Solar Skiff and other tidbits

We had a good night last night, at the end of the first day of our late summer cruise. We had a good meal followed by a few beers and the odd wine spritzer. I could not believe it when an irate neighbour on the boat moored next to us knocked on the back cabin door at 2:30 in the morning. Can you believe that, knocking on the door at 2:30am! What is it with with these people. Luckily for us, I was still awake playing my bagpipes.


I found an interesting blog for a solar powered boat put together by Chris Melo. Chris is an independent naval architect and marine engineer. His professional focus is on commercial, passenger, and educational vessels.

In the following three links below, Chris describes modifying a small skiff to be powered by solar power. This started me thinking about the possibility of generating propulsion for a small RIB that we could use from the narrow boat.

The first link describes the ethos behind the solar skiff project.
http://chrisjmelo.blogspot.com/2010/07/solar-skiff-embryo.html

The second link describes the solar skiff prototype and has some interesting photos.
http://chrisjmelo.blogspot.com/2010/07/solar-skiff-spreads-her-wings.html

The third link describes Chris's early observations of how the solar skiff  project is progressing.
http://chrisjmelo.blogspot.com/2010/08/solar-skiff-early-observations.html

So far I have not passed comment on the recent riots. In the main because so many others have been giving chapter and verse on the why and wherefore of the whole debacle.  However, I note that the publishers of the Ladybird books for children have brought out a whole series of new books for the youngsters of today. Written in the same style as the original Ladybird books of the 1950's.

The latest Ladybird release tackles head on the old safety issues addressing risks such as taking care when playing with matches. However this time Ladybird have combined this with the trend towards street gangs and the use of recreational drugs.

The last in the current Ladybird series addresses the job prospects for those school leavers who have elected not to become parents. Intended for those intellectuals who are living in the socially deprived areas of our inner cities. The government, has announced that it intends to make it more difficult for those convicted of rioting to claim benefits. From next week, all the forms will be printed in English.






Later....