72hrs On My Unlimited Range Solar Boat

I bet a dis-masted sailboat with a small cabin and a centerboard keel would be PERFECT for your next boat project. Displacement hull, WAY more freeboard for mounting solar panels, a cabin to sleep in and get away from the sun and waves...I think sailboats are a legit use-case for solar propulsion, so it would probably interest sailing nerds too.

What totally blows my mind is, that we're at a point where you can PRINT large parts of a solar dinky, live on it for days, have it auto-pilot really well, have a video editing station on board, and being able to make fly-by and overhead footage ALL BY YOURSELF, and all this time be reasonably comfy. And it's completely sun-driven to boot. Just crazy.

32:00 Woah, that's a KC-135! It's an air-to-air refueling tanker (you can see the boom arm and pod right below the tail when it passes over). It's probably part of the 92nd Air Refueling Wing out of Fairchild AFB since they have air-refueling training as part of the 509th.

I’m 19 and going to school for aerospace engineering and you truly are one of my biggest inspirations, thank you for quenching our thirst for these great engineering YouTubers. Hall of fame for sure!

The solar panel frame seems a little delicate. Maybe you could wrap a pool noodle around it? If it catches a wave, it should have ample buouyancy to glide over the top, preventing 'scooping damage'.

Create a low cover for the front of the boat that would keep your electronics out of the sun without blocking the solar panels yet allow wind to pass underneath. This would greatly help with overheating. Maybe even one for the back as well. Use light aluminum frame with cloth streched to keep rigidity. Leave the middle areas open for seating and such.

Maybe try a catamaran hull on the next build? You could then have small displacement, make a big roof of solar, and have somewhere to build a cabin. I love this series. Thanks!

I feel like a trimaran is the ideal design for a solar boat. You've got large flat space between the outer pontoons and the center hull, and the pontoons keep the solar panels supported properly. The narrow hulls allow the boat to move through the water with little resistance, and they keep the boat super stable.

36:00 was the coolest shot of the whole video. Please do more astronomical time laps clips in your camping vids. It's just so cool to see the rotation of the earth via the movement of the stars.

He has some of the chilliest videos on YouTube

In case you were wondering, the "missile silo" is actually a "beehive burner", a building used for burning excess sawdust from old lumber mills

This was my favourite video in the last year. The solar boat is amazing.

Thank you for taking us along on your epic mission! I had so much fun!

This film was like a short holiday, love all your engineering projects and the nature around your place. Greetings from Germany 😊

Automated early morning sailing while strapped into a sleeping bag. That must be so insanely pleasant and comfortable. Take all you have learned and build a full fledged RV boat!

The flat ribbon of water is due to a subtle current. Currents are strange on dam-bounded lakes where you wouldn't expect. The old river channel is deeper, and that's just one thing that can cause subtle currents to do strange things. So, the wind is blowing just hard enough to kick up small waves, everywhere except where the current is already moving at that speed. OR, opposite, sometimes the wind blows the the other way, lightly, and it only scrapes up waves where the current is against it. I used to fish for bottom feeding catfish and knowing where the old channel was, helped locate them sometimes.

"Because how many vehicles are there out there where you can just turn it on, start going, and then just chill, you know?" Trains!!! Such a relaxed mood :)

You gotta remake this thing with a roof that holds the solar panels. Doubles up as shade so all your electronics don't overheat from the sun 👍🏼

Hey Daniel, thanks man for taking us along! 👍💪✌

In terms of hull efficiency you may want to consider a small catamaran, say 16-20 foot, and put a rigid roof on it to mount the solar panels and keep you and the gizmos cool. Further propulsion efficiencies might be gained from putting a printed duct/cowl around your props and using a prop form optimized for that.