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Full Moon Sail
Friends went on an evening trip to see the full moon, and took me along. Here’s a quick VR movie from the sail… FullMoonSailVR (Quicktime required. Click and drag to pan; shift or control to zoom.) … and a simple, flat panoramic photo of the same thing.
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Building Boats… in 2 Hours or Less
This is something of a ‘blast from the past’. A few years ago I competed in the (then) annual Sea Capers Build-a-Boat Challenge. The rules were slightly different every year, but the gist of it was to design and build a boat for less than $100 (Canadian, even) in two hours or less, and then…
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Big on Small
I’m a big guy who likes small things. “Big” is not just a vague, subjective call. I’m 5cm short of 2 meters tall, and 100 kilo’s. Anthropometric studies peg my size at the 95th percentile for North America. (This is especially convenient for consumer product development, since it’s typical to try to cover 90 percent…
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Design of the Day: Alpha Z
Besides the fact that this project continues to rack up design awards of all kinds, besides the fact that it is one of the most stunning boats on the water, this effort speaks volumes to me about project scope.
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Design of the Day: Ilan Voyager
Here’s some really innovative thinking that has resulted in a number of record voyages: Nigel Irens’ Ilan trimaran concept. With roots in sailing trimarans, these power tri’s are ultra-efficient record setters. The smaller iLan Voyager set a round-Britain record, and the larger Cable & Wirless Adventurer set a round the world record. The Adventurer achieves…
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New Bow Light
Not a lot of tripping or other progress to report lately… lots of work calls, it’s gray here, and one of the dogs hasn’t been feeling well. But I did find time to replace the original bow light, which had succumbed to corrosion in such a way that the inside was almost completely gone, and…
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New Sun Pad
A quick trip around Scott Point through Captain Passage was an opportunity to shoot some photos myself, for the first time from the boat, and to make a few additions and adjustments.Finally figured out a way to cover the back “deck” with a nice pad…. It is quite soft and comfortable, especially for the dogs,…
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Launched!
She is in the water! The splash from the christening is actually visible in this photo, below the bow eye. The control cables are finally in, and adjusted… and even color coordinated. (Many thanks to the good folks at Harbour’s End Marine.) This is a spot in the Salt Spring Marina where she will stay…
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A Final Hurdle
So the boatyard trailer arrived, the boat was loaded without event, and hauled to the public ramp in Ganges. The motor started smoothly… and then wouldn’t respond to the throttle… because the control cables were never installed! Off to the yard to check stock for the needed parts: none available on the island. Time to…
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Christened!
What a difference from the corroded, holed, peeling hull that was plunked down in the dirt of the driveway a year and half ago.The christening was eventful…A tip: do not do as Chapman’s recommends and score your champagne bottle so it will break more easily…. The bottle had exploded, thankfully prevented from distributing glass shrapnel…