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
No 90 degree angles - very stealthy, for one thing.
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?
Ride Captain Ride
Great tune by a great Tampa/Miami rock band.
Imagine beaching it, and the pod drops to become a landing craft. Rapid small force deployment.
Tamiami Rock?........
Good point.
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.
"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
Yep....I can see that.
Ping to post #57.
"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.
LOOKS LIKE THE BOTTOM FELL OFF SANTA'S SLEIGH.........
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.
"very stealthy, for one thing."
Except for that big cabin dangling high above the water line.
(Not that this couldn't be fixed.)
That's okay. I'll keep Santa's Secret..............
An old prop from "Waterworld"
Nice pics. Where are the motors? Are the pontoons also the fuel tanks? I wonder how the ride is.
An old prop from "Waterworld"
That would explain why nobody recognizes it.
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?.......
How would we know? It's a secret.
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.