Comments on: Am I a Sea Biscuit?

By: James Maxwell

James Maxwell — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:07:47 +0000

Harley,
Good to see your still up and about. Sorry to hear that Sea Biscuit didn’t work out. I’m working on the Harley-8 and am excited to get started.
JDM

By: Stan Roberts

Stan Roberts — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:05:47 +0000

Greg,

I understand your problems with seasickness in a closed enviornment. The motion in small boats is pretty fast and difficult to deal with. You would probably be better off in a design like the rowboat used by Tori McClure (the only woman to row solo across the Atlantic). Her requirements were similiar to yours, both of you are using human power. She had an open cockpit forward and small cabin aft so that she was rowing in the open. . There are obvious benefits to copying an existing proven design, not the least of which is that you know it works and that it is seaworthy. In her case she survived a hurricane. It is unfortunate that many people, like Harley are too proud or whatever to use an existing proven design.

Stan

By: Harley

Harley — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 08:28:00 +0000

Jeff, really now! I should have scotched these untruths when they started? Let's see you try to control what stories get passed around the Internet and by word of mouth. The fact is, as soon as I put myself into an open Forum such as the Internet, I started to get lambasted by all sorts of inconsiderate fools such as yourself. Oddly enough you get used to it. Idiots just love to repeat hearsay without regard to the truth, as you have just proven. Say what you want about me, I don't care. I'll be dead in less than six months anyway. But don't put down the Around in Ten people simply because they don't have access to the incredible amount of cash it takes to assemble a "Team Effort". Doing it alone and without millions of dollars to push around is the whole point of AIT. Sorry if that doesn't fit into your narrow-minded little paradigm.

-Harley

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:31:00 +0000

Hi Harley.
If most of what you say here is true then you should have scotched these untruths when they started.
But I still stand by what I said in the first place that SEA BISCUIT was badly designed, extremely badly built and underfunded.
I also still think that that 'Around in Ten' race is totally irresponsible if it is
still on, with only two of the entries to my mind having a chance of finishing. If they are built.
Each boat should be a team effort, not just the fancy of one individual working alone. There is just to much to organise and do.
I know that there have been some successful lone voyages made by one man shows, but they were lucky or had time on their side. They also had larger boats and sailed west to east.

I am sorry Greg for going off topic.

Jeff in the UK

By: David Tangye

David Tangye — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 07:35:00 +0000

Great trial. Very good feedback comments here and in the previous blog, especially re sea-sickness. I shall write offline fully shortly.

By: Harley Harlson

Harley Harlson — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 06:27:00 +0000

In Sea Biscuits defense, there are a lot of farcical stories out there, as you learned in Tofino, Greg. My apologies to Jeff in the UK, but he is unfortunately amongst those who would repeat such stories without any basis in fact. Testing was to take place in Tofino, just as your trials were. The boat will never sink, her stores were and still are in place. I never asked for any financial help getting home or otherwise. Chuck Leinweber of Duckworks magazine did that on his own. No publishers were ever contacted for "book sales" or for any other reason.

On a lighter note, don't worry about the Sea Sickness.. It will pass. You might talk to your doctors about bringing a few bags of saline solution for an IV if you get extremely dehydrated, though. That's the greatest danger of the malady.

Come home, rebuild, and go out again next year. I will.

-Harley

By: Adventures of Greg

Adventures of Greg — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:05:00 +0000

to Anon: What's the Vomit Comet?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:56:00 +0000

you need to be completely confident in your sea sickness
Atlantic
rowing race in December of 2009
is the way to go
installing a small autopilot is a must, so much so I would have a back up auto

the Vomit Comet can be a final test

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:07:00 +0000

Hi Greg.
SEA BISCUIT.
What an ill founded farce that turned out to be.
Badly designed. extremely badly built and underfunded. The boat was also untested.
Harley, who now calls himself a Yacht Designer, was just going to launch the boat, fill it with stores and sail off around the world into history!
He had even contacted book publishers prior to the trip on the book he was going to write!
The only thing that stopped the boat from sinking on its first few hours in the water was the fact that the storeage bins were empty with their tops just obove the water. If the top of these bins were a couple of inches lower or all the stores were in place, the boat would have sunk.
He pointed out later that the reason it did not sink was through good design.
In order to get the boat back home he asked for donations from various Yahoo groups.
I went into print before his voyage to say I did not think the voyage would last more than a few days before him giving up.

But then this is something which I cannot say about your attempt Greg.
Well designed, well managed, well funded and well tested.
Let's hope the "old engine" holds out

Jeff in the UK

By: Frank

Frank — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:54:00 +0000

Greg,

Sea sickness is something that affects everyone to some extent. Opening the cockpit for fresh air and keeping your eye on the horizon helps but it won't totally cure it. Every motion sickness is also wavelength dependent and some people are more sensitive to certain wavelengths over others. Hence some get car sick or air sick, but do better at sea.

Best is to get out as much as you can, as your body will then adapt and things will get better. Also consider medication. It does help.

I would also advise that you add a few pounds. This will help you get through the bad spots better. The weight penalty is minimal on water. But you will have extra energy, extra buoyancy, and extra insulation. All these matter.

There is an optimal weight for every sport and optimal for marathon running is not the same as optimal for ocean crossing survival.

Also like your idea of tackling the Pacific. If you really want to do the atlantic you'd be better off building a boat in Europe and testing it there. Cheaper.

--Frank