Thursday, December 27, 2012

Christmas Eve Day

Well everyone I am in Canada enjoying time with my Mom and getting used to the cold. Of course I spend a bit of time on the forum and today there was a great thread about building. I want to share some of those links.

Here is a slideshow of some really interesting boats.

Also looking at some free software like this one from Bearboat.  Pretty cool, though I will have to play with it a bit before I get the hang of it.  The guys on the forum were talking about this kayak foundry, but I work on mac and so can't try it out.


At the moment I am trying to get out and do some cross-country skiing. It's tough to get a set around here but I brought my boots so I hope to get a hold of a few. I feel like I have to get out and do something. I got a little sick when I first got here, but I am feeling better and I am itching to go outside. I think that may put me on the outside of most of the locals' point of view. Everyone seems to be indoors or on motorized vehicles - a lot of snowmobiles and trucks but nobody is really walking around. It's a shame. I know it's cold, but it is going to be cold for the next few months, and I can imagine being inside for that long. Also, it's beautiful out here.

Last night I was on the balcony of Mom's apartment and a winter fog had come in. The town was barely lit and the moon gave everything a silver sheen. This morning I went to get some breakfast and everything was coated in hoarfrost. The contrast of the frost and the dark pines is really quite lovely.

I did get out and do some sledding with my brother and his family. I haven't been sledding in a long time, and it wasn't as good as this. It's good to see the kids. They also seem to spend a lot of time indoors playing video games and what not, so I enjoyed getting outside with them.

Anyway, this isn't about how I spend my vacation, so I will see what comes up and see if I can't find some more relevant inspiration. At the very least, I will be back in the US for New Year's eve and back to my boats soon after.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Something on the Side

I was tidying up the shop the other day and Sarah came in to ask a favor. Usually that means I will be fixing a shoe or shortening a belt, but this day it was a different project. She had gotten a hold of some furniture and wanted to alter it to make it useful. The whole project is a little ambitious for a beginner, but I think it is a great opportunity. I love to teach, and in my experience, the excitement a beginner brings makes the project better. So, we got started.




Sarah learning how to take apart old furniture without destroying it.

Sarah cutting dowels to fill holes where the legs used to be.

Taking down the surface of the feet to make the parts fit.

A design decision between two options.


The lovely Sarah on the first stage of her new bench with her teacher behind. She's smiling cause she did most of the work and it is turning out really well. 

What I do 4

So, I was working on a new project for a friend of mine, and in the camera were some pictures that were taken before I took the model home. Thought I would share them and let you know that I am working on the test part of this experiment. Making a place to accurately measure weight and balance and displacement will be it's own design problem, so you can look forward to that. In the interim, I will be travelling and such, so you will have to wait a couple of weeks.

For now:







Tuesday, December 18, 2012

For Good Measure

I don't want to brag, but I took a model home (again with the jokes).

Ever hear the story of a guy who builds a boat in his basement and then realizes he can't get it out? I'm a guy who built a boat in his basement, and it worked just fine. Before I look too smart, let me tell you that I built a model and it didn't fit in my tub.

Now I have to build a way to test and measure it.
Crap.

It also may make you wonder how a guy my size (and I am pretty big) fits in that tub.

Something to think about.

On a personal note, I am battling the ghosts of holidays past and future. The present is oddly empty at the moment, but this is my least favorite time of year. I won't get into the specifics since it would take a long time and diverge too much from the theme, but I will send along my greetings to all of you. As I type, my audience in Canada is reading what I have to say, and in some ways that is nice. I spend so much time alone I forget sometimes I am not talking into the void. I am also not trying to sound depressing. I think the book I am reading by Noteboom (excellent, though vague for travel writing) has put me in an odd frame of mind. Too much on the recent past, and so much emphasis on legacy.... not holiday reading.

I am not sure how much I will write before I leave, so it is possible that I will be out until the new year.
If that is the case, let me take this opportunity to wish you all happy holidays. Christmas, Chanukah, or whatever other people celebrate (I could list them all, but it would take too long).  In the true spirit of the season, I would pass along my sincere hopes that you all- regardless of who or where- find time to appreciate what you hold dear. Thank you for following along, and I will continue to be as entertaining and insightful as I have been. The target remains.


Sincerely,

Andrew

Saturday, December 15, 2012

What I do 3


Here is the next few levels of finish. I tinted a two-part clear to emulate the graphite finish, and establish a nice line along the fasteners. Then I coated the entire outer hull in snap-dry clear-coat. It turned out pretty well.

Since this boat is sort of a hybrid- the plans are originally for a kayak and I am converting it into a canoe- I decided to add a little of the kayak. So, I have placed bulkheads in both the bow and stern which will be covered with a deck. In addition I added a central compartment which will be decked. 

At the very end you can see that I have added the out-wales which are only roughed. I will trim them to the hull and then fit the decking. I will have to decide what the hatch will look like and how I want to place the seats. 

Hopefully, I will be done this weekend and testing on Monday. I am out to Canada on the weekend, so there isn't much left for me to do this year. It would be nice to have this buttoned up so that I can do a new boat in January. I could, of course, test with the hull as it is. The trim and details are not required for me to learn what I need to learn, but... it's just too close to not take it to the end. Too much fun to be resisted.












Sunday, December 9, 2012

What I Do 2

Pretty rare for my to post so much in such a short time, but I am trying to keep on top of this process.

So, the thickened epoxy dried overnight (I only had slow hardener since I built Fenrir Mark 1 in a heat wave) and the hull is pretty good.  I cut the wire and sanded the seams smooth. Then I looked good an hard at it and realized that my math was wrong. That didn't shock me since my math is usually wrong the first few times I do it. Here's what I didn't account for.

A boat floats by volume displaced. I scaled the boat to a quarter and figured that I would be able to scale the weight by a quarter and it would work out. Nope. I forgot water as a volume would be cubed. So, I wouldn't divide by four, I would divide by four cubed (sixty-four according to my calculator). That still may not be right, but it's closer.

What to do? Well, there is a better way and I am going to take it.

I have a model. It will float. I will put weight into it until it rides the way I want it to. Now, the volume I displace is measurable (I could use a graduated container that I make, or capture and weigh the overflow, or use my digital modelling system to tell me the volume at a given distance, etc.) so from there, I can simply multiply by four, and I would have the carrying capacity for the water line I want.

At least that makes sense right now.

Anyway, here are the images. The last one is the hull with it's first coat of epoxy drying in the shop.

Thickened epoxy is that brown stuff.

Stitches are about to come out.

Stitches removed and the edges sanded smooth.

Ben came up to see my work and we worked on some math to figure out the displacement.
This is his work, I just stood there and followed along like a good student.

The hull coated and beginning to dry on the bench.


Saturday, December 8, 2012

What I do

As promised, I have begun modelling (I love corny jokes).

Did most of this last night and am continuing this evening. The goal is to have a quarter scale hull done by Monday so I can share it. Also, I will be in school for a week at ID (Institute of Design) for some work on design thinking, so I will have little time before I take off for the holidays. Heading into the Great White North this year, which I am looking forward to. 

The quarter scale is cool because I was able to scale everything, including the materials. If I am correct, this little guy ought to hold about 125 lbs. We will see.  

Enjoy.












Thursday, November 29, 2012

Refined Machine

As promised, I have been working on refining the mechanisms that I developed last year.

At best, what I made last year was a proof of concept. If you will recall the Primary Run, I managed to get the thing to work, and that is in many ways an accomplishment. But the mechanism itself lacked any elegance. At it's core was a good concept, but I never got it refined to it's base: a working model with everything removed to it's essential part. That may be tough to grasp, but let's look at an example.

Remember this guy? This is the core of the mechanism- which I termed my gear box- and it is pretty much four gears, a freewheel, some bearings and a flywheel (at this point I hadn't added that). It worked, but it is too big, weighs too much, and is a pain to work with (the chains need to be perfectly aligned and I ended up adding tension gears with springs to keep the chains from skipping). I can eliminate most of the mass, while adding function, precision, and adjustability (eliminating the tension gears altogether) by using this:

What we're looking at is an internally geared hub from Shimano. One one side is a freewheel gear. The other is a disk brake flange fixed to the hub. Essentially the same thing I built except the hub in this case is not one-to-one with the gear. If, instead of a disk brake, I installed a gear and placed my flywheel around the hub's body, I would have the same mechanical effect that I made preciously while gaining the ability to shift gears and cutting it's size by more than half. The frame in this instance wouldn't be wood, but rather a tubular steel... very much like a bike frame, you might say.

It's good to have clarity of mind back.
There are eight months (give or take) before the next race.
The target remains.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

something else to look at

check this out

Kind of an interesting project.  I'm not ready to try it out just yet (not at $800 anyway) but I think it's pretty cool.


Won't be fooled again

As I move ahead with this project- shoulder to the wheel and all of that- it occurred to me that one of the major reasons for my failure last year was that I lost who I was. Somewhere in the mess of emotional trouble (which ended and restarted so often it now reminds me of a bad used car: at one point, you have to wonder what you are doing in it) and the race schedules, I forgot that I am a designer.
Want to know how this happened to come to my attention?

I knew you would.

We are, in many ways, defined by what we do.  We might intend a lot of things, but it is what we do that really counts.  It's so rare that our thoughts make any difference, while our words can do so much. And so, with our actions.  There is a story about this in the Bible where Jesus relates people to trees, essentially saying we can know trees (people) by their fruit (actions). I'm not going to delve into a long discussion of theology and so on, so don't worry. I just wanted to use it to illustrate the idea that our actions are a product of what we are. So, if I am a designer, I should have done what designers do. The fact that I did not, or, more accurately, did not adhere to my discipline fully, I ignored what I am to be something else.

Unfortunately, that something else was a failure. I suspect that is what will come of all of us who neglect who we are... but that is another digression.

So, to get to the point: I have been designing my new hull. Not just with a sort of general sense, but in the proper scientific method of design.




The forward model in this picture is the same design as the last post, only I managed to eliminate the flat bottom and keep the lines. Not a bad boat for a solo paddler at 14', but not a proper hull for Fenrir. The aft model is the same lines with the same 'v' bottom, but scaled in length to around 16'. I also managed to maintain the beam from the original, and I think it has a pretty nice line.




I think it has too much rock, and I haven't resolved the decking, but I think the basics are here. And, more importantly: it feels good to be doing what I do.

I believe the next step will be to take out most of the rock from the rear stem. The decking will become more  canoe-like, and then I will make a scale wooden model to test it in the water. Should it go well, I will build this hull for paddling, and then continue to adapt it as a model to house the refined pedal drive.

I will talk about the refined mechanical parts next post.
Have a good Thanksgiving everyone... unless you are not in the U.S. Then, I guess, enjoy the weekend and I will post again soon.


Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Images of Experimentation

Hey everyone. 
As promised, I am moving forward.  In this case I am having a look at the stitch-and-glue method of hull building.  It has the advantage of being faster and cheaper to both mock-up and build. It won't have the elegance of a strip-built or of a sculpted composite, but I don't remember trying for best in show.

Who knows, I may bring sexy back... and nothing is sexier than first place. 
Right ladies?
  







Sunday, October 28, 2012

Pitter Patter I'm back at 'er

In my attempt to avoid the walking dead, I have ironically locked myself in my office and worked on boats while watching The Walking Dead. I'm not under siege by zombies. I am under siege by people who don't have the strength to be bold and follow their dream. They who cannot understand the value of vision and don't really believe the cliches they spout off ("follow your dreams" and "the future is what you make of it"...I'm sure you've heard them before).

I can hear a collective, "What the hell does this have to do with boats, Bates?"
Probably followed by something like, "Get to the point."

Part of it is me going through some stuff, (which will remain personal as far as I am concerned) but it is all connected. I am expanding my role at work as well, and that takes a good deal of time and effort. I'm adjusting my diet to make myself a better athlete (recently ran a half marathon in St. Louis and nearly broke 2 hrs) and I am working hard to get my finances into a better place. The whole thing is busy, a storm in a way of speaking,  but to me that is life.

I don't think there is a perfect time for anything really. What there are, is opportunities. We find moments when we can sieze a chance to accomplish something, or to take a step in the right direction. We need to know the direction we want to go. And we need to be bold. Every choice will both allow us to achieve, but it will also limit what else we can do. If we are to make anything of ourselves, I believe we must be decisive.

In my round about sort of way, I am trying to let you know I am still here and still making progress. I am still in pursuit of the goal. I intend to proceed as I can, or, as Least-Heat Moon said, "as the way opens."

the chaos of me making paper mock-ups on a beer-box cut mat

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Of a feather

Here is a guy after my own heart.  Read this today at work while scrounging food in the kitchen.
Better than a giant hampster wheel.  Reminds me of Capt. Slocum.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444799904578053023649693516.html


Thursday, October 18, 2012

An admin change

I will no longeer be allowing anonymous comments.  This is something I have been considering for a while, but didn't want to put it into effect. Recent events in my life have made me rethink that policy. While I encourage everyone to read what I write (good for my ego when I get a lot of traffic) I am not interested in anyone being a part of the conversation when they are not bold enough to be a identified.
If this is unpopular, I will miss the traffic, but I have to control my content. I am still available through the regular channels if you have something to say, but it will not be posted here.

Cheers.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

I'm still here



I'm making some progress on Fenrir: Mark 2, but I don't have much to share at the moment.  Saw this video in a link on Core77 and I thought I would share.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Driving Distraction




Been meaning to get this thing going for a while.  Finally, Meers and Gary joined me and we got down to some serious shenanigans.  New engine and this thing kinda rocks.  Tires next and then a few details to add.  Amphibious fun.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

A lot like life

Sorry for the delay between posts.
Of course much has happened, and while I won't (or can't) tell you everything I have been up to, I want  to relate how I think about design.  I don't think I have written this out before.  I have a belief in a holistic world which often surprises people.  I suppose, though, to a few it would seem normal that I have considered more than a few angles.

At present, Fenrir M2 is still in my living room.  I have inspected it, and done a few preliminary probes into the damages.  I have a plan.  When things need to be done, I am a man who favors action, but I also believe that actions should be considered.  Since I want to do a better job on this boat, I have to consider where things went wrong.  As I have said, there was no problem with the boat.  All the trouble was with me.  You may not believe this, but I wrote it so you can count that I believe it.  And that is the bigger problem.

Here is the holistic side: the design is a product of the designer.  If the designer is lacking, his design will be lacking.  When I think about my designs, I have to consider my life.  Not just the professional parts, but the personal as well.  I have been struggling with personal relationships, with my own self image, and with my lifestyle.

That is a loaded word: lifestyle.  It is mostly considered shallow to think about our lifestyle.  It means physical things to most (cars, houses, clothes, etc).  But it is more than that.  It is the style in which we live our lives.  As much as making sure my designs good, I must make my life good.  Or, more accurately, I must become the person who can make good designs.  To make it more clear let me say it this way.
The way we dress is a function of the way we think about our clothes as much as ourselves.  Some might take a path of fad, or of what we think to be a higher or lower class.  The choice is significant because it demonstrates who we are and who we want to be.  We cannot live in division and be any good.

So, to bring it full-circle, I am not idle on my plans.  To be true, I am more active than I have been.  I am sure much of it will not make sense right away, but it's a story, and it is a part of a larger design.

Stick around and let's see what happens.


Saturday, August 18, 2012

The Metric

I did a lot today.

I finally made progress at baking bread.  I caught up with some friends and family that I have neglected in my drive for success.  I rode my bike to the office and finally found out how far I can swim.  Jericho and I have begun to share ideas and my muse has returned to sweeten my mind and renew my will.

The swimming is what I think you should hear about (everything else is either too personal or too private for a public blog), and it relates to the bread.

What I wanted to learn today was what I would do if I got into the Chicago Triathlon next weekend.  The reality is: not much.  I am not sure I would have made the cutoff.  It turns out I can only swim about a sixteenth of a mile without stopping.  I may be fast, but I doubt it.  There was another athlete there who was training for this years' triathlon and he could swim the full distance.  We talked a bit and he was encouraging and I learned from him.  But mostly I learned what I couldn't do.  More accurately: what I couldn't do yet.

Success is a strange thing.  We could all define success at what we do, but we would all define it differently from one another.  If pressed, all of these things would come down to a common reality: we can gauge our success only by a metric.  When I make bread, I can only know how well I am doing by the quality of the loaf.  In a race or competition, we have the clarity of a winner.  I have never liked any metric which is arbitrary.  In business we measure things by profit and revise it over time.  I prefer the clarity of a competition.

What I learned today was that I am not a strong swimmer.  But I also got a sense of what I will have to do to get stronger.  I put in twenty miles on my bike and often reached speeds greater than twenty miles per hour.  That is an indication that I can ride a bike, and pretty fast (I obey all the traffic laws so I stop at lights and signs and I weigh my bike down with supplies).  I wasn't always fast, but I worked at it until I was.  I am not done getting faster on my bike and I am not done getting faster in the water.

This is as much a life lesson as it is a lesson about design: we need to define the success of our work in order to know if we are improving.  And then we must consider where we are and what we want to do.  The Meers-Cat is in Rhode Island to run a half-marathon and he texted me to make jokes and so on, but he hit on a clear idea of what he wants.  We both ran Chicago a few weeks ago and neither of us felt good about our performance.  He wants to beat his best time and make up for doing poorly (according to his standard which is always improve his time).

Talking to Jericho, I got a sense of what he was after as well.  It's nice because it is the same goal as mine: develop a winning boat.  Don't worry too much about my other sports or goals: I intend to win a race, and for that I will develop a winning boat.


Another tale of the double cross

Double cross training.

I have written before about cross training and the importance of exercising the body as a part of keeping the mind sharp.  Today I am off the the lake so that I can begin training for a triathlon.  I will be attempting to swim a mile (not going to happen, probably, but I need a metric to gauge myself against) and will ride twenty miles.  I hope to get in some running as well, though I am not sure what kind of distance I will get.

I ma doing this because I need to work things out in my head, but also because I need to be in shape (and while round might be a shape, it isn't the best for racing).  I want to encourage all of you to get out there.  You don't have to be crazy like I am with all the races and different sports, but the first step to feeling great is getting up and getting out.  Treadmill, sidewalk, fresh air: run, swim, walk, bike: whatever you want to do, just do it actively.
Summer is at an end my friends, and soon we will be bundled up and looking back in fond remembrance of the warm days past.  How shall we remember them?  What will we think of as the snow flies and we have less sun?

It's up to us, and the decision is now.

Let's go.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Some ideas

Since I last posted, I have begun to put together a really solid plan for the way forward.  Part of this plan is to build a "foot" which I will be able to install on the old junk canoe (which needs a name, so I will take suggestions).  That wil give me the ability to test the mechanical parts and refine them in a really controlled and scientific way.  The hull, though, remains a problem.  

So, as things go, the problem sort of solved itself.  

I began to reread my books on canoe building (Canoecraft, Building a Strip Canoe, and the Stripper's Guide to Canoe Building) to make sure I was primed for the heavy naval literature I would be confronted with.  And, as I had gotten these out, the internet was out due to a storm.  The combination of no distraction, leftover beer, and a focused subject lead me to a clever solution.  Sometimes these things just resolve themselves.

I was sort of dreaming about doing a couple strip canoes this winter and applying some of my own really interesting ideas to the construction when I hit on the idea of building a model.  Then I started thinking about scale and so on, and this is what hit me: if I scaled a canoe I could put it in water (which is a constant) and get a scaled result of the info the plans would have provided.  No big deal.  But, what if I was to build quarter scale models of Fenrir?  Wouldn't that tell me what the displacement with a given weight?  Sounds reasonable.

I called my engineer Meers-Cat and asked him, and he couldn't think of a reason why it shouldn't work.
So, it sounds like I am going to build some scale models.  Not only will I get a lot of data, but I will do it without the mathematical confusion.  Also, it's really cheap to build little tiny boats (so the physical properties and the price are scaleable), which is good.  I will still be building a canoe or two (or three) this winter, but all of it is going to start as models.

A note on canoe building books and my library:
Canoecraft is a very nice book.  It is beautiful and a great source for technique.  However, there are no included plans, and that makes everything expensive.  Building a Strip Canoe is a better budget buy.  The technique is the same, and while it doesn't explain the theory of hulls and boats and their dynamics, and it uses photos instead of the beautiful drawings, it did include a bunch of plans.  I good buy.  The Stripper's Guide is a terrible book.  It is ugly and incomplete, and is not terribly well written.  However, it comes with plans and you can find a bunch of them used on Amazon.com.  If you can be sure it has the plans and it is cheap enough, I would buy it, but I would not attempt to build a boat using that book.  



Monday, August 6, 2012

The road that lies ahead

It's been a bit, and I have digested and processed and let everything crystalize.  In short, I can tell you a few things.

Let's start with went wrong.

So far, you have picked up on a few things which lead to a DNF (those three insidious letters no racer wants to see).  I didn't leave enough time.  I wasted time in training before the build was done.  I never tested the rig.  I guessed too much.  I didn't pay enough attention to the hull and that is ultimately what went wrong.

We could go on, and all of them would be correct in one way or another.  But I can distill this down to one solid lesson: I'm a bad manager of time.  Carnahan used to call me "psychotically optimistic," and I think he was right.  I tend to think things will go fine and I don't allow for problems.  I don't allow for anything.  I have always been strong, and I can muscle through about anything to get it done.  But that isn't racing, and it has made me sloppy.

Think of it like this:

A father talking to his son.  The boy has brought home average grades again, and his father is sitting across the table from him.
"I know you are better than average.  Why do you keep getting these grades?"
"I was late on some assignments..."
"If you don't learn to do the work it's going to bite you."

I'm that boy.  I never learned to do things the right way.  I let talent or will take me through, and I have always gotten by.  And that is the problem: I get by, but I don't really excel.  I'm a procrastinator with a really good work ethic and talent: I don't try and end up scraping by when I could win.  I only ever cared about the challenge, but not the victory.  And that has finally taken a bite out of me.

What went wrong is that I was trying to get by on my looks when I should have been winning.  I did this, and I take the blame.  But if I can take that, I can own it.  I can decide not to do that again.  Steinbeck hit it best in East of Eden with: you may (he was talking about man's ability to beat his own inner evil, but this is just that).

So, where does that leave us?

Well, dear reader, if you are sticking around we have got a story to tell.  You see, I believe our lives are stories we write.  Some people chose to let things flow and they are spectators when they could be the main characters.  Some people make their lives tragic and never realize that as the author they could turn it around into a comeback story.  I like the idea that my story is an adventure.  The hero suffers his own choices, but rises from the ash to achieve glory. [NOTE: there is more to this, where I also believe people don't change and that they only come to realize who they really are, which seems like a contradiction but it isn't and I will only tell you that part if you ask- AVB]

There are next steps.
Taking stock of what we have is easy: a working mechanical set, and some really great insight into what we need to do.  Also: a year to work it out.  Don't discount the value of failure, it teaches us where we need to improve and helps us find what we don't know.

So, I got a canoe.  It's fourteen feet of flat-bottomed, wide-beamed, broken fiberglass ugly... and it is in my living room.  But it was free (I will tell that story next).  Here is the plan.

I will fix the cracks and holes.  Then, I will outfit it with the drive mechanisms.  This will involve some adaptation, but it will also allow for some innovation.  With that done, I can run and train with the mechanism.  The process and the practice will tell me things, and those lessons will inform my next hull.
While that goes on, I will be learning to be an engineer where hulls are concerned.  I want to know the math which I have never needed to know.  Since I am not going to be the procrastinator anymore, I will have to learn the details.  With that knowledge, and with what I know and can learn from the new canoe (Fenrir Mark Two), I will spend the winter developing a faster hull.  In the spring, FM4 will be in the water (Mark 3 will be the refined mechanics in the salvaged hull).  From there, I will have a few months to train, learn, and refine the two parts together.

So what do you say?  Are you going to follow the story?  This is the part in a bad eighties movie where there would be a montage, so you know I win at the end.  But isn't watching part of the fun.

We've got some time, let's not waste it.


Personal Message

Hey everyone.  I have a new story and some stuff to share, but before I do, I want to try and get in touch with the Hydro Junkies.  I want to hear what happened and I want to talk about what is in the future for them.  I don't know how to get a hold of you, so if you contact me here or PM me on the rivermiles.com forum, I will get back to you.  I know your aversion to electronic communication, so shoot me a number and I will give you a call.

Hope to hear from you soon.  We got some boats to build.

Friday, August 3, 2012

metaphorically speaking

Found this picture online today and thought it was a fitting metaphor for how I feel about life.  



I have begun to work on the second version of Fenrir (called Fenrir: Mark 2).  I am going to modify an old junk hull and outfit it with my mechanisms to test them.  Also, this will inform my next hull design (F:M 3).  Stay tuned.  With luck I will get a test in the next few weeks, but I will keep you posted on how the build goes.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The race's end

This is a hard post to write.  I am exhausted following the trials of the last few days (weeks, months, etc.) but I will try to keep clear.  Those of you who enjoy my digressions will be disappointed and those of you who want me to get to the point will rejoice.

I didn't compete in the race.  The 2012 MR 340 went on, and I was unable to join in.

The inevitable question will be, "Why?"
Oddly, it wasn't because I wasn't ready.  I was as prepared.  I had my supplies, a crew, a boat, and I wanted to be out there.  Mentally I can power through anything, and physically I can defy logic.  Also, the boat was operating as built.  All the parts worked and it was assembled in time- a little later than start, but well within the time I would need to keep in the race.  But there is a flip-side to that: the boat was built incorrectly.

In a strange turn of events, I overbuilt the hull.  It had too much displacement, which meant that it was unstable and that the prop and rudder were not riding in the water the way I wanted.  I said the boat was operating as built, but not as intended.  In a nutshell, I couldn't get it to propel fast enough, and even if I had moved, I couldn't steer.  After the last boats left the point, I tried to get it going, but I could do nothing to make it ride lower (though I theorized that if I had added ballast in the form of a big hunk of rock/concrete to the back and front, I could get it to ride lower... which is probably true but also insane).  I pronounced the test a failure and we disassembled and went home.


I'm disappointed in myself for this.  Many people were behind me on this project and dedicated their time and effort into making it happen.  I did not treat this self-sacrifice with the proper gravity, and I let them down.  Everyone has been polite about it and they may even be sincere in saying they don't mind, but I mind.  I must apologize and take full responsibility for all of this.

However, I have not given up on the goal. I am not sure I know exactly what the next steps are (aside from getting a good night of sleep and drinking some rum), but I can tell you that this is not the end.  What I have made is a boat.  It isn't a very good boat, but it is a boat.  And from this I have taken a great deal of knowledge.  It's been educational both in the sense of mechanics and hydrodynamics, but also into myself and where I fail.  This is the sort of moment which should be spent in self-reflection, in an honest assessment of what happened and how to overcome the problems.  The last nine hours, my mind has been grinding and processing the information.  There are solutions, and I will find them.  What has been done will inform the next steps, and the machine which follows will improve.

In the end, I haven't failed as much as helped to define a path.  And with the continued support of my friends, I will move forward.  This is one part of a larger story.

The target remains.

Monday, July 30, 2012

riverside

Sorry about that last digression, my mind gets weird when I get tired.  You won't get to see this unless you are on the river tomorrow.

Speaking of on the river, Fenrir sleeps at Kaw point.  It went together and there were difficulties and missing parts, but my cousin David and Rachael along with my mom helped me through.  You can't replace great people.  And that brings me to the tandem pedal division.

Across the lot where I was assembling Fenrir, the Hydro Junkies were assembling and fabricating their boat.  I have to send a big shout to a team that is as driven as me and shares my loose attitude toward planning.  We are not lazy, we are just very optimistic.
I don't mean that as an insult: these guys are top notch.  If I didn't have a crew, I would still be there helping them out.  They lent tools and advice and looked for supplies for me.  They complimented my blog (always a plus) and tried to steal my mom.  Camaraderie is the perfect word.

Well, it is after midnight and I will want to try and start on time tomorrow.  That means bed for me and a silence on this end of the blog.  To follow the progress, go here and get the full instructions.  Tomorrow is coming fast.

Let's have a race.

333

It's early or late and the boat is as far along as I can take it.  
By the clock we are only a day from race day.... in twenty four hours we will find out what I have been up to.  Let me be clear:

This is an attempt to build a boat which will outrun any paddler over long distance.  What will be put in the water is a prototype- more accurately a proof of concept model -of what I will build over time.  I am attempting to test my theories on hull, flywheel and variable pitch propellors.  My minimum standard is to set the record for a pedal powered boat which is a little over seventy-four hours. I will be attempting to beat the overall record (below thirty-six hours).  What transpires is the clear result of myself as an athlete and that of a watercraft which has been built to that purpose.

A lot of people have supported me in this effort, and I am afraid that I may let them down.  It is not the fear that I cannot perform, but rather that I have not prepared to the degree that I should have.  I can only let the race decide.  Knowing this, and knowing me, you can be sure that if I can keep going, I will.  There is not an obstacle made which I will not attack if I gave my word.  A lack of preparation does not validate failure.
We proceed onward, and failure- like success- informs the future.

The target remains.






A digression:

In these hours before the race I find myself preoccupied with matters of the heart.  It's strange, I know, but I cannot help but feel that if she were here, I would be more calm.  It makes me realize how much the presence of another can affect us, and brings to mind the realities of life.  Before me lies the task and I am bound by my word, but the anxiety of such a feat would fade with the right words, the softest breath upon my tired form.  I would ride, bearing her colors, to win the day or fall in the glory of Valhalla.  There can be glory in defeat, but we must fight with a worthy purpose and know, in the end, that we had no more left to give.
A love for what we do as much as who we do it for.


Sunday, July 29, 2012

Han and his wookie



My favorite quote from Han Solo is said to Luke, "She may not look like much, kid, but she's got it where it counts."  Ignoring how many times I have used this to describe a girlfriend, I have to apply it to Fenrir.

With a long day yesterday, Mom and I got the hull finished and fitted with all the components and everything in place.  Today I need only worry about controls and the outriggers (don't hold your breath on a test run).  I should be able to sit on it and make everything move by the time I sleep tonight... or tomorrow.  I don't know.  I figure ten hours to Kansas City, so I could stay up all night and sleep while Mom drives and we would get there in time.... Going to play it by ear.  Another good Han Solo quote (this one to C3PO), "Never tell me the odds."

So, here are some images of what we were doing yesterday.

checking the placement of the components


rough cut openings 

a rough set up with parts in place


about eleven thirty last night.  carbon on, time to clean up and get some sleep

Friday, July 27, 2012

Minus Three

It's been a while since my last post, or at least my last post of note.  Tonight is not a big difference.

I'm pretty exhausted from working and then working on this project.  But, the pieces are coming together, and I may be done tomorrow (aside from a few bits that need to dry and maybe the odd rework of a detail).  I have to give special thanks to Dave for taking over the flywheel part of this project.

The Iron Goat made a pretty nice thing, but it will not be heavy enough to drive the prop.  That left me in a spot and I was going to omit that part until Dave attacked it with his experience.  He has a particular gift for cutting through to the heart of a thing and solving the problem with what seems like no effort.  The flywheel now is a 25lb weight which has been fitted to the mid-shaft in the gear box.  The details of it are really something.  Today we balanced it with a method Dave devised and it seems to be rolling pretty true.

In addition to that I got the input shaft(s) put together and did some of the final prep to finish the whole thing.  It is going to be a monumental push, but it is going to get there.  I could test it Sunday, but I can't count on that until we get there.  For now, I am satisfied with progress.

Hope you are all well and getting ready to see what happens in three days.

The pressure builds, the target remains.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

monday looms

I need to sleep, but to keep everything rolling, I wanted to share a bit of thinking that was passed to me when I first started as an industrial design student:

Better done than perfect.

I would add a qualifier: Sometimes it's better to be done than perfect.

Something to muse on as I go forward.  Compromises are made as the ideal is made to fit the realities of life.  It reminds me of another saying by the same instructor: work expands to fill the time alloted.
I amend this to: Work expands and contracts to fill the time alloted.

Anyway, I have an early day, so goodnight.

The target remains...


Like sand through the hourglass....

Literally waiting for the glue to dry over here.  It's 100F and it will still take a while.
Good news?

When the glue is dry, some last minute shaping and then the skin of carbon.  Also, while I wait, I can work on the prop blades (now also drying) and the outriggers.... also drying.  Guess I will clean up since Mom will be here and the house has gone from hovel to hell-hole over the last two weeks of building.

Is the suspense killing you?  Am I going to make it?  Will it actually work?  Have I - the Great American Badass Bates- finally met with a challenge which I cannot complete?

Stay tuned.

(and, no, I don't call myself that... though, if you wanted to, I wouldn't stop you)

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Crunch

Am working on the hull.  It's not going as fast as I want and I am feeling the crunch of what is to come.  I can't even focus enough to write clever lines and titles so I am going to get some sleep and give it a fresh go tomorrow.
Just to tie everything into a lesson or teaching on what I am learning or have learned: NEVER try to do a boat this way.  It's insane.  And never mind the outcome, it's still crazy to go this route.  More time would have made everything better.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

how do you eat an elephant?

There is an old joke that asks, "How do the natives eat an elephant?"

"One bite at a time."

That is how I feel at the moment.  Before me is an unbelievable task, but it progresses because I take one step at a time.  It's also a metaphor for my half marathon this morning.  Four hours of sleep and no desire to compete, I have taken more than ten minutes off my time.  And while I was out there, I considered how much I didn't want to be there (I felt heavy and never really found a comfortable pace) and I kept putting my feet forward.  Eventually, the race was run.  And, such is life.

On the boat front, I have a rough cut of all of the hull pieces.  Tomorrow I will assemble them and shape them.  If everything goes smoothly, I might be able to get carbon on the bottom of the hull.  That would put me a little ahead of what I wanted done, but it is best to keep my eye on the prize and expect nothing less than meeting my goals.  If I do that- if I meet my goals on time- I will have a chance at getting it in the water before race day.  It won't be training, but it will give me a chance to know what I made before I am expected to let it perform.

For now, it is late.  I am tired and there is much to do.  But I have met my goal and can sleep.

Five days to go, starting tomorrow.  

Saturday, July 21, 2012

One More Day

Drove 400 miles today to get everything buttoned up.  It took a long time, but it had to be done.  Thanks to the Iron Goat, the flywheel is here and I only need to fit it correctly and balance it out.  Meers-cat is a hell of a taxi.

Half marathon tomorrow morning and then I get down on the hull.  It's going to be tight, but I can still pull through.