Boaty McBoatface

I think I got lucky and manage to pick up a Berkley BTX 25 unused for $150. Should give me some decent milage and let me get away with a 35A battery. Now I need to get some fishing advice...

OK thanks for those replies. I've had more time to give this some thought and yes I agree that the salt water and agm battery are the way to go. However I obviously want to get the lightest battery I can, meaning the lowest AH rating that will do the job. @brad, hi mate, you'd be familiar then with the relatively flat water around the Scarborough boat harbour, which is almost like a lake when there's not much wind. There's a brand new discontinues Minn Kota 40lb thrust I can get but I'm really thinking now that 40 is overkill for my use and of course would need a heavier battery. I'm currently looking at the Blackhawk 24lb trolling motor which I think will be sufficient for a rubber ducky that's about 2.7 metres with two people. However what I am having a real lot of trouble trying to work out is what is the smallest battery I can get away with in the way that I intend to use it. Of course everyone will say get the biggest you can afford, but it's really a matter for me of 'get the lightest that will do the job'. The job I require it to do is much lighter than normal trolling around for hours a day. All I intend to do is to troll out a kilometre and back, so two kilometres and then maybe another kilometre on top. So three kilometres maximum at full speed I guess that's only about one hours worth of batter, meaning for a 24lb motor that 50Ah or even 40Ah should be enough. BUT then I worry that I might make a very expensive battery mistake. I'm looking at a 35Ah AGM battery Power Sonic battery that weighs 11kg, should be ideal but as I said, I worry about the 35Ah because I can't get a definitive answer on how long it will last. With regards to Minn Kota, they only make small motor in the freshwater range, I like the C2 30lb motor, and I'm wondering if there would be any problem using it for a few hours at a time in salt water if I gave it a good wash down after each use?

Hi, new to this forum, it has been recommended to me as the best in Australia, so here I am, newbie sailor. I'm looking for the best option to motorise an inflatable boat. I am using this boat in the flat waters around Scarborough QLD which is protected by Moreton Bay island so while it's open to the ocean it's not serious ocean. I bought a cheap Sevylor Colossus to see if boating here was feasible which it is, so I sold that and I have purchase a sturdier Sevylor Super Caravelle 4P which has 29 gage pvc and is designated able to carry a motor up to 3.5hp. I have two completely different questions. The first relates to a sailing rig and the second more immediate question relates to a motor. First the sailing rig, I have discovered someone in the USA who makes a rig especially for this boat see photo below, it is $570 plus $200 delivery and with conversion to AUD this works out at $1000, a bit more than what I wanted to spend due to conversion rate and shipping. My simple question is does anyone know of an Australian company or person who can make a similar rig for less than $1000, a lot less if possible. Hopefully around $500. My more immediate question relates to a motor for this boat, bearing in mind that I would probably only be actually using the motor for a few hours during any particular outing. I'm not looking for huge power but I also don't want something that will be so rubbish as to break easily. It would only have two people in it mostly. I see that Sevylor make a little electric motor with about 8kg of thrust, I'm looking at this one which has it at 140 instead of the usual price of 200+, however it says for freshwater only. I'm not sure if that means that saltwater will damage it or they are just trying to discourage it's use on the ocean. I'd probably get the mount too even though I know I could rig up some home made thing. Basically I'm asking if for the purposes I'm using it for if I would be better off getting a better electric motor bearing in mind I'd need a battery too, or would there be a petrol motor that would be better than going electric bearing in mind it would mean no battery to be concerned about. Looking forward to some advice on this. For the time being I'll just use oars, but I'd like to be able to make journeys of maybe 15 kilometers if I had a motor, otherwise I'll just float around the bay. thanks.