totally absurd inventions

[yipster]

Fishing is a strenuous sport. Okay, not really. Usually you are sitting in a boat or sitting on the bank of a river or lake, slowly tossing your line in the water, slowly reeling it in and slowly losing your bait. But there is one type of fishing that can give you a decent workout. It's float fishing. It's still pretty darn relaxing and it's just about the ultimate in low tech transportation. Essentially you sit in a rubber floating chair and paddle your way to where the fish are. But paddles are hard to store and easy to lose, so our inventor invented the Fin Flappers. Not a bad idea really, they strap onto your boots and fold flat when walking on land or pushing your foot forward while floating. When you pull your leg backwards, the fin opens up and grabs the water, slowly propelling you forward. From the looks of our floating friend, with his bushy beard and lack of fishing pole, he may have been floating out there for weeks. If you see him, give 'em a tow, will ya?

Fishing on a budget can be tons of fun. Who needs a boat when you can sit yourself down in a fancy fisherman's float? Now normally a floating fisherman has to flap his finned feet for propulsion but that can get tiring fast and you end up traveling backwards. So let us introduce you to the Cadillac of float fishing, the Propeller Leg. It features a built-in seat and a second float for holding a big battery. Why the battery, you ask? To power the trolling motor that's strapped to your leg! We have our concerns about mixing water and electricity and you may need to practice a little ballet so you can point your right leg up and toes down, while using your left fin as a rudder. Heck, this rig may not help us catch any more fish but if there's room for a cooler in the second float, it gets our seal of approval.

Every once in a great while someone will re-invent the way we think of everyday objects. This inventor in 1976 had a truly unique vision of how a boat can look and operate. Introducing the Boat Ball ! Unlike your everyday boat that drags through the water, this motorized ball floats over the surface. The result: higher speeds and lower fuel consumption.
The airplane-like passenger cabins are mounted on the sides of the monstrous ball and remain horizontal as the boat rolls ahead. In the event of a Titanic type mishap, the water tight cabins can be released from the rotund mother ship and sail on their merry way.



more totally (?) absurd inventions for those with to much time and in need for a smile: http://www.totallyabsurd.com/archive.htm

[safewalrus]

Hey Yipster this has got to be the best yet! you could spend hours looking at those great inventions!

Shows how intelligent some people are! Don't you wish you were American? NO!

[Bergalia]

Steady Walrus old chap...Even before I left the 'auld sod' (Scotland) some 16 years ago bobbing about with your legs stuck through a tractor innertube was a popular activity among my fellow fly anglers. (An alternative of course was the inflatable kilt - but those of larger proportions frequently discovered that the protruding upper torso was lighter than the submerged lower limbs - and consequently were turned 'A' over 'T' - exposing the hairier parts to public gaze - giving rise to rumours of an outbreak of Nessies).
Still technically 'off air' following lightning strike and burned out modem if you wondered about my recent silence...

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by yipster

This inventor in 1976 had a truly unique vision of how a boat can look and operate. Introducing the Boat Ball ! Unlike your everyday boat that drags through the water, this motorized ball floats over the surface.

Reminds me of something from this thread:
http://boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9004

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/news_eve...aritime/5.html

A Steamer on Wheels by James Walter Smith

In: The Strand Magazine Vol. 12, no. 70 (Oct. 1896), p. 552-558.

The Roller-boat was actually built and, as the contemporary news account explains, the spinning wheel/hull design does move through the water with much less resistance than a conventional hull. As one might deduce from looking at the pictures, however, the ship required an extraordinary amount of maintenance and had only a small fraction of the cargo capacity of a conventional ship. As for its stability in rough seas, we have no data.

[RHough]

Words escape me ...

[safewalrus]

Bergalia 'tis nice to read your dulcit tones ? Hurry back the pace hots up; "Tally Ho!" to use a well worn phase (NTP1A refers - remember that one!) There's many an old salt will help you out, (which way did you come in?) on these pages - be interesting to see who - too

[yipster]

http://local.google.com/

[yipster]

saw David Hammond (the little one from top gear) the other day on BBC with this toy
if i'm rite he mentioned its basics beeing used in the wembley stadion roof
first thought in my mind was a girraffe rig, hm.. not so easy eh but totally absurd?