Roger Long wrote:
"Steve" wrote
Roger, I sure hope this isn't one of yours.


No, it isn't one of mine. It's a private research vessel that I've never
heard of so it could be anything, even a Searay or something like that being
used to watch birds. A new boat breaking up is odd. It will be interesting
when some pictures or details emerge.

My boats are pretty rugged because they have to be to take the pounding at
20 plus knots. That means lots of reserve strength when you slow them down.
Lots of things can happen at sea but, as the song says, "Breaking up is hard
to do."

--
Roger Long




Hum, found this post:

Sounds like a queer duck of a boat - 70-foot legs and all. I wonder
what the hell it was doing off shore?


Counting birds before a wind farm hatches
By Henry J. Evans Jr.
Cape Gazette staff

A specialized vessel supporting a research team that is counting
migratory birds for Bluewater Wind is in Lewes preparing for the mission.

Bluewater, an offshore wind energy developer, is conducting the avian
study over a two-to three-month period. Every week or so the ship’s crew
and avian researchers will go ashore, rotating duty with another team.

The R/V Russell W. Peterson, equipped with three 70-foot legs used to
lift it above water, arrived at Lewes’ City Dock on Monday, March 31.

“You won’t see many boats like it in this area, but they’re common
around Louisiana and Texas,” said Capt. Collin Clement, skipper.

Aqua Survey Inc., based in Flemington, N.J., owns the vessel.

The boat was christened after former Delaware Gov. Russell W. Peterson
in Wilmington on March 29.

Peterson served as governor from 1969 to 1973, and is a proponent of
Bluewater’s plans to build a 150-turbine wind farm 12 to 14 miles off
Rehoboth Beach.

Peterson, 91, has a history of environmental stewardship, and is near
legendary for his role in the passage of 1971’s Coastal Zone Act, which
made much of the state’s coastline off-limits to heavy industry and
development.

The R/V Peterson is serving as a base for Geo-Marine Inc.’s Mobile Avian
Radar System – MARS. The Plano, Texas-based company’s proprietary system
makes it possible for scientists to count migratory birds flying through
airspace they might some day share with wind turbine blades.

The radar system is capable of providing scientists with information to
determine bird species without actually seeing the animals.

Geo-Marine is a pioneering company in real-time bird migration survey
monitoring. The company also develops bird-aircraft strike hazard and
bird-related risk-management data.

Migratory bird information is just one item requiring study to determine
the offshore wind farm’s potential environmental impact.

A hydraulic system extends the Peterson’s legs to the bay floor.
Rack-and-pinion gearing on each leg lifts the boat above water making it
a platform unaffected by wave action.

“We disconnect the vessel from the sea and stabilize it at a fixed level
and position,” said Dave Morgan, Aqua Survey’s director of engineering
and one of the Peterson’s crewmembers.

Morgan, a marine engineer, said test borings done earlier at the
bird-survey site provided an opportunity to check out the bay floor in
advance.

“The bottom there is very sandy. We’re confident it’s stable,” he said.
Morgan said oil companies use vessels like the Peterson, commonly called
lift boats, to conduct offshore seismologic studies.

He said separating the vessel from water-generated motion is essential
when conducting research requiring a stable base.

“When the boat is lifted we create an air gap beneath plus a little
margin,” Morgan said.

Before it became the Peterson the boat worked off the coasts of
Louisiana and Texas.

Clement said the vessel has been modified – its legs have been cut from
their original 105-foot length – to make it more suitable for the
current job.

He said shortening the legs was also necessary to make the trip to
Delaware possible.

“We used the Intracoastal Waterway, which has a minimum bridge height of
65 feet. We would lower the legs to go under the bridges,” Clement said.

He said the Peterson’s legs were lowered into the Delaware Bay for an
overnight stay before coming to the city dock.

Clement said at the overnight location the boat’s legs pushed deep into
the bay’s muddy floor. He said it sometimes takes several hours to lift
legs mired in mud.

He said the Peterson is equipped with a tilt alarm that warns the crew
when the legs are down and the boat begins to list excessively.

“Stability is not absolute. Sometimes you have to get up in the middle
of the night and level it,” Clement said.


And this
http://www.wgmd.com/blog/2008/05/12/...-runs-aground/