Boat Tour: Aquila 44- Fully Electric Power Catamaran

[@bobuncle8704]

I love the all electric cats. I’m a big Silent 60 fan. It’ll never happen, but a guy can dream.

[@BarefootTravels]

The silent yachts are awesome boats too!

[@MrLbryson]

Anything is possible.

[@Alan-R1971]

If a silent isnt a dream you are not living :)

[@yanassi]

Wish silent made a smaller version that is vacation traveler instead of a live-aboard for european coastal and river trips. Not for parties, just for a couple with 2 berths, 1 head, 1 galley and mid-cabin to protect from the elements if needed. Even if batteries reach their rechargeable end in a decade, the new battery technology makes a perfect time to replace them.

[@essexginge9167]

my cat runs on whiskers

[@hasbenhome]

Love the electric boats/yachts.

[@michaeltonkin9004]

Fantastic !! Never wait for newer tech just get in when you can, enjoy life and adapt as needed

[@aubreymachin1679]

GOT TO GO ELECTRIC great video

[@renem6441]

Technology is catching up!! In a few years the autonomy will be amazing for boats and planes!! Thanks for sharing

[@BarefootTravels]

Thanks for watching!!

[@ericcrouch7000]

I commissioned the hybrid system on this boat in 2019

[@kbarto323]

Congratulations on an awesome purchase! I was considering partnering with Peter but my timing was off. Wish you all the best and enjoy!

[@KoalityofLife]

My dream cat would be an electric sailing cat. Still sailing most of the time but powered by electric motors when there's no wind. :)

[@MrLbryson]

Nice to have the best of both worlds and exciting to see the industry embracing the benefits of solar electric.

[@JakeRichardsong]

It exists...called a HopYacht, has solar, sails and NO diesel.

[@dony2852]

In a few years, I would love to see what a refit of this ship would look like. Panels and batteries should improve a lot by then. Shipboard satellite communications hopefully will become more affordable and reliable as well.

[@MrLbryson]

The future looks bright. Heck, any day that is bright and sunny now puts a big smile on my face :-)

[@dorianzittle7710]

I just want to wish you a very Merry Christmas 🎄🎁

[@BarefootTravels]

Merry Christmas!!

[@flightjunkie808]

If you have a diesel fuel tank on the boat you can’t call it fully electric. This boat has a diesel generator. This boat is a hybrid. Run the generator to power the electric motors for propulsion. Nothing wrong with that. But, don’t call it fully electric.

[@BarefootTravels]

But it can run without the generator. Just a smaller range and slower speed as stated. So depending on how fast you want to travel it can be used on only solar power.

[@MrLbryson]

Agreed. You sir, are correct. It is a hybrid of sorts. Main propulsion is fully electric but the genny does provide a type of range extender if the need should arise such as longer passages. In our day to day use around the Exumas, we go weeks without running the genny and are able to explore many island beaches / cays around the Exumas. 365 to be exact and no, not likely going to visit each and every one.

[@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665]

I remember this from a while back the guys a bit of a pioneer 😎 Its All electric and a Electric hybrid back up.. you can wait for the solar recharge akin to waiting for the wind with a sail boat. Sill more flexible than straight ICE drived boat or Diesel hybrids....and fuel and wt saving . The tech is moving so fast now with Non permanent magnet motors ..carbon fiber enhanced wires ..and most of all new battery chemistries and controller tech coming from in from the automotive fields. Search out the guys from Edison Motors and their electric logging truck topsy ... Byd and Nio are transforming the tech along with Northvolt and their Na based packs. The Nio packs are swappable units for cars but the latest version has the equivalent of over a 1000km range and great stability.... but will be widely available globally through their swap station network. Li S and Al S cells are in the line and if they are worked out they will probably wipe the floor with Li ion based chemistries both for capacity C rates and life spans.. The temp safety stability of chemistries should be in another league. The price should be even lower as Na, S and Al are far more abundant than Li and a lot easier to process.

[@licencetoswill]

it's electric with diesel backup. which makes good sense.

[@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665]

@@licencetoswill 👍🏼 In a lot of ways that improve the the operation and cost of running the boat .. a situation that becomes a multiplier with a catamaran which is also capable of sailing. Then you can generate electricity through regen ... 😎 So much so that many race boats use two saildrive regen electric motor units to power their electrical systems and also to to enter and exit harbours. The drag is only equivalent to a 1/2 a knot speed loss ... And less once the batteries are charged and the prop can be fully feathered or folded.

[@stevemyers2092]

I think i like this system to use coming in and leaving a berth - and if you want a little piece and quiet - also instead of a generator noise you have battery on the hook - AND 2 diesel yanmars.

[@yanassi]

I love this, there’s almost no jumping in “too” ahead. Batteries are replaceable. I believe solar powered boats is the perfect “sail” boat, speed. No combustion noise and maintenance. Me personally, i’m not interested in a live-aboard. A vacation boat is preferred to travel coastlines and rivers in europe (less than 4m beam, 4m air draft). Just 2 berths, 1 galley, and 1 head. Hydrogen powered boat has a very real future, but when it uses sea water instead of refueling at marinas.

[@crowdfundcrew]

I love this. I’ve also looked at a yacht called indigo lady that built a solar roof on a sailing cat. I still hope to someday have a silent yacht to travel the world, but that’s a long shot. Please do more of these types of videos, there must be other conversions out there. Donate for a Dream

[@BarefootTravels]

We’re planning a few more videos like this. We have a friend who is captaining a silent 50 so that could be in the future!

[@svlolalouise9763]

First South Australia 🎉🎉

[@BarefootTravels]

🎉🎉

[@pjcrow8973]

Waiting for better battery technology, you will always be waiting. Waiting for the perfect boat, you will never get out there. We have today what is available, so grab what you need and go with it

[@MrLbryson]

well said

[@fredflintstone1428]

What kind of generator are you upgrading to, diesel or petrol? What specific model?

[@MrLbryson]

42kw Northern Lights Diesel

[@fredflintstone1428]

WOW! 42kW....you could start your own energy company :) @@MrLbryson

[@johnjacob-si3vc]

Yes definitely need generator, but would love a size at 48ft, with superstructure at 14 ft 8in , is that possible?

[@jiminauburn5073]

Surprised he cannot get more out of his panels even with overcast. I have the same number of solar panels on my home up here in Washington state and during a summer here I get 5-6 kW out of them during the peak time. Today on a partly sunny day, in the winter in Seattle, with short daylight hours, I got a maximum of a little over 3kW in the middle of the day and a total of 13 kWh.

[@MrLbryson]

we would never see 6kw since there is only 5.6kw onboard but we are happy with the amount collected. Might see 4kw on a good day.

[@jiminauburn5073]

@@MrLbryson Surprised that you cannot max it out down there with all that sun. We pretty much max ours out all the time during the summer, mid day here in Washington state. I guess it is a matter of what you get and if it is enough for your needs. The real numbers really don't matter.

[@BarefootTravels]

@jiminauburn5073 in the summer time it’s much different. Now in winter when the sun sets by 5pm and isn’t super strong until around 11 it makes a big difference

[@AndreyKuzin]

A simple question, how many liters of diesel you need to burn to make 70nm in 7hours on this thing (starting from 6am, no overcast) still weather, no current, no swell? Can you make it at all?

[@sviriecat]

We have a 100% solar/electric (no generator) setup but it could not work for us without the sails.

[@BarefootTravels]

I heard a rumour you guys were sailing at 12 knots the other day!! That’s awesome!!

[@sviriecat]

@@BarefootTravels that was a great sail but terrible for fishing 🤣

[@MrLbryson]

We should have a race one of these days to put doubts aside. I believe you DO NOT have the slowest power cat. Another great video, and yes...I am a little bias here. :-)

[@BarefootTravels]

Absolutely a race would be so much fun!!

[@GameVistaGuru]

Is this a stupid question? But cant they make a rig with an Alternator sspinning and charging the batteries while the engine is spinning the props countering the drainage to the batteries while the craft is in motion??

[@secuuda]

Good Day I have been an advid solar panel user for about 6 years but not fully electric on my 40' power boat. Was wondering how big your hardtop is and what is the make and phiscal size of each panel at 350W. Hoping some day to have a 52' cat all electric as well. One other thing what was the old generator make?

[@Mikesroadtrip-ec5kp]

They have 12 volt A/C that works really good. I wish you would of asked about traveling at night on full batteries. Then charge the batteries in the morning. Like at low speeds.

[@The442nd]

Can you attach an alternator to the electric motor?

[@joseasantiago30]

How much did you pay for the conversion, and who did you buy it from?

[@polarbear4612]

It’s a hybrid as they all should be at this stage. Solar on catamarans is a no brainer. It gives you tons of power for AC, refrigeration, fresh water generation etc.. AND it improves fuel efficiency by adding some additional free power to your engines. Can’t see why anyone wouldn’t fill that huge top space with solar panels.

[@dj2000lbs]

Is the dingy electric?

[@theautoman22]

So an underpowered boat.

[@fredflintstone1428]

Hopefully, if the universe keeps smiling on me, by the end of summer 2024, I hope to have a 40ft power catamaran, with a 6kW canopy, a 90kWh lithium bank (2 x 45kWh) powering two Aquamot Trend 15.0 outboards on the water and heading to the Mediterranean for the winter.

[@MrLbryson]

love the name Fred Flinstone. Grew up on those cartoons. Anything is possible, follow your dreams and would love to hear how you make out. I am rooting for you!

[@fredflintstone1428]

Many thanks Lance. I'm filming a lot of the project but won't be releasing stuff until the project is near completion for reasons that will become apparent once you see the project.@@MrLbryson

[@sweetagony666]

can it cross the Atlantic? go any where?

[@BarefootTravels]

It can easily cruise the Caribbean as is. If it had a kite sail added it could possibly cross the Atlantic

[@sweetagony666]

thank you so much @@BarefootTravels

[@jiminauburn5073]

Did he say the I3 batteries were $30K? I think I would have opted for some repurposed Tesla battery packs. You could get a used one in fine condition from a 2021 Model Y, with 84 kWh for $5-6K. So for $12K and maybe a few extra thousands to modify them for your use case, you could have an 84kWH battery for each motor. You could get a used drive units from a model y for between $1500 (front) to $3000 (rear). They would have 200-300+ HP each and 150-200 lbft of torque each. I bet you could DIY two battery packs, and two drive units for $20K.

[@BarefootTravels]

Everything is more expensive than you think it is going to be on a boat.

[@jiminauburn5073]

@@BarefootTravels They don't call them "holes in the water that you throw money in" for nothing.

[@MrLbryson]

🤣@@jiminauburn5073

[@tomatobrush3283]

Parallel hybrid with two diesel engines and no generator is still the most optimal configuration in my opinion.

[@JakeRichardsong]

Fossil fuels are cooking the planet and there are disastrous oil spills happening regularly.

[@tomcockcroft9394]

Hydrofoil?

[@paulrobberts1527]

The tech is not up to speed yet to cross an ocean,great concept thoug

[@licencetoswill]

many fully electric boats have already crossed oceans.

[@TChalla007]

@@licencetoswill Facts. I think Silent yachts did it. Sunreef has a 1 megawatt battery bank and can run 300 miles at 12 knots on just battery.

[@dc1544]

Looking into the battery used I would not go with a car battery for that setup. They use small cells. Small cells fail faster than large cells. 230ah cells is the smallest I would go with. 280ah preferred. They can be made into battery packs. Those packs say 16 of them will give you 52 volts then you make 6 of them to get 300volts. Each pack will pull 1/6th the amp load (current draw) and last much much longer since you are not over working any pack. Car batteries with small cells over work each cell all the time. This is why car batteries die so fast compared to the newer ones with large cells. Even tesla made larger cells to help with this but they are still to small. 26ah is tiny and its Tesla's new cell. Also with larger cells its less weight per kw of power. Less points of failure. When you get ready to go electric hit me up. Building battery banks is easy. Buying pre made batteries also is an option but choosing the right one is harder. I have thousands of research and hours of working experience. I would also go with Ocean volt if you are gonna add sails down the road. Regen is what they are all about and also using 48 volt systems (up to 58.4 volts) is the safest way to go.

[@MrLbryson]

The BMW i3 high voltage batteries are designed for use in the Torqeedo Deep Blue systems. LiNMC chemistry delivers highest energy density and highest discharge rate - the most power for the least weight, delivered as quickly as possible. Keep in mind, installation was performed in 2019 and there will be more options moving forward (when the time comes).

[@dc1544]

@@MrLbryson I would not put lithium ion batteries in a boat. I would use Lifepo4 batteries which have way less chance of catching fire and 4 times longer life with LFP cells. Anyway its nice seeing new tech on boats but lets hope yours works out.

[@jackwickman2403]

If you wire 6 of the 52 volt packs in series you get 300 or 312 volts. Since they are in series the "amp load" or current flow through each pack will be the full, total current. They would have to be wired in parallel to have each pack deliver 1/6 of the total current, but then you would have only 52 volts. Also, in order to run the motors at high power for more than a couple of minutes some type of battery cooling system will be required. How would you handle this? Is building battery banks really that easy?

[@dc1544]

@@jackwickman2403 These cells are 6-8 times larger than those in cars. There are a couple battery makers now looking at using larger cells. I worded it wrong. larger cells use 6 times less C rating.

[@darthkek1953]

This is the boat that would improve from the 30% efficiency gain Sharrow Props provide.

[@josephkordinak1591]

Considering the short range and the necessity to run the generator for any real range this is a diesel electric boat. I love the 44's but I wouldn't get rid of the D4's. I do like the solar roof and using that for a battery bank for the house bank and not running a generator.

[@knuthf]

With charging 25KWh per day, he gets 125KWh for every weekend trips. That is the milage. Regular 2000W charge tops up easily the rest. The only problem is having all the heavy batteries in the back.

[@danielong911]

Hope the batteries don’t catch fire.

[@fathibendaly]

With what happened recently in Lebanon one should think more carefully about using electric propulsion and all the technology related to it. Maybe to reconsider safety and security.

[@stevemyers2092]

i wold up the battery bank you have 90KW great for a car. cough cough....might want 300KW at least = 100 miles perhaps

[@DonOmarRamiro]

I dont get it. You gotta go solar, That means give out the walkways and cover them with solar. Not only the actual roof but lla the boat need to be cover in solar panels. Even sides.

[@randyflores4559]

Hybrid is the way to go.

[@fredflintstone1428]

This looks like one expensive cat. The conversion has obviously been done professionally so not only is the equipment itself quite bespoke, but the design and engineering to make it all work together (for instance the electrical design of the power distribution between different battery banks) would not have been cheap. I'm guessing the conversion alone may have cost $150-200K and then the cat is what, $850K - $1M? Phew, big money.

[@MrLbryson]

You are pretty close but hard to put a price on this kind of happiness.

[@fredflintstone1428]

I fully agree and as a friend of mine pointed out the other day, ' you can't take your wealth with you' (meaning after death). So enjoy it while you can. Happy sailing!@@MrLbryson

[@brettscott7614]

Your estimations are correct

[@svlolalouise9763]

Crack on shorty ❤❤

[@ericmartelle8694]

so he traded the helipad for solar panels..

[@PatStenteford]

Need to give the guy a chance to talk without being interrupted bro

[@tazionuvolari3593]

Just hilarious how people claim these boats are solar powered and eco friendly.

[@vikenwellman7888]

Nice looking boat, but give me the diesel. Hard to travel around the world with electric.

[@BarefootTravels]

Also hard to travel around the world on a diesel power cat. With either option a kite sail would be a bonus.

[@MrLbryson]

We get three times the range of the factory diesel Aquila 44, unless you want to line the decks with a ton of jerry cans filled with diesel?

[@vikenwellman7888]

@@MrLbryson ok!!! Let’s do a test. Your electric and a diesel leave for a 2000 mile voyage. How many weeks longer will it take the electric. I’m not bashing the electric, but it’s just not at the level to compete with diesel. In 50 years it might be equal.

[@licencetoswill]

@@vikenwellman7888 5 years.

[@drakeramos3824]

just dont travel in cold weather and too hot conditions... lithium ion batteries hate this type of weather🤣

[@jerrykroskie7782]

You can buy a lot of diesel for what those battery's cost people need to think about the down stream cost of replacement I guess that's why god made sail boats plus you don't have to worry about about high amperage electrical fires

[@jeffanddianeadventures9846]

Why can’t you just use tasks automotive motors? They are several times the go and proven. Why not buy Tesla automotive battery banks? Size generator appropriately. Freight trains use electric motors and diesel generators too. Some variance of those systems would give superior performance…

[@leeperryman1108]

BRUSHES!!! you did not say BRUSHES!!! are these motors brushless?? before you NON-ELECTRICIANS jump in!! electric motors do come with in most cases 2 brushes, easy to change.

[@giles-df9yu]

Expensive toy, not really usable.

[@licencetoswill]

they're using it everyday. living on board for months and months.

[@MrSteviethegreat]

Usable maybe not in the way that you wouldn’t use it but definitely usable. If you lived in Florida and wanted to take a trip to the Bahamas, you could leave at 6 o’clock in the morning arrive in the Bahamas at 6 o’clock at night and not have to get a hotel.

[@Hydrnaught]

It's a Cat & I've driven plenty they're a wollowing pig at sea, especially a following sea. Absolute rubbish.

[@chrisphillips6996]

I'll think about electric once Nikola Tesla's zero point energy is released. There will be no need for any batteries or solar.