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.

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.

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.

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.

Focus

So, I was walking with a co-worker tonight and she asked about races and so on.
I mentioned the 340, and then had to explain what I was doing.

I had to wonder if everyone understands.  So, I am writing this in the hope that it clarifies my purpose.  If you have it already, then I guess you should skip this and check out Community Channel on Youtube.

She asked, "So what makes your boat different?"

That is tough.
There are pedal-powered boats out there.  You could buy one right now.  But mine is different, and it is different for a reason.  In a word, I would say my boat is different because of regulation.  Sanctioned races in boating are very much like sanctioned races in cycling: there are classes which govern what equipment can be used.  As a result, many areas where efficiency could be improved or innovations could be found, are discarded to maintain purity.

I don't want to get into a debate over the merits of this.  I agree with both sides of the argument, but it must be conceded that innovation suffers when industry is driven by the regulations set by official race governance.  Look into Obree or the history of recumbent bicycles for proof.  Nascar is a perfect example.  And what it all means is that the previous attempts at making a better design have been stifled through lack of funds or misdirection.  The entities which could develop a better, faster machine were not going to waste resources on an endeavor which would not yield official titles.

The 340 is different.  It's open and makes no distinction beyond the basic method: it has to be human powered and you will be classed by propulsion (solo, tandem, team, sex, and pedal).  The overall winner is still the overall winner.  And, at the end of the day, this is the longest non-stop river race in the world.

Let's be clear: there is no sense of national fame for the winner.  Most people don't know this race exists.  I, however, am not compelled by sales of models of my boat.  I am not in the business of selling boats.  I am in the business of solving problems.  And I think that the lack of innovation in pedal powered water craft is a problem.

Now, I am not the smartest guy on the planet.  I have my moments, and I am smarter than average, but I didn't invent anything for this boat.  Everything I am doing has already been used.  The innovation is that the technology has not been applied this way.  That is what makes the whole thing new.  Innovation is not the process of invention, but rather the application of what is known in a way which is new.  My boat design is a conglomeration of bicycles, air craft, old automobiles, racing hulls, and basic mechanisms which Newton refined.

What I hope for is not so much a patent as the creative application and combination of what is already there.  If my theories are correct- and I haven't done the math- and my body is properly conditioned, I will get my proof.  Not so much a prototype as a proof of concept.  Victory will mean an advancement in what is possible, and a validation of everyone who tinkers over problems which will net no profit.  And that, to me, is of infinite value.

Clear?

I'm still here

It's been a little while, but I have been working.

As I write this, the clock reads 97:12:30:57...... 56.....55.... you get the idea.  The deadline approaches and I still don't have a boat.  But, I do have materials and some drawings and some tools.  Most importantly, I have a month with no races to eat up my time.

Here are some of the preliminary drawings (some of you think I haven't been working at all).  I am not going to explain them or anything, so don't get excited.

That may not seem like much, but contained within a few lines are all the dimensions of what I am making.  Some of the lines are just place holders, but most of them have meaning.  It's a sort of step in my process.

So, let's say you're building something, or going to, but it's got a bunch of parts and you don't know what they are or where they are going.  Remember this is not a kit you bought online.  This isn't IKEA.  This is a thing that you can see in your head and it may not exist just yet.  So, how do you go about it?

I start with a drawing.  Sketches and so on.  But it will eventually find it's way into a fairly accurate drawing.  I am using Graphite at the moment, but I used to do it by hand.  Sometimes I draw with paper and a knife.  Doesn't really matter.  What you are after are the parts, so you have to start making something.

The process is that you start with your given.  In this case, I knew the drive shaft size and I could guess at a diameter for the whole thing.  I put those down.  Then I started building parts.  As I went, relationships between parts emerged.  Dimensions had to be decided.  The more I did, the less there were to figure out.  And so, tomorrow night, I will be done with this drawing, and I will separate all the parts out.  Then print, and I have a blueprint.   I may have made a mistake in the theory, but the math will hold up and everything will fit.

I'm off to the house now, but I will post images of what I build.

where my time goes

Just wanted to share this for those of you interested in what I am up to when I am not reporting progress (or avoiding progress).  Check it out here.

I am moving ahead and as always I will add some updates soon.  I had a good meeting with Scott Padiak in which he showed my the flaws in my thinking (which is what is leading to my building block).  Also I have been spending time with a certain young lady who gets quite a bit of my time.... no explanation offered.

More soon.
Carry on.