That's what paddles are for. Simple, elegant, effective engineering. I
don't understand why people are constantly trying to "update" the basic
design of these elegant craft with "Rube Goldberg" mechanical
mechanisms. A large part of the beauty of these boats lies in their
simplicity and the connection that the paddler has with the water. To
eliminate that is to change the very nature of the boat.

Mostly for hands free operation for taking snapshots or videos.
But alas, also because upper body muscles put a greater strain on the
heart for the wame amount of power than the lower body. It has something
to do with the upper body muscles being smaller and closer to the heart.
After a heart attack they encourage you to walk and discourage lifting.


While your idea could certainly propel the boat, there are at least two
problems with it. First, the operator would still need to carry a
paddle, as it's necessary for turning and in the case of a kayak, for
bracing and rolling. Second, your system would not work for anything but
the gentlest of turns except perhaps on a really short boat. There
simply wouldn't be enough of a lever arm to cause the boat to turn abruptly.

I can turn the boats fine with a small sail and no rudder or paddle,
adjusting sail postition and shifting weigth to adjust boat trim, but
there is the daggerboard to pivot on.

My main concern is the amount of propulsion that could be provided by foot
operated water pumps. I imagine a slow pump action, using, say 3" plastic
drain pipe for the pump body. I'll guess have to get out the college physics
text and try some calcultations. Anything I should take into consideration?

An earlier idea was separately operated foot paddles, like paddle wheels
but without the wheel protruding below the hull, so the paddles would be
raised out of the water at some point in their rotation, allowing the boat
to drift into shallow water. Also the paddles could be rotated
independently in either direction making turning easier, as is done with
oars. But the linkages, etc. I can imagine would be heavy and awkward. The
foot operated pumps I can imagine would be simpler.


--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned