Here something a friend of mine and I built sometime ago… We learn quite of few things as The ARK (what we ended up calling it) was being built that led to other projects.
I really enjoy some of the subjects discussed here and just wanted to share one of mine.
Yes. Thats me on the left.
ok, we all want to hear about it!! Tell us how this came about…
Hello Alfred. Welcome aboard!
I remember reading an article about you and some of your designs. The Ark and the beautiful symmetrically foiled glass on twin fin come to mind. Also remember the Ark on a magazine cover.
All that stuff seemed way ahead of it’s time!
WHOA, welcome aboard! Now if we can just get Pleskunas to pop in more often this place will be back on track!
You’ve got some question to answer Al; wait till I break out the old mags over the weekend.
Nice to know some of you still remember.
The ARK came about when a friend of mine, Lenny Gambo, wanted to built something differant than what was going on at the time. We were just throwing ideas around and after many drawings this is what we came up with. The turning point came when someone wanted to know if we really were going to built it. 3 months later it was in the water.
I’d love to see some good photos of it in action. Do you have some you can post? Aahh, memories of Aquaman! Thanks.
Do you have any shots of the interior?
How about from back to front ?
Were you sealed in there airtight or did it fill up with water?
How did you turn - lean or steerable rudder?
Did your legs stick out the back with swim fins or were you pushed into waves?
Ditto on daddio’s questions. How do you take off, drop in, etc?
What are the sounds and sensations compared to riding a board?
Thanks for the pic.
I don’t know what you guys are on but I’m staying well away from it…I hope you have a boat owners permit for that thing and have had it classified by Lloyd’s Register Of Shipping!
I do have more pics of the ARK but I’m away from my photo files. I’ll try to get them on in the next day or so.
As far as how the ARK worked, it had a rear opening and your legs would hang out the back. Swimfins were needed to catch waves. It did have a steering system at first, but it prove to be way too sensitive. It was disconnected and the rudder became a fixed fin. The inside was padded with 1/4 inch neoprene for protection. The craft weighed about 60lbs and it was a two person operation to get it in the water.
Once in the water the floatation was great. Water pretty much stayed out and the small amount of water inside would drained out on take off.
Sounds would echo inside and your peripheral vision was limited. Maneuvering the craft was just like riding a bodyboard but you could lean on the inside walls with your shoulders. Riding it upside down was very strange because your field of vision was now completelly under water. You could see the bottom rushing by and lots of bubbles while staying dry inside. Being in the lineup guys would paddle up and you could see them trying to look inside through the window. The window was blown out a couple of times by waves hence the duct tape.
We only took it out in waves up to 4’ although Lenny told me he tried getting out on a once when it was 6’ plus.
Very interesting. I’d probably get claustrophobic and sea sick at the same time. But it sounds like it was a rush anyway.
