Building the Aquatron | Boat Building

By Lt David Fannon, JN

For quite some time I have had it in mind to build a boat. But what kind of boat, and would it float when it was done? Would it look more like a work bench or would it have graceful lines? These were the sort of questions Melissa and I had in the beginning. So we went to an annual gathering of boat builders in Guild, TN, at Nickajack Lake on the Tennessee River to talk with people who had built their own boats in search of answers.

What I learned gave me encouragement. Most had built their beautiful boat starting out with no special abilities. They had bought their plans, followed the instructions and learned as they went from fellow boat builders. I was encouraged to begin. We live near Hoover Reservoir, a horsepower restricted lake, Melissa likes to bird watch, and I have always been intrigued by things electrical, so why not an electric boat? We found plans from Glen-L Marine Designs for a four-passenger electric launch called the Amp Eater. It came with full-size patterns which made cutting out parts easier. It was of stitch and glue construction which would speed construction of the hull significantly.

Boat Hull Pieces

We purchased four sheets of 1/4” marine plywood for the hull, traced the patterns and cut out the hull pieces. We then encapsulated all the plywood in epoxy resin to give waterproofing, then stitched the pieces together with short pieces of copper wire. The boat was taking shape. All seams were reinforced on both sides with fiberglass cloth and the outer hull was covered in fiberglass. We had a hull with about 80 hours of work. Work progressed steadily and in a year and nine months we were finally ready to launch. Our first day was a success. Only one little leak around the drain plug that was quickly repaired with silicone sealer.

Electric Battery Check

We took the boat in August on it’s first big adventure to Old Hickory Lake near Nashville, TN, to see the total eclipse of the sun. We camped with about 20 other family and friends and spent two days giving boat rides. What fun! Nearly eight hours of boating on one charge of the batteries.

September 14-16 we returned to the Gathering of Boat Builders at Nickajack Lake with the boat I had built. Melissa and I stayed in one of the floating cabins where we could tie up our boat to the dock right outside our door. It was nice to be able to get up at the break of day and get in the boat and go for a nice quiet ride, watch the fog lift and the sun rise over the mountain. Each meal at the Gathering was like a buffet as people would put out the food they had prepared and shared up and down the dock. On Friday, we all left to go upstream 42 miles from Hales Bar to Chattanooga for lunch. I got a ride on a 23 ft. seven-passenger Belle Isle mahogany speed boat for this trip. We docked the boats at the public docks in downtown Chattanooga and walked up to the Big River Grille for lunch.

Melissa, Me & Aquatron

Melissa and I cruised that weekend for a little over 30 miles in our little Amp Eater that we have named Aquatron. We averaged 4.2 mph using approximately 4 kw of power. At about 133.33 watt hours per mile we are getting about 262 mpg equivalent. Not bad efficiency if I do say so myself.

Though some finishing work still needs to be done, we already appreciate our quiet little boat and look forward to years of happy moments aboard.