pushing much larger boats at lower speeds. This setup propels the canoe at about 7 km/hr which doesn't seem like a lot, but thats almost twice as fast as most people paddle on a sustained basis. The Maxxum 55 delivers good power and I've weathered a number of serious winds where the only other thing on the water was a sea kayak - all the other canoes were huddled on shore. I've also managed to motor upriver into some pretty stiff currents that would be non-starters for regular canoes - oh and coming back downstream or downwind....big grin!

The battery system

Two high capacity deep cycle Deka marine batteries. These batteries are rated to deliver 25 amps for 200 minutes. After a ton of research on batteries and motors I discovered some things. First, the Maxxum 55 motor will consume around 55 amps at full speed. At that power consumption level a deep cycle battery will discharge quickly and also as the battery depletes, the voltage starts to sag and you notice reduced power. That's why I doubled up and wired 2 batteries in parallel. This means the maximum draw on each battery is around 25 amps and I often cruise at 75% - well within the rated capacity and optimal discharge rate. This setup delivers enough power to cruise for at least 4 hours and I've personally gone 24 kms - yes the power is down by the end but it's still going! I recharge the batteries with a good quality intelligent charger that keeps them fully charged and conditioned.

The motor mount

After carefully evaluating all the motor mount products on the market I eventually ended up designing and building one. Why? All of the others had deficiencies of some sort, so I took the best ideas from all of them and built a brute of a mount that has been field tested in all sorts of nasty situations and has performed well. The key design points are: (1) the mount is on a hinge so if the motor hits a rock or a log it simply kicks back - some of the commercial mounts are completely fixed so a rock collision would be deadly. (2) The kickback system also lets you quickly raise the motor by pushing down on the throttle arm if a weed patch or shallow area is spotted immediately ahead (3) The mount solidly clamps to the gunwales with burly wing nuts and mounting/unmounting takes only a few seconds. (4) Beefy hinges, bolts and wood provide a sturdy attachment for the Maxxum 55.

Solar charging

A simple solar trickle charger, mainly to prevent the batteries from self discharging on a longer trip. Note, recharging discharged batteries would take a very long time with trickle charging.

Paddling solo

The motor cables are extended to allow the heavy batteries to be placed anywhere in the canoe. For solo paddling, placing them right at the front nicely balances out the canoe as if there was a person sitting in the front. This means you can paddle in exactly the same way as when there actually is someone in the front. The net result is very comfortable solo paddling. The motor cables were extended with a beefy jumper cable that is more capable of handling high current, especially over a longer cable length. The battery alligator clamp connectors were also upgraded to standard automotive connectors which give a better electrical connection.

Canoe on wheels

The cart that hauls the batteries around (they weigh about 52 lbs each) also doubles as a canoe cart. The handle removes quickly from the cart and the canoe simply straps on top.