Over the past few days a little progress was made on the Ultralight installation. The bracket was trimmed and the spiky fibregleass edges covered with epoxy filler to make it comfortable to handle. The next day it was sanded and painted. Today it was attached with screws and flexible adhesive. The first photo shows this stage – and the ball joint is positioned on the bracket where it is about to be bolted on. This ball joint is the main support for the ultralight arm – the arm also has a rubber pad which will just sit on the deck and provide an additional leverage point to give it extra support. Continue reading “Ultralight installation continues”
I’d like to introduce David and Yukiko in their new inflatable kayak with the Torqeedo Travel 1003 on the transom. Its a nice stable design and the catamaran configuration makes it ideally suited to fitting an outboard with the prop between the two hulls. For good balance the motor is mounted slightly forward of the stern of the two floats – David is looking to make some adjustments to its position because its a bit awkward to reach behind to control the throttle.
They’ve spent the afternoon scooting around in Pittwater in the vicinity of Scotland Island.
Late afternoon on Pittwater just out from Crystal Bay
They’ve spent about 4 hours on the water and reached a maximum speed of 11km/hr. The Travel 1003 seems to be a good match for this boat. They hope to go on camping adventures up river and use the motor now and again to give break from paddling.
I met them on the water not far from Crystal Bay – luckily I had just picked up a Zodiac from Oli and Jen. It took about 10 minutes to inflate it and attach my 1003. Top speed in this craft is about 5 knots if I sit in the right location. These photos were taken from the Zodiac.
Stern view showing how the Torqeedo is mounted
It fits nicely in the back of my little Daihatsu and means I can now do customer demos with this combination just about anywhere. So if you’d like to see how it goes on the water, call me on 0409466271 so we can arrange a suitable time.
Mockup of how the ball joint will be mounted on the ply
Malcolm’s ten year old kayak has no flat area on the stern that’s needed to mount the Torqeedo Ultralight. Right aft it has a storage area or well and that means there’s no deck. We need to fabricate something to attach the ball joint. Continue reading “Making bracket for Ultralight”
