Flutterby™! : We have been threatened with

Next unread comment / Catchup all unread comments User Account Info | Logout | XML/Pilot/etc versions | Long version (with comments) | Weblog archives | Site Map | | Browse Topics

We have been threatened with

2013-04-27 23:31:17.990352+00 by Dan Lyke 4 comments

We have been threatened with arbitrarily applied handicaps if we do the same thing next year... Won the Wooden Boat Challenge again...

[ related topics: Interactive Drama Boats Machinery Handicaps & Disabilities ]

comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment Re: made: 2013-04-28 00:39:56.739748+00 by: meuon [edit history]

Accept the handicap gracefully, and kick their unworthy asses anyway. ;)

Side note: We bought pipe clamps and some other things today, and am gluing up a larger desktop for Nancy's desk. The garage is starting to look like a serious shop. Nancy just said on the ride home: A biscuit jointer would be nice...

s/shop/Maker Space/g

#Comment Re: made: 2013-04-28 15:54:36.921178+00 by: Dan Lyke

You should take her to see the Domino demoed, and then let her make the decision between that and a biscuit joiner...

And, yes... Actually, we did a lot of talking up various innovations that we still don't see other people using after we've done this for 3 years, my sincere hope is that we'll decide to do something completely goofy next year, just go for winning the crowd, and everyone else will use our tips on boat and paddle design and there'll be a race!

#Comment Re: made: 2013-04-28 21:06:39.084113+00 by: other_todd

What did you do exactly that apparently is giving you so much of an advantage?

#Comment Re: made: 2013-04-28 22:36:19.801183+00 by: Dan Lyke

I want to chalk it up to the old hands trying new and different things, but even there the one team that's been around for forever had a paddle design that broke when they were pulling out of the starting area. I'm thinking about trying to write up all of the things I think are useful that nobody else is getting, things like:

And when I get to that last one I realize that whatever gains in construction we have, we also have an experienced whitewater paddler in the stern, and me, a guy who's logged thousands if not tens of thousands, of miles of paddling, in the bow.

And the difference between someone who's paddled occasionally and someone who knows it took nearly a year of weekends in the boat to learn how to really maneuver a kayak might be that critical.

So, yeah, we've a super experienced woodworker (Tom) and a moderately experienced one (me) building a boat design that doesn't try to be innovative (except for our plywood joints, but we've done that for 3 years now), we've practiced building it, and we're experienced paddlers. And we probably spent 1½ man hours of the 10 man hours we used in the build (we were done in about 2½ hours) on getting paddles right.