Visit www.mogcanalboat.com for more details about the MOG Canal Boat.
Join us for a tour of the interior of the MOG- The Solar Powered Prototype Vessel that is preparing for a Great Loop adventure. There are numerous innovations for a 40ft motor yacht. You may have seen lots of boats, but the MOG in unique. Join us on YouTube for the tour at http://youtu.be/NRGKbayI2yI . Please review the accompanying description on YouTube. The details are important to fully appreciate the tour.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
"Soon" - A four letter word for destiny
Visit www.mogcanalboat.com for more details about the MOG Canal Boat.
"Well, have you left yet?"
That question is what keeps me going. Nope, not yet, is the answer and the word 'soon' is getting really tattered around the edges. Stuff happens in life and plans get delayed. However, the way the boat, medical, electro-mechanical and weather seem to be looking, I will go back to beating up on the word 'soon'. Hillary (wife) and I have gotten our medical clearance and the boat is having real pictures by a real photographer tomorrow, April 18. I will follow this short update with captioned pictures of the ALGEMAC II (a/k/a MOG) in the water at the Bennett Brothers Yacht yard here in Wilmington, NC. It is one thing to embark on a long journey with a boat developed and manufactured by a boat building corporation that functions with systems of sail and petrol engines. There is quite another journey just to design, develop and build a boat that is powered solely by solar electric energy (petrol outboard auxiliary excepted). The difference seems miniscule, one being petrol and one being electric. Gee, what is the big deal here? The big deal (for some readers) is revealed when one sends this blog to an acquaintance who has made several one month or more excursions on their personal yacht (38 feet or larger). The usual reply is "no way". That should give a clue that this endeavor is not simple or a no brainer. A very large solar electric yacht over 100 feet long has made a world trip and also cost far in excess or ten million dollars. The MOG is aimed at the boater who is looking forward to retirement and plying the waters, estuaries and inside passages of the Intracoastal Waterways of America. The eastern and mid nation areas of the Great Loop are capable of enlargement of the watery highway by three to four times, using the shallow draft of the MOG Solar Electric boat. The usual route of the Great Loop is about 6,000 miles. If one considers that the MOG is able to navigate 24 inches of water, then there are myriad rivers and streams that are opened to view which formerly were the province of canoes and kayaks. I look forward to some pictures 'soon' and starting the Loop a bit later 'soon'. Thank you all for your patience.
Stay tuned...
"Well, have you left yet?"
That question is what keeps me going. Nope, not yet, is the answer and the word 'soon' is getting really tattered around the edges. Stuff happens in life and plans get delayed. However, the way the boat, medical, electro-mechanical and weather seem to be looking, I will go back to beating up on the word 'soon'. Hillary (wife) and I have gotten our medical clearance and the boat is having real pictures by a real photographer tomorrow, April 18. I will follow this short update with captioned pictures of the ALGEMAC II (a/k/a MOG) in the water at the Bennett Brothers Yacht yard here in Wilmington, NC. It is one thing to embark on a long journey with a boat developed and manufactured by a boat building corporation that functions with systems of sail and petrol engines. There is quite another journey just to design, develop and build a boat that is powered solely by solar electric energy (petrol outboard auxiliary excepted). The difference seems miniscule, one being petrol and one being electric. Gee, what is the big deal here? The big deal (for some readers) is revealed when one sends this blog to an acquaintance who has made several one month or more excursions on their personal yacht (38 feet or larger). The usual reply is "no way". That should give a clue that this endeavor is not simple or a no brainer. A very large solar electric yacht over 100 feet long has made a world trip and also cost far in excess or ten million dollars. The MOG is aimed at the boater who is looking forward to retirement and plying the waters, estuaries and inside passages of the Intracoastal Waterways of America. The eastern and mid nation areas of the Great Loop are capable of enlargement of the watery highway by three to four times, using the shallow draft of the MOG Solar Electric boat. The usual route of the Great Loop is about 6,000 miles. If one considers that the MOG is able to navigate 24 inches of water, then there are myriad rivers and streams that are opened to view which formerly were the province of canoes and kayaks. I look forward to some pictures 'soon' and starting the Loop a bit later 'soon'. Thank you all for your patience.
Stay tuned...
Friday, March 1, 2013
Hibernation is over!
Visit www.mogcanalboat.com for more details about the MOG Canal Boat.
As the crocus peep through the last of the winter's snow, the MOG prepares for it's odyssey. (There was no "winter's snow" in eastern NC and I am not entirely sure I would recognize a crocus if I tripped over one. Please ignore the aspiring Ernest Hemingway.)
The important part of that first sentence is "the MOG prepares for it's odyssey". The Great Loop Solar Adventure is on track to embark later in March. We will begin to post reports (The MOG LOG) and preparations more frequently now that the launch is eminent.
Please stay tuned to more details and technical information as the adventure unfolds.
As the crocus peep through the last of the winter's snow, the MOG prepares for it's odyssey. (There was no "winter's snow" in eastern NC and I am not entirely sure I would recognize a crocus if I tripped over one. Please ignore the aspiring Ernest Hemingway.)
The important part of that first sentence is "the MOG prepares for it's odyssey". The Great Loop Solar Adventure is on track to embark later in March. We will begin to post reports (The MOG LOG) and preparations more frequently now that the launch is eminent.
Please stay tuned to more details and technical information as the adventure unfolds.
Friday, December 21, 2012
MOG Navy attire
Visit www.mogcanalboat.com for more details about the MOG Canal Boat.
MOG Navy apparel. Join the Navy!!!
The preparations for the MOG's Great Loop adventure is our main focus,
but we also have a signature MOG Navy apparel Collection that is second-to-none.
Take a look at our first-rate MOG Navy hats, shirts, and accessories.
Please "Join the Navy" by visiting http://mognavystore.qbstores.com
Sunday, December 16, 2012
LARGEST RC SOLAR ELECTRIC BOAT
We are refining our image/brand. No more moving slowly until we are ready for "Prime Time". We are there! See the video of the MOG being put through it's paces on the ajoining post..
LARGEST RC SOLAR ELECTRIC BOAT !!!! An RC (remote control) steered and throttled, 40 foot, solar electric, twin electric motor yacht that can sleep two or four people. A 60 hp outboard auxiliary is used only for emergency. The twin electric motors can be inboards or outboards (as in this video). A standard remote control box is used onboard and may be used off the boat, nearly 1/4 mile away. The captain is not so brave yet. A new video of remote control of the boat, being steered and throttled while off the boat is being made, as courage and liability insurance permits. Join us on the web at....... http://www.mognavy.blogspot.com http://www.mogcanalboat.com (whatever else you like... proud sponsor? co-conspirator?, laughing bystander?)
LARGEST RC SOLAR ELECTRIC BOAT !!!! An RC (remote control) steered and throttled, 40 foot, solar electric, twin electric motor yacht that can sleep two or four people. A 60 hp outboard auxiliary is used only for emergency. The twin electric motors can be inboards or outboards (as in this video). A standard remote control box is used onboard and may be used off the boat, nearly 1/4 mile away. The captain is not so brave yet. A new video of remote control of the boat, being steered and throttled while off the boat is being made, as courage and liability insurance permits. Join us on the web at....... http://www.mognavy.blogspot.com http://www.mogcanalboat.com (whatever else you like... proud sponsor? co-conspirator?, laughing bystander?)
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
MOGBLOG- Up to the minute
Visit www.mogcanalboat.com for more details about the MOG Canal Boat.
November was sort of a watershed (pun intended) event for the MOG solar electric yacht. Hillary and I finally got it out of the slip and into mid river again. Originally we had scheduled about a four day run down the Cape Fear river into the intracoastal waterway and to a gunk hole (really inaccurate description) that had a narrow 250 foot strip of white sugar sand between the clear watered estuary and the blue Atlantic ocean. If you have been to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, you have an idea what gorgeous is.
The boat was prepped with food and fuel, batteries and water topped and some wine to boot. The auxiliary 60 hp engine would not start. Huh?! It was a 5 year old engine with only two hours on the meter!! And THAT was the problem. The govenment mandated 10% alcohol fuel had left its mark on the injectors and the fuel pump. Not to mention the (non adjustable) timing/cam belt had expanded over five years to the point where there was too much slack for accurate valve/electronics management. parts and labor was over nearly $1,400.00. So if you use it you pay and if you do not use it, you still pay. This is not the fault of the engine manufacturer. It is the fault of the adjustable nut at the helm. So chastened, I reset the schedule, summoned what was left of my maritime dignity and relaunched the plan.
As life dictates that all things be different than imagined, the leisurely sojourn was compressed into 1 day trip with about 22 miles of river travel. A down and back with a microwaved (precooked and prepackaged 90 second meals) lunch that did not make us sick but did prove that there is no restaruant in a box, from a supermarket. A few of the 90 second prepackaged foods are actually fine for a meal or two on the go. They store easily, need no refrigeration and consume only a trace amount of electricity to microwave them. Not a constant diet though. The meal was actually part of the plan, to see what meals are acceptable.......2 down and ? to go.
The two electric motors (as outboards currently) were used to navigate the marina slip and fairway out and back. The electric motores are accurate to a fault and have so quick a response as to be discomforting at first use. The river a has a very unforgiving rate of flow and the winds are usually nose on or stern on, which can catch a boat and turn her with the tide flow in an instant. Both electrics can be steered by tiller AND differentially throttled with immediate forward and reverse. No waiting for the transmission to synchronize (or refuse to engage) with the rest of the drive line. I will have to create an optional auditory enunciator (engine sound). The electric motors are so quiet that you cannot tell if they are at work, under load or just off. Since this is the golden age of electronics, the idea of having a 12 cylinder Ferrari, P-51 Mustang Rolls Royce Merlin or Norton Manx engine's song emanate from a nonexistent engine room is just irresistable.
Once each of us had some "electric steering" time, we switched to the 60 hp internal combustion engine to try the newly repaired engine and its response to the helm's tiller. The Ezy-Glide system worked just fine after I found an area of the cable that was being crimped near the auxiliay enfgine. However, the tiller had been set up to steer horizontaly rather than the intended use, vertically on the side of a boat's cockpit. In doing so the port to starboard traverse was counterintuitive. After the short trip, the gear head has been reversed so that the pilot now feels sure that the steering is correct.
All things considered the month of November, 2012 caught a bunch of niggling items that, if not for the trip, would have wreaked almighty havoc somewhere in the future Great Loop, at the most inopportune time and hostile environment. I am glad that the aforementioned and other problems were identified.
The weather and winter here in Wilmington, North Carolina is usually mild and can afford some great day and overnight trips. More trips will be made and countless ideas will be tested before our relaunce of the Great Loop in March of 2013. I will try to keep you posted as we progress to the day.
November was sort of a watershed (pun intended) event for the MOG solar electric yacht. Hillary and I finally got it out of the slip and into mid river again. Originally we had scheduled about a four day run down the Cape Fear river into the intracoastal waterway and to a gunk hole (really inaccurate description) that had a narrow 250 foot strip of white sugar sand between the clear watered estuary and the blue Atlantic ocean. If you have been to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, you have an idea what gorgeous is.
The boat was prepped with food and fuel, batteries and water topped and some wine to boot. The auxiliary 60 hp engine would not start. Huh?! It was a 5 year old engine with only two hours on the meter!! And THAT was the problem. The govenment mandated 10% alcohol fuel had left its mark on the injectors and the fuel pump. Not to mention the (non adjustable) timing/cam belt had expanded over five years to the point where there was too much slack for accurate valve/electronics management. parts and labor was over nearly $1,400.00. So if you use it you pay and if you do not use it, you still pay. This is not the fault of the engine manufacturer. It is the fault of the adjustable nut at the helm. So chastened, I reset the schedule, summoned what was left of my maritime dignity and relaunched the plan.
As life dictates that all things be different than imagined, the leisurely sojourn was compressed into 1 day trip with about 22 miles of river travel. A down and back with a microwaved (precooked and prepackaged 90 second meals) lunch that did not make us sick but did prove that there is no restaruant in a box, from a supermarket. A few of the 90 second prepackaged foods are actually fine for a meal or two on the go. They store easily, need no refrigeration and consume only a trace amount of electricity to microwave them. Not a constant diet though. The meal was actually part of the plan, to see what meals are acceptable.......2 down and ? to go.
The two electric motors (as outboards currently) were used to navigate the marina slip and fairway out and back. The electric motores are accurate to a fault and have so quick a response as to be discomforting at first use. The river a has a very unforgiving rate of flow and the winds are usually nose on or stern on, which can catch a boat and turn her with the tide flow in an instant. Both electrics can be steered by tiller AND differentially throttled with immediate forward and reverse. No waiting for the transmission to synchronize (or refuse to engage) with the rest of the drive line. I will have to create an optional auditory enunciator (engine sound). The electric motors are so quiet that you cannot tell if they are at work, under load or just off. Since this is the golden age of electronics, the idea of having a 12 cylinder Ferrari, P-51 Mustang Rolls Royce Merlin or Norton Manx engine's song emanate from a nonexistent engine room is just irresistable.
Once each of us had some "electric steering" time, we switched to the 60 hp internal combustion engine to try the newly repaired engine and its response to the helm's tiller. The Ezy-Glide system worked just fine after I found an area of the cable that was being crimped near the auxiliay enfgine. However, the tiller had been set up to steer horizontaly rather than the intended use, vertically on the side of a boat's cockpit. In doing so the port to starboard traverse was counterintuitive. After the short trip, the gear head has been reversed so that the pilot now feels sure that the steering is correct.
All things considered the month of November, 2012 caught a bunch of niggling items that, if not for the trip, would have wreaked almighty havoc somewhere in the future Great Loop, at the most inopportune time and hostile environment. I am glad that the aforementioned and other problems were identified.
The weather and winter here in Wilmington, North Carolina is usually mild and can afford some great day and overnight trips. More trips will be made and countless ideas will be tested before our relaunce of the Great Loop in March of 2013. I will try to keep you posted as we progress to the day.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Medical Fitness Report
Visit www.mogcanalboat.com for more details about the MOG Canal Boat.
Followers of the MOG,
Thank you for the emails and kind thoughts during my physical therapy. I had x-rays made for numbness in my right leg which led to a diagnosis that required 8 weeks of spinal decompression therapy. The therapy was gentle and relaxing. The therapy also worked very well and I can now balance on my right leg as well as I had a year ago. There had been a slow decrease of balance until it became unavoidably obvious.
I now have methods and exercises to keep my regained ability. It is now too late to make it to Duluth MN before September of 2012 from Wilmington, NC. Duluth was a timing point for continuing the Great Loop or having to put the boat under cover for the winter (not preferable). We are now going to use this period of time to make shorter local excursions and further sea trials to test the boat. I will endeavor to keep things up to date as progress is made toward a rescheduled departure for the Great Loop in March of 2013.
One problem that I am glad I found during this 'down time' was that the clean water tanks and water pump had to be completely sanitized, not a simple operation. The process was made even more difficult with temperatures in the high 90's and low 100 degree mark. The AC was running on board the boat by solar electricity. However, because of the doors being open for hoses and equipment....... it was hot and humid work. After two weeks of steam cleaning, bromine, chlorine and fresh water flushes galore, the tanks passed stringent municipal water tests. The water tests were my personal option after each and every treatment and flush out. Water was placed in the tanks for at least three days before a draw down was made for testing at a certified laboratory.
A total of five tests at $60 each was made until a total zero was obtained. The tanks were visually inspected each time and are to say the least 'immaculate'. They are 22 years old and test out as new.
Among other things the head (Sunmar composting commode) was brought on line (after the water tanks were finished and covered). The preparation of the commode is not offensive but has a unique method to be activated properly. Follow the excellent instructions and it works very well indeed. A full survey for the Solar Yacht was commissioned for a new insurance certificate and was passed 'in very good condition' for the marine insurance underwrite. Additional LED lights have been installed for the upgrade and tests of 24 volt DC outboard motors and the steering gear were completed.
A new inflatable 9 foot dingy of just 35 pounds has now replaced the most serviceable PortaBote. The 10' PortaBote was great but was 30 pounds more than the dink and is now for sale. If you are under 67 years of age, you should have no trouble handling it. I will probably put it on eBay for $800...... a steal that someone can really use.
Once again thanks to all the well wishers and those that attended the 'Open Boat Party' May 19th. George McNeir
Followers of the MOG,
Thank you for the emails and kind thoughts during my physical therapy. I had x-rays made for numbness in my right leg which led to a diagnosis that required 8 weeks of spinal decompression therapy. The therapy was gentle and relaxing. The therapy also worked very well and I can now balance on my right leg as well as I had a year ago. There had been a slow decrease of balance until it became unavoidably obvious.
I now have methods and exercises to keep my regained ability. It is now too late to make it to Duluth MN before September of 2012 from Wilmington, NC. Duluth was a timing point for continuing the Great Loop or having to put the boat under cover for the winter (not preferable). We are now going to use this period of time to make shorter local excursions and further sea trials to test the boat. I will endeavor to keep things up to date as progress is made toward a rescheduled departure for the Great Loop in March of 2013.
One problem that I am glad I found during this 'down time' was that the clean water tanks and water pump had to be completely sanitized, not a simple operation. The process was made even more difficult with temperatures in the high 90's and low 100 degree mark. The AC was running on board the boat by solar electricity. However, because of the doors being open for hoses and equipment....... it was hot and humid work. After two weeks of steam cleaning, bromine, chlorine and fresh water flushes galore, the tanks passed stringent municipal water tests. The water tests were my personal option after each and every treatment and flush out. Water was placed in the tanks for at least three days before a draw down was made for testing at a certified laboratory.
A total of five tests at $60 each was made until a total zero was obtained. The tanks were visually inspected each time and are to say the least 'immaculate'. They are 22 years old and test out as new.
Among other things the head (Sunmar composting commode) was brought on line (after the water tanks were finished and covered). The preparation of the commode is not offensive but has a unique method to be activated properly. Follow the excellent instructions and it works very well indeed. A full survey for the Solar Yacht was commissioned for a new insurance certificate and was passed 'in very good condition' for the marine insurance underwrite. Additional LED lights have been installed for the upgrade and tests of 24 volt DC outboard motors and the steering gear were completed.
A new inflatable 9 foot dingy of just 35 pounds has now replaced the most serviceable PortaBote. The 10' PortaBote was great but was 30 pounds more than the dink and is now for sale. If you are under 67 years of age, you should have no trouble handling it. I will probably put it on eBay for $800...... a steal that someone can really use.
Once again thanks to all the well wishers and those that attended the 'Open Boat Party' May 19th. George McNeir
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