A few questions about an ocean worthy raft

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by boatbuilder44, May 27, 2015.

  1. ImaginaryNumber
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    ImaginaryNumber Imaginary Member

  2. rwatson
    Joined: Aug 2007
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    Location: Tasmania,Australia

    rwatson Senior Member


    Umm - lets get this in perspective

    " down in the marsh where we have a couple of houseboats that we stay in for duck hunting"

    No waves, shelter from shore etc.
     
  3. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    I own a 65' boat that survived Katrina, so it's not all that surprising or difficult to get through a hurricane. I've personally been aboard a boat of some sort during 6 hurricanes. As to the boat this guy said survived it, well as RWatson suggested, it's a "relative" thing. Where was he (huge consideration), the actual conditions his boat tolerated, etc., etc., etc. Simply put, houseboats fair quite poorly in unsheltered areas, just way too much windage to not have lots of damage or worse. As a rule, most houseboats are the mobile home in tornado ally type of survivor. They just plain got lucky, as anything remotely close would have shredded it.
     
  4. Russ Kaiser
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    Russ Kaiser Exuberant Amateur

    Reality Show Possiblity?

    I think you're going about this all wrong. You're essentially doing an experiment on isolated living on the ocean. First you've picked a cold, rough, section of water. Why not the Caribbean?

    There are probably a long list of idiots willing to give you grant money for a project like this so do it right. Get a decommissioned military vessel, like an old destroyer towed out to where you want to live and have someone that knows what they’re doing anchor it in place and put out the proper sea anchors to keep it oriented into the waves. A boat shape will be much more comfortable in rough water and the bigger the platform the better.

    Sell your idea to a reality show and change it from two people at a time to say twelve people at a time. Make sure all the woman are attractive and like to walk around in little to no clothing. Also make sure your "crew" checks off all of the proper minority and sexual orientation check boxes.

    Include one normal, prudent, conservative person to stay appalled by everyone else's behavior for the entire show. You will have to pay that person since no one of that description would volunteer. Oh, and have a ping pong table, I've always wanted to see ping pong played on a pitching surface.

    When you’re done, sink the destroyer and say you’re providing much needed marine habitat.
     

  5. Rurudyne
    Joined: Mar 2014
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    Location: North Texas

    Rurudyne Senior Member

    Boatbuilder, the rafts you propose are okay for sheltered waters but because of their large areas to interact with the ocean they will not be comfortable.

    You should look to either some iteration of submerged displacement design or ocean platform design. Or a relatively low power stabilized monohull or trimaran.

    These first will have their buoyancy below the waves, minimal surface area to interact with the waves, and their platforms as high as is prudent to keep them clear from the waves.

    Moreover, the range of motions you want to avoid is those that are both large and quick. A large motion that is slow will be perceived as ordinary rolling, which is why ocean platforms that push their quarters up pretty high, resulting in possibly large motions, because they have to endure, not being able to run away, don't have relatively great wide bases which would make them stiffer, speeding their motions.

    SWATH boats don't have their platforms as high and the may be relatively wider ... but they can at least turn into a big wave.

    In the opposite direction are the stabilized monohull and trimaran. These are beamy with quick motions but their accommodations are also low so the motions are frequently smaller. The key here is to basically have a line drawn roughly from where your ears would be in the center hull to the way line of your amas be low enough to ensure small motions, and thereby improved comfort.

    Unless you think you can buy, repurpose and refurbish and maintain an old oil rig something that can move is your best bet. Either the stabilized monohull or the trimaran would probably be less expensive than a submerged displacement design.

    My two cents.
     
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