Housing Plans

It's well documented - with every passing day, oil prices seem to be setting a new record.  With the triple combo of an ever weakening dollar, insatiable demand in emerging markets, and the "speculation factor" from hedge funds and the like, many project there is no end in site to the price escalation.  While a recent conversation I had with an executive in a major domestic oil company revealed that the "industry insider" opinion is oil should be priced somewhere in the $70 a barrel range right now, I have a feeling that we are still far from seeing the top of this "super spike".

The short term psychological factor for the everyday consumer is undeniable.  Has anyone noticed there are less folks on the roads these days?  During mid-day this past Sunday on Alpharetta Highway (a main drag in town), traffic was so sparse, it almost seemed like Christmas Day.   An article I came across this week noted that 90% of Americans indicate that $4 a gallon gas causes serious financial hardship.  Not especially surprising given that wage growth is essentially flat, the net savings rate is less than zero and consumer debt is harder to come by in this environment than any in recent memory.  The slack from higher gas prices has to be picked up somewhere, and good old fashioned belt tightening seems to be the trick for most.

While it's easy enough to take a "gloom and doom" mentality in this enviornment, high gas prices is not all bad news.  As a society, we've certainly become overly dependent on oil, and with prices at their current level, expect to see major growth and funding for alternative energy sources, which is good for everyone (including the environment) in the long run.  Also, expect to see more fuel efficient decisions from the average consumer.  This probably includes a spike in car pooling, public transportation, telecommuting, moving away from the extended suburbs and closer to work, and more Sunday afternoons at home with the family instead of an extra road trip to the beach.

As for the impact on the residential real estate industry and the custom home market, the full impact is still to be determined.  Right now, high gas prices generally has the consumer in a foul mood, and not necessarily in a hurry to "spend more money".  For those who are paying attention however, events such as an "oil superspike" create demographic shifts over time.  Anytime there is a major demographic shift, there is most likely an opportunity during the shift and on the other side of it.  

Found a link over on gas2.0 pointing toward Firefly Energy. They are working toward improved battery technology, taking a different tactic than many seem to be. Instead of new metals (lithium, etc.), they are taking the same old lead based chemistry that we have known for years and reformulating how it is made.

They are claiming lighter weight, more efficiency, more power, etc. They are a tractor trailer battery coming to the market later this year, with talks with other industries. They seem aware of the marine world (there are mentions on their site) along with electric vehicles, etc.

Matt from WhalePower was kind enough to reply with a detailed comment to my earlier post concerning "Whale fin propeller blades".

WhalePower is taking the "whale fin" based propeller blade designs and working to commercialize the technology. Sounds like nobody is looking at marine propellers (yet), but maybe???

I think, assuming the tests really pan out, that a marine application would be a good fit. Marine propellers have lots of problems with cavitation, stalling, etc. depending on the speed range and power application. Anything that could make that more efficient would be good.

Add in electric/hybrid power as I'm considering, and a propeller that can make efficient use of power becomes even more important. Electric power's slow speed/high torque requires a different propeller design than the norm. Would this be a good fit?

Cleaned up/sanded a little of the fillet I did yesterday and also planed a little of the keel toward the bow that was "sloped" to one side. Got that leveled up I think.

Talked on the phone a good while with my Dad... him and my Mom are coming up on the 4th (Friday) for the sheathing party. It will be nice to work with them a bit. We spent a while discussing the rollover tactics. We're going to bring his tractor with front-end loader up and use it.

Given the placement of my hull, I've got to slide it "forward" about 15-20 feet before it can roll over. We've decided we can get the front-end loader bucket under the front of the strongback, pick up the bow a little and "slide" the entire thing. If it doesn't want to slide, he's got some heavy walled pipe we can use as a roller.

Guess we'll see :-)

Time = 1.5 hours

A while back we had a link to the BitterEnd blog, an interesting (although sometimes a bit harsh) blog detailing the adventures of a vessel assist operator in the Pacific Northwest.

A recent posting on his site leads us to another couple of blogs of other vessel assistance people, these on the East coast. Sounds like the kind of things they deal with is about the same everywhere.

Some interesting reading, and some things to learn from. It would be better to take some of the lessons they point out, directly or indirectly, to heart before the same issue happens to you.

These guys most all seem to provide a great service and generally know what they are doing.

• BitterEnd
• From The Wheelhouse
• Red Right Returning

Got my order from U.S. Composites for all the epoxy, pumps, stir sticks and some talc for fairing. It's been recommended to use talc for epoxy thickening when fairing since it's much easier to sand than the Cabosil. Given how tough the stuff is with Cabosil, I can believe that, although I have seen a few references to talc not being good for below the waterline use... guess we'll see.

Sanded a little and spread the last of the old epoxy as a fillet for the places on the keel/skeg joint to the hull that weren't nicely done already. Also emptied trash cans, cleaned up old epoxy containers and all that kind of cleanup and organization stuff getting ready for the sheathing party Friday.

Laid out and measured the Xynole cloth yesterday and cut two long strips. Looks like it will fit very nicely. The 69" width will cover from the centerline to the top of the hull sides from stem to stern (as the hull bottom gets wider, then sides get lower and it balances out).

Money = $263.70 + #38.52 (shipping)

Time = 1 hour

Time = 1 hour (yesterday)