?????

[john_auberry]

Im going to the beach and would love to build a boat to play in the surf like a coast guard ship. Is it possible to build a water proof ship that will self right itself.........or is this a stupid idea. I love watch ships weather storms and big waves on tv.

[toesup]

Yes, the RNLI (British Lifeboats) have self righting boats... though building a model to stay afloat in the same conditions is a different matter.

[mfr02]

Unless the model is HUGE, real-life sea waves are a bit much for a model. A 12" wave for a 1:12 (47 foot USCG boat would be 47" long) model is equal to a 12 foot wave for the real thing. Building light enough to float, but strong enough to survive as well as making it self righting would be a challenge for an experienced modeler.

[patmat2350]

Not so hard. Check out some of the pix and movies under "models" at http://www.44mlb.com/

PM

[nick_75au]

The vac-u-tug site has some video of one of their tugs in the surf as well.
regards
nick

[Prins Willem]

I had a Billings 44MLB that would take some pretty rough water. I once had a FE broadside me and roll her up on the beam end. He was using his heli radio so he didn't back off right away (brain fade from surprise I guess). The 44 rolled upright and went on her merry way. For prolonged or excessive surf running I would recommend doing some mods to the cabins to seal them up and keep them in place. I would wager CG Bob could give some guidance on this. It was his stories of riding 44s in the PNW that got me interested in the model.

[john_auberry]

Im building a schooner and inlaid a 1/4 inch piece of steel in the 1/4 keel. I might try this method on my rescue boat.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d110/john_auberry/100_2723.jpg