Huntington (Fleet Tug)

Updates

Posted Fri, 10/01/2010 - 14:39 by Drew

After the last sailing day, I realized that I needed a miniature turkey baster to bail the water out of Huntington.  I've also been searching for some new rubber to use as a bumper on the bow.  Well, yesterday I received a small order from McMaster-Carr that included some syringes and leur-lock dispensing "needles".  I purchased one that is fairly long for water bailing purposes and two other shorter ones that I might use to grease my shafts.  I also received a length of black foam rubber that looks promising as a new bow bumper material.  I pulled the old

Power plants

Posted Thu, 08/05/2010 - 11:37 by Drew

I have been fiddling with the new Mabuchi motors that I received and so far they look large and promising.  At 7.4v they appear to have similar torque to my geared down Maxons but also appear to be even slower and more precise.  I am disappointed to see that they only have 2 M3 mounting holes as opposed to what seems to be a standard 4 holes.  I am looking forward to making a temporary motor mount and exploring how they perform.   Last night I confirmed that everything

Sailing Huntington

Posted Mon, 06/14/2010 - 12:41 by Drew

I took Huntington out for a sail this weekend and I was very surprised when she went dead in the water after maybe 30 minutes of sailing around.  I have not determined the cause as of yet but since it happened shortly after switching battery packs (for no particular reason), I am slightly suspect of the battery pack that I swapped in.  It was however raining pretty hard out at one point and the seas were pretty rough.  Luckily, we managed to rescue her. 

It is sad that her otherwise flawless record has been tarnished.

Armored Harbor

Posted Tue, 03/02/2010 - 15:02 by Drew

I've been thinking building some sort of armored harbor for Huntington to park in when she's not needed and I think I may finally have a viable design.  This involves modifying a styrofoam cooler by cutting off one end and cutting a hole in the bottom.  Then I can toss this in the water upside down.  Hopefully it will float and might require some balasting to make it float level since one end was cut off.  Either way it would hopefully provide some protection from stray rounds damaging the club's rescue boat.  I hope to go shopping for foam ice chests in the next we

Eager to Sail

Posted Tue, 01/26/2010 - 21:37 by Drew

I met with Brian the other day for lunch and this has made me excited to go sailing and see if Huntington needs any more work. She hasn't been in water since her recent visit to the yards so I am concerned about her water tightness. I am also very curious to see if her propulsion is adequate to assist the larger ships with docking and rescue maneuvers. I am also curious to see how her new control scheme works and if I'll need to make any adjustments. I looked at the 10 day weather report and it doesn't look good but I am still hopeful.

Looking at Gear Boxes

Posted Sun, 01/10/2010 - 14:29 by Drew

I was thinking today that Brian has a lathe so he could probably bore out the pinions used in the gearboxes on Huntington rather precisely. When I did it back in the day I was using a hand drill so they're not exactly straight or precise and hence wobble a bit. 

Looking for Bow Bumper

Posted Sat, 01/09/2010 - 17:07 by Drew

I've been dying to take Huntington for a sail or do something with her but it's been so cold and snowy lately.