Where did we go wrong?

That's a beautiful boat.

 

ya Its really got potential as say a Mississippi cruiser vessel. I'd loose the sails and run it off a electric trolling motor. use a saildrive like set up to charge it, maybe a solar panel, and maybe a small generator. Could be a really fun project. VAWT generator might also work well. I bet it takes nothing to make it move.

 

the latest tech and not all that new but recently much cheaper is peltier chips. Been used for 12 volt solid state cooling/heating chests for years. They can also produce electricity. From either cold or heat. They just need different temperature on each side. Will work at night and on cloudy days. Now they are cheap enough to rival solar panels, and much better producers of power.

 

Interesting thread but the boat in the OP's link is obviously not designed with cooking in mind. Neither is it an "sensible, efficient powerboat" for that matter, and the chicks lounging around on it wouldn't be caught dead in a galley.

If I had one, my Ferrari wouldn't have TV in the back seat for the kids, or even a back seat for that matter. I don't have one because the chicks draped over it at the car show were not included in the standard equipment and I absolutely refuse to pop for options on a car that cost so much . . .

While we are being irrelevant (or is it irreverent?) I recently noticed that my snowthrower doesn't have cup-holders. Where did I go wrong?

 

Priorities change. Obviously everyone will agree, number one important thing on board, in car, in house, on vacation, hunting or fishing in wilderness are, more important than fresh water, or health of your family, is E-MAIL. Without Blackberry, there's no survival

 

Troy, Skenes is one of the bibles of boat design/building, both books are a great addition to your collection. Nicolson has been on my shelf must be over 20yrs and well used at that.

 

I'd run it on a gasoline engine when not under sail. Probably fuel with a lot of sulphur and maybe some pcb's.
I might drag a gill net and leave it somewhere while throwing granny overboard without her cat food.

 

It is an atractive cat. Really has no similarity to a Venetian Gondola, but my mind plays tricks, and it has the 'ambience' of a gondola. Looks romantic and italian some how. Wonder where in the world the picture was taken?

 

Stupid me. Florida registration numbers. Of course it looks romantic and exotic.

 

Its called a crabclaw cat. 21'x 8' costs about 20k and the company doesn't sell prints. Or at least they don't offer them on there web site.

cheers
B

 

Hmmm, couple of 2nd hand aluminum canoes and some marine plywood and FRP. Offer for romantic dinner charter for 2 in OkeeFenoki, with a singing coxwain to pole it along.

 

I did not intend to advocate that everyone must cruise in an open boat.....not at all......I was trying to point out the silliness of the "We must take it all with us" cruising mentality.......

The typical production cruiser looks like this.......



Where "We" (Yacht Designer's, the Boating Industry?) went wrong is in allowing anyone anything other than this.......



And what "We" would really like to see people using is this......

 

I make a lot of facetious remarks on occassion, confusing people whether or when I'm serious. I try to be sufficiently outrageous when joking that nobody would doubt it. I'm being serious now.
Certainly in the US, we cherish our individualism. Ignoring politcs, I think individualism is not unique to any one culture, but universal, only varying by degree, training, and cultural permission.
Necessity is the mother of invention? Maybe in the past. Uniqueness may be the driving force now. I no longer see clothes fashion being important like 50 years back. Sameness is out. Woe to mass producers of luxury items like yachts. Welcome back one-of-a-kind small craftsman yards.

 

Some great pictures guys, specially liking your vessels there, Bos.

There's a company in Germany, on the Ruhr, who have built a number of Escargots, (pedal powered houseboats) and offer them for hire, so anyone who wants to try a pedal powered houseboat can!

Grune Flotte (English via google translate)

The fact that they have added solar assist, and even a 5hp outboard to some of their fleet speaks volumes of the 'high windage, low power' problem that large pedal powered vessels are always going to suffer.

Here's the interior, with galley!



Here's Seattle based Phil Theil's original design drawing.

 

VizQueen

In their alternative propulsion schemes, perhaps they'll eventually try this.

Then we could have a thread arguing if it was a Pedalsailer? or a Sail-or-Pedal. And was it 30-70, or 50-50?

Use polyethylene for sails and name her VizQueen