The fish boat

[willmarsh3]

Check out these websites

News article (http://194.6.181.128/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=108&sid=5355335)

and

Website (http://www.2hon5.ch)

A neat story about a man who is crossing the Atlantic and then the Pacific in a boat powered by an outboard.

Will

[John Bell]

Not my idea of fun: Spending weeks at a time trapped inside a floating sculpture with nothing but the bleat of a 2.5 Yammie to keep you company! ;) I'd be concerned about ventilation, too. The possibility of CO poisoning is not to be taken lightly. Perhaps someone who reads German can tell us what his plan is to mitigate noise and fumes.

Even though it's not my cuppa coffee, it is an elegant, if Quixotic, journey.

[willmarsh3]

After looking at the pictures and thinking about the outboard arrangement it looks like he's counting on the exhaust as it goes out the propeller to bubble up aft of the boat as it moves forward. Also the motor would suck up exhaust with the air from inside the boat. However, I would not bet on this scheme working all the time. If he idles the motor (for any number of reasons) the boat comes to a stop and those exhaust fumes bubble up through the outboard well into the cabin. I would at least extend the outboard well up through the overhead so it gets ventilation from outside the boat and have a watertight door on it to work the motor as required. Or better yet, I would use a small inboard motor.

[Dale R. Hamilton]

well I read it but I still don't believe it. I suppose it does float- at least for the time being, but its light construction and absurd design hardly make it a good sea boat. Granted it has a fish shape- but it can't move like a fish. Good point about the ventilation- but what about fuel for the motor? Or if he intends to sail, where is the rigging- or even the space for it. Then there spares for the motor, tools, and a watermaker that make one liter A DAY??? and communications, running lights. Jeez- This is another one of those little adventures that ought to be stopped- if only because somebody is going to have to rescue his ass. Remember the sailer in England whose only chart was a road map- had to be rescued 13 times by the rescue service.

[WindHawk]

If he hadn't already done an Atlantic crossing, my already serious doubts would be doubled. However, if I were a Coastie and had to risk many lives to save him from himself in that "boat" I might institute a "catch & release" policy of my own...

[Frank E. Price]

Masochists of the world, arise!

[Jack Heinlen]

That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. He's gonna die if he gets offshore in it. I'd say it's all a joke, but he seems serious.

He should be allowed to proceed only after having his epirb and any transmitting radio confiscated.