Turning Ships into Artificial ReefsSome naval vessels such as the U.S.S. Oriskany get a second life. Instead of being sent to ship-breakers, they get a second career as artificial reefs and are turned into habitat for marine species.

U.S.S. OriskanyThe largest of those is the U.S.S. Oriskany (nicknamed Mighty O, The O-boat, and Toasted O), a Essex-class aircraft carrier that was launched in 1945 and commissioned in 1950. It was sunk by the Navy 24 miles (39 km) south of Pensacola, Florida, in 2006, and its 44,000 tons became an artificial reef where 38 species of fish have been seen so far.

The decision to turn the carrier into a reef was made in 2004. Environmental remediation work (costing $20 million, and they still left 700 pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls, mostly in the electrical wiring insulation), and ecological and human health studies were conducted by Navy scientists in consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency to make sure that sinking the ship wouldn’t cause problems.

KABOOM!Wikipedia:

A Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from Panama City, FL detonated C-4 explosive charges of approximately 500 total pounds (230 kg) net explosive weight, strategically placed on 22 sea connection pipes in various machinery spaces. Thirty seven minutes after detonation, the ship sank stern first in 210 feet (64 m) of water in the Gulf of Mexico.

In 2006, the Discovery Channel (who owns TreeHugger) featured “Sinking of an Aircraft Carrier“, a documentary feature about the sinking of the U.S.S. Oriskany.

The US Navy is currently sitting on 59 inactive ships. Most will be turned into scrap metal, but some will become artificial reefs if the U.S.S. Oriskany experience turns out well.

Original article here.

• BY CHARLIE SORREL

Original article here.

Floating Cubans

This page is dedicated to the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of the various Cuban refugees who have attempted to sail to the United States on homemade vessels cleverly crafted from old American cars. Unfortunately, often they have been caught before reaching American soil, and returned to Cuba. Here’s to you, floating Cubans! Your cleverness and your persistence inspire me. May you all achieve your goal, and finally reach the land of McDonald’s, Disney, and Coca-Cola.

The Original Cuban Truck Raft

The original attempt at reaching the United States was done with a converted 1951 Chevy pickup truck on July 16, 2003. The truck’s drive shaft was attached directly to a propeller and the craft could reportedly reach a leisurely 7 knots (8 mph). 55-gallon oil drums were used for flotation. The dozen or so Cubans in the truck were caught just south of Key West after being sighted by a U.S. Customs aircraft.

Starboard side of the truck raft. Photograph taken by theU.S. Coast Guard. Click the image for a larger version.	Back view of truck raft, showing spacious cargo capacity.
Closeup of the truck raft from the front, showing one of its passengers checking the engine under the hood.	Another side view of the truck raft.

This valiant and ingenious attempt at fleeing Cuba earned the original crew the proud title of camionautas (truckonauts). Unfortunately, instead of being rewarded for their cleverness, the Cubans were repatriated back to Cuba. Sadly, the pickup truck was also later sunk (reportedly through the copious application of machine-gun fire!) by the U.S. Coast Guard.

original article here.

For all those who wished they could paddle their dinghies or kayaks to the grocery store, or pedal their bikes across a lake, river or bay, a Czech inventor named David Buchwaldek has just come up with a solution. He has designed an electric hybrid tricycle that can travel on water! Called the HEPAV (Human-Electric Powered Amphibious Vehicle), Buchwald envisions the trike/boat being used as an environmentally friendly way for people to travel between adjacent islands, and even dreams one day of his HEPAV being used to cross the English Channel.

The HEPAV is basically an electric assisted trike, encapsulated in a buoyant, waterproof, aerodynamic shell with a propeller, which allows the operator to power-pedal his or her way across a body of water. As you can see in the video, the HEPAV won’t win any speed records on the water, but as an occasional eco-boat that you can use for transportation on land, the design shows real promise. David Buchwaldek says he designed the bike/boat to be similar to a kayak, to perform well on the road, and to be easily transported by car. The idea being that it can be used as sustainable personal transportation in a variety of situations.

This isn’t the first design by Buchwaldek, as the somewhat eccentric Czech is already known for his human powered vehicles and human-electric hybrid designs – which seem to mix his love for sci-fi with his attraction to sustainable living. “I’m a romantic and environmentalist,” he says, “and I like the sea.” Unfortunately, due to the high cost of production, the HEPAV isn’t likely to be for sale at your local boat or bike store any time soon. But as a concept vehicle, there is little doubt that this admitted lover of Jules Verne’s novels is onto a hot – make that cool – idea.

original article here.

How to use an excavator with your boat for maximum effect.

A casual day sea kayaking leads to some downright interesting video. Observe.

Amphibious vehicles could soon be zooming out of James Bond’s garage — or pond — and into yours.
The Quadski — a one-person all-terrain vehicle that doubles as a personal watercraft — is being billed by its makers as the first high-speed, commercially available amphibious vehicle. It’s scheduled to go on sale in the U.S. by the end of this year for around $40,000. Michigan-based Gibbs Sports Amphibians Inc. hopes to sell the vehicle worldwide by 2014.
With its all-terrain tires and four-cylinder, BMW-supplied engine, the Quadski can drive up to 45 miles per hour on land. To take it into the water, the driver presses a button. In five seconds, the four wheels fold up and tuck into the sides. The Quadski can go a brisk 45 miles per hour in the water before a press of the button brings the wheels out again.
“You just drive straight into the water, quite fast, and keep on going. It’s sort of magic,” the founder of Gibbs Sports Amphibians, Alan Gibbs, told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
History is littered with attempts to make fast, long-lasting amphibious cars, from the campy German Amphicar of the early 1960s to current companies that rework sports cars by hand for $200,000 or more. But Gibbs, a former diplomat and entrepreneur from New Zealand, says the Quadski is the first land vehicle for sale that can go more than 10 mph in water. A lightweight, fiberglass hull and front wheels that rise mechanically when the vehicle hits the water are among the tricks the Quadski uses.
Gibbs, who has made everything from bras to television sets over a long career in New Zealand and the U.K., launched Gibbs Sports Amphibians 16 years ago after building his own amphibious car and wondering if he could make it on a larger scale. Since then, the company has spent $200 million, built nine prototypes and amassed more than 300 patents.
“It seems so simple, but it’s really difficult,” Gibbs said.
The Quadski isn’t the Gibbs’ first vehicle. That honor belongs to the three-seat Aquada, which debuted in 2003 and goes 100 mph on land and 30 mph in the water. Virgin Group CEO Richard Branson used an Aquada in 2004 when he set an amphibious vehicle speed record crossing the English Channel.
Read: Gibbs Phibian sets cours for land and sea operations
But the Aquada never went on sale. First its engine supplier, Rover, went out of business. Then U.S. safety regulators wouldn’t approve it for street use because of several safety issues. The government insisted on air bags, for example, even though Gibbs argued that they might deploy every time the Aquada hit a large wave.
Gibbs Sports Amphibians hopes to turn things around with the Quadski, which has fewer safety requirements because it’s an ATV. The company’s target customers are outdoor sportsmen as well as first responders. The Quadski will come in five colors and will be available at power sports dealers, concentrated in Florida, Texas, the New York to Boston corridor and the Great Lakes region.
Ryan Brown, a salesman at Carter Powersports in Las Vegas, has never heard of another vehicle like the Quadski and thinks it’s a great concept. But he’s not sure customers will pay $40,000 for one when a standard ATV costs between $4,400 and $10,000.
“These are toys people don’t have a lot of extra money for right now,” he said. “People are having a hard enough time getting financed on a $5,000 motorcycle.”
The Quadski will be made at the company’s Auburn Hills, Mich., factory, a former Daewoo Group parts plant. Gibbs Chairman and CEO Neil Jenkins said the company now has 100 employees at the plant. It plans to produce 20 Quadskis per day with 150 employees when the plant is in full operation. The company expects to sell around 1,000 Quadskis in the first year, but Gibbs says he won’t be disappointed if the company doesn’t meet its sales targets.
“We’ll respond to how the market develops,” he said. “We wouldn’t be doing it without being very confident people will love them.”
Gibbs said the company may return to the Aquada someday and try to make it street legal for U.S. buyers. In the meantime it’s planning eight personal sports vehicles based on the Quadski, including some with more seating and SUV-like proportions.
The company is also preparing to introduce the Phibian, a 30-foot long, 6.5-ton model, and the Humdinga, a 22-foot, 3.5-ton model, which are both intended for the military and first responders, Gibbs said. The company is looking for partners to produce those vehicles.

Original article here.

Codzilla is a Boston water attraction for the adventurous!

Codzilla is 70’ of marine aluminum and bad attitude. Codzilla seats (or was that “eats”) 135 people, so reservations are recommended. With two turbo-charged diesel engines driving state of the art waterjets, Codzilla roams the ocean with 2,800 horsepower. (We’re not talking sea horses, my friend.) Plus with its unique hull design, Codzilla is capable of thrilling 360-degree turns and spinning on a dime. On occasion, it’s hard to hear the crew and custom music over the blood-curdling screams of your fellow voyagers, so we’ve equipped Codzilla with a state of the art sound system and 30 marine-grade speakers to insure proper amplification.
Watch Codzilla do some thrilling 360 degree turns!

Ever seen a boat do a wheelie?

Now watch the video!

At the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, along the James River in Virginia, one of the biggest structures ever built by humankind is slowly being pieced together.

Huntington Ingalls Industries announced Thursday that they have lowered the 680-metric-ton bow of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford into place.

The aircraft carrier is the first of its kind and will be delivered to the U.S. Navy in 2015.

The new supercarriers will replace the Navy’s current Nimitz-class ships with an updated design.

The joining of the bow with the rest of the massive boat is a major milestone, as the company began building the ship in 2009 at the Newport News Shipyard (NNS).

‘The lower bow is a distinctive component of an aircraft carrier,’ said Rolf Bartschi, NNS’ vice president of carrier construction.

‘Its sheer size is indicative of the massive undertaking of this project and the incredible work ethic of the shipbuilders bringing Ford to life.’

The Gerald R Ford is being built by modular construction, a process in which smaller sections of the ship are constructed separately and then put together. 

Comprising six steel sections, the lower bow is more than 60 feet tall and is one of the heaviest superlifts to be placed on the ship.

Construction of the lower bow superlift, the last major section of the ship below the waterline, began last year.  

The boat will contain a nuclear power plant and four Electromagnetic Aircraft Launching System catapults, which can move a 100,000 pound jet 240mph across a 300 foot runway.

Once the boat is completed in 2013, it will be delivered to the Navy in 2015. It will be part of the fleet for at least 50 years.

Original article here.