Electric Dink???

We have a small dinghy Aakron 250 with Airmat floor, this is a about 8' long. We power it with a Suzuki 2.5hp 4 stroke that weighs 30#. We use this to ferry to the local islands and can handle 3 adults. The motor stores in one of the transom lockers and we pull the dinghy bow up on the swim platform and let the dinghy stern trail in the water. Works well for us.

Forgot the dinghy weighs about 70# without the motor. Weight was a primary concern because I must handle everything myself most of the time.
 
Thanks again.

I have avoided getting a dink as I don't think I will use it all that often.

The only reason I am considering it now is after reading about the loss of the 570 carver, I consider it mandatory safety equipment.

The thought of having to transport and deal with gas is what bothers me the most. I am just not sure where I can safely store the engine with fuel in it, or the fill can.

We frequently cook in the cockpit area, and I have guests who smoke, and the cockpit is the only area they are allowed to do so. I hate the thought of bringing fuel up onto the fly bridge. The cabin isn't ideal, and I am sure using a bilge losker would get me shot around here or possibly blown apart out on the water.

That is why I considered going the electric route. An extra AGM or two can be put in a locker, and I have several charging options using either shore power or the genny.

I have never seen one using electric power, so I should have guessed...
 
It definitely depends on how fast and how far you want to go, but yes it can be (and is) done. If you're only looking for 3-4 mph and a couple miles it's not hard. I push a 10' plywood dink at nearly 4 mph with an old 24# thrust Minn Kota. I can get at least 5 mi on a single group 24 battery. To recharge I simply remove the battery and connect it to the "big boat"'s 12v system.

The lightweight MinnKota is a lot easier to mount on the transom than any gas outboard I know, and the battery can simply be set down anywhere in the dink; no leaning over the transom wrestling with 30, 40# of outboard. The whole operation only takes a couple minutes. I love it but I rarely have to dinghy more than a few hundred yards. For SHORT trips to shore from anchorage it works pretty well, and it sure is easy to "start". It might be just the thing for small kids or women. For longer trips though I'd stay with gas. With either one, don't leave the oars behind!!!

I got started on electric one day when the gasser simply refused to start; the electric was laying in the garage unused along with an old battery and I decided to give it a try. It worked so well I've never changed back.
 
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The battery is not built in from what I can see Dominic. In fact, the smaller model requires 2, 12Volt 200AH batteries to go 5 knots. Sounds like 2 8D sized batteries, about 160 pounds a piece.

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you are right I saw a demo with the battery built in. must have been one of the smaller ones. The Ultra-light, travel and base travel have the battery built in. The larger motors have an external battery.
 
I use a 43 # thrust electric trolling motor on a 12 foot Aluminum Duroboat (much easier to push than an inflatable except maybe a larger RIB). It will go about 3 mph reliably--and I have two golf cart batteries--210 amp hours. I would not attempt to go 1-2 miles with that rig. I use in for nature watching in a calm bayou.

If you get an inflatable on open water, you run the risk of having the wind/waves come up to the point that the small engine (even a 2 hp) might not be enough power to get the inflatable back to the boat--or kept it from being blow out to sea or some distance from a safe harbor. (this is from personal experience--I now use at least a 2.5 Hp outboard. There are a number of outboards which are 29 to 32 lbs. You talk about the weight of the trolling motor--granted these are light. But, the battery, with enough power to take you significant distance will be heavy--at least 45 lbs (a group 24, which is marginal for your use). As for re-charging--unless you have a generator which you will run some long peroid of time, you will have a difficult time keeping this trolling motor battery fully charged. For example, you will charge a group 27 battery at 10 amps--and it will take 6 hours to replace 60 amps.

If you want to go that several miles across the lake, get at least an 8 foot inflatable, and at least 3 to 4 hp outboard for safety.
 
We recently ran into a local deal on a 8'9" inflatable with a Merc 2.5 2-stroke, both barely used and only 2-3 years old (from a friend). After 6 months of owning them, I don't know how we ever lived without. I keep the dink deflated on the bow (covered) and can either store the outboard in one of my forward sponsons or in the cockpit (the latter if we're cruising). It will all depend on your usage. We anchor and take moorings often. The other trick is that you need to get something you can easily launch and retrieve.

(funny how Bob and I keep ending up with similar boating equipment :-)
 
2 hp Honda - air cooled, light weight, very economical - way to go.
 
We island camped for three summers on quiet lakes in the adirondacks with a twelve foot inflatable, mini kota trolling motor, two deep cycle marine batteries, and a keyfob battery juice charge indicator (get them from WM).

Worked absolutely great for fishing, watching wildlife and birds along the shoreline. Then we switched to the ocean and a 30 foot go-fast with no mufflers. The birds liked the other boat better, and we still use it from time to time. But, a kayak is better, faster and more fun.

We keep an inflatable Seveylor Tahiti 2 man kayak on the go-fast at all times. Takes the least space of any inflatable kayak I have seen. and is our standard "get-ashore" dinghy when at anchor.

For safety at sea and peace of mind, a USCG approved canister inflatable life raft is the ticket.
 
I really need to get going on this before the spring season. We used an inflatable last year, but would like something to island hop around Alex Bay this year.

I don't know much about davit systems and wether it will be possible to keep the engine mounted to the boat in our application, an 85 Carver Mariner36.

Has anyone come across anything in their travels?
 
I really need to get going on this before the spring season. We used an inflatable last year, but would like something to island hop around Alex Bay this year.

I don't know much about davit systems and wether it will be possible to keep the engine mounted to the boat in our application, an 85 Carver Mariner36.

Has anyone come across anything in their travels?
 
We have narrowed down the options abit and had pretty much ruled out the electric option until we saw the new 3hp torqeedo, the travel 1003.

Fully waterproof, and can run indefinately at low speed on just solar power.

The youtube video looked good and it solves our issue with storing the gas engine.
 
"can run indefinately at low speed on just solar power"

Yes that's possible, but HOW MUCH solar power (and at what cost) is a REALLY BIG "if". I can (and do) run my 1900 sq ft home on solar power (including air conditioning). BUT the solar array cost me right at $50k. For a dinghy I'm not sure it's worth the expense.

IMO most any electric Minn-Kota can match a 2hp gasser in terms of thrust, at a fraction of the cost... How FAR you want to go depends on how much you're willing to spend on batteries or gas.

Electric works just fine for ME (I don't have far to go); but for you, it might not.
 
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