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"