I’ve been following the progress of James Castrission and Justin Jones of Crossing The Ditch. James and Justin are attempting to be the first to kayak 2200 km across the Tasman sea from Australia to New Zealand. They are leaving tomorrow.

I will be following their progress very closely, as Lot 41 which is the name of their two-man kayak is very similar in a lot of ways to WiTHiN as you can see from this photo. James and Justin were set to depart last summer (Australian summer, not ours), but ran into some complications with their boat stability. They have spent the last 5 years preparing for this.

To follow their progress, check their web site:

http://www.crossingtheditch.com.au

or sign up for their email newsletter:

http://list-manage.com/subscribe.phtml?id=7aaa2755be

I would wish Justin and James luck, but “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. ” and I know these guys and their expedition manager Pat Brothers from Race Recon are very well prepared.

The suggestion from the Association of Ocean Rowers Forum was to cover the interior surfaces with aluminum insulation. I think it’s a good idea, as I really do need to do everything possible to decrease solar heating in there. The sun shines through the Kevlar/fiberglass deck and any outside sunlight entering will contribute to heating. I think that this is going to be a problem – Rick’s concept is that the boat stays closed up as much as possible to protect me from the elements – both the effects of the sun and salt water on my skin as well as flooding waves, etc.

This photo shows how much sunlight shines through the Kevlar/glass deck

As I was spray gluing the foil into that nano-small space, I decided to experiment a bit with how exactly I plan on getting into and out of there. From a seated position in the recumbent seat, I can roll over to my stomach, kneel on the seat and crawl into the rear area head first. I could accomplish all of this without having to open the top hatch.

However, I don’t want to sleep with my head facing the stern. I need to have my head up toward the cockpit to have easy access to the dorade vent shut-off valve, the top hatch for emergencies, and any equipment / supplies I might be storing in the cockpit.

The roof on WiTHiN is slightly too low to allow me to sit or kneel and do a U-turn in there. The only way currently for me to get into the rear compartment with my head facing the bow is to stand up through the open top hatch, step back behind the half bulk head into the rear compartment, kneel down, replace the top hatch and crawl backward.

This is fine, but I wanted to avoid having to open that hatch every time I go to the back. What if the waves are huge and I can’t risk opening the hatch? This is one of the reasons I built a PROTOTYPE version of WiTHiN first. So I can learn more about what the actual ocean boat needs to be like. Perhaps I need to increase the height of the deck on the ocean boat by a few inches to allow me to sit up in there. That would be really convenient and probably worth the extra windage that few inches would cost.

I got an email from Klass who has installed those Dorade vents before and he says they are NOT water tight and will definitely leak if mounted vertical. Oh well, I need vents, and these are probably as ‘water-proof’ as it’s going to get, so I just need to make sure that I have easy access to the shut-off valve at all times. That is one of the reasons I used Velcro to mount the vent fan – so that I could rip off the fan to push the stopper on the vent opening if I needed to.

I wanted to show you some excellent design work by Richard Roarke who is part of the design team. Richard will be playing a bigger role (hopefully) in the final design of the ocean expedition version of WiTHiN. When a final design is decided on (this will largely be based on test results and feedback from the current prototype version of WiTHiN), I want to get molds CNC cut from computer files, then have an all-carbon fiber boat fabricated by a reputable boat building company.

Richards retractable outrigger concept is based on swinging parallelogram tubes rather than telescoping tubes like I have currently. Much more robust I think, and more appropriate in an open ocean environment. You can see in the illustrations that the floats tuck into pods when retracted and when extended they are smooth and round and would be capable of being used during forward progress.

I’m still not sold on using outriggers of any sort for the ocean boat. I need to repeat this because I get so many emails about the inappropriateness of my sliding outriggers for the ocean. I KNOW THAT. The current WiTHiN is a prototype only – a chance for me to experiment with various approaches and learn more about what will be required to make a record Atlantic human powered crossing.

I think a ballast keel is the best option. This will keep the hull and deck of WiTHiN very aerodynamic for windy conditions, and should give me enough stability to stand up without tipping over. Currently, without any kind of heavy bulb on a keel, WiTHiN is fully stable enough to make forward progress when i am seated in my recumbent seat. She is also very capsize proof, as we had to really work to tip her upside down with me strapped down into my seat. Even without the seat belt, WiTHiN righted immediately when capsized. The keel would be required only for when I needed to stand up, climb outside, etc, but I am certain that it will come in handy for keeping WiTHiN riding nice and steady as she rides up and down ocean swells. A ballast keel tend to keep your mono-hull vertical over the swells, whereas outriggers will want to ride the water surface.

Rick Willoughby sent this to me the other day. The illustration shows how a hull weighted by a keel behaves in ocean swells compared to a flat bottom boat or a multi-hull would behave.

I can’t add a heavy keel to WiTHiN right now because I need to be able to self load and unload off a trailer down a boat ramp. I will definitely experiment again with a temporary strap-on keel.

I have another lake test scheduled for mid week if Ben and I can get the trailer mods finished tomorrow.

WiTHiN Tour

I’ve made some pretty decent progress this week in getting WiTHiN offshore ready – not open ocean ready yet, but I’m getting there. Baby steps.

I think she is almost ready for a multi day calm-water cruising trip. A chance for me to learn more about what it will be like to live within WiTHiN for a slightly extended period – cooking, drinking, eating, navigating, cooling, bathroom, entertainment, sleeping, etc, etc.

Here is a quick tour of WiTHiN in her current state (almost finished):

This image shows the port and starboard dorade vents directed fore and aft. The outriggers are retracted and locked into position with lock pins.

This is a shot from the cockpit looking out the starboard port light. On the lower left of the photo is one of my rudder controls. It slides on a block of UHMW plastic through an aluminum extrusion and can be locked into place using the wing nut to tension the block against the rail.

This is my instrument bar. It’s an aluminum tube with a bunch of various electronics mounted to it. Devices can be easily added or removed from the bar, and anything designed to fit on a bike handle bar will clamp onto this. The bar pivots in another tube which is screwed and microed to the top deck. There is a set screw in the pivoting swing arm that drops into two notches in the shell. One notch for a retracted position that moves all of the electronics out of the way, up against the side of the top deck. The second position allows the bar to swing out such that the instruments are facing me seated in the recumbent seat.

This image shows the instrument bar locked in the horizontal position. There is a wing nut and clamp to tension the fit between the two slip-fit tubes so the bar doesn’t vibrate.

This is a closeup of the lever on the starboard outrigger. The outrigger tube slides in a notched shell tube that is bonded into the cockpit through two plastic bushings. The slip fit is very smooth and with some silicon lubrication spray, the outrigger will slide out all on it’s own. To extend the outriggers, I just reach behind my shoulder, brag the lever and slide the outrigger to it’s full and extended position, then insert a shear pin through both tubes to lock the outrigger in place.

To retract the outrigger, I pull on a cord which routes through a pulley and slides the outrigger back into it’s retracted position where it is locked with a shear pin.

To guide the floats into their retracted positions on the deck, I have two guides mounted on the hull at the tip of the float and the stern. When the floats slide up next to the hull, these guides direct the float to ‘land’ onto a locked and supported position against the deck.

Also visible in the above photo is my hanging headrest. This was Ben’s idea and it really works well. My head rest is attached to nylon cable and clipped to two hooks that are screwed into the deck walls. This allows me to unclip one side to gain access to the rear compartment, and to adjust the position of the headrest fore and aft by tightening or loosening the cable. It works perfectly.

This image shows the marine battery, recharger and the vent fan. The fan is mounted over the starboard dorade vent with DualLock (like Velcro) which allow it to be moved to another place in the cockpit and sleeping compartment if required. The power cable is a coil to allow it to be moved.

This shows the switch panel, the audio amp and speakers from RockTheBoatAudio. The panel holds a master switch for the amplifier, a switch for the vent fan, a volume control for the audio, and a plug for the iPod or audio input device. The cables shown strapped to the amp all have water proof connectors. The panel isn’t water proof, but I can silicon the edge of the plastic panel, and the back of the switches have been covered with silicon.

This is the view through the top hatch to the stern sleeping compartment. The fan, and outrigger sliders can be operated from the rear compartment

Next on the list is to cover the rear walls with aluminum insulation, add a foam mattress to the bed, elastic cord the wood bed down, and cover the cockpit walls with something. I hate looking at the rough Kevlar. I’m thinking of spray gluing some white vinyl onto the interior decking, and something a bit softer for the arm rests (was kayak gunwale perimeter deck, now just arm rests and speaker enclosures, future could be storage). I also need to fasten some netting to the sleeping compartment walls to store stuff.

Before the offshore cruise, WiTHiN needs another lake test – this time to test out the floats. I want to find someone with a motor boat who hasn’t parked it for the winter yet. The motor boat can do circles around WiTHiN and make a bunch of waves to see how she handles them with and without the outriggers extended.

I would also like to do one more capsize test – this time with the outriggers locked against the hull. WiTHiN should still be capsize proof, but I want to be certain. I would also like to do a capsize test with the outriggers in the EXTENDED position. One of the advantages of being able to retract the outriggers from the cockpit is if she were ever to capsize with the floats extended, I can pull on those two pull-cords to slide the outriggers in which would allow the boat to quickly flip back around to right-side up.

If you saw the first capsize test video:

You might have noticed that quite a bit of water was leaking into WiTHiN from the drive leg bay. This is mostly because the water line on WiTHiN is now much higher than before and we’re had to extend the drive leg bay walls to stop the water inside the drive leg bay from over flowing into the boat. The plug is no longer deep enough to displace the water that fills up the bay. We were going to build a new plug, but since this is a prototype, I’m going to take the easy way out and simply seal up the drive leg by adding some silicon around the bottom of the plug on the underside of the hull. The drive leg will be locked into the DOWN position. That’s fine because for this prototype, if I have problems with the drive leg, I can just call for help or paddle to shore. I will have emergency paddles on board, and I will be able to extend the outriggers, sit on the nose like a log and paddle using my kayak paddle (something else to test at the next lake test).

You might be wondering how I plan on launching WiTHiN with the drive leg locked into it’s extended position. I have a new design for a trolley for the trailer which should allow me to launch her all by myself:

The trolley is made with two 700 cm bike wheels and is held in place with a strap that wraps around the bow directly under the drive leg. I should be able to pick WiTHiN up from her stern at the rudder, and roll her off my flat deck trailer down the ramp into the water. All of this probably WITH the outriggers extended. Once she is in the water, I can climb up onto the deck and un-fasten the straps which would free the trolley. The trolley will have some flotation, so it can be retrieved at the surface of the water.

And finally, a few minor items for the todo list: Mount the flashlight, mount my knife, mount for the VHF radio (maybe on the instrument bar), a 360 degree white marine light outside somewhere – probably mounted onto the rudder tube, mount a few LED interior lights (I have these LED stick on dome lights), some mounts for cameras, oh, and paint and body work. I think that’s about it!

This is very important – adequate ventilation.

One of the reasons Rick Willoughby designed WiTHiN as a water tight capsule is to protect me from the harsh ocean environment. This includes exposure to the sun and skin-corrosive salt water.

WiTHiN will be painted with a reflective color to minimize solar heating, and we kept the number and sizes of windows down to a minimum to also mitigate that heating effect. I will be producing plenty of heat while pedalling, so I really need some efficient way of circulating the hot inside air out, and replacing it with outside fresh air.

I have installed two dorade vents which automatically close when dumped with water, and are designed to allow water to run out without entering the cabin. The ducts can be oriented to point toward a headwind and the idea is to point one into the wind for fresh air intake and one of them with the wind for ventilation.

To facilitate efficient air movement, I installed a .3 amp 12 vdc computer fan over one of the vents and it blew (I mean it sucked). Way to little power. So, I got on the phone and sourced a 1 amp fan by Circuit-Test. I made a Sintra plastic shroud for this fan to fit over one of the dorade vents and ran a test to see just how much more efficient this 1 amp fan was in circulating air than just allowing the vents to do it. My battery is good for 50 amp hours, so about 50 hours running the fan on a full battery charge (not including other electronic loads like music, gps, etc).

I put my heat gun into WiTHiN, closed the hatch, left the vents open and heating the interior up to 25 degrees C. The room temperature at the time was 19 degrees C. Then I timed how long it took for the interior temperature to drop back to 22 degrees. It took 29 minutes.

Then, I repeated the test with the fan on. It took 11 minutes to cool from 25 degrees to 22 degrees compared to 29 minutes without the fan.

I noticed that the volume of air being blown by this fan was much greater when it was not placed on the shroud over the vent. This is probably due to the small air in-take area of the vent itself restricting air flow through the fan. I repeated the test with the fan blowing freely inside WiTHiN just sitting on the floor, and it took 25 minutes to cool from 25 degrees to 22 degrees. This might seem obvious to some of you, but I wanted to know for sure that my fan was going to work as I had planned.

I mounted the fan and shroud using dual-lock (like Velcro) so that the fan can be moved to the dorade vent on the other side, or somewhere else inside WiTHiN. I also used the snap-loc because there is a latch on the vent to manually close it. I need to have emergency access to this in case the automatic shut off doesn’t work.

PTO on Discovery Channel!

The Discovery Channel show Daily Planet filmed a segment about me and Pedal The Ocean way back in June. It finally aired yesterday on Discovery Channel Canada.

Sorry for the delay in keeping these updates flowing!

We’ve been so busy checking items off the big TODO list, that I have not really had much time to sit down and put together a blog post.

I’ll have more complete images soon, as my progress right now is much farther along than the photos shown here, but I thought I had better get something up showing my progress rather than wait until I have completed work.

1. Electric

I mounted a 12 VDC marine battery on the floor behind my seat. It weighs about 40 pounds, so this comes off my stack of ballast weight plates. I also installed an electronic battery charger. When on the ocean, I may opt to replace the lead acid battery with some lithium ion batteries – probably the A123 nano battery, compliments of my buddy Bill from Killacycle as they supposedly won’t explode. I will also use solar panels to charge them, and not an AC charger, as I won’t have an extension cord long enough to stretch across the Atlantic ocean.

For now, my goal is to spend some time touring around the coastal area off Vancouver Island and I will be spending nights sleeping on board WiTHiN at marinas where I can recharge the battery with available AC power.

One of my sponsors is Rock The Boat Audio who kindly donated a water proof MP3 stereo system. At only 50 watts per channel, I was afraid that it wasn’t going to be loud enough for the rocker in me. But WOW! I installed the speaker into the gunwales and they act like giant base cabinets. The interior is so small inside WiTHiN, that 50 watts is totally BOOMING! The quality of the sound is absolutely awesome – really, very impressed with Rock The Boat – these guys really rock. More photos showing the system soon…

2. Stern compartment

Ben constructed a wood floor which fits into the rear compartment behind my seat. The floor will be secured down using some elastic cords which will allow me to use the 2 or 3 inches under the floor for storage (probably drinking water). I will place an open cell foam mattress on that for my bed. The walls in the rear compartment will be covered in foil insulation for that fashionable ‘NASA’ look. The rear area is very small, but perfectly comfortable to sleep in – especially with my flat floor. I was a bit concerned about getting into that area, but it is actually quite comfortable – doesn’t really need to be any bigger at all. To get into the back, I need to open up the top hatch, stand up, step behind the rear half-bulkhead behind the seat into the bedroom, then sort of slide down to the bow, feet first. Once in there, I can kneel down and re-fasten the top hatch.

3. Retractable outriggers

To get into the rear compartment, I require additional stability to stand up through the top hatch so WiTHiN doesn’t tip over. On the ocean, this might be achieved with a ballast keel, but for now, I am using some retractable outriggers. The floats are foam plugs covered with fiberglass with aluminum tubes attached that slide through aluminum sleeves bonded into WiTHiN’s hull. To extend or retract, the floats are activated using handles connected to the sliding tubes through slots cut in the sleeve tubes. I used a fairly loose fit on the aluminum tubes because I was concerned about oxidation, but the tubes wouldn’t slide very well. So, we had my expert machinist Manny from Rohmec Industries machine some UHMW bushings to fit both the sleeve and the sliding tube. Now the outriggers slide out from the force of gravity. For now, they are very easy to activate, but I worry about what will happen to the fit between the plastic bushings and the aluminum when it oxidizes from the sea water. To be safe, I added some pull-cords to retract the outriggers if they get stuck. This is a cord tied to a handle that runs through a pulley that pulls the outriggers in very quickly. I can activate the pull handles from the rear compartment, or from my seat. If I were ever upside down with the outriggers extended (the floats are NOT intended to be used during rough conditions), then I would be able to pull the cord and retract the outrigger very quickly. The floats lock into retracted and extended positions with a shear pin. I wonder if plenty of lubrication on the tubes will insulated them from the effects of oxidation? Anyone have any suggestions for me?

4. Dorade vents

Ben installed two Dorade vents on the sides of WiTHiN right at about head level – half way between the cockpit and the rear compartment. I chose this location because the retracted floats will shield water from splashing up into the vents. These vents automatically close if splashed with water and can be quickly closed from the inside with a push of a button. I want to connect an electric fan to one of the vents to either blow air out the vent, or to suck air in. The outside vent nozzle can be directed into the wind, so I can have one nozzle directed into the wind, and the other directed the opposite way. With the fan, this should allow for air flow in from one Dorade vent and out the other.

5. Port lights

Ben bonded in two Bomar port light windows into the sides of WiTHiN. My visibility out isn’t great, but hopefully it will be good enough to navigate around the Gulf Islands. My GPS will help, but I do need to keep a close watch out for other traffic. I’m not sure if the red & green navigation lights are required? Anyone have any advice on this?

6. Rudder controls

Ben invented this really slick way of activating the rudder. We used two aluminum extrusions with UHMW sliders and two handles. The sliders are connected to my rudder line and can be tensioned down with a wing-nut to lock the rudder into place. They work really well and are very comfortable and easy to use.

I know that things still look a bit ‘rough’ – like it was Fred Flintstone’s boat made from boulders. Remember that this is all before body work which still needs to be done. I expect that it will be very smooth and sleek looking after it is sanded down and painted. Way more soon!

Redefining scary – 600 kids from grade 1 to 9

Jerry Seinfeld once talked about a poll that had been conducted in which Americans said that their number one fear was public speaking, and that the fear of death was number five. He said, “…that would mean that at a funeral, people are five times more likely to want to be in the casket than giving the eulogy. “

Theresa has arranged four KidPower presentations so far this school year, two keynote year opening speeches, and two smaller groups. The interaction style of my regular kidPower school presentation has served me well, and this year was my first foray into the keynote format where I just yak on and on for 60 minutes. The keynote is tough – super tough. And it’s not going nearly as well as I would like. I’m finding it very difficult to keep the kids attention for a whole 60 minutes of blabbing on and on… That definitely needs work and it is one of my goals this year.

My most recent keynote was at the Glenmore Christian Academy on Tuesday. I was almost late due to unexpected morning rush hour traffic and anxiously waiting at the back door as I pulled up in the packed Suburban were my sis Theresa and the school administrator. I wasn’t stressed, as we’ve done this enough times now that I knew we could do a full set-up in about 15 minutes or less.

The administrator took me back stage – yes, back stage. GCA has a stage so big, it has an actual back-stage, curtains, spot lights, control room, etc. When we walked out onto the stage, it was freaking HUGE! I couldn’t believe it. Teared rows of seats like an auditorium with seating for 550. She told me that it was a big day at GCA, and they had speakers lined up all day to speak to select groups of kids in various class rooms through out the school. This is where I thought she would let me know which class-room small group I was expected to speak to. Nope. She informed me that I was their feature key note speaker. I would be speaking to the entire student and staff population of 600 – yup – 600! gulp! Grades K to 9. For 60 minutes. In 15 minutes.

Yikes!

The presentation started off with a 15 minute introduction from Jungle Jim Hunter – a local Calgary celebrity and downhill ski Bronze medalist at the 1972 Winter Olympic games in Sapporo, Japan. Jim is an accomplished, confident and experienced speaker. Just the guy you want to follow. Right…

In the end, I guess I did OK, but I don’t think all that great. Certainly not like I would like. My goal is to ROCK the house. Anything less is a failure in my opinion. There were moments where I could tell I was starting to bore the kids, and that is my sign that I have failed. My job is to keep them riveted for 60 minutes. I know that K-9 is a tough crowd, but still… I have to learn how to do this better.

Our usual KidPower presentations are to groups of about 50 to 100 kids sitting on the gym floor, and both Theresa and I have this down to a science and it works great – We rock. Plenty of interaction, question/answers, discussion, some participation and only the raw facts about Critical Power, WiTHiN, the Atlantic and Ironman. This kids really dig that, and it is truly a lot of fun.

The keynote really needs work. That’s my Ironman for this year. I’s like to find a coach/mentor.

My sister Theresa is doing a fantastic job organizing these events for me. I am lucky to have someone like that working with me. Without her, KidPower would simply NOT exist.

Here is a progress update on the foam ama’s.

I cut out my 1″ thick foam layers and hot glued them together to form a stair stepped stack. I marked a positioning point on each layer and punched a hole through it then stacked them up on a 1/2″ tube that I tack welded to a steel table top. When I was stacking and hot gluing, I also use a laser and another mark on the leading edge of each layer to ensure that they were all pointed in the right direction.

Normally, I would have added about an inch of width to the perimeter of each template pattern to allow for the missing width caused by the stair-stepped layering, but I didn’t this time. I really want to say I didn’t for some reason, but truth be told, I just forgot. So, I plastered on a thick layer of expanding foam over the entire plug, then sanded it down to the edges of the pink foam layers. That worked quite well.

Each pink foam stack weighed 2 pounds which I calculated to be exactly 1 cubic foot. At a buoyancy of 55 pounds per cubic foot of pink foam, this wasn’t quite enough. After I had added the expanding foam layer, my total weight worked out to 3 pounds, 5 ounces which is 91 pounds of buoyancy – more than enough.

After I had sculpted my revolved airfoil with a surform file, and then a sanding block, I wrapped WiTHiN’s hull with plastic stretch wrap and duct taped the two floats into position on the sides of WiTHiN. I also taped over the bottom of each float and then I poured expanding foam down the gap between the hull and the top of each float. The expanding foam does not stick to stretch wrap. After the foam expended and hardened, I pulled the float off the boat and the result was a perfect fit between the float and the hull!

above 2 images: expanding foam poured in between the float and the hull

The foam that was poured in between the hull and the float

When the floats are retracted and locked, I could add a thin perimeter edge to WiTHiN’s hull for each float to nest into – or I could add a thin rubber rim around each float to seal them up against the hull. When the floats are locked into the sides of WiTHiN’s hull, I don’t want them to jiggle around to move at all.

Next step is to glass the floats, and install my tubes.

Well, I have finally decided how I am going to gain my stability for moving about WiTHiN.

Here is a quick a review of the problem:

I decided after the roll over test, that stability in the prototype boat WiTHiN is just fine when I am seating in the cockpit. However, I do require additional stability for standing up through the top hatch, climbing in and out through the top hatch, and crawling on deck. We took a look at a number of options in the blog post. I decided to go with a ballast in a bulb on the end of a keel.

I calculated that I could take all of my internal ballast and add that to the keel as well, and calculated about 100 pounds, 4.5′ below the bottom of the hull. I even went as far as drawing up plans for a stainless steel keel frame. Then when I was at the gym the other day, I picked up a 100 pound dumbbell to do my 20 single arm bicep curls with (ya, right!), and realized that there would be no way to properly secure this 100 pounds with a very long moment arm to my thin kayak hull!!!

After more thinking it just seemed dumb to have to lug around an extra 100 pound of weight just for the occasional time when I need to stand up. Especially for this prototype boat. I am trying to get WiTHiN ready for a mini-expedition in the Gulf Islands where I will spent a few days peddling and living aboard her to learn more about what it will be like to live in WiTHiN. I’ll need to load and unload her by myself, and lugging this deep, heavy keel around is going to be a major pain.

So, I looked again at my retractable outrigger options and between me, Rick Willoughby and Richard Roake, we came up with the retractable slider-riggers.

These will be two outrigger arm that will slide in shell tubes that will be glassed right into the cockpit approximately behind my seat back. Each arm will be angled at about 30 degrees. When the floats are retracted, they rest against the sides of WiTHiN and will be molded to fit as if they were two short wings. When retracted, then should not cause much additional aero drag (head winds, not speed), and shouldn’t effect WiTHiN’s ability to right herself after a capsize. They should help stabilize her during sharp turns, as one of the buoyant ‘wings’ would dip into the water when she leans over during a turn.

When extended, they should provide enough buoyancy to allow me to stand up, climb in, out or walk on deck. They are not very hydrodynamic in the extended position in the water, but they are not meant for use while underway – at least not this prototype version of the outriggers.

I will be able to deploy the outriggers from inside WiTHiN by using handles through slots cut in the slider tubes behind my seat. If she were to capsize with the floats extended, I would be able to easily retract them from my upside down position inside the cockpit.

Here is how I am making them:

I modelled the outrigger shapes in my 3D application, then sliced each of up into 1″ layers. I printed these flat slices out and tiled them together to create actual size patterns. I traced the patterns onto 1″ thick Styrofoam and cut each slice out with an Exacto knife.

The 1″ thick slices are stacked to form a stair-stepped float, glued together, then sanded smooth. The I will cover with glass and insert and glass in my aluminum outrigger arm tube.

In my post after the capsize test:
http://www.adventuresofgreg.com/HPB/2007/10/capsize-test.html

I asked for your suggestions as to how I could gain some extra temporary stability in WiTHiN for standing up through the hatch, entry, exit and just general moving about the hull.

For this prototype version of WiTHiN, I’ll be hauling it in and out of water often so I do need to consider the complications inherent in transport, but it is my goal to try as hard as I can to make the prototype version of WiTHiN as much like the actual ocean boat as possible.

Thanks for your replies – I received some really great suggestions. Here are some of them:

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Daniel Grow suggests a deployable dagger board. A thin, lead filled flat fin would slide down a narrow well similar to the drive leg well situated in about the middle of the boat – probably just behind my seat. When in place, it acts like a keel with ballast and can be removed for transport. Australian ocean expedition kayak Lot 41 uses something similar:

Lot41 dagger board inserts through outside top of the kayak deck

view of the dagger board from below

A problem with the removable dagger board is the amount of room the well would take up inside WiTHiN.
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A suggestion from Jim Barrett is outriggers that slide out from under the seat. Something like this could work, as there may be room behind the seat back for two slots to hold the outrigger arms. I modelled up an idea that could work for the slide-riggers. I could glass two stainless steel tubes into the inside cockpit directly behind the seat (right around where the rear bulkhead is). These tubes could hold the outrigger arms as they slide out into extended position, and slide back into retracted position. I could hold the arms in place with pins inserted from the inside, but I’m not sure how I could move the outriggers out and back from inside the boat.

slide-riggers retracted

slide-riggers extended

When retracted, the floats would be up above the water level, and when extended, then would be right at the water level.

I did some calculations and found that with a moment arm of 36″ to the float, the float would need to support about 36% of my weight as I stand up and climb in through the top hatch – or about 57 pounds. At a buoyancy of 60 lbs per cubic foot of foam, I would need about 1900 cubic inches. A bulb-type shape of around 8″ diameter x 36″ long would be close.

The danger in this approach is if I ever had the outrigger extended, and WiTHiN were to capsize, it could be fairly difficult to retract the arms from within an upside down WiTHiN. Also, even with the floats retracted, I am not sure that WiTHiN will still be capsize proof with these buoyant floats hanging off her sides – that is a major concern.
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Warren Beauchamp had this great suggestion of making some flip-down water wings. I’m not sure how I could hold them down in place – possibly with some struts kept inside the boat. In the “up” position they should be fairly bullet proof. If they were in the down position, I’m not sure how well WiTHiN would right after a capsize. I’m not sure if these fairly small wings would be buoyant enough to support my weight climbing in through the top hatch

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Alex came up with this novel idea for an articulating keel. The keel in the “up” position would allow for easy transport on the trailer and moving into and out of the water. It would also retract for normal ‘cruising’ operation when I don’t require the full weight of the ballast for moving around. It is a bit complicated and could be prone to break. Click here to see the animation of Alex’s articulating keel
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Here is my idea called “Swing-rigger” a single (or double) outrigger that swings into position. Controls to activate the swing arm could be from inside the cockpit. I’m not crazy about all the moving parts.

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Here is a new idea I had about using my spare paddles. It may have some merit. Since i must carry paddles with me, I could insert these paddles into stainless steel receptacles glassed into the roof of WiTHiN. The receptacles shown in the illustration below is shown on TOP of the roof, but they could easily be glassed in right below the roof. Paddle floats could be placed over the paddles. The paddles could be held in place with a lock pin from the inside. I think that there would not be enough floatation with standard paddle floats, as i would need about 1900 cubic inches. I also don’t like the idea of having to stand up through the top hatch to assemble them and risk tipping over.

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Rick Willoughby suggests that a keel with ballast is the only way to go for the ocean boat, and since I want this boat to be as much like the ocean boat as possible, I should probably heed his advice and pursue a keel-based solution. Rick says that ballast suspended 3 feet below the hull in a keel would be about 1/4 of the weight of ballast on the floor of WiTHiN. Since reduced weight would reduce the draft, weight carried in a keel below the floor would be more efficient in this case. But, the amount of weight in a keel required to balance the boat while standing or climbing in from water height would be quite a bit more.

Outriggers on an ocean boat have to be retractable for safety reasons (A capsized multi-hull is usually not correctable). Anything that big that is made to move would be complex and could (would) eventually break and I just don’t think it is worth the risk. I am really tempted to take a short cut and add some removable outriggers (like the paddle-rigger concept or the slide-riggers) for this prototype boat, but that kind of defeats the whole purpose of the boat. I am trying to gain confidence that the final design we come up with will take me safely across an ocean. Experience in a boat that is as close to the final ocean crossing boat as possible will give me that confidence.

All that said, I think the best option is to build a permanent keel as illustrated below onto the bottom of WiTHiN. One departure from the final ocean boat that I would allow, is some kind of hinge to allow us to off-load WiTHiN from the trailer to the water without having to bolt-on this heavy keel (under water) every time. For transport and loading, the keel could be held up with a line and a winch or something and a lock-pin to secure it vertical once in deep water. Reaching down to insert a pin from a dock would be fairly easy to do.

According to my calculations, lead shot weighs 470 lbs / cubic foot, or .271 lbs / cubic inch. A cylindrically shaped ballast bulb measuring 24″ long x 4″ diameter would equate to a total area of 302 cubic inches and if filled with lead shot would weigh about 81 lbs. If ballast positioned 3 feet below the boat is 4 times as effective than ballast on the boat floor (due to the moment arm), then to convert my 80 lbs of floor ballast to keel ballast, I would require only 20 lbs in the bulb. To stand and climb in, I will require much more. During our capsize test at the lake last weekend, I tested a temporary keel with 50 lbs on it, and it was probably sufficient for standing and some simple maneuvering. Therefore, I think that a total of 80 lbs, 3.5′ below the hull should work.

The keel could be bolted onto my seat rails, then glassed into the hull bottom, so I think it would be pretty strong. A hinge would be placed at about the same depth as the rudder and drive leg. This is easily reachable by a stretched out arm while lying down on a dock, so the insertion of a lock pin wouldn’t be that difficult.

Another retraction option for this keel is to allow it to slide up or down a tube that is glassed into the boat. This would allow me to raise or lower as required. I am not sure that there would be any advantage to having the keel up against the hull bottom while under-way, as the weight would be the same and the drag would be very close to the same as if it were fully extended 3.5 feet down into the water. The only benefit being able to lift the keel up would have is for loading the boat onto and off the trailer. I think a side hinge is easier to make and avoids putting any holes through the boat.