Mike9

Hi,
I would like to build a large cat. type of platform that would be capable of moving a cargo off shore about 100 to 200 feet and return to shore. I would like it to be powered by sail or a sealed electric motor. I can build the platform but powering it is a mystery.

The cargo I would like to transport is a crab pot!!!! Yes, a crab pot!!! I have just returned from the beach today and watched all the boats returning with fresh crab... I really have no room for a boat or the ability to tow one. Once I get the platform out to the desired depth I will simply pull the pot off. I will have wheels and a line attached to the pot so I can pull it back to shore on the bottom of the sea bed.

Does this sound crazy??? It might be but I think it could work. What I would appreciate is a few ideas that you might have in this crafts propulsion???

Thanks for any help you might give me...
Mike

13BT

The boat is going to be bigger than your average hobby size craft. Crab pots are big and bulky if Im not mistaken. Once you design and build a boat that big, you may as well have invested in a single person kayak and carry it out yourself. Kayaks arent expensive. You can even get inflatable ones. That should solve your storage problem.

Im sure youll agree that an unprotected transmitter in oceanside environments with strong salt-laden winds, being handled by your fishy, sandy, wet, salty hands simply wont last.

And whats to stop the line (or any weed or litter) from tangling around the prop as its going out. You would need calm weather or the waves will make a big tangled mess of everything.

Laying crab pots does not have to involve something as complex as using an rc boat. But the best of luck to you if you decide to go ahead.

Mike9

Hmm, maybe I have been over exuberant in my quest for Dungeness Crab. I hadn't thought out all those possible problems. I guess anyone of the above problems would cause me to invest in antacids. Thanks so much for your help and suggestions....

Mike

green-boat

Oh I love these kinds of challanges.


Let's see, low buck, available materials..........

Several plastic 5 or 15 gallon drums for pontoons.
An old trolling motor.
Car batteries.
Some load binder straps to hold the barrels.
Some 2x4's for a deck.

Just run the thing out there, pull the pot off the deck with it's rope.

cowana

For the price of a powerful rc boat, you can easily get a cheap inflatable kayak.

Much easier and more reliable.

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Be safe!

cowana