Sea Boots, testing this week on the SF Bay

[Brian McConnell]

Hi everyone.

I was not able to make it to Ephemerisle this weekend, couldn't work
out a ride, but I wanted to let everyone know about a project I am
working on. I built a pair of devices, which I call Sea Boots. They
enable you to walk on water. I am going to be testing, practicing and
fine tuning these all week on the bay.

We did the first test run near Mission Rock on Monday. This test was
to verify that I had weight and bouyancy adjusted about right. I am
not a skateboarder so I am not very good at standing on anything that
moves around, and was able to stay on them for a half hour before
falling. Today and tomorrow I'll be adjusting them to further improve
stability and add fins for locomotion. My design goal is to be able to
stay on top of them as long as I want, and to walk at a slow pace and
control my direction of travel. If/when I get to that point, I will
take them out on the open water, and progressively test them in more
challenging conditions.

Photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianmcconnell/sets/72157622526301024/

I am going to be looking for people with boats who can help me with
open water tests if I get to that point. Ideally I am looking for a
boat that has a dive platform or similar as this will make things
easier. The weather is good and I have the week off, so my plan is to
keep going and if things go well, take them out on the bay this
weekend (it is Fleet Week, so the timing and weather are perfect).

I can be reached at bsmcconnell at gmail.com I will be at Bay View
Boat Club (Terry Francois Blvd, s of China Basin Park) today/tuesday
from 10-ish until I am wiped out. If things go well, tomorrow I want
to get out on the water and see what I can do.

Brian McConnell