It was 17 months ago that I posted these pictures.
Since then I became educated in the forces a large surface facing the offshore winds in Southern Califirnia might suffer in a storm. Since the sculpture was to be in a public viewing area, safety became and over arching design necessity. So, starting from that realization,I sought to make the structure strong enough to withstand any likely wind blast. Fortunately, my long time dear friend, (and designer of the look of this web site), suggested that I should, of course, have the boat able to rotate so as to align with the wind direction and thus always minimize the leverage on the structure! That idea on itself led to learning about bearing assemblies and switching structural engineering to make this feature a central kinetic element for both beauty and safety.
Sourcing the bearings in China would have saved many thousands of dollars but in the end I purchased massive beatings from SKF in Germany as I couldn't take a risk in the quality of such a key component. There are two stacked bearings in a set up that takes into account vertical and off axial loads and moments and these are built into a custom designed and massive structural steel assembly.
Naturally, to have lights, one needs a central source of electricity and to overcome the barrier of the 17 ft boat always moving, I utilised an insertion into the bearing of a rotating electrical connection for ground, positive and negative using brushes on mercury.
But all this is mostly hidden unless one looks, (and one is invited), to see the structure under the "skirt" of the hull. I observed that we only see the part of the hull that is above the waterline. So I removed all of the hull that is normally below the water. This allows for the waves to be more prominent and a curious visitor to peer under her "skirt" so to speak.
The rim is made of 0.5" steel and the waves 3/8" steel.
The masts are 3" in diameter and follow the form of the model very closely with the main mast, a horizontal boom and an angular gaff mast on the top. The main mast is kept in position with 3 3/4" steel cables in the front and 2 0.5" cables to each side. The beam is supported by 5 steel rods that go to lugs on the steel skeletal frame inside the shapely rim.
The most unchanged part of the sculpture is the make up of the the wind-filled sail. There are alternating tall 20 ft panels of carbon steel powder coated with bright yellow, alternating with mirror polished stainless steel. Each panel has 4 radii, (plural of "radius"), to provide the impression of a billowing, wind driven sail.
One feature that has been changed completely is the shape of the "Puff of Wind". Originally I conceived of a swirl of white plastic. The issue here is that it is a foreign esthetic to the shapes of the waves of the boat. So I chose to make a stack of "Wind Puff Waves" of polished stainless steel and a pale blue color. This has the advantage of being able to directional light the waves and provide a kinetic light show which has meaning to the sense of force and influence the wind had on the sails.
Well, I will start posting photographs as tomorrow I will be using two cranes to
load the sail from its home fabrication shop to be sent to meet the bearing assembly, boat with waves and the underlying 8,0000 lb support system.
There we will study the best way to wreck it safely using a forklift and then disassemble all the parts. The stainless steel for a final polish and the carbon steel for sandblasting until white, zinc primer and then baking at 450 degrees F to make a perfect finish.
Then we will reassemble the boat and drive under escort to Mnahattan Beach to finally give the work it's public showing!
Asher
