I wonder what would happen, in a strong headwind or current situation, if you had a kicker motor on the bracket locked into pushing slow ahead, and had the bow mounted trolling motor in spot lock adjusting for lateral motion? Would the trolling motor just see less overall astern vector and apply less power, thereby saving your battery? Or would they fight each other? Could you do it with the main engine, idling forward?
What about TWO trolling motors in spot lock??? Or a generator setup capable of producing the current needed to run the TM indefinitely?
I'm mostly kidding about the two motors, but the engine(s) in conjunction with the TM intrigues me. I work with Dynamic Positioning vessels in my day job, so the idea of automatic station keeping on small boats is fascinating to me.