Yesterday I took my pedal powered catamaran out again to the Leeds/Liverpool canal. It’s hard work to pull the boat on its inbuilt wheels. I have no way to weigh it but from the materials used I estimate 50-55 kg. That’s OK on the level or down hill but I have a descent and subsequentContinue reading “Another boat trip.”
Category Archives: boat
Time for a rest.
I’m not well. This is difficult to admit by someone who’s virtually never ill. I noticed 8 days ago, on the Saturday, when I rode my mountain bike that hill climbing felt extremely hard. I think I was already starting to suffer from the beginnings of bronchitis, hence my reduced performance. I only exercised onceContinue reading “Time for a rest.”
Slower but still progress.
I took my boat out again yesterday and lost about 10 % of my speed compared to my last trip. So how can this be progress? I’d hoped that by raising the paddlewheel, which propels the boat forwards, I could reduce inefficiency caused by drag of the paddles in the water, whilst still retaining sufficientContinue reading “Slower but still progress.”
Successful Boat Test.
I’ve been a little worried about the lack of speed I’ve achieved so far with my home built, pedal powered catamaran. I’d expected to be slightly faster than I was in my previous dinghy but so far, I’ve been around 10% down on pace. Last time out I had a length of rope trailing inContinue reading “Successful Boat Test.”
Sixth trip in my new boat.
I’m still in the testing stage with my new boat so each trip is a learning experience. Today I pulled the boat down to the canal and noticed a grinding sound from one of the new wheels, which has made only one such journey before. I had to replace the wheel with a spare forContinue reading “Sixth trip in my new boat.”
Another boat test.
Today was due to be hot, with temperatures reaching 29 Celsius or 84 Fahrenheit. We’re not used to this in North West England so I got out in the morning before the temperature reached its maximum. Since my last pedal powered boat trip I’ve lowered the paddlewheel height by 4 cm. I chose this figureContinue reading “Another boat test.”
Real progress with the boat.
I finished some modifications to my newly built boat yesterday, with the intention of testing today. After my last test I thought that I needed to gear up the paddle wheel to make it rotate more quickly. After a little thought I realised that this would be the wrong approach. I simply hadn’t been gettingContinue reading “Real progress with the boat.”
Testing the new boat again.
After my first test of my newly built boat I was pleased with its stability on the water. I tried a pedal to paddle propulsion system but wasn’t getting much power into the water, meaning that it was very slow. I decided that it looked impossible to develope this propulsion system so chose to buildContinue reading “Testing the new boat again.”
Visiting Jersey by scooter.
I’ve never been to the Channel Islands before but over the last week I’ve been on a trip there by scooter. I chose to ride what turned out to be 265 miles to the port of Poole in one go. I’d gone to the Bay Horse to meet the rest before they left on theContinue reading “Visiting Jersey by scooter.”
Splash!
I launched my newly built boat for the first time today. I was worried about its performance so didn’t take my phone for photos and therefore didn’t record my progress on Strava. I’d been worried that it may be rather heavy to pull, on its inbuilt wheels, a half mile to the canal but itContinue reading “Splash!”
Mountainbiker 