tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47321823499604082032024-03-19T01:48:26.511-07:00Floating IslandsOur mission is to develop a solar powered ocean platform suitable for a single family to live on and so stable it is more like a floating island than a typical boat.Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-52492843371032520492015-07-18T17:07:00.004-07:002015-07-18T17:34:45.132-07:00Roller Ship<br />
Similar to my post, <a href="http://blog.floatingislands.com/2015/04/quadbike-for-driving-on-water.html">Quadbike for Driving on the Ocean</a>, someone tried to make a large vessel in the lake 1800s that drove so fast it would hydroplane. It was called the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_ship">Roller Ship</a>. It did not work back then. There is <a href="http://www.blogto.com/city/2012/01/the_not_so_fabulous_history_of_the_roller_boat_in_toronto/">more on the history here</a>. I suspect that with far better engines today one could make this work with 4 big wheels. It is interesting, but not sure it would make sense.<br />
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In the 1934 there was a <a href="http://blog.modernmechanix.com/turbo-wheel-liners-to-speed-across-seas/">Modern Mechanix article</a> with a similar idea. At high speed it would run on 2 big wheels, a 3rd tail wheel would touch at slower speeds. They were thinking like 100 Mph. At that kind of speed waves are so slow you can drive at a location and angle to make the ride easier.<br />
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<a href="http://blog.modernmechanix.com/mags/qf/c/ModernMechanix/6-1934/xlg_turbo_wheel_liners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://blog.modernmechanix.com/mags/qf/c/ModernMechanix/6-1934/xlg_turbo_wheel_liners.jpg" height="640" width="418" /></a></div>
<br />Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-72140852082790611372015-06-05T08:42:00.002-07:002015-06-05T08:42:29.557-07:00Ship to shore<br />
If you wanted to leave the main boat 12 miles out, you would like a fast boat to get to shore. If the main boat is solar it would be nice if the fast boat was electric. This <a href="https://quadrofoil.com/">quadrofoil</a> might be good for that. It is electric and can go 100 km on a charge.<br />
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<br />Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-86496434473457459202015-04-17T16:19:00.001-07:002015-04-17T16:20:57.430-07:00Quadcopters for Humans<br />
The people at <a href="http://phys.org/news/2015-04-world-record-electric-motor-aircraft.html">Siemens have developed a very powerful but lightweight electric motor</a>. With 4 of these you could make a big quadcopter that could carry some number of humans. We will see humans on quadcopters in the next few years. The prop below is sized for a fast moving airplane. For a slower quadcopter the blade would be another foot or two across and a little flatter angle.<br />
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For short times you could use batteries or long times a turbine/generator. If all you want to do is go from a floating home 12 miles out to land and back, batteries would probably work fine. If you want to go far, then turbine/generator will be needed but cost more.Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-5349486231521574472015-04-14T19:50:00.000-07:002015-04-14T20:03:55.911-07:00Quadbike for driving on the ocean<br />
You can take an existing quadbike and drive on water, as shown in this video:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SWWt9IC7mGs/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SWWt9IC7mGs?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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If you used a quadbike with 4 wheel drive, bigger tires, a mud-tire tred, some safety floatation, it could work very well. The tire below works well for pushing water. The bike would have to be designed to withstand saltwater, which is probably the real hard part of this idea. But it could be done and would be fantastic to drive around the ocean at high speed. So commuting from your floating home to someplace on land could be very fast and a lot of fun. If you are not needing to go far, a 4 wheel drive electric might be easier to make resistant to salt water. Also, if you have a solar powered floating home you would always be able to charge up an electric bike. <br />
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<a href="https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/images/prod/275/d/dou_11_tir_doo_str_bla_rear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/images/prod/275/d/dou_11_tir_doo_str_bla_rear.jpg" /></a></div>
Another video with several guys doing it many times:<br />
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<br />Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-87863174302680367832015-02-11T10:38:00.002-08:002015-03-05T04:53:43.389-08:00Development Plan<h2>
Why I want to develop the Quadmaran design</h2>
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<li> It has very stable motion while still being able to move reasonably well.</li>
<li> It can chain together making a train of boats. This allows a real community while still on the ocean. Can visit a friend, a group can work on a project, group can cross an ocean together, etc.</li>
<li>For the size it is light weight. The cost of a boat grows with the weight so a very stable boat with enough room that is still light weight is very nice.</li>
<li>Plenty of room for solar panels.</li>
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Development Plan</h2>
All versions will be able to operate alone or chain together with others of the same type making a train of boats. We plan to build at least two of each type. Each new type will be about twice the length of the previous type.<br />
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<li>Quadmaran-5 Robot boat for developing software. </li>
<li>Quadmaran-10 Carry batteries for night operation. Tow a kayak. </li>
<li>Quadmaran-20 Big enough to carry 500+ lbs each, so we can ride.</li>
<li>Quadmaran-40 Big enough for trips to other islands or ferry type service.</li>
<li>Quadmaran-80 Big enough for a family to live on very comfortably.</li>
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Quadmaran-5</h2>
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This 4+ foot long model is big enough to hold a solar panel, batteries, cell phone, and motors. So we are working out the hardware and software to do this. See <a href="http://www.islandboys.ai/">www.islandboys.ai</a> for current progress on this project.<br />
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Crowdfunding idea for this one is to offer people a copy of our software if they donate something or to open source it if we get over some amount. This way other people could make solar robot boats. Could also put logos on the boat.<br />
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We have one almost built but would like to build a second which will cost about $1,000. <br />
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Quadmaran-10</h2>
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This will be able to carry about 70 lbs worth of batteries, solar, motors, etc. It will be strong enough to pull a kayak, so testing will be fun for me and my boys. Will try to crowdfund this and offer people use kayak and this as a tow boat for some period based on donation amount.<br />
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This will be made from foam like the Quadmaran-5 was but we put batteries and motors inside each of the 4 floats. It will have enough battery capacity to operate through the night. Should be able to go long distances like across the Caribbean or even the Atlantic. It will be covered with many coats of Styrospray and at least one of fiberglass or some other screen/cloth material. This will make it much tougher than the Quadmaran-5. It will be strong like a kayak or small fiberglass boat.<br />
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Cost estimated at $2,500 each. We want 2 for total of $5,000.<br />
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Quadmaran-20</h2>
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The Quadmaran-20 will be 20 feet long and 10 feet wide. It will be able to hold 500+ lbs. With 2 of these connected together my family could motor around.<br />
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It will use aluminum trusses for the framing. Batteries and motors will be inside each of the 4 floats. The floats will be foam poured in a mold and covered with styrospray and fiberglass or material as the floats in the Quadmaran-10.<br />
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Crowdfunding people will get use the whole thing for some period of time for some size donation. Maybe 1 hour, 3 hour, day, and week amounts. <br />
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Cost estimated at $15,000 each. We want 2 for total of $30,000.<br />
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Quadmaran-40</h2>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--xz3E5_69wM/VNug0SXYZAI/AAAAAAAABk0/-PvGhxw8tO8/s1600/quadmaran40.3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--xz3E5_69wM/VNug0SXYZAI/AAAAAAAABk0/-PvGhxw8tO8/s1600/quadmaran40.3.png" height="400" width="388" /></a></div>
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The Quadmaran-40 will be 40 feet long and 20 feet wide. It is using an aluminum pipe as the main body and off-the-shelf aluminum trusses for much of the rest. Both of these can all bolt together quickly. The floats will be made by pouring foam into a mold and then covering with styrospray and/or fiberglass.<br />
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Quadmaran-80 </h2>
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This will be big enough for a family to comfortably live on. Chained together several families can form a community for as long as they want to. This might be to cross an ocean or work on some project, or just to get together for dinner. If you had a large number connected together the walkway on top lets you go to the one you want to visit without disturbing others along the way.<br />
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To <a href="http://71.180.214.116/SeaStead/">see more images check this site out</a>.<br />
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<br />Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com106tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-86578997330702610712015-01-26T09:59:00.001-08:002015-01-26T09:59:29.702-08:00Android Robot Boat Project<br />
My boys and I are making our Quadmaran model into a Robot Boat using an Android phone. This is now a home school project. As part of this the boys will be writing their own blog posts to get more writing practice. They are also writing the code for the phone using <a href="http://ai2.appinventor.mit.edu/">App Inventor</a> which I am very happy with. This new blog is at <a href="http://www.islandboys.ai/">http://www.islandboys.ai/</a>. The boys <a href="http://www.islandboys.ai/2015/01/robot-boat-project-parts.html">first post shows what parts we have ordered</a>. Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-63943711277986836072014-11-29T15:50:00.002-08:002014-11-29T18:26:06.920-08:00Aluminum Pipe Quadmaran<br />
I am thinking of a prototype floating house that could be large and still not too expensive. You can buy huge corregated aluminum pipes for about 1.66 times the cost of aluminum. <br />
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They come in sections that quickly bolt together. So it is easy to ship and only takes a few days to put together. It comes up to 1/4 inch thick, so it can be very strong. It is called structural aluminum plate.<br />
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There are also aluminum beams that you can put around the circumference and also along the inside along the length of it. So you can make it very strong and also strong in particular parts.<br />
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My idea is to use make a <a href="http://blog.floatingislands.com/2014/11/quadmaran-train-with-3-models.html">quadmaran</a> out of this by attaching 4 floats and then covering the top with solar panels. A picture of a model is below. <br />
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The floats could be attached with 4 aluminum truss sections between each float and the main body. Two spaced well apart up high and two spaced apart down low. All 4 coming next to each other above the float and a 90 degree turn to 4 more trusses that go down into the float. The ends may have to be cut and welded but it would not be too much welding.<br />
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The float would have the aluminum trusses for strength and then foam and a covering of styrospray and/or fiberglass.<br />
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This could be very cheap and very fast to build. You could end up with a living space much larger than any boat in this price range. Solar and electric would make it cheap to operate. The quadmaran design makes it very comfortable and stable, even when going slow.<br />
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The connection points to make a train of these would have to be strong enough too. One idea is to have a big beam running along the floor and sticking out at both ends. Another is to have some beams come to a point in front and behind, like a nose and tail on the pipe. Engineering details need to be worked out but I don't think it will be a problem. <br />
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In a normal house you spend roughly as much on the land as on the house. Here you would have this as the equivalent of the land cost and then the house would be built in/on this. But the end result could be comparable to a significant slice of houses in the USA. There will be plenty of people who could sell their house and buy one of these. There should be a good market.<br />
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I am going to double check the structural engineering and if this still looks good then I think I will try crowd funding with indiegogo or kickstarter. If you donate $100 you get to ride on it for a day. If you donate $1000 you get the whole thing for a day. But if anyone wants to start donating early, I happily accept paypal, bitcoin, credit card, Western Union, cash, check, gold, silver, or wire transfer. <br />
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<br />Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-13824820475998749552014-11-29T13:07:00.000-08:002014-11-29T18:40:12.980-08:00Quadmaran Train With 3 Models<br />
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I tested 3 models in train formation with a better joint between them. The first with 3 floats rolls much more so I like the quadmaran design better.<br />
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The joint is very simple. On the back of one model is a piece of wood with a screw head sticking out. This can be thought of as a trailer hitch except that it is aimed back instead of up. The front of the other boat has a piece of wood with a small hole drilled in big enough for the screw head to fit into. Then rubber bands are connected from the posts on the sides of the models to pull them together (keeping the hitch connected) and also keeping the models lined up straight, but with plenty of flexibility.<br />
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The little sandbags are to simulate the weight of the lead batteries that would be above each float in a full sized solar powered version. <br />
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On each side there are 2 rubber bands chained together. They are stretched to about 18 inches. At rest they are 8 inches. I measured 0.64 lbs pull when stretching one to 18 inches. I also measured 1.12 lbs pull at 28 inches. Close to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooke%27s_law">Hooke's law</a>. This model is 1:16 scale, so full sized would be 16 times in each of 3 directions, or 4,096 times the displacement or mass. So if the rubber bands here are 0.64 lbs pull, in full scale it would be 0.64*4096=2,621 lbs. This is small enough that it could be done with a hand winch and a stretchy rope.<br />
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I would like to point out that all natural waves are used in my wave tank. This keeps costs down. Pretty sure my wave tank has the best view of any wave tank used for testing experimental boat models. :-)<br />
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Blow is a video. Be sure to notice how the boat in the upper right is tipping as much or more than my tiny lightweight models are. If these models were scaled up 16 times in each direction, so 4096 times heavier, they would hardly move in these waves.<br />
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And the next is really very similar so only the most dedicated need watch both:<br />
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And a shot of two of my boys:<br />
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<br />Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-48932094406603844182014-11-02T06:37:00.002-08:002014-11-29T12:27:28.755-08:00Quadmaran Train My mission is to building solar powered boats that a family could live on and travel around in. I want something very simple, reasonable cost, reliable, and easy to operate. Not in a hurry to get someplace, so willing to trade off speed for stability and safety.<br />
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Amoni (my 7 year old) and I built a couple models. We glued together 3 or 4 layers of 2 inch thick styrofoam with Gorilla Glue. <br />
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Then carved this into the shape we wanted with hot wire.<br />
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Then sanded. Then pained on <a href="http://www.industrialpolymers.com/product-list/styrospray-product-list/styrospray/">StyroSpray 1000</a> which gives it a nice tough finish. Used a 1/8th inch plywood in the center of the floats and a piece glued under corners with metal brackets connecting these together. I really like making models this way.<br />
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Ethan (now a teenager at 13) and I tested these models.<br />
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These models are 4 feet long and 2 feet wide. They are 1:16 scale, so full sized would be 32 feet by 64 feet. Loaded this model is about 10 lbs, so full scale loaded would be about 16*16*16*10 = 40,960 lbs. You could clearly do other sizes.<br />
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We are testing where the biggest waves are about 1 foot. At 1:16 scale that means we are simulating 16 foot waves. In
the Caribbean we only see waves like that during hurricanes. <a href="http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=329638">Normal waves</a> seems more like 3 to 8 foot. <br />
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The video needs to be slowed down by the square root of the scaling factor to show you what it would look like at full scale. I think my video is slowed by a factor of 4, which is correct for a factor of 16 scaling.<br />
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I would really like to be able to connect several of these together to make a train in the water. It would let you travel in larger groups. You would only need one captain at a time. You could trade things between the boats. Attaching the boats together will also make them more stable. And boats following behind will go over a bit smoother water as they are in the wake of the boat in front of them.<br />
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The video below is looking at how these two different designs are moving relative to each other in hurricane conditions. At least at first we probably want to connect in harbors or at least in much calmer weather.<br />
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Note also that the 3 float version on the right rolls much more than the 4 float version on the left. I like the 4 float version much better.<br />
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The quadmaran has a very smooth ride for waves this big. In small waves it will be much more stable. The shape of the floats (two sections of a sphere glued together) makes the waves just go around it and not splash. This boat will not get spray on it like most.<br />
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When the models are connected together rubber bands on the sides keep them lined up straight in video below. This video was not from my slow motion camera but just slowed down for scaling effect, so it is not so smooth. In the full scale there would be bother computer control to keep them lined up and some stretchy rope as backup. Because they are much more stable than a normal boat I think connecting them together will be possible.<br />
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In the full scale version the weight of the batteries would be placed in the corners, making it a bit more stable than the model is. Also, the part connecting the center to the floats would probably be open to minimize wind resistance. <br />
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The hope is that a normal boat is affordable by the upper middle class American. If someone had more money they could get more than one and link them up for more space.<br />
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If you have a group of boats chained together it would be possible to split up and have some visit an island while some stayed in international waters. This way weapons could be kept in international waters.<br />
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Next I would like to build models at half scale using <a href="http://trusstool.com/">aluminum truss sections</a>. Some of the truss sections would be inside the floats, with foam pored in a mold around them and then styrospray and fiberglass/apoxy on the outside. First I would build one and if that works then build a second to test connecting together. These would be plenty big enough to day cruise around on. Could put on the solar and electric. <br />
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Assuming the half scale tests work out well, the finals step would be to build a full scale with professional aluminum boat designers and builders.<br />
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<br />Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-80003001631350736162014-04-18T18:58:00.002-07:002014-04-18T19:11:07.319-07:00Quadmaran Testing<br />
We took the model into bigger waves. These were at least 15 inches which is like 15 feet. For the Caribbean this is storm or hurricane waves. We forgot to put sand in so it is riding higher than optimal.<br />
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It did well but there were some times when a string went a bit slack. I don't like this because a slack string would let two parts get some momentum going away from each other and then jerk on the string. So I have been looking at other ways to do the strings.<br />
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Next we tried a string between front floats and also between back floats and strings from float to the opposite bottom end of the box. This works rather well really.<br />
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Next we tried connecting the two front legs together and two back legs together and attaching them so they can rotate relative to the box. Also put the 4 side strings all to a central point under the center of the box. This did not work so well as the box swung side to side.<br />
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As it swung the two legs on one side would come closer together and go further apart. So one idea is to have two more strings connecting the floats on the same side.<br />
<br />Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-685296896978725992014-03-13T18:17:00.002-07:002014-03-14T08:58:38.626-07:00Quadmaran model build<br />
My quadmaran idea is that with 4 legs on a 40 foot container and 4 floats we could have a stable platform. With just the right shape and size floats they and the legs could fit inside the container. So the whole thing could be shipped as one container and then put together. With the right shape floats they can have a soft motion in the waves. With the wide stance, like 40 feet wide and 70 feet long, it would not tip too much or too fast. Could be very comfortable even when moving at slow solar power type speeds.<br />
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Found a 16 inch styrofoam ball on Amazon.<br />
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We put the ball in a trash bag on top of some cement in a short bucket to make a mold. <br />
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We were not that happy with the mold.<br />
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Putting the ball on a bucket and using a hot wire we cut off 6 sections, leaving a cube.<br />
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What is left is kind of like a big die.<br />
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Showing how 4 floats could be fit inside. This box is 40 inches long, so we are modeling at 1:12 scale.<br />
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And 8 by 9 foot container (higher type) has about 11 foot diagonal.<br />
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We had 6 nice halfs of floats, which makes 3 floats, but we needed another. Also wanted to test out way to make the right shape for larger models. Maybe half scale or full scale. So edges of hotwire are tied to point on the side of the bucket and we can make 8 inch radius curves like on the 16 inch diameter ball. By rotating the styrofoam and cutting many times we can make a reasonable approximation to the section of a sphere.<br />
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Something sticking up in the middle so we can rotate foam about it.<br />
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Discarded foam from first cuts.<br />
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Cut ends of legs so they fit over sides of box. Then drilled holes through legs and box. Then quicktie to hold together.<br />
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Box and legs with foam floats in general area to get idea of where we are headed. <br />
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I used sun hardening resin for the fiberglass. So I set things up the night before and got up a half hour before the sun. Note how nice and smooth the floats were before the resin.<br />
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The resin has eaten out big pieces of the foam.<br />
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We tried to patch up foam with spray foam. And painted things.<br />
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It floats! Put in sand to weigh it down so floats were about halfway in the water.<br />
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It starts out high in the water so I have my 4 year old put sand inside to weigh it down.<br />
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Took a bunch of sand but then it is down in the water more.<br />
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You can get an idea how much sand in this video.<br />
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You could push sideways on a float and the strings did not go slack, the model just moved sideways.<br />
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If you <a href="http://wiki.seasteading.org/index.php/Scale_models">slow a video down by the square root of the scaling factor</a> it shows you what waves would act like in the full scale version. So these videos are slowed down.Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-90441005077929137252014-01-30T05:27:00.002-08:002014-01-30T05:27:13.007-08:00Hybrid Boat<br />
There is a <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/seaway-greenline-48-hybrid-yacht/30608/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=95abd73713-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-95abd73713-89946842">hybrid boat that seems interesting</a>. Using diesel and solar/electric.<br />
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<br />Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-30435755858718156482013-10-22T19:51:00.004-07:002013-10-22T19:51:56.690-07:00Hook Paravane 2I made another hook paravane where the aluminum extends forward under the foam. This lets me attach the string forward more.<br />
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Some videos. The Sun was going down at my wave tank.<br />
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<br />Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-6364455984000835302013-10-17T17:04:00.001-07:002013-10-18T16:36:35.623-07:00Hook Paravane<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I <a href="http://seaglider.fr/Seaglider/Welcome.html">read about a hook paravane</a> some time back but did not fully understand it. I decided I understood enough to make one that would work so today I made one and tested it. At first the curve was not tight enough and it could not go fast. After bending it a bit more it worked well. It is mostly off to the side, like a good paravane (water kite) but a bit behind. Because it is a bit behind the lower part acts like a plow pulling the paravane down into the water. The upper part is positioned to lift if the paravane goes too far down into the water. So the two balance each other and it does not go down too far or pop out of the water. This is a very light device. This makes pulling it out of the water and onto the dock or boat much easier. It will also take much less space on the boat. The maximum pull is less, so I am hopefull that it will not break the line when the mast pulls hard.</div>
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This was the shape after some more bending and it worked well.</div>
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I had to start out slow.</div>
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This last video is with the most curve in the aluminum. It seems to work the best. I don't think this will ever jump all the way out of the water, so it will always keep tension on the mast. This is much better than my pipe prototypes.<br />
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Future Plans</h3>
This design has great potential. It is also really easy to make. I now expect the final paravane design to evolve from this basic design. In the past I have gone from toy sailboat, aluminum foiling catamaran, to pipe, to this hook. These are big changes in design. From now on I expect small changes to the basic hook design. This is a very efficient design. Lifting my big pipe paravanes back onto a tipping boat was a bit much. This will make for a much more practical device. Also, because it is so light there is far less chance that it would damage the boat in any way when you are pulling it out of the water. I think the chances of making a product that other people would like went up today. :-)<br />
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I made this design very fast today and did not take the time to make the aluminum resemble an air-foil at all. Doing this will reduce the drag, so it is well worth doing now that I like the basic design.<br />
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I would like to have been able to try attaching the string forward of where it was, but there was no more aluminum under the foam going forward. In a future design I will extend the aluminum forward another 4 inches under the foam.<br />
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I seems like other hook paravanes don't have a surface following thing like my foam. I was hoping my foam would be out of the water more and only for slow speeds but it was always part of the function. If the foam were not touching the water there should be less drag. So if a hook paravane can operate that way it would be better. Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-22578746048808536822013-08-05T05:35:00.003-07:002013-08-05T05:40:54.251-07:00Lowering Mast with Solar Panels<br />
As I was lowering the mast it became clear the spreaders wanted to pass through the solar panels. This was a problem.<br />
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I detached the spreader (one bolt) and lowered some more. Then the mast was about to hit the solar panels. So I moved all the solar panels back as far as I could without hitting the mast support. Then I was able to lower the mast onto the mast support without the mast hitting the panels. In this picture it looks like I have a good inch to spare, but the mast jack is still lifting on the mast. After it is removed there was only about a half inch. That is cutting it close.<br />
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Then moved the mast forward onto its stand and reattached the spreader. This means I will always have to undo the bolt for the spreader, but this is not too bad. It could have been worse.<br />
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<br />Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-7825849802571709602013-08-04T05:50:00.001-07:002013-08-04T05:50:25.599-07:00Solar Panels on BoatOne of the drawbacks of living in paradise is that shipping big things here can take a month or more. So getting the right aluminum takes a long time. Then when the welder needs more Argon gas, that takes a long time. So living in paraside requires a certain amount of patience. But I think it is worth it. We now have the solar panels mounted on the boat. Next we have to wire up the panels and the batteries. <br />
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Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-12960211724500531632013-07-17T16:05:00.001-07:002013-07-18T00:20:02.735-07:00First Sea Trial With 2 Paravanes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-493VJcWLfn0/Uecie8_-ZuI/AAAAAAAAA5g/dfASYlZ4YrU/s1600/ballsandparavanes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-493VJcWLfn0/Uecie8_-ZuI/AAAAAAAAA5g/dfASYlZ4YrU/s400/ballsandparavanes.jpg" width="313" /></a></div>
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There are 2 paravanes with 2 yellow balls. Inside each ball is a fishing reel that can let the line out for the paravane automatically. This lets me toss in both paravanes at nearly the same time.<br />
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This video is the whole experiment. The left side reel let the line out at a slow speed. The right side must have had a higher drag setting on the reel as we had to move a bit faster to get it out. Eventually the fishing line knot on one of the reels came undone. I need to get better at fishing line knots. But the system for letting the lines out is getting reasonable. <br />
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One of the paravanes has been filed so that it stays down in the water better. I thought I had done the other but had not. Both of them came out of the water, so they're not the ultimate design.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ROKrv5l8cmg/Uecit74Y9uI/AAAAAAAAA5o/IKn9Jq_FxC8/s1600/P1000577.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">My 11 year old son Ethan has become my crew. He is learning fast He is a great help to me! This experiment was done on Monday July 15th. We tried 2 paravanes a couple days before this but it lasted less than a minute, and we did not get video. </a></div>
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Here is the view from Ethan's camera:<br />
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After a line comes loose we both have to focus on getting things out of the water. One of us driving and the other grabbing things with the mooring hook. So far we have always recovered everything. The side that has not come loose we just wind in with the reel in the ball. But we still have to get the paravane onboard and then stow things. Anyway, no video of the recovery work. :-)Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-53058070881403034172013-05-23T06:16:00.003-07:002013-05-23T06:16:55.512-07:00Testing Direct AttachTested the paravane again this morning moving the point that the line attaches to the pipe back and up a bit. Seems to work very well. The lines should have less chance of getting tangled. I doubt I will use the old method of two attachment lines to make a sort of bridle ever again.<br />
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Also note that yesterday's mod of making the bottom of the pipe pull down works well. The paravane does not come out of the water like it used to.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/51zMd1l-m90" width="560"></iframe>Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-46574320632361247752013-05-22T15:23:00.001-07:002013-05-22T15:23:14.502-07:00Mods to Big Pipe ParavaneI used my powersander on the bottom leading edge of the PVC pipe so that is pulls down as it goes through the water. I tested this today along the dock and the paravane now stays down in the water much better.<br />
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I also tried connecting the line directly to the side of the pipe instead of to two lines on the paravane. This works, even though I don't have the right spot yet. I just happened to have 3 holes on the pipe that were drilled in the wrong place. The right spot is a bit further back (maybe 2 or 3 inches) and a bit higher (maybe 1 or 2 inches). This will reduce the chance of lines getting twisted around something the wrong way. Probably easier to manufacture correctly too.<br />
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So maybe the Big Pipe Paravane is still a good way to go.<br />
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<br />Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-10995762664359212782013-05-21T09:43:00.002-07:002013-05-21T09:44:54.264-07:00Kid ParavaneSo dad was thinking about paravanes and outdoor activities for kids and came up with "Kid Paravane". The idea is to have the kids use their body like a paravane or water kite. We attach a rope to their life jacket and then pull. Their goal is to angle their body so that they are pulling away from the beach enough that as I pull forward and toward the beach they stay out in the water. My 6, 9, and 11 year olds were all able to do this. My 4 year old declined dad's experiment. Video below. Note that Dad was pulling the rope and holding the camera while going backward down the beach and Youtube can only do so much to remove shake.<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cdga1hhfQ3Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-4172080028878524202013-05-19T09:06:00.000-07:002013-05-19T09:06:07.583-07:00Long Line TroublesWe went out again yesterday. We had about 80 feet of 125 lb fishing line and 20 feet of line that is attached to the top of the mast, for about 100 feet from the paravane to the mast. <br />
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We tested the line in the office and with 8 feet of line we could stretch it about 1 foot before it snapped, so we should have about 10 feet with the 80 foot piece. The good news is that we did not snap the line! The bad news is that we got slack on the line and the paravane turned around in the waves before we got the slack out. By then the two strings on the paravane had gone under and it would not straighten out. <br />
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I am thinking I will push ahead with the all aluminum catamaran paravane design as it does not have the 2 strings that could get messed up.<br />
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I am also thinking of having the line to the paravane on a fishing pole reel. So I would just attach that to the line on the mast and then toss in the paravane. The reel would be set to let out the line when there was enough pull. I think this will be a much simpler procedure than what we have been doing. It would also make it easier to reel in the line when done.<br />
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It is a bit windy this next week so we probably won't be going out again soon.<br />
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We had camera trouble so I do not have any pictures or video to show from yesterday.<br />
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<br />Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-42165330946318922442013-05-16T17:11:00.001-07:002013-05-17T10:02:17.806-07:00First Sea Trials<br />
We have been out on the boat twice testing a paravane. The first two days we have only tried on one side. While it was out the boat did seem more stable. <br />
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With the paravane tied near the top of the mast it has a lot of leverage. It is almost 10 to 1 leverage compared to the cables from the side of the boat to the mast. For simple arithmatic I will pretend that is it 10 to 1. If I had 200 lbs of pull from the paravane that would be 2000 lbs of pull on a cable supporting the mast. Because that might break something, I am trying to limit the paravane to 100 lbs or a bit over. I am doing this by using a line to the paravane that will break before anything important in keeping the mast up does. <br />
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The first time the spool that I was letting the string out with broke. The paravanes pulled so hard it snapped the plastic spool. I had two strong lines and a short 100 lbs test line in the middle and it snapped that. Decided to risk the mast and use the two strong strings and it snapped an aluminum carabiner. Eric and all 4 boys are with me on this day.<br />
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The second day I used 40 feet of 100 lbs test fishing line, that will stretch, from the mast line out. This worked better but still broke. We only had a paravane on one side and were outside the reef. Nils, Ethan and Teryn were with me. When the line breaks you can hear my cameraman Teryn say "grabber grabber grabber",
"here daddy take it". He got my "paravane grabber", which most people
would call a "mooring pole". :-) It worked great for getting back the paravane. Nice to have some boys to help out!<br />
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The basic problem is that with only one paravane the mast can tip toward it enough that the line goes slack then move away getting momentum so that when the line gets tight it snaps. <br />
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I think if I had 80 feet of 125 lbs test line, with paravanes on both sides before leaving the harbor it would work. So that is the next experiment we will try. <br />
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We tried to go out Friday May 17th but had some trouble with the new tank of gas we brought. Hope to go Saturday.<br />
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Having some back trouble and so not getting out as often as I would like.<br />
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<br />Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-12590112513098653102013-05-01T12:07:00.000-07:002013-05-01T12:07:02.856-07:00Pair of ParavanesI have a matched pair of paravanes ready for testing. The boat is in the water. Sea trials will start as soon as a few stars align just right. Maybe today, but if not then probably tomorrow or Friday.<br />
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<br />Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-72187617447280457822013-04-21T09:07:00.001-07:002013-04-22T10:25:54.469-07:00Big Pipe Paravane<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This paravane uses a 1 foot long piece of 1 foot diameter pipe, a piece of aluminum bent into the shape of a water ski, and a piece of foam attached with quick ties. The ski is to follow the surface. The pipe makes an entraped volume of water that gives good inertia against sudden pulls. The round shape means that it can tip and not reduce how well it works. When going fast the foam does not add resistance as it is out of the water. It was cheap and easy to make and works really well.<br />
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It would have trouble with catching seaweed. With holes on both sides this could work well as a spare paravane for either the left or right side of the boat. Once when I was running and it hit a big wave it got out of the water enough to reduce tension but then went back in right away.<br />
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Some short pulls got my scale to read about 50 lbs. So this is in the right size range to try attaching to my sailboat mast. Getting eager to get the boat in the water and test paravanes attached to the mast. <br />
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<br />Vincent Catehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502618776820144289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732182349960408203.post-83065293334568067692013-04-18T06:41:00.000-07:002013-04-18T06:41:16.344-07:00Pipe Paravane<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last night I thought up a really simple paravane and then built it this morning and tested it before school! It is just a pipe and some styrofoam. It works reasonably well. The two problems I see so far are that it will catch seaweed and that when the front comes out of the water it gets lighter and does not pull enough. I will probably try a bigger diameter and shorter pipe next. If I angle the front and have a notch all the way down the length of the pipe there will be less seaweed trouble. Seaweed could still catch on the string. The pipe would always be under water, so I am not sure yet how to keep the string safe from seaweed.<br />
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I could jerk on the line hard and as long as there was water in the pipe it resisted well. The foam would lean away and the pipe would stay underwater. This really was better than I expected.<br />
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The pipe is 3 feet long. The foam 2 inches thick and 2 feet long.<br />
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