Monday, June 25, 2012

Progress

So, this was a great weekend for progress.  I was waiting on some friends and turning over some of the details of the mechanical layout, and soon I had drawn it on my kitchen table.



I know it's hard to see, but that is unimportant.

Then I spent two days working on parts and made some nice stuff.  If everything goes well, I will be building the hull this weekend.


This is getting exciting, so let us proceed.  As always, the target remains.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

How I spent my summer vacation

Stuff I do in the woods.  
Sorry no new boat posts.  It's all been math and figures.  More this weekend.




Friday, June 15, 2012

New Training

Yesterday I was in Skokie and as I made my way back to River North, it occurred to me that I was getting in some good training, but also taking some serious risks.  It all started when I went to get my prop....

So, the drive system on my boat is really where the innovation is.  Not just the prop, but the inclusion of other good ideas: shaft drive, recumbent posture, surfski hull.  It isn't so much about invention as innovation, but you still need an engine.  In this case, it's me.  I've mentioned this before, but it's as important for me to be in shape as it is to have a good boat.  One without the other will not get the job done.
Now, I have never had a recumbent bike.  I know about them because Padiak rides them and I researched them to develop the drive for my boat.  But that isn't the same as riding one.  So now I am drawing closer to the deadline, Scott thought it a good idea for me to try out a recumbent.
"It's not the same as an upright bike," he told me.  Understatements are great.

He showed me the ropes and we tweaked a few things and pretty soon I was reclining my way down the street wondering if it would hurt less falling down in a reclined position.  Sometimes, people say they would like to experience their past again.  I might have even said that.  But that isn't true.

Being on that bike in the street with Scott riding along was exactly like learning to ride a bike.  Forget any nostalgia you have over those first few tries when you were a kid: it's scary and unnerving and kind of sucks.  I felt like an idiot.... an idiot who was about to hurt himself.  But I didn't.  I stayed up.  I rode in a more or less straight line.  I took the bike home.

very similar to what I was riding

A good thing to avoid is the use of untested equipment in a situation where you could be injured or killed.  This came to me as I was pedaling through traffic on a bike I barely understood.  I knew this rule, but I have a history of using technology and equipment without testing.  I raced the 340 in 2009 without practice, a plan, having spent time on the river or with my partner, and all in a canoe I had never seen.  I ran a marathon without training.  And, now I have ridden a recumbent from Skokie to River North without knowing how to handle it.  I made it, but let me tell you why this was bad.

The last part can be added any time I am on a recumbent, but I felt like it was important.

The good things: Scott was right.  I need to practice on this thing until the boat is done.  I did make it, and I learn really well when it's do or die.  It makes for a good story.  I wouldn't do it again, but I will put more miles on this beast before I am done.  Who knows, I may even manage a wheelie and a track stand.


Thursday, June 14, 2012

Did you hear that?

I am into a serious crunch right now.  I have a little less than half a month to get this boat in the water if I want to practice, train, or otherwise learn how to use this boat.  One of the great parts to building  a boat is that you are the creator.  The bad thing is that nobody knows how to use it.  There has to be a space for learning, and I would rather not do that on race day.

Good news: the prop is done.  
I collaborated with Scott Padiak and he ran with some ideas which made an unbelievably beautiful product.  I am going to have to make sure the hull is worth of such work.

I won't get into the details due to pending patent issues and so on, but this thing is great.  Scott is the best builder in Chicago and I would say probably ranks in the top five in the country.  It isn't just his skill with tools and material, but his ability to think through a mechanism.  I am fortunate that he agreed to help on this.

It brings up an important point: ego and the farm.

This is a situation where I could have let my ego take control.  I had designed the mechanism and had the materials to build a working prop.  It wouldn't have looked like this, but it would have worked.  But, when the collaboration got going, I could see that there were other interpretations and ideas which were better than mine.  I let Scott run with it and the result is great.  Collaboration requires that we let other people have space too.

Also, there can be no purist notion of who did what.  Face it: sometimes we need help.  Getting stuck on some idea and trying to work through a problem are a part of design, but we also need to know that a deadline can be lost while we try to do what someone else is already capable- and typically better- of doing.  Think of the guy in a mechanic shop.  The guy who builds the engine is not going to feel bad about having the painter take care of the paint.  If you are working toward a result, don't be afraid to hire an expert to handle some of the work.  It's what they do, and it will give you the time to focus on what you do.