the project:

my family has this relatively new holiday that we call "Christmas In July". my eldest sister keri came up with this crazy holiday idea, though she has yet to show up for one of these family get-togethers. the theory is that since my sisters and i live all over the U.S., and my parents live in NY, it is best for my sisters and i to go up to NY to see the parents in July during the summer. this way it is warm and we can enjoy my father's boat, and celebrate a pseudo-christmas since we can't all make it for christmas time every year.

anyway, my father has a boat on beautiful lake george and for a combined father's day / birthday / christmas in july present for my father, my other (read rockin') sister dana came up with a fantastic idea. we are to take this boat:



which is some sort of U.S. Coast Guard ship (help james?), model length 18.5", and engineer it into the best party boat ever!!

my father likes boats, and my father likes martinis, and my father likes making martinis for other boaters. we need to engineer/retro-fit this vessel so that it can transport a full martini glass from one boat to another on an open lake without spilling a drop.

things to consider:

- the incredible ease with which martini glasses can spill
- the B/D ratio of the vessel which has yet to be measured
- average weather conditions on the lake

as i understand, coast gaurd boats are built to be pretty damn stable in the water, with higher B/D ratios. the B/D ratio being the ratio of breadth (how wide) vs. depth (the draft) of a vessel. a cargo ship has a higher ratio and is more stable, where as a pleasure craft has a lower ratio providing for a more entertianing ride, and is less stable. general logic brings me to the conclusion that this is why coast guard ships (very stable) have to constantly save overturned pleasure cruisers (unstable). this being said, an 18.5" boat in open water is going to have a rough time of it regardless.

i have decided that a weight attached to a long 4-way fin, or two fins perpendicular to eachother will help reduce the roll of the boat. the weight will lower the center of gravity of the vessel, while the fins will create fluid resistance, both of which making the party boat more stable.

those who have ever dealt with a martini know that even on a flat kitchen table, even if left untouched, the physics of a martini glass demand that it spill. the shape of the glass along with the "top-heavyness" provide miserable conditions for the nectar of the gods inside the glass which all too often drips down the outside of the glass in large quantities and takes a long fall to the floor. to combat this gross mis-use of alcohol, i am hoping that the plastic tops found on fast-food cups will fit my fathers glasses so as to lessen the spillage (and subsequently, the carnage) of the martini.

any suggestions would be helpful as our engineering team (myself, my rockin' sister dana, and her boyfriend adam) begins this project.