An amphibian pedal/solar/sail micro-trimaran, designed for technomadic adventure...
Revised Oct 10, 2007
Since 1983, I have devoted all available resources to technomadic
adventure, beginning with the Winnebiko and continuing
through BEHEMOTH -- the "computerized recumbent bicycle" with
satellite net connection and a massive suite of integrated systems that rolled out of the bikelab in 1990. After 17,000 miles of pedaling
and a few years of wandering
the US in a mobile lab on speaking/schmoozing tours, the bike is now retired -- on display at the
Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley. This was followed by the Microship
project that began in 1993, which evolved from my initial simplistic notion of
computerizing a kayak to the networked pair of amphibian canoe-scale
pedal/solar/sail micro-trimarans described in this collection of
documents.
During that time, this website has sporadically
worked to keep up, with some parts (like most of those linked from the
navigation bar above) getting decidedly stale as both the design and my
own life have changed in unexpected ways. The last snapshot of the project, including some good photos, was the Microship Call for Proposals that I posted in early 2006... initiating a
quest for a few very capable people to help get this machine finished.
Life has since continued to evolve, of course, and with it, my
dreams. At this writing (late 2007), I have switched my attention
completely to a ship of
bluewater-voyaging scale, with the intent of exploring the Pacific
Northwest for a year before heading down the Pacific Coast to points
beyond.
Where does this leave Microship Wordplay? If I have the
opportunity, I might day-sail her occasionally... but realistically,
I'm starting to think about finding her a new home. This is not a
boat for just anybody, and it won't be cheap compared to the production
micro-trimarans out there, but if you are a committed technomad with
big dreams and the wherewithal to make them come true, then it might be
worth discussing.
Meanwhile, you can read a detailed
piece about the Microship substrate and a crazy
retrospective of the whole 10-year project... and the most frequent updates are on my live page, updated 2-3 times a week.
Cheers from the Microship lab!
Steve