Microship Status 08/18/93

(OK, so I'm slipping a bit with the daily updates... TJ complained that he can't get to sleep without them, so I'll try to be good from now on. ;-)

The Microship is getting bigger (Hey, think we can use the name "QE3" without getting in trouble?). As I add features -- like the ability to carry a second person in comfort and the ability to crawl into the main hull to sleep -- it grows. A rough layout in plywood and scrap lumber the other night yielded a 4' wide, 28' long main hull, with the same solar panels and kayaks as before. This might shrink 15% or so, but is probably on the right scale for what amounts to a live-aboard, however minimal.

Adding that extra foot of width to the main hull (now possible because it doesn't have to be an off-the-shelf kayak) works wonders for console real estate, deck surface area, and equipment packaging/storage. Suddenly I can stop worrying about cramming it so densely that bouyancy is a problem, and there will be places to route the suite of control lines:

2 - bow rudder depth/deployment 2 - bow rudder control 1 - stern rudder deployment (spring return) 2 - stern rudder control 1 - mast detent release 2 - mast furling 2 - traveler position 1 - main sheet 1 - thruster retraction (gravity deployment) 4 - ama elevation, if there's an elegant way to do it X - solar panel retraction
(The latter, yet completely unclear, is needed to remotely retract the solar panels without having to crawl around on a pitching deck in worsening conditions, trying to straddle 4 feet of violent ocean while tying back huge, flat, lightweight objects that prefer to flail wildly in the gale. I suspect it will take the form of convoluted and trouble-prone lines that run through blocks all the way out to the kayaks, then double back to the "knee" of the folding solar array. Retraction thus would consist of automagically releasing the hold-down mechanism, letting the center hinge pop up slightly (yeah, right -- in a heavy wind), and then hauling them down tight, folded. On second thought, maybe crawling around the inter-hull void IS easier.)

As to solid progress in the last few days, there has been little. Interviews, phone time, imaginings, sketches, more product data sheets to browse, the beginning of the housing quest... hopefully the next few days will see real solidification of the plan so I can begin a weight-distribution spreadsheet and put together the first pass at specs for the hull-design folks. I can't wait to start doing hardware!

More soon...

Steve