Day Three

Hold on to your seats ladies and gentlemen because what you are about to read just might by some slim chance entirely alter the path that your life is taking and quite honestly has the potential to turn your life upside down AND inside out. I will now suddenly refrain from my implausible childish dreams and confess that in all likelihood it will not lead to any of the above-mentioned possibilities, but it will certainly give you a bit of insight into what went on in my life on the day marked by the eighteenth day of May and approximately two thousand and eleven years “Anno Domini”. That is because in this so-called blog post I will be 100% honest with you, whoever you may be. I know that is probably assumed by all but I just wanted to make that crystal clear to take care of any doubts any of you skeptical persons may have about the legitimacy of my claims.

Now for the actual content of my blog that pertains to the adventurous endeavor that is my senior project. Today was a most excellent day on the job at Cedar Mills Marina in Gordonville, Texas. It was beautiful outside, the sun was shining bright and there was a slight breeze coming out of the southwest making for a very comfortable environment to work in if you will. If I were playing ball I would have been in heaven just to give some of you baseball fanatics out there a point of reference with regards to the weather. As I pulled up to the main offices in my state of the art golf cart (which I parked right next to the owner's car) traveling at a maximum speed of about 9 miles per hour plus or minus a couple either way (14.484 kilometers per hour), I saw an eighteen-wheeler with an enormous trailer on the back carrying a giant boat. Yes folks, what I was seeing was one of the ever-famous Valiant Yachts. The owner had taken it in to have a few things refurbished and planned to store it in the shop until the hurricane season is over. He plans on shipping it to Florida, commissioning it there and packing it with anything else he desires to enjoy the comfort of on board, and then sail off into the night all the way to the Bahamas where he will enjoy it for years to come. That is his plan at least.

All of that aside, I would spend most of the day today on this 50-foot vessel. One of the things that the guys were working on was the propeller. The older version of propellers is stationary. The blades do not move on the prop; the whole propeller merely spins. Well, on the new prop that they were installing the blades on the propeller are able to move. In other words, they can spin and change angle depending on the RPMs of the engine. While sailing, the blades will be straight up and down in order to maintain the least amount of resistance against the water possible. When running on the engine, the blades will twist a different direction depending on if it is in forward or reverse so that they can push against the water in the right direction as it spins. This is what they call a max prop. I thought this was pretty cool and a very clever way to enhance the prop and make it more efficient.

After having spent a few days trying to understand the business of boats etc., I see that this is truly a business that requires extraordinary problem-solving skills. Another feature that they themselves installed on the propeller is a sharp component that spins separate of the propeller that will cut any fishing line before it enters the bearing and gets clogged internally. There is so much engineering that goes into all of this and most of it goes unnoticed. And you know what, that is exactly why I am preparing this blog for all of you to enjoy over a cup of coffee or whatever other beverage you like to sip on. Another point of interest I would like to point out was the wind vane that was installed on the back of the sailboat. I had never heard of the wind having the capability to steer a boat, but thanks to technology and those who advance it, the wind is more powerful than it was once thought to be. As the wind blows it causes the extension on the back end of the boat to move “thisaway” or “thataway”. That is not what causes the rudder to move though. Some boats do have the “wind catcher” directly connected to the rudder. That is sometimes inconvenient though because it cannot be taken off very easily. The Valiant way is supreme. The extension is connected to a pulley system and ropes, which connect to the steering wheel. The ropes are responsible for pulling the wheel one way or another as the wind turns the metal extension. If the capability is not desired at any time, the ropes are simply disconnected from the wheel. This simplifies the process and makes life that much more enjoyable for those who like that sort of thing.

In the unlikely event that you are wondering about my current temperament, I would like to inform you that I, Charles Cook, am having a wonderful time at the Valiant Yacht Manufacturer in Gordonville, Texas. I would now like to switch gears and briefly discuss the inspiration and/or motivation that lead to my choosing of Valiant Yachts as the destination of choice for my 2011 version of the senior project. And to be quite frank, I think the senior project should be about pursuing something, whatever that may be (from collecting rocks to exploring foreign galaxies), that you truly enjoy and have a passion for. I have grown tired of receiving questions such as “Do you want to be a boat manufacturer when you grow up???” over the past few weeks leading up to the senior project. No, sadly this has not been my life long dream. The dreams that marked my childhood were a little more far-fetched than that as I would hope any child’s would be. But, I have always been one to question how things work and why things work that way. Something about a 50-foot vessel weighing about 50,000 kilograms (110,000 lbs) gliding beautifully through the water powered at times by nothing more than the wind alone sparks something at the very core of my being. So no, I never dreamt of running a plant that produces these incredible pieces of architecture but rather felt an impulse to explore these extraordinary vessels probably due to my previously described inquisitive nature combined with my love of that which can be described as two hydrogen atoms bonded polar-covalently with one oxygen atom in massive quantities. If you are still reading at this point I commend your efforts and would love to speak with you on this journey that we call life.

With love,

Charles R. Cook