HELLO OLYMPIC...GOODBYE SOVEREIGN

As the R.C.S. OLYMPIC nears completion and her maiden voyage, another Green Sea icon is preparing to leave the stage.

For several months now, the fate of the R.C.S. Sovereign of the Seas has been an open question. The trouble really began during a very successful voyage on March 25th 2006. During a brief grounding, the rudder shaft was broken, allowing large amounts of water to get into the unprotected cardboard. This exacerbated the situation reguarding her hull integrity. Additionally, the electronic speed controller has been on the fritz since the maiden voyage.

The co-opperative voyage with the Zuiderdam on April 29th revealed that the problem cannot be rectified with epoxy or silicon. Sovereign was laid up, pending re-assessment of her condition. I considered redoing the underside of her hull and painting the hull black to hide the water damage.

For a few months, nothing happened, while I languished the decision of retiring the Sovereign. Finally, with the list of proposed new ships growing almost every week, I felt I had no choice but to take Sovereign out of the way, in favor of new ships.

Still, I dragged my feet. Finally, with the construction of the new OLYMPIC, I needed a radio and servo, so I took them from the Sovereign. It appears final now that she will not see another powered voyage.

The Sovereign was originally built as a single-channel ship with 3 radio-shack motors running on 12 AA batteries. When her performance was not satisfactory, she was laid up for about a year and a half. During that time, I considered refitting her as a 2 channel ship. There were times when I thought to throw her away. Finally, I got her sailing again in January of this year.

Now, after only 8 voyages, it seems that the road is finally ended for Sovereign.

Barrett Hochhaus

INTRODUCING OLYMPIC/TITANIC!!!

Green Sea Shipbuilding Establishment is proud to announce the creation of my newest vessle, the R.C.S. OLYMPIC / TITANIC!

At 59 inches long, she is in the same scale as the wonderful R.C.S. RAFFAELLO. Like the Raffaello, she is single-channeled, and has 2 Radio Shack motors. Like the R.C.S. AMERICA, an effort is being made to make her inner hull appear as an actual engine room, but that's not all!

What will make the Olympic/Titanic better than any vessel in her class is her detail, particularly her INTERIOR detail. Many of her inner rooms, such as the gymnasium, first-class entrance, and officer's quarters will actually be detailed beneath removable decks! Also, her open promanade deck will be detailed!

She is known by 2 names because she will be actually convertable from the Olympic into the Titanic with just a few minutes of minor modifications! She will begin her life as the Olympic, of course. Then, after some time sailing, she will be converted to Titanic, and actually have a SECOND maiden voyage! As if that's not enough she can later be made into the BRITANNIC!

But perhaps the most amazing thing about the Olympic/Titanic is the SPEED of her construction! In only 8-9 hours, over 2 days, she went from absolutely nothing, to sailing her Motor Trials!! She was cut out of cardboard, joined up, fiberglassed, painted, and fitted with her motors and radio in only 8 or 9 hours! If one considers only the amount of time actually spent on her construction, she must be presently outpacing the construction of any of my previous ships!

Please stay tuned in the next couple of weeks as the Olympic speeds towards her Maiden Voyage!

Barrett Hochhaus
diamondback78@hotmail.com

Queen Mary evening at Mercado Lake

Today, the new Queen Mary sailed at Mercado Lake at Via de Ventura and Hayden in Scottsdale. It resulted in some very pretty evening pictures and 22 minutes of video. Today was the 6th voyage of the R.C.S. Queen Mary. Enjoy the pics!

Barrett Hochhaus
diamondback78@hotmail.com

Queen Mary and Ecstasy sail together!

In the first ever meeting of my 2 flagships, the Queen Mary and Ecstasy sailed together Saturday morning at Chapparral Lake in Scottsdale! As you can see, I got plenty of nice pictures and I also got 8 minutes of nice video as well!

While the weather was definately an uncomfortable factor (it was supposed to reach a high temp of about 110 degrees today!), we managed to sneek in a quick voyage in the morning at about 10:00am. It's funny that usually, I am in a hurry to beat the wind, but today, I was trying to beat the heat!

Anyway, we got in, got done, and got out pretty quick and nothing felt better than to get back to the house, grab a glass of cold water, sit back and watch the video/pictures in an air conditioned house! Ah... the good life!

Barrett Hochhaus
diamondback78@hotmail.com