The Solartanic was launched at the end of August, 2003 just in time to participate in the boat parade that is held as part of the Lake Boon Water Carnival (You can see the pictures from the boat parade in the "Photos" section).
While the boat sailed successfully, a number of items remained incomplete. The funnels were flat plywood cut outs and there wasn't much detail topside. The interior was rough with only unfinished plywood for seating.
After thinking about it over the winter, spring 2004 brought renewed work to produce "Rev 2.0" of the Solartanic. Key improvements include:
- Change from a single 12 volt motor to two 24 volt motors for more power.
- Add a second solar panel to the dock to supply 24 volts.
- Add linear actuators to raise the roof electrically.
- Another linear actuator was added to retract the motors to protect them during lauching.
- Replace the plywood seats with nicer "park bench" style seats made from dark stained pine.
- add three dimensional funnels, deck houses and tiny lifeboats to the top deck.
- Add small white LEDs to holes drilled in hull to look like portholes at night.
