Bionx SeaScape launching in summer 2011

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itselectric

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I just came across this Bionx pedal watercraft boat, that seats up to 4 people, electric assist same way as Bionx PL350.

bionx-seascape-sm.jpg
- Power - 500W pedelec with variable assist
- Transmission - direct drive belt/propeller
- Battery - 2 x AGM 12V 33A
- 2 passenger
- Standard under-seat storage
- Standard cup holders
- Optional seating (+2)
- Optional trampoline
- Optional extra storage
- Optional iPhone dock and BionX app
- Optional bimini top

link as following:
http://www.bionxseascape.com/
 
That is really cool. If it's affordable I might be very interested. We have a lot of lakes here in Georgia, and down on the coast we have waterways that go for miles and miles. In Savannah, Georgia (about a four-hour drive from here) there are rivers that meet the ocean through marshes, and the marshes have tons of little rivers throughout. You can spend days exploring, camping (for free on the barier islands) and having a great time. I used to have a decent Kiwi 2 which was half-canoe, half kayak (basically a very wide, open-cockpit kayak) that was a lot of fun, but could easily get bogged down by headwinds, sidewinds or extreme tidal changes and currents. I got stuck once, and if I had been able to use a little electrical power to get moving, I might not have had to be rescued. It was a bit of a drama.

This thing looks cool. But i wonder if it can handle saltwater. That's the true test of any craft. Saltwater is horrible on everything.

Finally, how would it compare to a waverunner or jetboat? Those things are hard to beat (although they smell).
 
MikeFairbanks said:
This thing looks cool. But i wonder if it can handle saltwater. That's the true test of any craft. Saltwater is horrible on everything.

Finally, how would it compare to a waverunner or jetboat? Those things are hard to beat (although they smell).
Click to expand...
In the web site FAQ, "Can it be used in salt water? Yes, it was designed with this in mind".

This thing is design to run at low speed at 5knots, so it is no comparison to jetboat, but an electric assist pedal boat.
 
That would be a system where a solar panel would come in very hand. Make a nice shade area and produce a lot of energy on a sunny summer day.
 
5 knots is nothing to sneeze at on the water. That's 5.75 mph. The fastest a human has ever swam (according to my quick Google look-up) is 5.05 mph. That's actually pretty fast.

To put it in perspective, a person walking at 4mph is actually walking a brisk pace and can cover a mile in 15 minutes. That's not too bad.

Where I like to go (the Georgia barrier islands) the inlets are about a mile wide, but you have to be very careful when crossing them, regardless of the craft used. The tidal swings are intense (easily reaching 5 knots at times) and you can find yourself pulled out to sea or pulled pretty far inland.

Everytime I crossed I waited for the tide to hit its lowest and then paddled across (my kayak). When the tide first starts coming in it's relatively weak, and after a couple hours it comes on strong. I'd rather be overpowered by an incoming tide than an outgoing tide so as to be near a dock than out to sea.

If you want primitive camping and boating at its finest, Georgia is the place to be. You feel a hundred miles from civilization, but your cellphone still works. We have about twelve barrier islands (each only a mile off shore) and only three have real development and two have a few remaining residents, including a former slave colony that continues to this day (free, of course, but still fairly isolated). It's called Hog Hammock on Sapelo Island. There's also Cumberland Island with giant ruins from the 1920s and 1930s. People like the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, etc. built mansions on Cumberland and then abandoned them over time. But you can still get there by private boat or the ferry.
 
MikeFairbanks said:
5 knots is nothing to sneeze at on the water. That's 5.75 mph. The fastest a human has ever swam (according to my quick Google look-up) is 5.05 mph. That's actually pretty fast.

To put it in perspective, a person walking at 4mph is actually walking a brisk pace and can cover a mile in 15 minutes. That's not too bad.

Where I like to go (the Georgia barrier islands) the inlets are about a mile wide, but you have to be very careful when crossing them, regardless of the craft used. The tidal swings are intense (easily reaching 5 knots at times) and you can find yourself pulled out to sea or pulled pretty far inland.

Everytime I crossed I waited for the tide to hit its lowest and then paddled across (my kayak). When the tide first starts coming in it's relatively weak, and after a couple hours it comes on strong. I'd rather be overpowered by an incoming tide than an outgoing tide so as to be near a dock than out to sea.

If you want primitive camping and boating at its finest, Georgia is the place to be. You feel a hundred miles from civilization, but your cellphone still works. We have about twelve barrier islands (each only a mile off shore) and only three have real development and two have a few remaining residents, including a former slave colony that continues to this day (free, of course, but still fairly isolated). It's called Hog Hammock on Sapelo Island. There's also Cumberland Island with giant ruins from the 1920s and 1930s. People like the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, etc. built mansions on Cumberland and then abandoned them over time. But you can still get there by private boat or the ferry.
Click to expand...
Mike:
From your description, I almost wanted to book my family holiday this summer to Georgia!

Yes, solar panel top is perfect for this kind of application.

Ken
 
MikeFairbanks said:
Imagine a bimini top that is covered in solar panels.

That would be sweet.
Click to expand...

Of course it is Bionx though and will be as proprietary as anything can get, so good luck charging from your solar panels. I'd be willing to bet that the Bionx system will not allow charge while the battery is in use. So you could probably park it somewhere and charge through an inverter, but man what pain. :roll:
 
StudEbiker said:
Of course it is Bionx though and will be as proprietary as anything can get, so good luck charging from your solar panels. I'd be willing to bet that the Bionx system will not allow charge while the battery is in use. So you could probably park it somewhere and charge through an inverter, but man what pain. :roll:
Click to expand...
In the following topic, the second last picture, it proven that you can operating the Bionx while you are charging the battery.
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=18954&hilit=bionx&start=15

And here is another topic that use solar panel without inverter to charge the battery directly, by hacking the charger.
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13091&p=193922&hilit=solarbike#p193922

Yes, it will be expense, everything from Bionx is more expensive.
 
i reckon an off-the-shelf (and presently available) electric trolling motor to replace the rudder on my sea kayak would make a far better package. Kayak fishers do that all the time and they can put their kayak on the roof of their car rather than lug such a bulky, inefficient looking thing all over the place.
 
Interesting, glad to see there are other uses for our E-Bike technology. :)
 
http://extraenergy.org/main.php?language=en&category=&subcateg=&id=20759

image.htm
 

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it does look like good engineering but I can hear ES thinking in my head:

replace motor to x5404 or Cromotor
100v battery
more torque more high speed

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
 
It doesn't look like a 5 knot boat to me. For 5 knots they need 14ft or more at the waterline, since it's certainly not a boat that will get up on plane. I'm working on an 18ft electric cat but won't waste time and space with a pedal rig...just a small sail instead and a whole lot more deck space plus storage in the hulls. It may not be as pretty, but it will have worlds better functionality.
 
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