Expeditionyacht.org

Since the 2007 Fort Lauderdale Boatshow, we have been in touch with Quantum Hydraulics to design a 2-rotor system that could tame the roll of this expedition yacht. As you can see on videos in earlier posts in the stabilizer section of this blog, stabilizers will certainly improve comfort under certain sea conditions. That this system works can also be seen in the video in this post.
Over the last few months we have looked at the placement and the illustrations below show the solution.

This is how it looks from a distance.

Actually a pretty neat solution if you ask me.   No 4 big fins sticking out but 2 decent sized retractable rotors. While we sacrifice about 30 tons of fuel tank space (about 60 remaining), we created 2 water tight compartments as class rules requires with the hydraulic unit neatly tucked away there and still with room to move around.

Below a few more images to illustrate this solution. Click for a bigger view.

For more information on these systems for your yacht, concact Mike Perkins of Quantum Hydraulics in Ft. Lauderdale at mperkins @ quantumhydraulic . com

My drawing guy in Thailand just sent us these 2 “pictures”, incorporating the wider boat deck, featuring a tender crane, a different helicopter (Eurocopter AS350) and the Maglift stabilizers below.

Once we have the interior defined we can work on that too in 3D and start creating some really cool fly-through’s.

By the way, there’s something wrong in this picture. Do you spot it?

It’s been some time since my last post on drinking water.  I’ve run into another company that’s a major supplier of water treatment equipment for the maritime and offshore industry.  They don’t just offer reverse osmosis equipment but a full range of related products for filtration, decoloration, demineralization, disinfection, softening, pH-correction … the list goes on.  Everything you need for top quality water under one roof, industrial quality equipment.  Below you can see the different elements that go into a full-feature water treatment plant. A water maker is just a small part of it.

Take for instance their neutralising/mineralising filters for the conditioning of water from Reverse Osmosis plants to improve taste and avoid  corrosion in the fresh water system.

Water with a low pH value, such as water of R/O water makers, is often corrosive and tasteless. This so-called ‘acid condition’ is due to the presence of free carbonic acid gas (CO₂) and lack of natural minerals.

To make this water neutral or slightly alkaline, it should be neutralised or mineralised. To ensure the complete removal of CO₂, the water can be filtered through a bed of neutralising filter media, named E.W.T. compound. In the low pressure filtration process, the CO₂ reacts with the E.W.T. compound and natural bicarbonates are formed. As a result, the water is no longer corrosive and, when used for drinking, a natural taste is added to the water which is otherwise insipid to the palate.

In the past is has been common practice to use marble for this purpose though the reaction is slow and equilibrium is difficult to reach and maintain. E.W.T. compound is now preferred as its action is quick and complete. Due to its special structure, E.W.T. compound is rapid and uniformly soluble.  To get full details on the different pieces, visit the Hatenboer Water website. 

No, a complete system is not an ultra-compact package so this won’t fit on a typical yacht but, for a serious explorer yacht that wants the best water for its guests, you can’t do much better.

The Uboatworx folks in Breda, The Netherlands upped the notch for personal subs dramatically.  The redesigned subs now come in a 2-person version and 3- person version with optional 4-person configuration with greatly increased endurance thanks to better and more batteries.

It looks a lot better too I think.  Getting in and out will be dramatically more easier I can assure you from experience.  And yes, it has gotten more expensive too: about Euro 550.000 + options.  To make it Euro 500.000 if you include transport and training and all the gadgets.   Ohh, and your yacht needs a 4.5-ton crane as minimum.  Still , that’s a lot less than you need with other subs.

Downward visibility has also improved as you can see on the picture below.
 

Need one? Visit Panama Submarines.