Re; Bolger electric boat plans

> You may be interested in drawings of an electric inboard conversion to the
> very nice Catfish Beach Cruiser at
>http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ernies_world/catfish.htm
>

Hi,
I saw your posting on Bolger egroup, and checked out your web site on
your electric boat conversion. Since I have been going through the same
set of problems powering my Micro, I thought I'd share some of my ideas
with you in hopes they may be of help.

> 6) Cheap and simple are the watchwords here.

Don't overlook the simplest way, i.e.; use the bottom half of a used
outboard motor. With that, all the hard work is already done for you. no
worry about water seals, bearings or a way to lubricate the drive. Just
mount the electric motor where the power head was, couple it to the
shaft going down to the foot, with a flex coupling made out of heavy
heater hose, and your ready to go.
Depending upon the diameter of your electric motor, another idea is
to mount the motor in a sealed can, into the keel and mount the prop
onto the motor shaft.

> 5) I keep saying belts and pulleys. Would chain and gears provide

any advantage?
Belts are fine except where you drop down to the prop, there you need
chain, since there is no practical way of tightening, or changing a
belt. On my design, I used a 3" by 4 1/2" rectangular tubing, with
sealed bearings top and bottom and an oil bath inside the tube to keep
the chain lubricated.
How did my design turn out? I changed my mind after finding out how
much all the sealed bearings, and cost for machining the shafts, would
be, and have since gone over to the idea of installing a stern paddle
wheel. In fact at the moment, I am looking longingly at my gas powered
golf cart with the idea of using the entire drive train from it and
replacing the tires with a pair of paddle wheels.
All the best, Stan of the Micro Tugger, Snow Goose