🚀 go-pugleaf

Lloyd Sumpter wrote:
> On Mon, 28 Apr 2003 14:42:19 +0000, Sum Bud Yelse wrote:
> 
>> 
>> 
>> There is a speed at which trolling motors work most efficiently,
>> depending on your rig.  Wasted power must be put back into the
>> battery.  Trying to go faster than er, 'hull speed' wastes
>> electricity.
> 
>    This is true, and also true about gas vs electric. A 4hp gas outboard
> won't get you any faster than an electric, because it's too wimpy to get
> you on plane. Waste of energy, as well as noisy and smelly.
> 
>> It is easier to recharge a battery that has not been
>> unneccessarily discharged. Better perhaps a small outboard sail
>> rig, used in conjunction with a bow keel paddle clamped in place
>> or a lee board paddle in a special oarlock?
>>
> 
>    Sailing is nice, but there's usually little or no wind on the lakes I'm
> going to.
>  
>> Simpler, patience. A more liesurely pace?
>> 
>> Maybe a portable alternator / windmill / bicycle pedal charger /
>> excercise machine?  Your kids could watch tv while pedalling
>> their way to fitness.
> 
>    I suggested that to my Lady, and she pointed out that if we're gonna
> use "manual labour", we might as well just row. Damn I hate it when
> she's right! :)
> 
> Lloyd
> 

Well, she is right. If you're just going to be puttering around small
lakes, why not get a canoe? Couple of years ago, a friend and I bought
an "end of season" canoe from a local river outfitter. He buys several
dozen Old Town canoes each year, rents them out for a year or so, and
then sells them off. They have some scratches on the bottom from running
over the river rocks or from being dragged, but they really are in
pretty decent shape. We use the canoe to run the Shenandoah River or to
fish little rivers and lakes, and find paddling a perfectly acceptable
means of locomotion.