SketchUp

Part Two

What I’ve Learned In a Day or Two

Learning SketchUp is like learning to type, or to ride a bike. It’s all about muscle memory . To use it creatively you have to just do it, you should know how intuitively, otherwise you can’t be creative or have fun.

That takes practice. Practice, practice, more practice and YET MORE practice. So I did that. I suppose I’ve spent ten or twenty hours playing with SketchUp. Yes...I haven’t been to sleep since I wrote the last set of Articles...having a sleep disorder has SOME advantages.

I want a boat. Some of ya’ll might have heard me say that before...well I do. SketchUp allows me to visualize what I think I want to build.

So...without further ado...meet Troglo-duck.

It’s going to b a campBoat. This is just the initial imagining...it’ll eventualy be enclosed) When I get finished designing, and drawing it it’ll be a hybrid electric amphibious live-in (camping out), go almost anywhere (within reason) stay out as long I want to, and cost nothing to operate.

You laugh? I’m a retired Truker. My BigTruck TrogloTruck had just about the same amount of living room as the boat will have. I lived in that Truck for 15years 24/7 for months at a time...IT was the biggest truck I owned. I owned three others that had less living space.

(ahem) but I digress.

The paddle wheel is what took the longest to draw. If built to speck the center ‘rim’ will be four foot in diameter made,possibly from 3/4 inch plywood. Slotted into the center of it will be a 55 gallon drum...probably plastic although steel will work. Down the center , the axel will be made from 2 in steel pipe...(or what ever I can find for cheap)..The drum will be full of rigid insulation board (the pink stuff from home depot)..The two outer wheels will be thinner playwood and the paddles will either be yet more plywood or dimensional lumber. The paddles themselves only need be about a foot (or less) deep...and about two foot wide.

The ‘gunnels’( Paddle wheel ‘fork’, ‘transom’, bow, and front axel, COULD be made from lumber,...or maybe a plywood foam composite.

This is no lightweight boat...it’ll be stout. It’s intended to be a gunk-holer....paddling happily along in a few inches of water, yet able to keep moving (down an almost dry stream bed?) if the water gets too shallow or goes away.

I figure to drive it along the shoulder of the road going to and from rivers/lakes/streams.

Did I mention it was electric?

None of that is illustrated yet. I’ll show it in later posts...

Teaser...battery power recharged by

regenerative braking on land
anchoring in a flowing stream the paddle wheel will turn backwards (water wheel) and charge the batteries...
Solar panels.
Pedal
....and (long shot) traction kite.