Offsetting

I'm slightly stuck. I've been using a program called Kayak Foundry to design
La Voie Bleue and I've got a design I think I'm happy with. I want to start
using a different design package though called Freeship. Kayak Foundry is
excellent and to me more intuitive, but Freeship lets you visualise the boat
in three dimensions and from there you can export to all sorts of rendering
packages - great for graphics.

BUT, I can't for the life of me work out how to get from one to the other.
I'm sure the answer's staring me in the face. I've posted on the Boat Design
forum about it. Hopefully someone there will point me in the right
direction, for now though, I'll have to make do with the 2D image I've
photoshopped up.

Getting covered in pvc

Yesterday I went out to look at materials. I found the 3mm PVC I'd had in
mind, it looks good but the sheets are smaller than I thought, which means
buying more and attempting to join them. Of course, every join is a
potential leak spot, something I'd hoped to avoid in the first place.
Then I found some 1mm clear PVC available on a roll - it's used for green
houses and stuff. It looks pretty hard wearing, and it'd certainly remove
the need for joins. In fact, I could build the whole hull as one piece and
then cut it in three after, which might be better anyway, as it'd keep all
the lines together. But is it strong enough? Can't see why not it's thicker
than the PVC sheet used in folding kayaks after all. The other great thing
about clear is I'll be able to see that the bouyancy foam's got in all the
nooks and crannies, the downside is that I'll have to paint it of course. I
reckon it's worth giving it a go though - and it's a third of the price. I
also found the edging strips I had in mind. If I go for the 1mm these will
be even more important, but at least I know they're there. Now I just need
to source the box section aluminium, and at least I lnow where to find that.
Oh and of course the gears, the seat, the pedals, the propeller, the
waterproof stuff sacs and boxes, but hey it's not much really.
Still need to sort out those offsets though.

First (past the) post

Hmm, it's that blank blog feeling. How many times have I started a blog only for it to peter out, sometimes even after the first post. Well this one's going to be different, this one has to, because this one isn't really about me and my random musings, this one's about my project.

So what's the project? Well it's to pedal the length of the Nantes-Brest Canal. No big deal I'm sure, there's a tow path all along it, and it's pretty flat so cycling it should be no problem. Well no except I'm not planning to ride along the side of the canal like everyone else. Nope I'm going to ride along IN the canal. Of course I'm not doing it on a bike though, that would be silly, and wet. So I'll need a boat, but you can't just go out and buy a pedal boat - well you probably can if you've got the money - so I'm building one, and this is going to chart the progress.

Before I go any further though I've got to mention The Adventures of Greg. Greg's planning on pedalling the Atlantic, but then Greg's mad, and Canadian. If Canada had more stringent health and safety, Greg would be locked up by now. Inevitably Greg's a huge inspiration, and inevitably what he builds will be flasher, faster, and so much better than what I build. But then he's crossing the Atlantic, and I'm mooching up a canal. Anything I do which reminds anyone of Greg is done purely because of that inspiration.

So what's la Voie Bleue then? Literally it means the Blue Way. I think it sums up this whole thing pretty well really. That blue line on the map that marks out the canal, that sense that you can only travel along, that calm that comes from hearing water gently flowing. There's one way I'm going to get this thing done and that'll be the Blue Way - la Voie Bleue.