I think i may go get the torch and cut up the boat as scrap. Someone moved into a house on the road i travel to the boat ramp, and they turn their 8 dogs loose to run into the road every time a vehicle is on the road. Given the local District Attorney's office is rabid about protecting the little gods and exacting incredible revenge on anyone harming a hair on the beasts, i can't justify ever being on that road again.
I cannot put the boat in again. It's an experiment, it's going to attract attention at a commercial ramp, as well as take longer to put in and take out. I spent a year making the boat, it was on water once, and now it's dead. It's the main theme in my life.
Here's the boat as it was.
These are 20lb "river anchors". They are designed like the typical mushroom anchor, but tend to dig in faster when being dragged across the bottom, as if by a boat being pushed by water current or wind. I hope to make a device of some sort to launch or carry them to where i want them, whichever way works with less danger and cost. I'd hate to use a cannon which may fire them *thru* an adjacent boat or up under a dock. And i wouldn't want a 6ft miniature floating anchor carrier to run them out with intent to drop the anchor in place, only to have them blown out of the water by an eager Coast Guard thinking they are some form of torpedo or drug carrier. Yeas, i tend to think of most problems before they arrive. Seriously, to set an anchor well, they need to be at least 4 times away from the boat as the water is deep, so if the water is 40ft, jogging the boat 160ft in each direction to set two anchors against wind and tides, at night, in unfamiliar location, isn't something i look forwards to... i'd rather put the 10 ton boat (the big boat, not this little pontoon boat, altho same time and work..) where i want it, and put the little anchors where they go separately, it's just way more time and energy efficient. I prolly didn't need to spend so many electrons on this, but it's a topic which is all over my mind at the moment.
Here's the bows, looking rather smart, if i do say so myself.
To see how i made them, click here: The Bow Making.
Here is a early test folding of the frame. It's not even a fully assembled frame.
To see how the mostly assembled boat folds, click here: The Folding Boat.
One of the many tricky bits of this boat is the mast. It's designed to turn semi-rigid sails, as well as erect or stow itself at the press of a button. It's not built yet, so no pics yet. But with no guy wires attached, how to make a sturdy fixed mast brace and stowage device was tricky, considering the entire boat folds from 10ft wide to under 5ft wide at the press of another button. Anyhow, here is the hinge in the center of the mast support A frame. I wanted the A frame to look simple, symetrical, and of the same dimensioned metal from top to bottom, so i spent some time on it. The square tube in the center will be attached to a plate which will tend to stay horizontal under all conditions, regardless of how the A frame is folded.
See how the center square tube holds the top plate of the hinge horizontal, after folding, in this pic:
 folded front.jpg)
That hinge is tight, and for appearances i radiused the horizontal sections that make it up. In this pic, the drill press is merely holding a pin that registers the hinge part i am holding, and allowing me to turn the bit with one paw as my other paw is on raising and lowering the drill-press-spindle-pin-hingepart across the face of the grinder wheel. The drill press is not running, and the chuck does not contact the grinder. The grinder is held in an X-Y vise on the table, for ease of fine adjustments.
Garage door pulleys to use for folding the boat, with the powered T-rail:
By Kat , 2008-09
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