[ANN] Bitcoin on Blueseed, the international waters startup ship

[TomUnderSea]

Here's a quick answer to Tom, with a cool video. More answers to come!

I am concerned about your "30 minute ferry" from Half Moon Bay.  That requires a ferry that travels an average of 24 knots.  Add in delays for clearing Half Mood Bay harbor and you are looking at a vessel that can transit some pretty rough water at 25+ knots.  Last time I was in Half Moon Bay it did not seem like a good place for a vessel that large.

Have a look at the Nauti-Craft Marine Suspension Systems ferry. Here's a cool video; the comparison with the monohull at 2:05 is awesome.

If scaled 2X, it would work very well for us. Alternatively, a fleet of several of them at the current scale would be great too.

Looks like a fun ride.  I would be curious to see what their maintenance requirements are with all those moving parts that are exposed to salt spray. 

I would have expected a move toward http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small-waterplane-area_twin_hull for improved sea keeping.  It is passively stable instead of actively stable.  The potential speed gain of the Suspension Craft compared to the SWATH vessel is mitigated by long period swells that generate heave at higher speeds.

This project will be interesting to watch.  Still curious how I'm supposed to tie up my sailboat when I stop by for lunch.

[1715304740]

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[1715304740]

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[1715304740]

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[Rassah]

Would a dirigible for a smaller community work? It could travel slowly back and forth between CA and NY...

[FinShaggy]

This is awesome, I saw discussion about it in another thread.

[arklan]

Would a dirigible for a smaller community work? It could travel slowly back and forth between CA and NY...

i'd take to it!

but then, with that flight route, you're in US airspace, which is most DEFINITELY in their legal control. defeats the point, from the "international waters" angle.

still would be incredible... i've long dreamed of such a venture - private home like that, or running a airship based hotel.

[Elwar]

Would a dirigible for a smaller community work? It could travel slowly back and forth between CA and NY...

"Hey! The government can't control the sky. What if you lived in a balloon?" -Grampa Simpson

[Stampbit]

What an who cares, just another inner circle mba with his rich venture capitalist friends looking to take advantage of the masses.

[Rassah]

One thought I had: Would I qualify to be on the BlueSeed ship if my venture was high-tech tourism? Specifically, I rent out 4 rooms, advertise visiting the most high tech and way out there vacation, and sublet those 4 rooms to tourists, with me just providing the advertising, managing the bookings, and handling hotel service type things? 

[FinShaggy]

An idea to get media attention to projects like yours:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=212562.0

And if Bitcoin island or Blueseed get going, we could do a:
 
BTC-House: The Island
or
BTC-House: SeaSteading/BlueSeed
or
BTC-House: The Political Zone

Get a whole documentational series going

I think a good original series would be

BTC-House: Denver
And the catch line is "Bitcoin or Bust".

Maybe
BTC-House: BC BTCs
And do it in Canada

Eventually a-
BTC-House: Smart House
and have people live in a house, but they have to be willing to do technical work and try to invent new things.

[Elwar]

It appears that they have selected the cruise ship:

http://technode.com/2013/05/23/blueseed-ready-to-charter-a-cruise-ship-to-accommodate-more-than-1000-entrepreneurs/

Blueseed has decided to charter a cruise ship, the MS Island Escape, with a passenger capacity of 1540. It’s 190 meters long and 27 meters wide.

[benjamindees]

I've been learning about ships lately.  I'd guess that the reason that this project has been advised to troll around in a figure-8 pattern is that the ship needs to be moving in order for the stabilizers to work.

Have a look at the Nauti-Craft Marine Suspension Systems ferry. Here's a cool video; the comparison with the monohull at 2:05 is awesome.

Now think about what happens when you put a couple dozen of these on the bottom of a large stationary platform, and make the resistance provided by each one variable and computer-controlled.

[TomUnderSea]

It appears that they have selected the cruise ship:

http://technode.com/2013/05/23/blueseed-ready-to-charter-a-cruise-ship-to-accommodate-more-than-1000-entrepreneurs/

Blueseed has decided to charter a cruise ship, the MS Island Escape, with a passenger capacity of 1540. It’s 190 meters long and 27 meters wide.

I wonder when Blueseed intends to put this ship into service.  Currently it is still possible to book a cruise in the Med on the MS Island Escape for the summer of 2014.

http://www.thomson.co.uk/cruise/itineraries/glitz-and-glamour-itinerary.html

That implies MS Island Escape won't be on station until the Fall of 2014.  The weather usually holds until mid December.  Could be an interesting winter.

I still don't see a place to moor my yacht when I stop by for breakfast on my way to San Francisco.  For that matter, it is not obvious how they plan to do underway replenishment (UNREP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underway_replenishment ).  Cruise ships are not built for that.

[Elwar]

I still don't see a place to moor my yacht when I stop by for breakfast on my way to San Francisco. 

Looks like there is a door on the side toward the rear.

[TomUnderSea]

I still don't see a place to moor my yacht when I stop by for breakfast on my way to San Francisco. 

Looks like there is a door on the side toward the rear.

snipped image

Yep.  Looks like they might be able to put a floating dock alongside with an accom ladder up to that door.  Of course that precludes steaming in figure eights.

The figure eight steaming is a requirement for the fin stabilizers to work well enough to mitigate the anticipated ship motion due to sea state.  They will probably need to maintain a forward motion of at least 5 knots to get sufficient reaction force off the stabilizers for them to be effective.

This will be fun to watch.

[Anon136]

are you guys going to need a chef? my wife is a professional chef with experience preparing food for very large groups of people. not just cafeteria food either, her background is in preparing fine food for wealthy people.  

[ex-trader]

Why do you need an offshore ship, what are the possible advantages unless you are trying to do something illegal?

If the above, the Govt will eventually find a way to get you and it's far easier to do it in a dozen other lawless countries anyway. Oh and it would also discourage genuine companies from being associated.

By the way, something similar was tried in the UK for many years, it's a fixed platform called Sealand and it was never successful.

[Rassah]

Why do you need an offshore ship, what are the possible advantages unless you are trying to do something illegal?

If the above, the Govt will eventually find a way to get you and it's far easier to do it in a dozen other lawless countries anyway. Oh and it would also discourage genuine companies from being associated.

By the way, something similar was tried in the UK for many years, it's a fixed platform called Sealand and it was never successful.

I think you COMPLETELY missed the point of this. And by "missed" I mean "didn't read anything besides the topic heading."
Please go back and actually read the web page that describes what this is for, where it will be, what legal status it will have, etc, before spouting opinions about specifically what is covered on the FAQ.

[str4wm4n]

I suggest everyone watch this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fdwlFb-On0

[Anenome5]

Yep.  Looks like they might be able to put a floating dock alongside with an accom ladder up to that door.  Of course that precludes steaming in figure eights.

If there's a steady current, the this sort of steaming requires only minor course changes and no turning of 180. Let the current push you back a mile, steam forward a mile and back into center, power off, drift back a mile, correct course back to center, engine off, drift back a mile, etc.

Iirc, the current off California flows generally south, so assuming they'd faith a southerly current almost continually they'd be pointing the boat north permanently to do a figure-eight pattern.

That might preclude a traditional dock, but there may be ways around that too yet unthought of.

[TomUnderSea]

I suggest everyone watch this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fdwlFb-On0

$99.99 per jug??? 

I can beat that price!

I offer $50 plus shipping and handling.

[TomUnderSea]

Yep.  Looks like they might be able to put a floating dock alongside with an accom ladder up to that door.  Of course that precludes steaming in figure eights.

If there's a steady current, the this sort of steaming requires only minor course changes and no turning of 180. Let the current push you back a mile, steam forward a mile and back into center, power off, drift back a mile, correct course back to center, engine off, drift back a mile, etc.

Iirc, the current off California flows generally south, so assuming they'd faith a southerly current almost continually they'd be pointing the boat north permanently to do a figure-eight pattern.

That might preclude a traditional dock, but there may be ways around that too yet unthought of.

Yes, there is a current.  See this website:
http://hfradar.ndbc.noaa.gov/index.php?s=46247

The past 25 hour average is 13.1 cm/s at 031 degrees.  That is 0.47km/h or about 1/4 of a knot.  If they used the "drift and drive" technique you propose, they would drift for 20 hours for every one hour spent steaming at 5 knots.  Perhaps this is not as effective a method as it might have seemed.

Again, I offer the viewpoint that nothing is easy on the sea.  If it was, I would not be paid as well as I am to go to sea.