The last stretch of our sailing was in the open sea a day after a gale. In the evening the wind died and the rocks reflected the waves created by the waves. The boat was rocking a lot. As we wanted to get back to Västervik I used the sculling oar for hours. I had had a simular excperience 2011 when coming in to Porto Santo Madeira. Then I sculled for ten hours rolling badly.
The Idea I got was to use wave power to propel the boat. It is an old Idea. Whalers were mystified to see dead whales floating on the surface making speed through the water. Some of them cut of whalefins and nailed them under their boats and made speed. It were the waves that powered them.
I have written about this before and done some experiments. Below is a picture of a rude contraption made of six swimming fins and some wood.
If it propels me at 1.5 knots the same speed as my oar, I will be happy. I hope weather conditions soon will allow me to make a test. Click once or twice on the picture to enlarge.
To be continued…
Regards Yrvind