Amphibear - circumnavigation attempt in amphibious vehicle

[Mihkel]

There is Estonian man Mait Nilsen who is on the way to circumnavigate world in amphibious vehicle that he built by himself based on Toyota Landcruiser. Currently he drove through Europe from Estonia to Spain, over Strait of Gibraltar, drove to west coast of Africa and currently is in Cape Verde after first leg and before second leg of crossing Atlantic.

According to my knowledge only person that has circumnavigated with amphibious vehicle has been Ben Carlin in 1950`s. So it is historical event if he succeeds. His vehicle is called Amphibear, blog: Amphibear

[Celestialsailor]

Saw this in Turtle bay...equally weird.

[Mihkel]

Amphibear departed from Praia, Cape Verde heading to Brazil. Hopefully he succeeds and soon you can welcome him in US. Map to follow his adventure: Amphibear: MAP

[Bregts]

Amphibear was abandoned today and the driver/skipper is on a cargo vessel. On his blog he writes he will try to arange a tow for the car later so I guess the thing is still floating.
We are in Mindelo at the moment and every day yachts depart here to Brazil or the Lesser Antilles, hitting a semi submerged car would be interesting... :-/
Although I like adventurous projects like this, one should not create dangers for others by not sinking a abandoned vessel.

[dianaofburlingt]

Sheesh. Not something I would try in a thousand years!

[Oregon Waterman]

The vessel was loaded on to a ship...so not a hazard.


Amphibear: Amphibear adventure continues

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Mihkel

There is Estonian man Mait Nilsen who is on the way to circumnavigate world in amphibious vehicle that he built by himself based on Toyota Landcruiser. Currently he drove through Europe from Estonia to Spain, over Strait of Gibraltar, drove to west coast of Africa and currently is in Cape Verde after first leg and before second leg of crossing Atlantic.

According to my knowledge only person that has circumnavigated with amphibious vehicle has been Ben Carlin in 1950`s. So it is historical event if he succeeds. His vehicle is called Amphibear, blog: Amphibear

Was that the guy who wrote a book about the journey called "Half Safe"? Or was that the name of the car/boat?

Matt

[jeepers]

Amphibear: Amphibear adventure continues[/QUOTE]

I remember this.. The failure was not in the pontoons. The failure was in the design of attachment. In the photo, (provided above) of the Amphibear tied up along side the rescue boat, prior to lifting & loading on deck. It can be seen at the back of the subject Toyota vehicle there is a rigidly bolted submerged strut across from the back of each pontoon. It was here that the torsional forces and the longitudinal movement (front to back) in the pontoons in the water that broke the attachment of pontoons to this lateral cross over strut. Remedies. There are a few needed. First is deciding if the pontoons are to be a rigid platform such as a barge or flexible... example; like a "Wharram" catamaran. If rigid. All strutures need to be rigid. If flexible all need to be flexible. But not both. The arms from the vehicle itself are definitely flexible. The pivots are not supported or braced. Such as eg. structural diagonals bracing all the pivots in the direct attachment arms to the vehicle. This could easily have even been accomplished or suplementally supported with simple cables. The failure at the rear cross over strut could have been prevented with diagonal cables from the front of each pontoon to the rear of the opposite pontoon crossing in an "X" pattern under the Toyota vehicle. The joint at the rear of the pontoons to crossover strut to be some what flexible in being able to rotate to mitigate torsional forces.. The pontoons would appear to be & expect to be baffled inside with numerous compartments probably more than as built. Unfortunate, that perfecting the design was not carried out. TESTing was definitely not satisfactorily done. A coastal Mediterranean trip would have been a good idea. Before attempting a trans atlantic crossing.

[AndyEss]

I think he should switch to a Hovercraft for his epic journey.

[Kay Burton]

Straight 20 thousand leagues under the sea. What if he floats on his invention and doesn't float? And that's all. But people have nothing to do.

[JC Reefer]

Originally Posted by GILow

Was that the guy who wrote a book about the journey called "Half Safe"? Or was that the name of the car/boat?

Matt

Yes, half safe was the first to accomplish this. It’s a nutter story. It’s also kinda sad. There is a short book on it that is worth the read.