This is a major step forward; I finally have a lab desktop aboard Nomadness. For about a year, my work surface has been but a crude plywood visualization model in place of the original cramped dinette… saggy, rough, and not dimensionally accurate enough to use as a basis for any subsequent design. But thanks to…

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by Steven K. Roberts La Conner, Washington July 18, 2011 Thanks for your patience with the reduced publishing schedule during this move to new development facilities! It’s a monstrous project, but is going well… offices and living space are set up, shipping department running smoothly, and the storefront sparse but inviting (curtained off from the…

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by Steven K. Roberts La Conner, Washington June 27, 2011 Lots of changes in the air! The schedule slipped last week; not only did we lose a beloved cat (The Ghost of Harry Mitchell) but we also acted on an opportunity that simply could not be ignored… renting lab/office/retail space along with an apartment upstairs.…

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Overload won this week, though I did do a burst of writing in the form of a detailed blog post about nickel generators (including this publication). In a self-referential twist, one of said nickel generators then demanded a huge block of my time, and now it’s Friday night already. Since #7 was a standard deviation…

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by Steven K. RobertsJune 8, 2011 In this issue, we take our first look at the boat’s interior… classic wood joinery and a beautiful, almost austere layout that is a natural backdrop for gonzo engineering projects. She’s not cushy at all, and although that is sometimes annoying, it lends itself well to gizmology (while quietly…

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This issue looks at the physical context of this massive project… the boat herself. After a few false starts and near misses, I chose a robust and well-respected steel monohull, accepting an unfamiliar set of maintenance issues in exchange for the knowledge that the most fundamental structural components are sound. Next week, I’ll present a…

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This issue of the little magazine was devoted to the Polaris mobile lab, which I had recently completed as a way to allow me to move the core development tools out of the huge building in the forest and park them near the boat. The substrate was 24-foot Wells-Cargo trailer. The text of this issue…

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Front page of Nomadness Report #4

A Nomadness Sampler As a break from last week’s chautauqua on the ship network design, this issue presents diverse fare that is reflective of the way things normally go with a huge project: frequent distraction from central focus by maintenance issues, random side tasks, bits of blue-sky philosophizing, Red Alerts, input from friends, and so…

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Our brief introduction to Shacktopus last week set the stage for something more substantial. We have discussed why it might be interesting to scatter data-collection nodes around a sailboat… but how do we intend to do it? And what do all those nodes (the pink diamonds in the image above) actually do? This issue is…

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The new PDF publication was off to a good start, and the second issue dove into fuel monitoring. On the opening page, I wrote… Welcome to the second issue of the Nomadness Report, and thanks for subscribing! In the few days that have passed since the first issue, I’ve had a chance to further clarify…

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