The Microship Status Reports

The Microships -- Wordplay and Songline

It was as startling as it was absolute: the return to tiny human-scale boatlets synthesized all the best ideas of the past half-decade while fast-forwarding the project. In response to Issue 119, over 75 people wrote with enthusiastic agreement and relief that we were at last turning away from "yachting," and, well, it just felt right. At the same moment, new romance blossomed via the Internet, with my new partner of the epoch, Natasha, planning to fly from London to join me...

Microship Status 5/8/97 (Issue #119) -- I evocatively sketch the history of this project, muse about Hogfish, and conclude that "the smaller the boat, the bigger the adventure." With years of earlier work on kayaks and Fulmars providing context, I postulate a pedal/solar/sail micro-trimaran that should be ideal (and note that suddenly, almost all the electronics are done!).

Microship Status 7/26/97 (Issue #120) -- Lisa arrives and Hogfish departs, we clarify the design to center hulls made of custom kevlar Odyssey canoes from Wenonah, and we select Fulmar akas and amas along with Windrider sail rigs. I package a Calex DC-DC converter to centralize control system power, move all I/O to Phoenix contact blocks, start working on high-level networking tools, link the lab wirelessly to the Net, and acquire a magical Draco digital video editing system with which Lisa immediately falls in love. The project's new energy is contagious: we have 14 new sponsors.

Microship Status 9/28/97 (Issue #121) -- We drive to Canada to pick up the Fulmar parts, mold fiberglass aka nests, and refine placement of the daggerboard. The pedal and solar thruster projects both proceed rapidly, we start a team working on environmental data presentation for the web site, and still more new sponsors arrive.

Microship Status 12/31/97 (Issue #122) -- The 2-year tenancy of the Silicon Valley lab ends, and, not knowing quite what's next, we move the whole mess to a pair of storage units north of Bellingham, WA and initiate a full-time quest for house and shop. But leading up to this, a massive push by Bob Stuart and Lisa yields the first almost-complete foam-core fiberglass Microship deck... and on the day of packing the trucks, we step the rig and deploy the crossbeams in the parking lot. Wheels, seats, and rudders arrive. I spend an afternoon making the first tests of "Packnet," wirelessly linking FORTH nodes, and we go for a sail on Pelican (nee Hogfish)!

Microship Status 3/7/98 (Issue #123) -- We find a stunningly beautiful 6-acre wooded site on Camano Island, move into the house, and contract for a metal pole building to serve as Microship lab and long-term home base. Lisa and I prepare to wed, and we move out of temporary quarters in Bellingham to occupy our dream house.

Microship Status 5/7/98 (Issue #124) -- Lab construction is in full swing, and we spend our honeymoon schlepping cable through a 700-foot trench. We embark on a speaking tour to San Diego and return with an electric bicycle, finding the new building framed and ready for roofing. A surge of media activity marks the resumption of the project after 5-6 months of relocation delays, and we formally declare the boat names to be Delta and Wye.

Microship Status 8/24/98 (Issue #125) -- The building is completed, and the lab is back online... better than ever. Having spared our readers the endless gruesome contstruction details for 3 months, we quickly narrate the final implementation efforts, toss out a spoof press release that generated entirely too many serious responses, tell the tale of a cross-country speaking trip, and sketch the resumption of work on the first boat...Delta. Back to it!

Microship Status 10/2/98 (Issue #126) -- A major event! The first Microship test sail is not only a rousing success in terms of pure bliss, but eases our minds considerably about helm balance, trim, and other central issues that have to be correct before we can continue. We return to the lab and dive into final rudder fabrication, linux development, thruster management, cowling refinement, and initial console frame design. Bob also starts designing the retractable landing gear...

Microship Status 11/19/98 (Issue # 127)-- With two test sails behind us, we dive into power management, begin building the console mockup (now that the pedaling envelope is defined), and pour another month of engineering time into landing gear design... which is proving to be non-trivial. In parallel, the on-board server, now dubbed "Mimsy," begins flickering to life in the lab linux development system.

Microship Status 1/12/99 (Issue #128) -- The poignancy of time's passage, perhaps triggered by the season, opens this piece... now 6 years into the Microship project. I announce a "Previews of Coming Attractions" tour to solidify the nautical design and get some serious time on water... complete with location tracking on the Net. The hydraulic rudder control is coming along, and we report still more progress on Mimsy.

Microship Status 4/4/99 (Issue #129)-- We continue development, ever onward through an epic project. I toy with the idea of using a Pilot as the console system interface, discuss the landing gear suspension and thruster mounting, and move slightly closer to solar panel layup. We also make a trip to California with an APRS tracker and report on an excellent marine weather seminar.

Microship Status 6/20/99 (Issue #130) -- Yikes, a deadline! We announce plans to launch via cruise ship in Alaska on Memorial Day, 2000. Lots of technical details on the complex landing gear design (now with hydraulic steering), and a summary of other work in progress in lots of areas. And we praise the Draco Casablance video editing machine.

Microship Status 9/22/99 (Issue #131) -- Ooooh, a big event! The insanely complex landing gear project nears completion... close enough that we take her for her first amphibian test sail. It goes off without a hitch, so to speak. This update includes a thorough discussion of the hydraulic rudder system, as well as quick commentary on the dodger, anodizing, water system, linux server, power control system, solar array, and so on.

Microship Status 10/25/99 (Issue #132) -- Desperately in need of a break, we take a non-sequitour to Europe and spend 3 weeks prowling Lisa's old haunts in London and Amsterdam. It's odd to write about something other than technology for a change... a reminder that there's much, much more than complex infrastructure in this adventure.

Microship Status 12/6/99 (Issue #133) -- We turn our attention to on-board server design, and detail some of the architecture that will live inside the console... as well as the environmental sensing applications. This issue includes some discussion of electronic publishing, an update on the expedition plans, and wraps up with the usual sampler of news bits...

Microship Status 1/31/00 (Issue #134) -- We step back after lo, these many years, and look at the high-level specification that drives the Microship project... first with a rhapsody on art and engineering, then with a fictional "Day in the Life" scenario that captures the essence of the technomadic life.

Microship Status 4/11/00 (Issue #135) -- Announcement of the first speaking tour with bike AND boats, eulogy to our short-lived first labcam, the tale of a delivery cruise on a 41-footer, and description of the exacting reassembly process that follows anodizing of 170 aluminum parts. We also announce the Microship software project's hosting on Sourceforge under GNU public license.

Microship Status 7/19/00 (Issue #136) -- We find ourselves in a strange interlude aboard a cruise ship to Alaska, then report on mechanical completion (or at least the illusion thereof), mounting of various deck fixtures, and painting... in anticipation of taking off on a 7,000-mile speaking tour with bike and both Microships. We also discover that the foam-core solar array runs way too hot, necessitating a major retrofit.

Microship Status 10/12/00 (Issue #137) -- It's our fourth test sail (this time in Madison, Wisconsin), and we get some hard data on Microship performance in rougher conditions. The Mini-Expedition program is announced, and we tell the gonzo tale of another epic mothership journey around the US... 7,000 miles this time. And power wiring begins!

number Microship Status 1/25/01 (Issue #138) -- A brutal finger injury from sea urchin spines in Cozumel confines me to the keyboard long enough to put out a decent Microship system architecture drawing, now on the site. We define the core computer functions and languages, deciding to code the heart of the system in Squeak (smalltalk) in an embedded linux machine.

Watch this space for ongoing additions!

	Microship Status 5/8/97 (Issue #119) -- I evocatively sketch the history of this project, muse about Hogfish, and conclude that "the smaller the boat, the bigger the adventure." With years of earlier work on kayaks and Fulmars providing context, I postulate a pedal/solar/sail micro-trimaran that should be ideal (and note that suddenly, almost all the electronics are done!).
	Microship Status 7/26/97 (Issue #120) -- Lisa arrives and Hogfish departs, we clarify the design to center hulls made of custom kevlar Odyssey canoes from Wenonah, and we select Fulmar akas and amas along with Windrider sail rigs. I package a Calex DC-DC converter to centralize control system power, move all I/O to Phoenix contact blocks, start working on high-level networking tools, link the lab wirelessly to the Net, and acquire a magical Draco digital video editing system with which Lisa immediately falls in love. The project's new energy is contagious: we have 14 new sponsors.
	Microship Status 9/28/97 (Issue #121) -- We drive to Canada to pick up the Fulmar parts, mold fiberglass aka nests, and refine placement of the daggerboard. The pedal and solar thruster projects both proceed rapidly, we start a team working on environmental data presentation for the web site, and still more new sponsors arrive.
	Microship Status 12/31/97 (Issue #122) -- The 2-year tenancy of the Silicon Valley lab ends, and, not knowing quite what's next, we move the whole mess to a pair of storage units north of Bellingham, WA and initiate a full-time quest for house and shop. But leading up to this, a massive push by Bob Stuart and Lisa yields the first almost-complete foam-core fiberglass Microship deck... and on the day of packing the trucks, we step the rig and deploy the crossbeams in the parking lot. Wheels, seats, and rudders arrive. I spend an afternoon making the first tests of "Packnet," wirelessly linking FORTH nodes, and we go for a sail on Pelican (nee Hogfish)!
	Microship Status 3/7/98 (Issue #123) -- We find a stunningly beautiful 6-acre wooded site on Camano Island, move into the house, and contract for a metal pole building to serve as Microship lab and long-term home base. Lisa and I prepare to wed, and we move out of temporary quarters in Bellingham to occupy our dream house.
	Microship Status 5/7/98 (Issue #124) -- Lab construction is in full swing, and we spend our honeymoon schlepping cable through a 700-foot trench. We embark on a speaking tour to San Diego and return with an electric bicycle, finding the new building framed and ready for roofing. A surge of media activity marks the resumption of the project after 5-6 months of relocation delays, and we formally declare the boat names to be Delta and Wye.
	Microship Status 8/24/98 (Issue #125) -- The building is completed, and the lab is back online... better than ever. Having spared our readers the endless gruesome contstruction details for 3 months, we quickly narrate the final implementation efforts, toss out a spoof press release that generated entirely too many serious responses, tell the tale of a cross-country speaking trip, and sketch the resumption of work on the first boat...Delta. Back to it!
	Microship Status 10/2/98 (Issue #126) -- A major event! The first Microship test sail is not only a rousing success in terms of pure bliss, but eases our minds considerably about helm balance, trim, and other central issues that have to be correct before we can continue. We return to the lab and dive into final rudder fabrication, linux development, thruster management, cowling refinement, and initial console frame design. Bob also starts designing the retractable landing gear...
	Microship Status 11/19/98 (Issue # 127)-- With two test sails behind us, we dive into power management, begin building the console mockup (now that the pedaling envelope is defined), and pour another month of engineering time into landing gear design... which is proving to be non-trivial. In parallel, the on-board server, now dubbed "Mimsy," begins flickering to life in the lab linux development system.
	Microship Status 1/12/99 (Issue #128) -- The poignancy of time's passage, perhaps triggered by the season, opens this piece... now 6 years into the Microship project. I announce a "Previews of Coming Attractions" tour to solidify the nautical design and get some serious time on water... complete with location tracking on the Net. The hydraulic rudder control is coming along, and we report still more progress on Mimsy.
	Microship Status 4/4/99 (Issue #129)-- We continue development, ever onward through an epic project. I toy with the idea of using a Pilot as the console system interface, discuss the landing gear suspension and thruster mounting, and move slightly closer to solar panel layup. We also make a trip to California with an APRS tracker and report on an excellent marine weather seminar.
	Microship Status 6/20/99 (Issue #130) -- Yikes, a deadline! We announce plans to launch via cruise ship in Alaska on Memorial Day, 2000. Lots of technical details on the complex landing gear design (now with hydraulic steering), and a summary of other work in progress in lots of areas. And we praise the Draco Casablance video editing machine.
	Microship Status 9/22/99 (Issue #131) -- Ooooh, a big event! The insanely complex landing gear project nears completion... close enough that we take her for her first amphibian test sail. It goes off without a hitch, so to speak. This update includes a thorough discussion of the hydraulic rudder system, as well as quick commentary on the dodger, anodizing, water system, linux server, power control system, solar array, and so on.
	Microship Status 10/25/99 (Issue #132) -- Desperately in need of a break, we take a non-sequitour to Europe and spend 3 weeks prowling Lisa's old haunts in London and Amsterdam. It's odd to write about something other than technology for a change... a reminder that there's much, much more than complex infrastructure in this adventure.
	Microship Status 12/6/99 (Issue #133) -- We turn our attention to on-board server design, and detail some of the architecture that will live inside the console... as well as the environmental sensing applications. This issue includes some discussion of electronic publishing, an update on the expedition plans, and wraps up with the usual sampler of news bits...
	Microship Status 1/31/00 (Issue #134) -- We step back after lo, these many years, and look at the high-level specification that drives the Microship project... first with a rhapsody on art and engineering, then with a fictional "Day in the Life" scenario that captures the essence of the technomadic life.
	Microship Status 4/11/00 (Issue #135) -- Announcement of the first speaking tour with bike AND boats, eulogy to our short-lived first labcam, the tale of a delivery cruise on a 41-footer, and description of the exacting reassembly process that follows anodizing of 170 aluminum parts. We also announce the Microship software project's hosting on Sourceforge under GNU public license.
	Microship Status 7/19/00 (Issue #136) -- We find ourselves in a strange interlude aboard a cruise ship to Alaska, then report on mechanical completion (or at least the illusion thereof), mounting of various deck fixtures, and painting... in anticipation of taking off on a 7,000-mile speaking tour with bike and both Microships. We also discover that the foam-core solar array runs way too hot, necessitating a major retrofit.
	Microship Status 10/12/00 (Issue #137) -- It's our fourth test sail (this time in Madison, Wisconsin), and we get some hard data on Microship performance in rougher conditions. The Mini-Expedition program is announced, and we tell the gonzo tale of another epic mothership journey around the US... 7,000 miles this time. And power wiring begins!
	Microship Status 1/25/01 (Issue #138) -- A brutal finger injury from sea urchin spines in Cozumel confines me to the keyboard long enough to put out a decent Microship system architecture drawing, now on the site. We define the core computer functions and languages, deciding to code the heart of the system in Squeak (smalltalk) in an embedded linux machine.