Saturday progress

Several parts of the project at once:

 Rob was coating a layer of epoxy on the inside of the hull as I finished cutting the foam bulkheads for the hull. After completing the bulkheads, I started cutting out the skeleton pieces for each of the spots. I have 7 more to go. 

What are you looking at? The skeleton pieces will be mounted between 2/4s to keep them vertical as you see. The heights will be adjusted before mounting. Instead of building a workspace on a non-level surface, I have decided to create a level surface by adjusting the height of each skeleton to a level line. The driveway is crowned halfway back. These pieces will solve both problems. The boat shape is cut in each on a line corresponding to the waterline for the hull. 

Planning progress

Physical progress has not been made, but planning has been good. We have moved into a stage where we are working on several parts at once. We will continue to make progress on the following this week:

Sanding stabilizers

Cutting bulkheads for the hull (1/2 way done)

Cutting decks for stabilizers

Coat the interior of the bulkheads with epoxy. 

Set up the work area for the hull. (Some good planning with my brother, the architect, on getting the plan together) 

More info to come. 

Second stabilizer progress

I was able to get the ends glued after getting home today. The Gorrilla glue cured fast enough for me to plot and cut the bottom panels. Then I prepped the scarf joints, aligned the two pieces and epoxied them. 

Tomorrow I will prep the bottom of the stabilizer and glue the bottom panel to it. It will not be long before both of the stabilizers become covered in fiberglass cloth and epoxy. 

My brother will be in town this weekend. 

We might start prepping the hull. 

FAQ Who is that?

Who is that? I have mentioned several people on here, so here is a summary:

Tim: He was my partner from the 7th MR340 who for many reasons has become and him and his family will be long standing friends. 

Rob: He has been my partner in more weekend expeditions than anyone. We have paddled the navagatable lengths of the Jacks Fork, the Finley, the James (to lake water), the Beaver, the Swan, the North Fork, the Buffalo (from Ponca to White), sections of the Missouri, and many other small trips. Also could be easily considered part of the family and Henry's best bud. 

Liz: She is my wife, two time ground crew captain, full of grace, patience, sounding board, partner in The Race to the Dome, and support in all I become obsessed over. 

Henry: He is my son, my biggest little helper in the shop, and always inspiring. 

Jerico: He is a connection I have made along the way in this process of HPB. He has a seemingly endless supply of building/ machining experience, continues to share ideas/thoughts/plans/time,  encouraging, and uplifting. He calls his home near the Missouri River. 

Rick W.: He will be referred to a large amount of the time. He lives in Australia.  In every way that aspiring builders like myself attempt to forge a path toward efficient ways to travel on water, Rick has either done it, researched it, wrote about it, or developed it. I gave a tiny nod to Rick on a previous FAQ, but this entire project is going because of his work and his generosity. He has developed and redeveloped systems to work the best for HPB. He is the developer, designer, guide, and in some items, manufacturer of the V-16. He will be my guide as we continue to build and outfit the first three man version of his design. 

Greg K: He is an overall stud in the world of endurance. He holds the current record for distance traveled on flat water for a pedal drive boat. His endurance accolades move on from there. This year he has his sights set for Carter's solo record in the MR340. He set his record in an earlier version of Rick's design and will be bringing it from the now chilly north air of Canada to the race this summer. 

I know more people will be involved in this project and it will be an incredible help as we push forward. 

More info to come.

The other stabilizer

Tim and Rob came over to knock out some work on the second stabilizer. We faired the edges with the belt sander, did a slight scarf sanding on the ends where the two sides meet on the ends, cut a replacement bulkhead, then started the assembly process. After gluing and clamping, some alignment adjustments needed to be made. It should work out well. I'll glue the ends in the morning and start work on the bottom of the second stabilizer tomorrow night. 

FAQ #2 Stabilisers?

You are building a stabilizer? What is that? Why is it so small?

I included photos of Greg in his solo model of Rick's design. 

This one has Greg pedaling with Carter, paddling a surf ski, who holds the solo record for the MR340. 

The stabilizers (stabilisers in the designer's English dialect) extend to each side of the main hull and act as water training wheels. They are not constantly in the water, and are designed to skim the surface. The stabilizers on Greg's boat are about 2 meters long, ours are 3 meters long in order to offer the support we need. 

The term for the hull design is a "Stabilised Monohull" more on that to come. 

Bottom glued/sanded

Sunday afternoon Rob and I glued the bottom to the stabilizer. After clamping and stacking weight on it to set, the Gorrilla Glue set as intended. 

I came back today and trimmed the excess off with a pull saw, then sanded to match the hull with the belt sander. It is almost ready for fiberglass and epoxy after I round the edges more in preparation. 

The foam and ply has made a strong box to work with as prescribed by Rick's design. I am going to start assembling the second stabilizer while I move forward with fairing out this one. 

Third Wheel? V16-9m? FAQ #1

Oh Wow, 30 feet! How did you design the boat?

 -I did not. Rick Willoughby has been designing Human Powered Boats (HPB) for over a decade. It's a long story, so here are is a summary:

• I first found out about the MR340 in its second year after a bartender talked about training for it. The seed was planted.

• Tim and I planned to complete the fifth edition of the MR340 in 2010. High water. Our plans delayed. We could not make the makeup date. 

• One more year of obsessing over the idea of the race. The Sixth edition also flooded out. We could not make the makeup date. 

• One more year of obsessing. Tim had to cancel due to a family situation. Rob stepped in. Tim was able to make it, Rob stepped out. 

• Tim and I paddle the Old Town Penobscot in under 70 hours. Far surpassing our goal of finishing in under the 88 hour cut off. 

• Tim did not vow to never do the race again, it just had to be in a more efficient boat. 

• I discovered pedal drives when we were paddling hard to catch two guys while they were eating sandwiches and pedaling. 

• St. Louis Sail and Paddle allowed me to use their demo boat in The Race for the Rivers. 

• I worked with St. Louis Sail and Paddle to promote paddling and Pedal Drives in Missouri and the accessibility of our state's greatest natural resource, the Missouri River. 

• After building connections and telling many folks how I planned to follow a race plan that would lead to a finish under 50 hours, I was met with doubt. "That plastic boat" "it's too heavy" "You have your own division so you have a group to compete against" 

• I was able to showcase the efficiency of the Hobie Adventure as compared to traditionally paddled boats

• MR340 2013: Sixth overall, Third Solo, joined the under 50 hours club. 20th best solo time in 8 years of the 340

• "I think I could go a lot faster if my boat wasn't so heavy and short."

• I used my recent success as a way to drum up attention within Hobie. My performance enticed conversation, but no talks of developing a more efficient line to compliment their fishing kayaks and touring kayaks. 

• Tim regains the bug and Rob was hoping to be in this year when I went solo. The three man team was born...without a boat. 

• Without answers from Hobie, I obsessively poured over every forum I could find with information about pedal drives and boat building. 

• Continued to find great information from Rick Willoughby. It seemed like he was on a different wavelength as everyone else.

• Design/Build Rob's solo fun canoe

• Jerico contacts me about pedal drives and their potential. Rick W comes up again in that conversation. 

• I contacted Rick W. I started planning for a solo race boat for 2015.

• We continued to problem solve for an efficient canoe for Tim, Rob, and I. 

• It clicked, I contacted Rick W. about a possible three man design. 

• Rick liked the idea of two pedalers and one paddle/sleeper seat. 

• Rick W worked out the entire design and displacement variables to discover that his V16 design could work for the three of us if it was 9m long. 

• I doubled my workspace by closing in my carport creating 42' of length to work with. Rick designed the boat.

• I continued to look into different building methods, but money and time crunches landed us back at Plywood. It will work fine. It will not add much weight. 

•March 2014 boat building commenced. 

Rick has been more than generous with his designs and experience to assist me in building techniques and specifically what has worked for him. 

Some of the things Rick has worked on and developed are highlighted in his other videos on YouTube. Check them here: 

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n7jmLYM28GU

Half of Spring Break project update

Some progress on the stabilizer on the first half of spring break. Thanks to some helpful hands from Steve. Ready to glue the bottom of the stabilizer in now that it is scarfed and glued. 

Third Wheel Scarf Joints(Stabilizers)

All eight of the previous cuts were prepped for the scarf joint. The stabilizer is 3 meters (nearly 10 feet long) so a scarf joint can be used to combine two pieces with epoxy. 

The extra clamps are overkill. The epoxy should set up for those two tonight into tomorrow, then the process will be repeated. 

Third a Wheel Begins

Work has commenced on the Third Wheel. I am constructing the 3meter stabilizers (think outriggers, but smaller and just skimming the water like training wheels) first, then I will start constructing the 9 meter hull. Special thanks to Rick Willoughby for the design and development work to convert his previous one man design into this 3 man design for a pedal driven race boat. 

Thursday, I had one stabilizer side plotted and cut with room left over for the scarf joint.  I then traced those for three copies and cuts.  I then got the bulkheads cut from the foam.

I scarfed them on Friday with Tim weilding the belt sander for two joints as well. 

Sunday is supposed to warm up above 60*F which will help the scarfs set up with epoxy. 

In the cure time, I'll get ready for assembly of the sides and bulkheads with gorilla glue at the start of the week.

Keep an eye out

For an idea of what the stabilizer will look like: 

Winter Project (Mostly Done)

Off and on the past few months I framed, enclosed, and insulated the carport to create a 42' long garage/workshop. I have included a few photos of the progress. I still need to add trim, water seal it, and add decorative trim to the doors. 

Next up: Building my second boat, "Third Wheel"