Solar Boat Now Available

Boat is $25,000 USD, complete and ready to enjoy.

The first zero-emission, solar-electric boat to ply Ontario’s historic Trent-Severn Waterway, called “the Loon”, is now being manufactured and made available for sale to environmentally conscious boaters around the world. This entirely unique boat, which carries up to 8 passengers in comfort, is unlike any boat previously manufactured in more ways than just its lack of exhaust trail in the water.

“I designed the Loon to address a number of areas lacking in conventional boats, making the Loon the ideal craft to enjoy the natural splendor of Ontario’s lakes and inland waterways” stated its inventor and boat builder, Monte Gisborne, president of the company which is now building these boats for retail sale. “Everything from the seating arrangement to pontoon design to the propulsion system was designed to minimize man’s impact on the ecosystem while maximizing enjoyment on the water”. The result is a boat which probably won’t satisfy the go-fast waterskiing crowd, but should attract a lot of attention from people who enjoy a more relaxing ride, particularly the baby boomers. The chosen hull is the aluminum pontoon deck boat, the most popular style of boat today with North America’s aging population.

A prototype boat (shown above) was built and tested last summer to determine the viability of solar-powered boats. A trip down the Trent-Severn Waterway was completed in August; Gisborne felt so confident in his invention that the family came along for the ride. He summarized that trip “Miles traveled: over 100. Cost of fuel: zero. Reaction from boaters who never expected such a boat to make the trip: priceless”. The results of this trip encouraged Gisborne to bring the product to the market. Some timely seed capital was raised and a suitable production facility at Starport Landing Marina on Lake Simcoe was discovered. After months of further development work, the first production boat was completed, with many improvements over the original prototype.

The sale of the first boat came as a bit of a surprise to Mr. Gisborne; the call didn’t come from a Toronto cottager, but from Belize, Central America. An entrepreneur from there wanted to take people on guided tours to see the indigenous species of Howling Monkey, but found out that only zero-emission boats were permitted. “Gas boats were not allowed so I began to search out options. The Loon seemed perfectly suited to my needs so I contacted Mr. Gisborne” stated Byron Chu, president of Maya World Promotion Ltd. Further research on commercially available solar-powered boats yielded higher-priced and less-capable vessels from abroad, so Mr. Chu put in his order for a Loon, which he will take delivery of this month.

With the price of gas like it was after Katrina ($1.90 per litre at marinas) and the detrimental effects of internal combustion, people are becoming more sensitive to the issue of burning fuel purely for pleasure, believes Gisborne. “Exhausting hydrocarbons directly into your own lake isn’t much different from urinating in your own family recreation room”, he states. “We need sensible options if we want to leave something for future generations to enjoy… and I believe that water and electricity do mix!”