FEB 28

Beautiful! What an elegant solution, a boat powered by the waves . . . Sometimes technology rivals with poetry. This is one such example.

I dream of a day when car will be solely powered by the sun.

http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com

The Sailfin company of Vancouver marketed a boat, in fact I still have mine, that was also driven by wave power using flexible "flukes" or fins underneath. I bought mine in 1981.

The wind is more powerful than the waves.
Just look at the Maltese Falcon yacht of that rich guy who build a monster ship that is powered by wind alone to achieve speeds that are comparable to the speeds of a diesel powered boat.

The yacht was more expensive, but at least it does not harm any fish with it's propeller.

I think that the wave powered boats might be very good for drones that are monitoring the sea.

wind power was invented a looooong time ago

That's pretty sweet. Combine this with sails and solar power this could be very cool in a few generations.

Ever heard of sailing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WAY BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's not so revolutionary or 'better'... it's that they are trying to 'think outside the box'. Each step like this tends to lead to other 'ideas' which may hold merit.

It is when we stop thinking there are no other 'good ideas' that we screw ourselves in our progress and our life.

Why is it, that whenever we talk about renewable energy, we must compete with the other renewable resources?
This is an excellent example of where you can combine the two.
If you have a sailing ship, it will spend time in the water waiting for wind. in that case you could lower the wave-fins to proper your ship using wave power.
Perhaps you can even combine the two when you're going against the wind.

Looking forward to seeing this incorporated in a boat that uses all three of the abundant sources on the sea, wave, wind and solar.
Heck, even a hybrid boat that uses wave power to lower the diesel usage would be terrific to see in general use.

Ofcourse if one then adds human effort by rowing or peddling then one has a multi task boat that would never have to worry about calm conditions anymore.
I suppose that would be called a "Multo Hybrid" or?
When one takes it a bit further one could even use the power produced by ones leftovers(in the widest example).
Wouldn´t it be great(Dreaming),if one could pesuade a Pod of Dolphins to help as Huskies do.

By the way,there is such a Dolphin as a "Hybrid Dolphin"

how would you control the speed of the boat?

I think a big advantage over sailing here would be being able to sail in any direction. I think the "triple scoop" of solar wind and this new one might be the only game changer.

i like the idea, it is a work in progres. would be so much more stable than a sail boat. imagine not having to worry about bridges etc when coming into harbour as you do when you have a mast.

The waves are a more concentrated form of energy but they are primarily made by wind and when there isn't much wind there won't be much wave power either. Waves are directional too, but maybe the design only harnesses up/down motion so that doesn't matter.

I bought a boat from a company called "Sailfin" when I was in California in the early 80s. It used this technology. Actually, what the company did was "give" you a boat if you "invested" some money in their company. They were trying to raise capital to put these fins on ocean liners adn oil tankers and such.

I love this idea. Progress in the making. Taking steps to do something better.

Everything big starts with something small, this is no different. Imagine if people would devote their lives to progressive creation like this instead of scandalous news reports about movie stars.

What a great article!!
Mark Babineaux
http://www.progressyourlife.com

yet I've never seen even a design, let alone a prototype, of a wave -powered boat.

In the better world to come, possibly from Asian scholars and scientists, now that American schools are failing miserably, psycho-consumerism and imperative demand will cease, corporatism will take over and the clocks will be timed by computer logic, computer planning and real time, computer controlled, automated rail travel for passengers as well as freight, and in this same world shipping by waterways will gain great significance for its tremendous efficiency advantage over all other energy intensive systems, even rail for heaviest, bulky items! These boats, wave, wind and solar assisted, all at once, GPS and computer guided, with only emergency diesel or nuclear power to save them from great ocean storms and the like, will be patiently awaited by the for-thinking computer equipped planners, and provide "Just in Time" deliveries at considerably less energy costs than ever before! Fact is: We are so facing oil shortages, energy scarcities, changing forms of usable energy, and an ever expanding demand by all mankind for more energy, not just America! All of the great Chinese populations, India's huge population, and more from the Asian continent! These frugal folk will not miss a chance at economizing costs of production! Yankee Doodle, in his great riches may cast a doubtful eye, but not so for our 89 pound vegan hoards! They are obliged by their very nurture to take every advantage no matter how seemingly unrewarding, and make much from it! And, We will learn, or starve, soon!