Thank you! (Y'all, You-uns, You Guys...etc.)

I have already mentioned Rick, but I can't start a list of thank yous with out him. He is the designer, but also fabricated the drive masts along with several other components, offered his help and time, reads and responds to 3-12 emails a day, calculates a TON of data of what to expect out of the boat. 

Liz, allowing me to add a garage just to build this along with the time commitment of building it. She would have had more time with me if I wasn't also running ultras. She is a consistant soundboard and is continually encouraging, especially when I need it most. 

Henry: My boy doesn't quite understand how ridiculous this all is and probably expects to find a 30' boat in everyone's garage. He seems to find his way into the garage with hopes of helping. 

Tim and Rob have given an incredible amount of their own time for this process and made sure we would get there. 

Betsy, my coworker, has made her way over several times and helped me double my production in those days. 

Jason, my neighbor is good for an extra set of eyes for problem solving and can mix a great batch of epoxy. 

Jay, my brother, spent a good chunk of a weekend in Springfield sipping our way to a workable solution for my pitched garage floor as a workspace. 

Pat, my mother-in-law, spent two days working on the replacement seat material when the first option fell through. John, my father-in-law was prepping it all as we went. 

Steve sacrificed part of a spring break day on day three of the build to help he one of the stabilisers done.

Jerico set up my car with a way to transport this rig as well as the initial welds for the seats. He continues to show encouragement and faith in the progress. 

Al saved us with his welding. We have a way to mount the seats as well as the bonus of armrests. 

My parents have looked on with amazement and shared how proud they are. My Mom was the other half of the ground crew last year that served me across the state. They are always encouraging. 

I know there are countless more who have added to the process on the way using their ideas and skills. 

You have ALL made this possible. 

FAQ: Update: Will you be done in time for the race?

Yes and no.

Yes we are!!!

Done is a finite term. Completed. Finished. 

Will we have a V-16 to the point that it will carry the three of us down the 340? Yes! It has done short sections of Fellows Lake and the Missouri River. 

Will it have three seats and two pedal stations? Yes! We are set on that. (I would have liked to build the paddle seat, but no time: beach chair)

Will it have the required gear to enter the race? Yes!

Will it make it on the car from Springfield to KC? Yes! It has made it to Jeff City and Back

The answer to all four: Most likely. 

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Will we be 100% satisfied with where we are on the boat when we get to the starting line? 

No. I would like to lighten the load a bit by getting aluminum in place of the stainless steel I have had to use out of time and convenience. Paddle seat improvements. A more permanent rudder option. 

After we work through the production stages of building the Third Wheel, we run into a massive undertaking in outfitting and testing. I would have liked to have a better jump on the build and spend my weekends nudging the 30' long craft into Fellows lake to sus out the unique idiosyncrasies of this boat. This would give us time to modify and establish a vessel we can trust and perform in with confidence. 

One, ten minute run on Fellows and 16 miles on the Missouri isn't really the nudging I was speaking of. We feel extremely confident in the hull and stability. We can switch positions on the flat. The drives feel good. There is a clicking in the middle location. I'm checking into that. 

We would still not have it figured out. The reality is that we have our backs against the wall. This boat will be better suited for a run in 2015. And it will be. Still agree. 

I am not throwing this year away just yet. I am being realistic of the testing phase of a home built boat and the MR340. To best understand how it will perform in the 340, we need to get it through the 340. Training runs are not enough. 

Will all goes as planned? This is one area that we can be absolutely certain. It will not. Thousands or millions of variables await us as we approach the race as well as surviving the 340. We will meet these in stride and push forward still. Somehow we have lucked out here so far. My list of boat modifications before the race is small and focused on convenience items like the rudder control location and troubleshooting the clicking sound in the middle drive. 

We will work around our schedules to ensure that we will be "ready" to try to survive the 340. 

I keep getting asked "How many hours have you worked on the boat?" I have purposely not kept track but it has been in the 60+ hours a week recently. I have kept track of the money and all of the wonderful people who have helped along the way. 

Why do you keep writing "survive?" Absolutely! In my opinion, regardless of proper training, gear, health, technology, weather, knowledge, prior success, guts, and glory; you will need to survive. Every year, there are a multitude of the 400 boats that do not show. Some do not start. Many do not finish. Do not be quick to think that it is for one reason that folks do not finish. It is NOT just the ___________(fill in the negative of one of the attributes from above) who do not finish. 

Last year, I left the last checkpoint and one of the elite teams was pulling out. They were on pace for a sub 48 hour time. 

There were five pedal drives signed up last year. Three started, one finished. This year there is five again: Greg K. in a solo Rick Willoughby design, Russ Write in the Hobie I set the record in last year, another solo pedal, and just today an addition to my division called "no chance" It could be the clock that gets you. Maybe a failed calorie or hydration plan. It is a different animal every year.

Survival is key, but not all will. 

Tim and I are centered in the foreground at the start in 2012. We then survived. 

So will we be "done" by time the race starts? 

We will try to survive. 

Test runs

Most everything checked out as we hopped on a Fellows Lake for a quick spin before they locked the gates. We then headed to the Missouri on Saturday to test out movement between seats, river conditions, and control on the water. 6.5mph on the lake with an easy 60rpms. 8.7-9.8mph on the river with similar effort, despite a strong headwind. 

Now on to tweaking a few things with the mechanicals and fairing and painting the hull. We are one week from driving it up to the start line. 

Big week of progress

A strong week of work lead to a workable rudder, seats, and drive setup. Somehow we pressed through and got to the point of full testing on Friday. I am so glad that I decided to go with Rick Willoughby to fabricate the drive mast and other components, brackets, struts, and his signature folding props. It all came together smooth and required little adjustment. 

All of the brackets glassed on as planned and the multiple seat positions will work out for adjusting for each person from roughly 5'3-6'2". Of course it will depend on the individual. As we are running out of time, the third seat is a reclinable beach chair that we purchased. The benefit is having armrests that act as bed rails for when we are using it as a sleep seat. After the race, I will build a proper replacement. My mother in law sewed the seat covers for us. I placed grommets and laced them on. 

Big Sunday workday 6/23

After church, Rob and I got to work. After another sanding of the bottom of the hull, I flipped it and started resetting up the drives in their locations. I unwrapped the drive shafts and the connection to the couplings turned out well. I connected them to the gearboxes to confirm their location and clearance to the hull. After I was satisfied with the placement, Rob and I got all of the brackets Rick W. premade for me with the drives I recieved from him. I set in place with a locating screw. I then made the brackets for the lever arm that comes back from the drive mast to the pedestal. While I was working that out, Rob was filing a bevel on the edges of the brackets. After some great New York style pizza from Big Slice, we finished up the filing and the rudder mount placement. Once all of the locating screws were placed, I removed the drives and started setting up fiberglass for the bracket placement. We started fiberglass on the rudder placement. The process on all of these is simple: 1. Each has a countersink hole for the locating screw they also have 1-3 other holes to assist in bonding. 2. Wet out the area with epoxy. 3. lay one layer of  fiberglass down. 4. Locate the bracket with the screw. Ensure placement is correct. 5. Lay another piece of epoxy over the top. 

We then moved down and completed the front pedal station, pedestal lever arm mount; then worked on the middle station.

Seat braces are next and some armrest welding by Al tomorrow. After that, we are moving to plan B for the seat cover and should be set in a few days for its first voyage. 

Long overdue update 6/22

This is the last push. The race is just over two weeks away. It is coming together. If everything runs smooth, we may be on our maiden voyage by the weekend. This is a quick set over the last week. 

Wing to pedestal

Wing to stabilizer

Brackets on the wing. Note the multiple hole locations for height adjustment.

Pedestals and drives in their locations (not centered)

Seat frame held for welding. 

Pedestal fiberglassed.

First water test with wing and stabs. Thanks to my neighbor's 32' pool.