What type of design or hull form is this? Please see fotos.

Tropical Sailor a couple points:

You need to be more concise - I really mean it well. I mostly skip posts like #10. Its too much to read and too little of a point. Me skipping it is not a big deal as I am just an enthusiast with little real experience to offer but some real pros who could share insights can do the same.

About the e-drive. Whether the e-motor is ran at 60% or 95% doesn't really make such a difference. The idea that "full throttle in an electric application is [not] very good for battery performance." is not really relevant. Whether you have a 1kW rated motor giving 1kW (100% of rated) or a 3kW motor doing the same (33% of rated) is not that different.
For sizing up your system you need to know the total resistance at desired speed and go from there. Lets say you want to travel for 4 hours at 4 knots and you know it takes 1kw to reach that speed. That means 4h*1kW=4kWh capacity at the shaft. Then you need to count for motor efficiency (lets say 90%), controller efficiency (90%) - my numbers are guesstimates and on the optimistic side.

4kwh/0.9/0.90=4.68kWh useable battery capacity. In practice you shouldn't plan on drawing more than 50-60% out of the batteries or they go bad very fast. So with 60% discarhe you get 4.68kWh/0.6=7.8 kWh rated battery pack.
as 12V batteries it equals 7800 Wh/12V=650Ah. Its already a decent sized pack but can work if really low speed and range is enough for a sight seeing. Then for actual travel or if weather turns choppy drop in your evinrude and run with gas.

You can read the hybrid threads but its really not very feasible to think electric as main propulsion for any meaningful distance and its impractical to have reserve power with electric. Its easy to carry 20 liters of extra gas - not so with batteries.
The extra load of batteries results in a loop where you need to carry more batteries because of the added weight etc. Weight and costs make it not work. Also charging your 650Ah pack takes some juice and time.

 

Thanks Kerosene,

I appreciate the advice. Really! I´m passionate about what I´m trying to achieve down here. That´s probably what made my posts so long. And I do need to be more concise. I started to realize that after going back and reading my post and seeing that no one answered the original question. If it´s not against any forum rules, I´ll make a new thread that´s only about one of the design issues. There were two different designs needed in the original thread. One for fishing and one for tourism. Concentrating on just one problem would probably make it easier to get some help.

Again, thank you.

Andy

 

Adding to Kerosene,

Electric sounds nice, but it has HUGE and NEGATIVE impact on the environment. Lead acid is what you would find most in your area of Mexico at any reasonable price, and that stuff is not good in any manner. The problems of shorts, and running out of juice before you got back are also problems.

A gasoline 1 to 2 hp engine would be much more economical and environmentally friendly ....

I am having a BLAST in Ukraine. . . .

 

Yeah, you might be right.

Hey Wayne,

My plan was to use AGM Batteries and with time as the price of lithium comes down (I´m talking long term, years, maybe) they could transition. But of course, your right, after I´m gone the people might use deep cycle batters because of lower cost. Even though I´d like to make an impact on the environment here, it´s not my first goal. I want to help the people to find economic activities with a long term benefit and if possible, sustainable ecologically. I would never suggest the electric option for those who are fishermen and go offshore. But for those cater to tourists I believe electric is truly a viable option. You have to take into consideration the short distances of the tours, the low depth of the water in the estuary and the abundant sunlight we have here. Those who use 30’ pangas and 40 hp 2-stokes for tours often turn off their motor and pole along in shallow areas.

“I am having a BLAST in Ukraine. . .” I bet you are. Lots of pretty girls, huh?

Andy

 

AGM batteries are really no better than lead acid for the enviroment if someone dumps them in the dunes or water when they wear out. Both are full of led and acid, just a difference of how the acid is contained.

They also cost lots of money, I just spent $700 for a 200 amp hour bank a couple years ago, that only gives 100-120 usable amps.

The battery bank needed for electric propulsion would buy and outboard and lots of fuel for a panga, and would not require a high initial investment. Remember that it is preferable for a business to spend $1500 a year for 10 years than to spend $10,000 up front for something that will last 10 years. Capital has a cost.

The other big issue with electric is what do you do when tourism is slow and you want to go fishing to make some extra money, or someone wants to hire you to go diving somewhere 50 miles away, with an outboard you put a couple jugs of fuel on board and are good to go. With electric you are completely dependent on one kind of work in a very limited area.

Buying a 5 or 10hp outboard would be a much more cost effective solution for local slow tours.

And to repeat what I said in the other thread, what you really need to do is go talk to a bunch of panga tour operators and ask them what would make there boats better, before you start trying to "improve" what they have been doing for their entire lives. All these guys have seen and know about the long, narrow, very efficient at slow speed dug-out canoe hull form, I bet they have a reason not to use it.

 

The electric aspect is a bad move. Electric only makes sense when local laws...such as on inland lakes prohibit petrol power.

The concept of eco tourism is also flawed. There is nothing, Nothing , ecological about tourism.

For a buisness its Far better to offer quality service that appeal to tourists with pockets full of cash. Remember your mission as tour operator is to harvest as much money as possible during the short season.