o More Stink Pots, Please!

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

The large and beautiful Lilliland Lake was the centerpiece and great pride of the people of Lilliland. The people greatly enjoyed sailing and swimming in the lake in the summer and ice skating in the winter and savoring each of the fine days that they had.

Sailing was one of the activities that many people enjoyed along with their friends and families. They all loved sailing so much that they had nasty things to say about powerboats.

They called the powerboats “stink pots” because of the gas fumes and the noise they created. Sailboats were cleaner and quieter and did not make a mess the way stink pots did.

This conflict had come up many times and the Baron, in consultation with his chief advisor, tried to find an amicable solution. But, year after year, the topic came up and it seemed that the advancement of powerboat technology was the culprit. The powerboats got more powerful and noisier every year.

One solution was to ban powerboats from Lilliland Lake altogether, but this angered the powerboat owners.

Finally, Professor Hamblin, the Baron’s chief advisor, came up with a possible solution that not everyone would like, but it might work.

The solution the Professor offered was to set limits on boat size and propulsion power. Sailboats should be all about the same size. Powerboats should be limited to security and first aid rescue teams, and third, a surprise.

The Professor had learned of some experiments to run medium sized powerboats by electric motors. The electric motors that turned the propeller blades received electricity from storage batteries. While the first experiment involved storage batteries that were large and heavy and did not last very long between charges, and ran very slowly, the idea did work on a very limited basis.

One country was reported trying to develop an underwater boat powered by electrical engines.

There were many problems to be worked out with electric boats, but they ran quietly and made no noise and were very clean. Perhaps the future was in this direction.