Silicon Valley father of four Damon McMillan is hoping to launch the fruits of a two year garage project in time for Memorial Day. He's just put the finishing touches to his Seacharger boat and plans to set it off on a solo trip from the Californian coast down to Hawaii on May 30. The craft is designed to cut through the waves using only a motor powered by solar panels.

We've seen a few PV-topped seafaring rovers before, of course, but boats like the Wave Glider and the C-Enduro used the waves or the wind as well as the sun to help keep them moving along. The Seacharger is designed to be the first to successfully cross an ocean on its own using solar power only.

McMillan started the Seacharger project toward the end of 2013 by gluing together and shaping over two dozen foam pieces to form a plug for a fiberglass hull mold. The hull itself is fashioned from foam covered in fiberglass, and the craft is 91 inches long and 22 inches wide (2.3 x 0.55 m). Work then began on the propulsion system.