Light's Coming, Slowly.

Every sailor knows the sense of blessed relief that comes with stopping their engine, when the sails take over and once again the dominant sounds are those of nature and the way of their boat through the water. Now the whole world needs such a moment, leaving dependence on oil and internal combustion engines behind, and indeed this does seem to be coming; 2018 looks like being the year when 'society' is at last getting around to think in terms of electricity for cars and transport in general.

‘Better late than never’! Why it took so long is a good question, considering that electric motors were on the scene before internal combustion ones in the mid nineteenth century. There was indeed a problem with regard to range, but realistically it would not have been such a problem were it not for a certain precious myth of limitless freedom, which advertisers take much 'mileage' out of but which most of the time does not correspond with people's actual usage.

As to the vital development of batteries, much is made of lithium-ion ones, and indeed they are excellent for laptop computers and the rest of things where weight is critical; however, if they get to be required for cars and so on, we are back into a problem of supply. For the Anna M, I am thinking of AGM lead-acid, because they are about a third of the price and anyway, being a displacement boat, if we put lithium-ion ones in, I should probably need to add lead ballast!

With regard to the big picture, I realise that there seems to be a lot of lithium in the ground especially in central Africa, just as there is still a lot of oil, but apart from the little difficulty of actually getting it out, dependence on a limited resource is not good. Future generations have surely a right to a share of them, and it is much better for them to be exploited gradually and carefully, with respect to the environment and also without distorting society by putting too much money into the hands of what is pretty much bound to be a dodgy and bloated elite, who will spend a lot of it on arms in order to consolidate their position. This way, we all find ourselves having to contribute to war!

It likewise distresses me that the hype about electric cars and yachts tends to concentrate on what one might term the 'Bond' class - very flashy things aimed at the small minority who can afford them. All the violence in the world actually does have its roots in our minds, our priorities and indeed our very souls. The company that Alec and I are setting up will be orientated not to the tiny minority in the market for super-yachts, but to people who want to sail or fish, to cruise and sometimes live aboard on a low budget, to be as autonomous as possible while 'treading lightly' on our planet; to people who would actually be very happy to slow down, slipping gently through the waters rather than churning them up, as well as everyone else in their vicinity!

Streets for what?

If we get to land vehicles, personally I would like them to be more in the line of a donkey cart or a pony and trap than a sports car: rugged load carriers for the country or people carriers for cities. It would be great to get back to transporting on sea and land by natural power, with the powerful help of electric motors. The steel schooner that Alec built for himself actually has a cargo hold, and it will be great to see how she works with an electric drive. He has for a while been already at work on how to maximise the regenerative effectiveness of electric drives in sailing boats.

Alec's 'Whirled'.

Where the cockpit was.

On the Anna M, the work of laminating and riveting in new ribs is almost complete, and I am starting to prepare the hull for the final treatment of caulking, plugging nail holes and painting. It should be possible to have the electric drive installed and functioning by the Spring, so that we shall be able to set about testing, demonstrating and selling it.

By then we also intend to have a company incorporated and a premises, and then we shall be in a position to formally issue shares, but in the meantime the age-old problem of getting going is getting us down, and if anyone out there would like to come aboard and invest at this stage, you would be more than welcome, giving us a very valuable leg-up, and the terms would be good!