A Motorized Sea Kayak!

It Really Can Be Done!
And as you will see, it is no big deal.

The story behind how this boat came to be is interesting enough, and I'll probably tell you later. But right now I want to focus on what most likely brought you here in the first place THE BOAT. Virtually every picture you see here can be clicked on for a larger view (especially the tiny ones) I kept them small for our friends still on dialup connections, not to make you have to squint - OK?

The base sea kayak is a Perception Sol’e It came with the rudder and associated hardware already installed - I didn't pay extra for it. Unfortunately in this case we won't be using that hardware. It would have made the project a lot cheaper but we needed to use a radio frequency - CORDLESS - controller for the sea kayak instead. Before you run out and buy a Sol’e let me tell you: This is NOT a beginners boat or a boat for those with complete ambulatory dysfunction. The lady this boat was built for has considerable kayak experience and never goes boating without a support . . crew. Here are the boat specs right from the Perception web site: Length: 14' 2" / 432 cm Width: 22 3/8" / 57 cm Dry Storage: 6800 cu. in. / 111 liters Weight: 53 lbs / 24 kg Cockpit: 35" x 18" / 89 cm x 46 cm Paddler Level: int. - adv. Max Load: 275 lbs / 125 kg  I am going to consider you well informed on that point, and move on now. The trolling motor we chose was the MotorGuide LaserII trolling motor, with wireless control pad and voice recognition. If you want to hop over and take a closer look at the Laser, here is a link to http://www.motorguide.com but hurry back please. This trolling motor features 52 pounds of thrust. Again contributing to my saying NOT for beginners! By best estimation from consulting several experienced motor-paddlers this application should require somewhere around three to FIVE POUNDS of thrust. To quote a professional kayak builder friend of mine: " My motor is 3 pounds of thrust, and no one can keep up with me for long if they are simply paddling." The additional thrust is justified thusly: 1) Tim the Tool Man Taylor, is my Hero. 2) The Laser II is being discontinued, I got this one for way below retail.

This motor came with a mount that allows the motor to pop up and out of the water if an object is struck with significant force. There is a mercury switch that automatically turns the motor off should this occur. This makes a very handy way to get that motor up and out of the way for transport too. The battery went in the front hatch. We decided to use a spill-proof deep cycle to avoid the potential for spills into the bilge of the boat.I tinned the number 8 stranded copper wire we used to run down the length of the boat after having doubled it at the end to provide better purchase to the terminal end clamp. Routing the wire through the bulkheads was a breeze. They are very thick heavy foam. That means for all practical purposes, they are self sealing. I took a drill bit and ran it through the wall then moved it back and forth side to side to create a slit to stick the cable through. Perfect. Please notice that I used heat shrink tubing to create covers for the hanger screws inside the cockpit. Creating the path to route the power cable through the seat was easy. A heavy knife heated over a propane torch cut through the plastic with ease. Routing that extra stiff number 8 cable through the openings was not easy. I suggest baby steps. Push a little on one side, pull a little on the other. And be patient. If those rubber blocks look familiar, they probably are if you took high school chemistry. They are plain old hard rubber bottle-stoppers. The large end is 2 1/4 inch in diameter to give the mount a bigger footprint on the deck. On the bottom side of the deck (pic on the right) you can see I added a plywood . . washer . . and another set of stoppers. That rear mount is self explanatory. A half inch diameter pin welded to the bottom of a 4 inch by 5 inch aluminum plate 1/4 inch thick. I spaced it up using nylon washers readily available at the local discount hardware super-store. As you can imagine, I had to shorten the shaft to get it down to kayak size. In this case I cut almost 20 inches off of it. These two pictures illustrate the vertical range of motion after the chop job.

Please feel free to click on my e-mail link below to ask questions.

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