Ah, that would be a boatboat.
Sirius XM is permanently tuned to Yacht Rock.
14 yachts on board and they still have to carry life boats.
Those ships are amazing. I was trying to figure out how they worked, and found that they are semi-submersible. When they are ready to load up, the carrier’s hull is filled with ballast water so that it sinks and creates a “marina.” The boats to be transported are floated into place above custom cradles that have been mounted on the now-submerged deck.
When all the boats are in place, the water in the hull is pumped out, and as the ship rises, divers make sure each yacht settles into its cradle properly. When all the water over the deck has drained out, the boats are fully secured, and the trip begins. The process is reversed at the other end.
Although from a conceptual and engineering POV, this is pretty incredible, I have to admit that I’m rather appalled that there are enough millionaires and billionaires who feel the need to have their expensive toys moved around the world that a business was formed to design and build these ships and offer this service.
Haven’t read the thread, but I’m working on a book which is revealing all kinds of interesting stuff.
For its 50th anniversary, some grad students at Penn put the Eniac on a chip. 6 tons reduced to a few ounces.
Plus, the first known example of someone using a handkerchief to blow ones nose is Richard II of England. Evidence is an order from his tailor for clothes for nose blowing. I’m sure someone else was rich enough to use an expensive handkerchief to blow their nose, but there is no record of it.
So are there rooms for the yacht crew/owners to travel with them?
Whoops. That should be 30 tons, not 6.
I found that rather funny too. But I think the life boats are likely better designed to withstand hellish storms that would probably sink those yachts.
Plus provisions, sat phones etc.
Still kinda funny though.
Pffft! When Jeff Bezos’ Bentley breaks down, does he ride in the cab with the tow truck driver? No, he makes a call and a helicopter comes out and picks him up.
If you were REALLY rich, you’d own a yacht on every continent and coast.
I sometimes follow the race that started today out of Alicante Spain, which many many years ago was called the Whitbread Classic. These people will sail (literally) down to Capetown, then across the Indian and southern Pacific, non-stop (there used to be several stops) to Itajai in southern Brazil in 65’ boats. Which I find, even with modern electronics, breathtaking.
Sixty-five feet, by 18 beam, seemed small to me, but it appears to be similar in size, by numbers, to the Santa Maria and slightly larger than the two caravels that accompanied it. The profile is quite different though, with the rails much closer to the waterline.
I’ve read a lot about those trips. Around the world though. I think Cape horn is the biggest problem. Roaring 40’s and all. Best have your will in order. Sometimes 2 people in a 32 foot boat. It’s pretty insane.
I hope you’ve seen Maiden, a documentary on the first all female crew competing in the Whitbread. If not, you should hunt it down.
I shared the picture and comment with my son, who pointed out two things. One, the boat doesn’t always have cargo aboard. Two, the boat can also be used to recover boats for repair. In both cases, there isn’t another usable boat available.
So in a storm severe enough for the crew to abandon ship and take to the life boats, it’s possible that some of the flotsam of the impending wreck could be a yacht.
Those yachts aren’t free floating; they are secured to the mothership. She goes down, the cargo goes as well. Here’s the USS Cole being transported. It’s actually welded to the supports. The yachts aren’t that securely attached, but enough to prevent being tossed around by wave action into the other boats.
Today I learned that there is a species of mushroom that grows underwater (Psathyrella aquatica).
Are these vessels common? Are there smaller ones that act like the tow truck at the local garage?