I just finished rigging the coolest kayak I have ever worked on, and I have to tell you all about it. A customer purchased a Native Watercraft Slayer 14.5 from the shop the other week. I was happy with the sale…then he started to tell me what he wanted done to it. First, the same old angler package of rod holders, anchor trolley, where he wanted
his cleat and paddle clip. So far, not that exciting, as we have done hundreds of these set ups. But then it started to get interesting. He wanted a fish finder…ok, we can handle that, but then it turned into a fish finder and a chart plotter. Now, we have done this a few times before. The chart plotter is not cheap, but we have a recipe in place for the install. Next is when my heart skipped a beat.
A Torqeedo electric motor installation…now I am excited! It took about a week to get one in because we have never ordered one, but we got it on time. So, now in my work room, I am staring down at the coolest kayak motor I have ever seen…and I get to install it and take it for a ride! In a few minutes, my heartrate returned to a normal rate because we have to get this thing installed.
So, after the part inventory on the motor is completed and we have done a read of the directions, we begin the install. I was very impressed with the quality of parts that came with the motor. First, we needed to figure out where on the back of the kayak we would mount the motor. We did this by mocking up a few spots, holding the motor and the mounting ball together to make sure we had clearance for the motor to run properly. This is not hard to do, as the whole set-up with the battery and throttle control weighs in at only 15 pounds.
So now that we know where the mount will be, we attached the ball with the parts that were provided. We hooked up the up and down haul line, mounted the battery and the throattle control and we where off to the races. Because I only have so much room for this article I have left out some other smaller parts of the install.
The Torqeedo Ultralite 403 kayak motor is an incredible addition to a kayak. As I mentioned, the whole set- up comes in at 15 pounds. The motor, throttle control and battery are waterproof to IP67 standards. The throttle has a magnetic kill switch, so if you fall out of the kayak the motor loses power. One other great addition for safety that was designed into the motor is if you were to flip your kayak, once you get about halfway over, the motor will also kill power to the prop. Depending on the style of kayak you have you can estimate about 26 miles on one charge, running about 2.5 mph. The throttle control has a digital read out that tells you the amount of power you have left and the distance you can travel before the battery is dead. An additional option is a solar panel to extend your time on the water.
From the pictures in this article you can see why have had to write about this kayak I rigged. This is a mean fishing machine, ready to take on anything the coast will throw at it. One thing to remember is that in North Carolina you do have to register anything you put a motor on, so you will have to get registration numbers on any kayak you trick out with a motor.
Always remember to where your life jackets while on the water. A safe day on the water means more days on the water.
Chris Tryon
Hook Line and Paddle Canoe and Kayak Outfitters, Wilmington, NC
Phone 910-330-6999, email: hooklineandpaddle@yahoo.com.