~~~~~~~About the Craft~~~~~~~
a 1981 Hobie catamaran
_____________
When Ted asked me to take part in a rafting trip to raise money to find a cure for ALS I was immediately inclined to join him. Ted talked of floating a wooden raft, or a platform across two canoes, down the Ohio during the spring runoff. I was not too enamored with the idea of a cumbersome wooden raft that would be hard to control. The twin canoes would be manueverable, but I feared swamping in large waves. My 16-foot catamaran is similar to the two canoes with a platform, but the hulls cannot be swamped. The cat is also easily paddled due to its shape.
Ted suggested a small motor for getting through locks and for docking. I offered to build pedal powered paddlewheels and avoid the stigma of an engine. I also proposed that I would provide a short mast and sail for assistance on the long pools. Ted also agreed to change the departure time to the Fall, since I was nervous about dangerous currents and flooded landings.
I constructed a redwood frame that clamps onto the hulls of the cat and assembled a crankshaft out of precut sections of galvanized pipe. I made the paddlewheels out of redwood and cedar. On the first test, after a few adjustments we were pedal paddling at up to five knots. With gentle pedaling we maintained two to three knots. When we finally pedalled too hard, the crank shaft joints loosened and the crankshaft twisted out of allignment. It wasn't very well alligned in the first place, since I was using precut lengths. Some of the cedar paddle wheel blades started cracking also. At least I knew the system, once properly constructed, would provide the propulsion we needed for locking and docking.
See craft as first visualized (54K)
See prototype under development (200K Jpeg)
See same at higher resolution (1-meg BIG)
See upgraded craft ready for test on July 10 (177K)
See fully rigged test on July 26 (200K)
Return to Mission Cure ALS Home