Outlook just went away here. I have the *.pst files, but they are not accessable any more. As soon as I get time, I will try the Inbox Repair Tool. For now, if you sent me an email in the last few days that I need to act on, please hit me again.

There is a nice new video of my 65′ charter catamaran Alii Nui that operates out of Maalaea, on Maui. OK it’s an ad. But a nice one. http://www.youtube.com/embed/0hquuDeWJqs

Welcome to the new millennium for design software. I have used Microstation by Bentley for some 20 years now for my design software. My original $5000 purchase is augmented every year by a $900 subscription. When the new version had defects, I could always also use the earlier version that I kept for that purpose. With Windows 7, apparently they were able to cripple the older version so I could only use the defect ridden new version. (or pay an additional $900 to access the old version also). I wanted them to fix some defects (in the old version, the dozen or so printing settings only need to be entered once.  They were then kept for the whole session.  The new version has total amnesia and every setting must be entered new for every print.  I consider that a defect of the highest order)  before I paid my $900 this year. Their response was basically “In your dreams.” As of Monday they were able to pull the plug on the new version also, until I paid up. I have had no CADD available so far this week. Having run out of choices, I paid up. To punish me for my perfidy, they are apparently slow walking the license code that I need. If I had a couple of weeks to practice maybe I could use Rhino and VCADD to replace it. Too many demands; I don’t have the two weeks to get up to speed. I am not happy and will be trying to replace Bentley by next year. And losing a what is it, $23,000 investment so far? Not happy and not productive this week.

Today is Friday now.  Still no codes from Bentley to let the program work.  A full week without a CADD program.

Just back from picking up the plans on the lunar lander project from the building department over in the Basin. This may be only the second house that I know of built from composite boatbuilding materials, to be permitted by a building department. I’m trying to drag them into the future.  They are resisting.  Without help from Howard Apollonio NA, I would have been stranded.  I was getting comments like “How do we know that epoxy won’t just evaporate in 5 years?”
Next week I can get back to everybody’s real work. http://www.themarsoutpost.com/

And this was sent by Composites World.
http://www.compositesworld.com/articles/basalt-fibers-alternative-to-glass

Thanks again to Bill Gow for this.
http://cat2fold.wordpress.com/2013/02/28/zihuatenejo/#
I have to note that I designed Pantera back in the early 90s. It was the first design where I included the hull deck in the hull lines. More on Pantera when I get a chance.

From Industrial Designer Daniel Simon ” Wow – oleophobic coating. Put that stuff on anything, and it stays clean, no matter what. I have no info about how toxic or non-toxic this is, but it is for sure extremely impressive !” Maybe we don’t need the windshield wipers.

http://youtu.be/IPM8OR6W6WE

Thanks everyone. The response has  been great. Crowd sourcing works. I have been given valuable links and will forward to the USCG.
Among them, http://www.wumtia.soton.ac.uk/sites/default/files/CSYS2001BD.pdf

and

http://www.john-shuttleworth.com/Articles/NESTalk.html

the famous Richard Woods noted

“I saw the video Lock had made by the Wolfson Unit at Southampton University, and the evidence was very clear that catamarans behave as you drew.    In our ISO stability work for the RCD we always assume that a boat in waves is stable until the wave height exceed the beam of the boat, irrespective of the number of hulls.”