batteries

As promised, this blog presents my impressions of the Elco EP14 Outboard and 48 Volt Lithium pack. I believe that tournament anglers, at any level, push their equipment longer and much harder than the average boater. Our team certainly pushed the Elco products hard this season. During practices, we ran many 20+ mile days. In tournaments we drove long runs at full throttle, and made countless jumps from spot to spot. In short, we have been completely pleased with this system. I wouldn’t have imagined that a 48 volt electric outboard and two small lithium packs would allow my 16 foot Alumacraft to perform as well as it has this season, unless I witnessed it myself. That little boat just shouldn't be able to move that fast.
Elco provides many advantages including: cost, PERFORMANCE, reliability, ease of use, tech features, design, fit & finish, and the warranty is backed by Elco, a company that has been in the marine industry (in the United States) since the late 1890s. We covered enormous numbers of miles in the 2015 MRA tournament season. I believe we have had enough on-water experience with this system to have formed a well considered opinion.
Our favorite features: 1) Fantastic power and efficiency in a 48 Volt outboard system. This motor on my 16’ boat can (and has) outperformed many 60 volt systems on larger (more efficient) hulls. 2) Water cooled motor and controller, really does the job. 3) Fast recharge. We easily recharged two lithium packs overnight (with one charger) for Day 2 of the tournament of Champions. We didn’t have any worries about conserving batteries on either day of the arduous 2-day tournament. 4) State of charge display on the lithium pack is very accurate and easy to see from a distance. 5) Inexpensive replacement props of various sizes are available. 6) The conventional throttle system looks and performs like the throttle on a gas outboard. 7) Over-speed protection, overload protection, temperature protection, over-voltage and over-current protection. There are more outstanding features, but you get the idea... I’m a fan. It has been fun showing this system to many friends, and even more strangers this season. Maybe next season, I'll run the EP20 and report on it's performance. Honestly, I can't imagine being more pleased than I am with the EP14, but I look forward to being surprised. Disadvantages: We’ll let you know when we find one.
Most competitive anglers keep their secrets and competitive advantages to themselves. As anyone who knows me will attest, I am not one of those secretive people. I truly enjoy sharing a good idea when I stumble across it. To me, the Elco EP14 with this lithium pack is a very good idea.

Elco Motor yachts has been in the business of electric propulsion for boats since 1892. Yes 1892! You may not have heard of them, because, until recently, they specialized in inboard electric propulsion for larger boats. see their history here: http://www.elcomotoryachts.com/history-of-elco.shtml
Within the past year Elco has gotten into our end of the industry. They have recently released 3 electric outboards. These are 5, 7 and 9.9 HP. There is a 15 HP outboard on the horizon. These are brushless, water cooled outboards. Elco is scheduled to release Lithium power systems within a few months. If these new outboards, and the new Lithium power supplies perform as expected, the next year or so will provide electric boaters with an interesting set of options. I have arranged with the sales manager of this product line to visit Baltimore with one of his motors and Lithium batteries to provide a demonstration to our club. I'll keep you all informed when we have a schedule. The photo below is the 9.9 pushing an 18 ft Sea Ark (reportedly at up to 9.3 mph). We are in the process of finalizing a club discount.
I thought you would all be interested in new options for our reservoir rigs.

I’m happy to report that the boat is in the water. I would NEVER attempt this project again. However, I am very pleased with the results. The boat rebuild was entirely too much labor. Hopefully my carpal tunnel will heal in time for the first tournament. It would be nice to be able to feel a strike, if it happens. Attached to this email are before and after pics. The wood deck is gone. Bow deck and Stern decks are extended with below-deck storage. The new carpet is feeling great under-foot. None of which will help with catching big limits, but the napping potential is excellent at the bow. First trip on Loch Raven was great. Max and I had lots of action. We ran north to the Warren road bridge and then headed south into the Hamptons. We had to give the new batteries a good workout. Great day on the water! I was surprised that we only saw 1 MRA boat this trip. Hope to see you on the water!

Note to self: “when you are planning to spend more time on the water, don’t rebuild your boat starting in late March”. One big mistake I made when building my reservoir rig 6 years ago, was to use wood for the deck. Since I needed to replace my batteries this season, I decided to replace the wood decks with aluminum, including extending the elevated front deck, and adding storage. Being high and dry in April notwithstanding, the decision is one that I am still happy with. The wood deck and supporting members were too heavy and became much heavier in wet weather. The change to aluminum decks will substantially reduce weight, improve safety, and the redesign will provide a much better fishing platform. Unfortunately, weather and work commitments forced me to start the process late in March. As a result, neither my boat nor I have touched the water in 2014. With a little luck, it should be ready in the next 10 days. This has to be the only year since I was 10 years old that I have made it to mid-April without wetting a line. The rest of the 2014 campaign plan is still in effect. More to come…