I’ve spent considerable time in Germany but I sure wish I learned of this project to see if I might have been close enough to pay a visit. Here’s a multi-year composite / airplane project that’s still happening (He must be close to getting the prototype airborne) and certainly deserves to be placed in our Notably Nutty department. It’s a Sukhoi SU-27 jet model on which the plug was constructed from REAL aluminum sheeting built on the scale panel lines over a hand-built balsa/fiberglass fuselage and flying surfaces. I won’t give too much away – you’ve got to see it to believe it. Prepare to sit and stare for awhile but be warned, you might need a lower jaw stand. We’re left at the point of installing one of two REAL turbine engines and having just finalized the landing gear. I’ll keep the feelers out for updates and keep you posted.

This discovery (submited by Jackie) leaves me wondering about “The Sled“…sadly no updates yet – I emailed the builder a couple of months ago but received no reply. I’ll try him again. Perhaps a little competition is in order?

Inhaltsverzeichnis

One more post on our buddy Kristofer J. Harley. The folks over at Duckworks magazine have setup some sort of fund for Harley to help him get his boat back home and, I suppose, prepare for round two. It seems that they’ve already raised over $1000 US dollars. I think there are certain admirable qualities about Harley and his ambitions – especially in the environment of so many nay-sayers. However, I’m not sure that further supporting his round the marble trip is such a great idea for his own well being. Make up your own mind and contribute if you care too over at the Duckworks Site. After all of this, I have taken away at least one golden nugget that I’m sure to use in the future; “aaawww shoot…a little goo will do!”.

From the Duckworks site:

Location of SV Sea Biscuit – Kristofer J. “Harley” Harlson, Capt

Here is the latest news on Harley:

I talked to Harley on the phone this evening (Friday, the 25th of August) and he was in good spirits. I was able to tell him that through the generosity of family and friends, we had deposited almost a thousand dollars into his account. He seemed genuinely humbled and thankful.

Harley told me that he had been in touch with his former employer and was able to get his job back. In addition, he fully intends to maintain his dream and will make another attempt next year.

-Chuck-

More on Kristopher J. Harley again from EVK4. Seems Harley has wisely rethunk his master plan and is going to evoke a mulligan.

From EVK4 Bloglet

Last bit of Seabiscuit News for a Year
Harley is holding off for another year. Prudence took hold of him apparently. The boat is going back to the drawing board for some lead in the keel and hopefully some sea trials beforehand. Don’t know why, but I think I’m rooting for him more now than ever.

Here’s a note from a very kind man up in Tofino who has been giving me and Duckworks Magazine some updates:

Thanks for the new site .. Its interesting to see what people think ( concern’s ) Harley is back
at the float & has decided “To pack it in ” & “go back home ” .. IF he can get his help to come back & get him … he appears to be short of money ( he said that ).. He ask me if the berth (dock fee’s ) run’s out if he could put the ‘Seabiscuit ” on beach in front of my propertyuntil help arrives .. Getting around the world is tough enough but without any money would be twice as bad in my opinion … He said he’s going get the “Lead ” on the bottom of the keel, Its simply too “tippy” & the “window of the season ” is getting late .. I told him he had you guys cheering for him ( showed him your letter from last nite ) I suggested he could do these test’s in a lake down there ,, I wonder if sleeping in that craft may have got to him a bit also ,,”

I found something over at the EVK4 Blog where the blogger did some real sleuthing and contacted the gentleman that emailed the information to the DuckWorks Magazine site. It looks like ‘ol Kristofer J. Harley is planning for the maiden voyage to be the big one! Any guesses? Think he’ll actually go? I’ld also like to take a moment and point out that I am not a particularly superstitious person…but when it comes to the sea and little opportunity for a second chance I figure “why push it?”. Mr. Harley prepaid for 13 days of slip fees. The local had this to say:

From the EVK4 Bloglet:

Here’s an email from a gentleman who has seen him:
“Yes !! I think quite a few people are concerned .. So far he launched the boat Saturday(19). The two helpers left soon after .(with the trailer I believe) .. He got a tow around to a spot in the boat harbour .. after stowing more supply’s…The next day most of his stuff was out on the float He has a bad leak where the rudder bolted on .. Each AM he tediously mop’s & bail’s –what appears to be several gallons of water from the bilge. The balance of each day is spent talking to fishermen -tourist & any -body that wanders- bye.. & smokes one cigarette after another..( which may be difficult at sea ) I went down to the waterfront at 130pm to-day,, & he’s movedto the sand flats at the east end (waiting for the tide to fall ) ,,,,,,, I went down again to-night at 730 & he was out on the sand taking photo’s . The tide will very low to-morrow AM at 8-02,,I don’t know he move’s it as he doesn’t appear to have a oar.. I understand he paid for 13 days,,,So I guess this calm weather isn’t rushing him .. Winter SE winds are not far away .. It wouldn’t surprise me if he doesn’t end up in the “Charlottes” or ” Alaska ” I’m 71 years old -born here-The materials that drift on to our beaches all come north from south California-Oregon & Wash ,” Never buck the tide ” or mother nature. the way I see it he’s doing both .”

Isn’t modern communication technology fabulous?

A ponderance has been occasionally drifting through mind since I found the news on the Duckworks Magazine site about Kristofer J. Harley yesterday. I couldn’t sort out why that truck had to back so far into the water and why the guy had to go out on the tongue of the trailer to (apparently) push that tiny boat off that trailer. I just realized that it’s the position of the hull support cradle that wouldn’t clear the bow – but then again, I guess it’s not intended to be a trailer-sailor type of … er … “boat”. No news yet but I’m searching…

Remember our buddy from the Notably Nutty department; Kristofer J. Harley? I’m not sure if it was a sea trial or his actual around-the-world mission, but apparently he was very near to departure when, shortly after launching, he discovered the rudder bolts were leaking. Not that much of it was left…but this doesn’t help his credibility. His response to a concerned on-looker was “a little goo will do”. He was (is) expecting to leave from a secret departure site because he’s concerned that the Coast Guard might try to stop him (I suspect he’s more concerned about having an unruly crowd on hand). I do wonder how effective those lifelines are going to be….Stay tuned and I’ll keep you posted!

DuckWorks Magazine

I can’t seem to remember the theme music from the intro … not that it would matter in the context of this blog. But here’s another life-altering answer to an age-old composite & molding question…what do you do if you have a helicopter museum and can’t find a full size airwolf helicopter to hang from the ceiling? The answer can be found in the following link.

The Wolf’s Lair

Originally uploaded by Team Seacats.

I’m sorry things have been a little slow around here – I’ve been trying to get things completed on the house and the A/C working on my ‘85 Rx-7…hardly sailing related projects. At any rate, I had a few minutes last night to login to “Tacticat” – a new catamaran racing simulator that is surprisingly realistic. I played this a bit about a month ago and hadn’t been back in a while. It’s becoming quite popular and it’s really interesting racing a bunch of people from around the world! Visit it at Tacticat. Oh…and by the way, I’m the yellow boat and I won that particular race! Kevin Rejda – Nacra 6.0 sailor from the Florida (redshift) and I both made a pretty good comeback in that race.

I found this more recent ’round Texel footage from 2004. Good stuff.

I REALLY want to get going on the one meter project but the North American F18 Championship, to be held in Lake Carlysle, IL, is creeping up on us. I’ve got two major projects slated to be completed for the trip. First, we’re going to create additional sleeping space in the RV. I’m sailing again with David Mosley (fellow Team Seacats originator) and we both have shortish 23′ RV’s. It would make no sense for both of us to drive RV’s for that distance so I’ve decided to do away with my overhead entertainment center and storage and replace it with a more traditional bed. Saturday evening, Mark Hale helped me with the demolition and now, after taking some measurements and rough planning, I have a mattress on order and will begin to trim out the walls and build the bed slide.

The other project that will begin soon is to build a double stack upright for my boat trailer. Occasionally I have a need to double stack boats on the trailer. We’ll be racing on Plays With Matches and David has chartered his 2004 Nacra F18 for the event – so we need to take them both up there…again it doesn’t make sense to take two vehicles and trailers so I’ll be fabricating an upright to support the front of the top boat and some sort of support for the rear down to the boat below. When I rebuilt the trailer bearings and suspension a couple of years ago, I selected springs that could handle the additional weight of another boat for this exact purpose.

By necessity, I started another project to get the air conditioning running on my classic 1985 Mazda Rx-7 GSL-SE. I know it’s not boat or regatta related…I’ve been putting off working on the A/C on the RX-7 because of everything else I had going on, but it’s time now due to the heat. A quick diagnosis showed that the rear seal is blown on the compressor but the internals of it look good. I’ve ordered a seal kit and while I had the compressor removed, decided to tackle the excessive play in the steering (a common problem to 1st generation RX-7’s) since moving the compressor is a prerequisite. Removal of the steering gear is a very tricky process because the gear box and shaft are one piece all the way from the pitman arm to the steering wheel and there is a lot of stuff in the way – like the reverse opening hood, the radiator, the A/C compressor, the brake vacuum booster, etc. I payed for a good bit of my living during college by rebuilding Mazda rotary engines in RX-7’s…so I’ve very familiar with these cars it’s kinda fun to be working on one again. This GSL-SE is in incredible condition and is from one of only two model years they built this body style with the larger and fuel injected 13B engine and included disc brakes on a limited-slip rear end. As far as RX-7’s go, this one is pretty collectible and cosmetically is impeccable – not so bad mechanically either. I’ve put more comments on the pictures on the flickr site for the RX-7 work.

This stuff just never gets old. Here is Catamaran Orange at speed – Bruno Peyron’s latest (well….over a year ago) addition to the G-class catamaran fleet. The video really doesn’t do the size of this boat justice and while I can’t recall the exact length of this boat (somewhere beyond 130′), I do recall that the rotating carbon fiber mast stands over 160 feet above the surface of the water. This boat currently holds the around the world crewed record and just this past spring took yet another record from American Steve Fossett and his old boat, Cheyenne – the Transatlantic (west to east) crewed record. ‘Ol Columbus would be shocked to know that we have the capability of sailing from New York to England in a breath over four days (is there a powerboat that can even match that?).