This information is a reply that I made to an interested person that asked a question from my website:
The boat is coming along nicely. I took the proto-type down to the San Fran Delta this summer for some bass fishing and was very pleased with it. You are right, it is a far better boat for a person of your size. A number of small changes have been made to make is easier to build, improve fit and so on. The plans and manual are being updated.
The boat is coming along nicely. I took the proto-type down to the San Fran Delta this summer for some bass fishing and was very pleased with it. You are right, it is a far better boat for a person of your size. A number of small changes have been made to make is easier to build, improve fit and so on. The plans and manual are being updated.
I put a camera mount on the boat and will be making some videos of this seasons steel head fishing on the Chetco river. They will be put on Utube as they are completed. You can see them by going to Youtube and searching for ( videos-sports-kingfisher electric). I have one there now that is titled Searching for Dead Fred that has the 12 foot boat in it. Check it out.
I will check out the completed documentation by building another boat from it. I plan to make a video of that effort so that folks with no building experience can have a clear view of what the job will be like. It will probably be at least one disc long, possibly 2, so that is going to take some time to put together. The plans/manual will be available first, probably in the next 2-3 months. Here are some pics of the proto-type boat.
In the first picture, I have put a 1000 watt Honda motor generator in the back and a battery charger. The M/G has the ability to change its motor speed according to power demand. So if the electric motor is not drawing battery power, the Honda just idles along quietly. At full electric power the Honda is running at half power and the battery remains fully charged. When I start fishing, the Honda is shut down and I have a fully charged battery to work with. The m/g will run all day on a tank of fuel, about 1/2 gallon. This greatly extends the range of the boat, but is just experimental for now. I think it is the first hybrid electric kayak.
In the pictures, the boat is set up for salmon fishing on the river. Sadly the fish/game folks closed the river this year so I didn't have a chance to get into some larger fish. But you can see there is plenty of room in the back seat area for cooler and tackle.
Ready to go fishing. The boat is loaded into my P/U just as you see it with the cart wheels resting on the tail gate and tied in. When I get to the river it just slides off and is towed to the water. The strap securing the cart is released and the cart is left in the truck. The pipe on the right side (behind the seat) is the bilge pump outlet and camera mount. The font of the boat is clear of hardware to make fishing easier.
Thanks for your interest. Keep an eye on Youtube and the website for progress on this boat. It is a ton of fun to operate.
