Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Secret craft sails sea of speculation[Washington-Mystery Ship]
The Oregonian ^ | 07 Nov 2006 | PETER SLEETH

Posted on 11/07/2006 11:04:18 AM PST by FLOutdoorsman

Sightings - A pontoon vessel passes through Ilwaco, Wash., but those involved with the strange boat aren't talking

It looked like Spiderman's own ride, a 99-foot mystery craft resembling a monstrous metallic spider riding on two pontoons. It emerged from a fog bank to dock at the Port of Ilwaco, Wash., then left the next day with the crew refusing to talk.

Even as answers on who built the boat are now surfacing, the vessel remains an enigma. Pictures of the craft shoot across cyberspace while chat sites ponder just what the boat could be used for. But the inventor remains mum.

It turns out that a California inventor named Ugo Conti holds a patent for such a vessel. Conti, who has nine other registered patents, owns a company called Marine Advanced Research, in El Cerrito, Calif. He could not be reached for comment, but Conti's wife, Isabella, acknowledged the craft was owned by Marine Advanced Research. She said everyone involved with the boat was operating under strict confidentiality agreements.

"We're planning a press conference in January, given that the boat is not yet finished," she said.

She offered no more details.

The boat first began drawing curious stares when it surfaced in September.

In the Olympic Peninsula village of Sequim, Wash., in mid-September, people were shocked when they saw the bizarre vessel offshore. Was it military? Could it be a private yacht? No one could get close.

By Sept. 29, it had moored overnight on the southern Washington coast at the Port of Ilwaco, allowing photographers to document the boat's existence and spread the news through the yachting community.

"When we saw it, the fog was coming in and all you could see was the legs, and it was like, 'where did the big spider come from?' It was creepy," said Melissa Stern, who works at the Port. "It generated a lot of interest."

The crew, dressed in civilian clothes, slept on board and declined to discuss their craft. The boat carried no identifying marks, as is typically required for all motorized vessels. The U.S. Coast Guard in Washington, D.C., said it had no record of such a vessel. The next morning the boat vanished out to sea.

The crew did leave behind clues, however.

After docking and paying the moorage fees, the captain of the vessel wrote in Port records that it was owned by Advanced Marine Research Inc. and had a registration number of DL 0899 AA. That number meant it was registered in Delaware. A spokeswoman for the boat licensing arm of the state said the details contained in boat registration records were private, except for the fact the vessel had just recently been registered in Delaware. Yet the boat apparently was manufactured only recently -- in Washington.

The mystery ship was apparently built in Anacortes, Wash., under the direction of Jim Antrim, a California yacht designer. A call to his office resulted in a polite no comment, echoing Isabella Conti's confidentiality agreement.

A call to the Dakota Creek shipyard in Anacortes was not returned. The boat had been seen there this summer, said a spokesman for the harbor master's office.

Ugo Conti's patent, approved in April 2005, offers some clues, describing the craft this way:

The boat is ". . . an entirely different type of vessel that creates the minimum possible disruption of the waves. In other words, this vessel does not push, slap or pierce the waves but instead 'dances' with them. . . . The vessel has a pair of flexible hulls flexibly coupled to a 'cabin' between and above the hulls, thereby allowing the hulls to independently follow the surface of the water. Motor pods are hinged to the back of the hulls to maintain the propulsion system in the water. . . ."

The patent lists possible uses as rescue or patrol vessels, pleasure craft, military uses or research vessels for deployment of submarines or other instruments.

The patent notes the boat could potentially move at 60 knots or more per hour with a range of 2,000 miles.

After leaving Ilwaco on Sept. 30, the boat was not seen again until early October, when it moored at the Marine Bay Yacht Harbor in Richmond, Calif.

As of Monday, it was still tied up in San Francisco Bay. A spokesman for the moorage said he was not allowed to discuss the vessel.

Peter Sleeth: 503-294-4119; petersleeth@news.oregonian.com


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; US: Washington; Unclassified
KEYWORDS: craft; pontoon; proteus; ship; washington; waterstrider
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 121-132 next last
To: Osage Orange

No 90 degree angles - very stealthy, for one thing.


61 posted on 11/07/2006 11:21:47 AM PST by tgusa (Gun control: deep breath, sight alignment, squeeze the trigger .....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: FLOutdoorsman

Looks like the "cabin" is itself,a boat,that can be lowered from the pontoon frame.Perhaps the cat. pontoons are for rough seas and then the boat can be lowered for high speed,close in extraction/deployment?


62 posted on 11/07/2006 11:22:28 AM PST by quack
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Ride Captain Ride

Great tune by a great Tampa/Miami rock band.


63 posted on 11/07/2006 11:22:40 AM PST by Miami Bassist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Osage Orange
Looked to me like the "cabin" doubled as the escape boat. Wonder what the "point" is.....

Imagine beaching it, and the pod drops to become a landing craft. Rapid small force deployment.

64 posted on 11/07/2006 11:22:45 AM PST by Toby06 (jon carry is a piece of s#it)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: Miami Bassist

Tamiami Rock?........


65 posted on 11/07/2006 11:23:42 AM PST by Red Badger (New! HeadOn Hemorrhoid Medication for Liberals!.........Apply directly to forehead.........)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 63 | View Replies]

To: tgusa
Hadn't thought of that.

Good point.

66 posted on 11/07/2006 11:24:06 AM PST by Osage Orange (The old/liberal/socialist media is the most ruthless and destructive enemy of this country.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger
See post #57.

We talked to Ugo last week about his craft. I can't say too much because he told us in confidence. We were sailing and saw him pass by. I have some close-ups too but I'd have to find them.

67 posted on 11/07/2006 11:24:37 AM PST by pbear8 (Pray and vote. Vote and pray.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: pbear8
NOW I KNOW WHY THE SECRECY!

"Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" You better Watch out you better not cry, you better not pout i'm tellin' you why, Santa Claus is coming to town, he's making a list checkin it twice, he's gonna find out whos naughty or nice, Santa Claus is coming to town the boys and girls in toyland will have a new physiqe there gonna build a toy land all around the christmas tree. You better watch out you better not cry you better not pout i'm tellin' you why Sants Claus is coming to town Santa Claus is coming Santa Claus is coming he's coming to town

68 posted on 11/07/2006 11:25:04 AM PST by Red Badger (New! HeadOn Hemorrhoid Medication for Liberals!.........Apply directly to forehead.........)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

To: Toby06

Yep....I can see that.


69 posted on 11/07/2006 11:25:08 AM PST by Osage Orange (The old/liberal/socialist media is the most ruthless and destructive enemy of this country.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: The Blitherer

Ping to post #57.


70 posted on 11/07/2006 11:25:53 AM PST by pbear8 (Pray and vote. Vote and pray.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Osage Orange

"Advantages??"

Speed. Multi-hulled vessels are very fast for what they carry.

I've always thought Aircraft Carriers should be catamarans --- although given how they pitch, maybe tough to land.


71 posted on 11/07/2006 11:25:54 AM PST by MeanWestTexan (Kol Hakavod Lezahal)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: MeanWestTexan

LOOKS LIKE THE BOTTOM FELL OFF SANTA'S SLEIGH.........


72 posted on 11/07/2006 11:25:58 AM PST by Red Badger (New! HeadOn Hemorrhoid Medication for Liberals!.........Apply directly to forehead.........)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]

To: MeanWestTexan

Yeah saw that. Many advantages to that. As a sailboat owner I know the disadvatages of a boat being "in" water. Water is your enemy. Maybe if the footprint was smaller.....but for the size of the "cabin" compared to the footprint....totally nonfeasible.


73 posted on 11/07/2006 11:26:08 AM PST by sheana
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]

To: tgusa

"very stealthy, for one thing."

Except for that big cabin dangling high above the water line.

(Not that this couldn't be fixed.)


74 posted on 11/07/2006 11:26:58 AM PST by MeanWestTexan (Kol Hakavod Lezahal)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: pbear8

That's okay. I'll keep Santa's Secret..............


75 posted on 11/07/2006 11:27:01 AM PST by Red Badger (New! HeadOn Hemorrhoid Medication for Liberals!.........Apply directly to forehead.........)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 67 | View Replies]

To: dead

An old prop from "Waterworld"


76 posted on 11/07/2006 11:27:24 AM PST by ken5050
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Brett66

Nice pics. Where are the motors? Are the pontoons also the fuel tanks? I wonder how the ride is.


77 posted on 11/07/2006 11:28:03 AM PST by GBA (God Bless America!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: ken5050
An old prop from "Waterworld"

That would explain why nobody recognizes it.

78 posted on 11/07/2006 11:28:20 AM PST by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 76 | View Replies]

To: dead

Lovey....Loveeeeyy...Where is the Flying Squirrel?
We have to get back to Louisburg Sq so. we can vote for that African-American fellow for govenor.Lovey,where are you?.......


79 posted on 11/07/2006 11:29:17 AM PST by GQuagmire
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: tcrlaf

How would we know? It's a secret.


80 posted on 11/07/2006 11:30:24 AM PST by LS
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 121-132 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson