Trawler News #114/Around the world in an amphibus

Thu Apr 1 17:09:12 EST 2004

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T R A W L E R   N E W S 
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Broadcast on the Internet 04/01/04
Read this edition online with photos and additional text at 
   http://members.rogers.com/waterworld/tnews_temp_114.html

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IN THIS ISSUE #114
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Around the world in an amphibious school bus
Trawlers & Trawlering online store opens
Management shuffle at Nordic Tugs
If you would like a FREE trial copy of Power Cruising
How to reach us
How to unsubscribe

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AROUND THE WORLD IN AN AMPHIBIOUS SCHOOL BUS
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By Blake August

This is no April Fool's Day joke.  Mark Roehrig 
wants to circumnavigate the world--in a school 
bus that floats.

Roehrig, who has already built an amphibious car, 
started construction on his amphibus last month 
after purchasing an old school bus for $1,800. He 
is looking to raise $35,000 for the conversion 
project and he also needs a partner for the 
circumnavigation. He's named his vessel-to-be 
Wheelsea.

   http://www.amphigeostory.com
   tel: 502.432.5188

"Wheelsea is the culmination of a lifetime of 
dreams," the 44-year-old told Trawler News. "To 
see the world through my windshield has always 
been something that has intrigued. Now, I'm 
building a vessel that can cross any ocean as 
well as any land mass, provided there's a road of 
course."

A lifelong resident of Louisville, Kentucky, 
Roehrig has been to sea in the U.S. Navy when he 
served aboard USS Detroit, a fast combat support 
ship.

   http://www.detroit.navy.mil/facts.htm

Wheelsea, which started life as a 66-passenger 
school bus, will be about 53 feet long when 
completed, with an 8-foot beam, says Roehrig. He 
expects gross weight to be about 28,000 pounds.

Essentially, the plan is to encase the bus in 
1/8th steel plate, complete with a pointed bow 
and a swim platform aft.

Roehrig is ditching the standard bus engine and 
planning to use a marine diesel of about 250 
horsepower for propulsion on land and sea. 
Hydraulics will turn the wheels and folding prop. 
He believes fuel capacity of about 500 gallons 
will suffice, even on the longest legs of a 
circumnavigation.

Roehrig's enthusiasm for the project is seemingly 
unstoppable, as witnessed by a recent e-mail:

"Wheelsea is in the first stage of develpement 
the 500 gallon diesel tank has been build as well 
as 6 other varible displacement tanks. each of 
these tanks messure 8 feet long by 27 inches wide 
and 18 inches tall. Each tank will either hold 
air (smooth seas) or water (rough seas) As you 
know water weighs zero in water so by filling 
each tank we're only getting rid of air, 
(displacement) and in the event of incountering 
anything near a roll those tanks full of water 
become tremendously heavy out of water. So you 
can see Wheelsea is not only conceivable but very 
safe, another incredible feature is the shaftless 
propulsion land or sea  we're going to use 
hydraulics for both!"

Mark Roehrig is not the first to dream of driving 
an amphibious vehicle around the world. Ben 
Carlin also dreamed, and succeeded:

   http://www.ebroadcast.com.au/ecars/Mil/HalfSafe.html
   http://members.iinet.net.au/~daveb/halfsafe/halfsafe.html

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TRAWLERS & TRAWLERING ONLINE STORE OPENS
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The new Web site at TrawlersAndTrawlering.com 
still is under construction, but the online store 
has opened for business. The first offerings are 
shirts and gift items that feature the slogan I'd 
Rather Be Trawlering!

   http://www.cafeshops.com/trawlering

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MANAGEMENT CHANGES AT NORDIC TUGS
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Nordic Tugs has a new president, Ric Reid, while 
David Goehring now is vice-president. Newly hired 
as director of sales and marketing is Tracy 
Prescott.

The move up the corporate ladder for Reid and 
Goehring results from the company's chairman and 
CEO, Jim Cress, delegating day-to-day management 
duties.

Cress finds himself across the country from the 
Nordic Tugs plant in Burlington, Washington, a 
great deal of the time, developing a new 
dealership in the southeast, Skipper Cress Yacht 
Sales at Fort Lauderdale, Florida. As chairman 
and CEO, Cress will continue to chair the 
company's board of directors and  provide 
continuing leadership in the company's direction 
and policies. 

With assistance from David Goehring, longtime 
treasurer and controller, Ric Reid will be 
responsible for day-to-day management of the 
company.

Tracy Prescott will manage sales and marketing 
for the company. Prescott was formerly with 
Northern Lights and also spent many years in the 
marine electronics field working for companies 
such as Furuno. 

   http://www.nordictug.com
   toll-free: 800.388.4517

   http://www.skippercress.com
   toll-free: 800.201.9622

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IF YOU WOULD LIKE A FREE TRIAL COPY OF POWER CRUISING . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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If you had requested a trial edition of Trawler 
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late March, not February as announced earlier.

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   Editor: Georgs Kolesnikovs
   E-mail: georgs@trawlering.com
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   Web: <http://www.TrawlersAndTrawlering.com>.

This edition was broadcast to 6,111 subscribers 
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