Cool Dave! I used to work for Generous Electric (in the Electric Vehicle
group) in P.R. & didn't hear about bio bay, now I'll have to fly there & see it
and ride the electric cat.Have a renewable energy new YearMark in
Roanoke,VAwww.REEVAdiy.org
Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2013 18:32:36 -0500
From: "EVDL Administrator" <[email protected]>
To: Electric Vehicle Discussion List <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [EVDL] Electric Boats
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
A bit OT, but here's a real world (commercial) application for E-boats.
A couple of years ago Margaret and I were playing tourists in Puerto Rico.
Everybody said "don't miss the bio bay," so we didn't.
The "Bio Bay" is actually three different destinations, all with
dinoflagellates, plankton that emit a faint green glow when disturbed. Very
nifty. Kind of like northern lights in the water, but less colorful and
very dim. The night has to be just about pitch black, or you'll miss them.
These "bio bays" are a big tourist attraction. Years ago dozens (hundreds?)
of private companies ran boat tours on the bays, but the ICE exhaust was
starting to kill off the dinoflagellates, so ICEs are now illegal. Most
tours these days are in canoes. We were about to do that, but then I found
a company running electric cats. I'd never been in an E-boat, and wasn't
going to to pass up a chance to try one out!
To cut it short, the cat had two DC motors (the pilot didn't know what
kind). The golf car batteries were under the seats. He said the batteries
were good for about 4-5 seasons of use, which sounds quite reasonable to me.
Since there was another group waiting when we returned, I assume they run
at least a few trips per night.
It was pretty quiet, just some prop noise, yet another manifestation of the
EV grin. I thought it was interesting though that everyone else on board
just took it for granted. They were there for the glowing plankton, this
was the way to get to it, no big deal. Probably too much to hope that
they'd eventually think of their daily drivers the same way, but I digress.
The trip on the bay was comfortable and pleasant, though I can't say the
same for either the diesel cat ocean crossing to the island of Vieques 8
miles off PR's eastern coast (rough seas), or the (ICEV) van ride to the bay
over some of the most rutted dirt roads I've ever seen. Still, I'd do it
again, and would recommend it if you're there.
David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA
EVDL Administrator
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