Thanks Carel,
I have to claim ingnorance on this one. I had no idea that "narrow" was anything more than an adjective, and that "narrow boat" is actually a canal boat, and specific style of canal boat to boot.
Living on the west coast of California, the nearest navigable canal might be the Panama Canal, so I when I think of different kinds of boats, canal boats are pretty far down the list.
That said, I am familiar (through reading) with the concept of low powered canal boats, and this type of boat seems to be better suited for solar than almost any other type of boat. Slow speed, large roof and typically calm conditions (few waves or adverse currents) all add up to very low power requirements. Add in a large capacity for carrying batteries, one can choose cheaper (heavier) energy storage without penalty.
It sounds like electrifying narrow boats is becoming a common project, probably because they are so well suited for the conversion. I will suggest that buying a quality marine drive or at least marine-rated components may be cheaper in the long run, cobbling together salvaged equipment can lead to re-doing the project a number of times. But the requirements are not extreme and one might luck out, and I would believe that a "junkyard" conversion might be acceptable even if it's not the most efficient, elegant or reliable solution.
Fair winds,
Eric
Marina del Rey, CA
PS. At least I qualified my answer as being about a sailing auxiliary.... ;)
--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, "Carel Ruysink" <c.ruysink@...> wrote:
>
> As far as I can remember this is the first time I see Eric misreading a post.
> Dan is talking about a narrow boat. A boat type used on english canals. They are 7 feet wide to fit in 19th century british locks. See Wikipedia =narrow boat=.
> British canals are also very shallow so their speed is very low, thus you do only need very little power. Traditionally you would put in a single cylinder low revving "thumping" diesel. I think 10 hp would very good do
> These boats have lots of rooftop (ca 40x5 feet) for solar panels but my guess is that for travelling for hours day in, day out you need a generator for additional support but there are here a number of people who can do the correct math, I believe.
>
> Carel
>
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