This boat is about 6 decimeters in length, about 2 foot. The hull is a block of styrofoam insulation panel. The tin roof is cut from disposable casserole tins. The wood is dowel and popsicle sticks. The helm is an "O" ring with the spokes and pedestal formed from plumber's putty. The wired up exhaust is a copper tube, with the muffler being a piece of PVC pipe filled with plumber's putty. The fuel tank is a piece of PVC pipe, with a lamp turn knob for the filler cap, and hole plugs for the ends, and copper wire for the fuel line. The sail is imitation silk material (light weight, so it doesn't tend to pull the boat over). The tank label and name plaques were printed on a copier, then sealed with a clear sealer. The compass and gauge assembly was printed on clear plastic overlay. White plumber's putty is used for the gauge body. Page # 15. The metal and concrete structure below is ballast to stop the sail from capsizing the boat. I am presently looking for a doll house chair for the operator's seat...Update: I found a seat today, a couple of days after this posting.
The following is for any stories the boat may be in:
The two gauges are for engine temperature and oil pressure.
The vessel has no fuel gauge. That is checked occasionally with a dip stick.
There is no speedometer. The boat has a small 4 cylinder engine, so the boat doesn't go very fast anyway (A little over seven nauts top speed. About as fast as a slow moving ferry).
There is no ignition switch, It's started by opening the engine compartment, and turning on three switches which are mounted to the engine, being for ignition, alternator and gauges. Then a jumper cable is clamped to the battery and touched onto the starter cable lead bolt. Undoubtedly, sparks pop and ark while the cable is held to the starter as it is cranking >rur rur rur rur rur<. Once started, the deck paw disconnects the jumper cable from the battery, then backs the choke off as the engine warms up. Then the deck paw tells the captain, "It's ready to go". To kill the engine, simply turn off the three switches.
The red Knob is for throttle. And the white knob is for forward, neutral and reverse.
The vessel has no horn, That's what the bell is for.
In any future stories, the Etoilee Du Fleuve Mangoky (Star Of The Mangoky River) will have a Fossa captain, and a Malagasy Civet as a deck paw.
Picture # 7 shows the operator's seat. Just simply grab an available kitchen chair and bring it aboard.
Page # 9 shows a french compass. Directions being, Nord, Sud, East and Ouest.
An ION sport camera is mounted to the rear of the boat on picture # 6.
About a year ago I got in my junk mail * a notice of a forum to be held in Uganda on some technical matter. I had expressed NO interest in such meetings. As this was probably the 2nd such thing sent to me, I sent an eMail back, stating that even if my passport was still valid, I had NO intention of attending. The expense, the AIDS, the EBOLA and such, and the food, the language problem -and the topics. I even blocked the senders.
* Most of my eMail is junk, and most of my junk is now porn offers. I am now trying to close the account and open a new one (under a new username and a new password, and have any attempts to send mail to the old one met with an ACCOUNT CLOSED message).
A boat for hauling junk -or IS junk ? About a year ago I got in my junk mail * a notice of a forum