Solar-Powered Boats: Now That’s Pretty Cool

When I went to a search engine that shall remain nameless and typed in “boat,” I had a feeling I’d find some boat pictures. But what I didn’t count on was that the absolute top of the heap would be a sweet little ride with slick curves and a light, friendly “personality” about it… or that the very same boat was a hippie’s dream come true and uses absolutely no gas in its everyday operational life.

See, the boat I found was an early computer rendition of an eco-friendly concept of a boat that’s designed to run primarily on solar energy – and if you’re a ways from shore and the sun takes a siesta behind some cumulus nimbi (that’s garden variety clouds to the non nerds in the audience), you can just pedal it in. The whole notion is pretty sweetly romantic, in a nice, practical sort of way.

See, first off, you never have to refuel - ever. The motor (which was projected to be about as quiet as a whisper) just runs off the sun. And if the sun isn’t out that day, you can actually charge the batteries by pedaling one of two pedals depicted in that particular design. Wouldn’t it be cool to take one of these out of a lake with Lance Armstrong, and see how much he could juice it up before he got tired?

And it isn’t one of those ugly, weird looking hybrid cars, either. I think those things are just ugly because they’re the unholy result of a union between gas powered things and eco-friendly ones. Maybe they really can’t mix. But, fortunately, the boat I saw was a thing of beauty. It was light-looking, sleek where it mattered (probably pretty stable on its pontoons), but elegant enough that the solar panel perches elegantly on top of a sort of integrated “umbrella” to block the sun. I could see sipping some grape juice under that, while we cruise along on sun power. If it were any more laid back, it’d almost be boring.

Of course, there are the inevitable pranks – having to pedal all day, just because some jackass puts a black trash bag over your panel (I HATE it when that happens… and I bet I’d always forget to check). I could see someone putting jelly all over the pedals, because they’d know I’d probably be barefoot onboard. But that kind of thing’s probably so common in the boating world, people barely notice it anymore.

If ever I have the kind of money one of these boats is likely to cost (I wouldn’t be surprised if they were $50,000 apiece… boats are so expensive), I would totally get one— Even though I live 300 miles from the nearest major body of water. I’d just make sure to get mine customized… with an onboard latrine.