The Lake Where You Live

We bought our pontoon boat used several years ago. The previous owners lived on a small no-wake lake, and so the boat had an electric motor.

At our request the dealer swapped that out for a used 25-horse four-stroke outboard — we didn’t think battery power would serve us well on180-acre Birch Lake. The pontoon has been an excellent fit for us — a comfortable fishing platform for me; family- and grandson-friendly for lake cruising.

At the same time I do yearn at times for a quieter form of water transportation. I realize that when I drive across the lake toward sunset I’m making noise that neighbors might not appreciate. 

In general the trend in boating seems to be toward bigger and faster. The standard-issue dock for a lake home these days seems to be a package with lifts for a pontoon, a fishing or ski boat, and a jet-propelled personal watercraft. 

A paddle boat, the kind you pedal like a bicycle, is harder on my wife and me these days as we advance in age. For quiet boating I’m fully able to use a canoe or kayak, but those are one- or two-person conveyances. So my thoughts turned toward some type of mechanical but silent propulsion on a craft of suitable size.

A neighbor who lives on the 40-acre no-wake lake across the road has a little pontoon called a Gill Getter with an electric motor. It’s probably affordable, but it’s not big enough for a family. We could revert our pontoon to electric drive — the outboard is getting old and we might need a new power source one way or the other.

Still, I have my doubts about the speed of travel — would electric power get me to favorite fishing spots across the lake in suitable time? Would I forfeit too many minutes traveling instead of actually fishing? What if a sudden rain storm came up while I was on the side of the lake opposite our house? How badly would I get soaked racing for home?

Anyway, in my internet travels I recently learned about a new technology in silent boating. As much of society is going solar, boats are, too. 

Yes, there is such a thing as a solar-powered boat. A company in Michigan makes them. It’s a start-up; I couldn’t find exactly what the boats cost, although in one article the company founder said the goal is to price them about the same as an entry-level pontoon.

As you might imagine, it takes a pretty large square footage of solar panels to generate enough power to drive a boat. The panels feed batteries, which in turn deliver electricity for propulsion. In the pictures I saw, the boats had a table-flat expanse of solar panels fore and aft, and in between sort of a sunken living room with a couple of sofa-like seats for passengers.

These boats, as now designed, would be strictly for cruising; not much good for fishing. The manufacturer says the top speed would be 5 to 6 miles per hour. The technology isn’t practical for my own or my family’s purposes, but maybe the arrival of these solar boats is a sign of things to come.

Ted Rulseh is a writer, author and lake advocate who lives on Birch Lake in Oneida County. His new book, “Ripple Effects,” has been released by UW Press. You can learn about it by visiting his website at https://thelakeguy.net.