Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Flying Dutchman

Back off. It's my turn to walk the plank.
  (+12)(+12)
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As you throttle your replica Spanish galleon past the last lighthouse and towards open water the head wind picks up and you begin preparations for unfurling the long unused sails.
First your specially designed surface anchor/tug needs to finish de-compressing the sponge filled electric tug-torpedo which will soon be your ships only link to the water you now float in.
The people in the smaller sail, and motor boats in your vicinity pause in their various tasks to gape as the main rollers scroll, not downwards, but back to keep the sails tautly tilted at a thirty degree angle of attack to the horizontal gale.
Control of the outboard motor is disengaged as you switch power to the tugpedo.
Slack is fed to the sails and at the same time your main winch, in neutral, begins frantically un-spooling high tension cable while the tugpedo races into the distance.
When you feel that enough line has been played out you switch the winch to its lowest setting and hold on tight because the billowing sails now catch wind and cause the entire boat to soar upwards at an alarming rate, a rising watery phoenix spraying all around her with a setting sun's fiery geyser.

Yeeee Haaaarg!


Not quite, but you get the gist. http://www.eballoon...e-pirate-flying.jpg
I thought of this one about the same time as Electric Galleon but forgot about it until reading [Cloudface]'s pirate ship idea. [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 07 2004]

Windmill Boat http://totallyabsurd.com/windmillboat.htm
Hook the tugpedo up to this baby.... [ConsulFlaminicus, Dec 08 2004]

Kite Sailing http://www.kiteship.com/
Hook one of these to your bark or pinnace. [oneoffdave, Dec 08 2004]

Sailing Zeppelin Similar to one of my favorite HB ideas. [Worldgineer, Dec 08 2004]

[link]






       Thanks for the laugh. How can anybody not love you? [+].
Pericles, Dec 07 2004
  

       You're welcome. I like it when you laugh.

In answer to your question, I think it's hard to love someone whose feet rarely leave their mouth. It makes long walks on the beach a real chore.
  

       I wonder if there's a way to make the cable as transparent as possible?
RayfordSteele, Dec 08 2004
  

       Ahoy, a fun idea!
Machiavelli, Dec 08 2004
  

       Yaaargh!
DocBrown, Dec 08 2004
  

       //Back off. It's my turn to walk the plank.//   

       Is that your parrot squalking?
skinflaps, Dec 08 2004
  

       Naw, that'd be me trying a one and a half gainer, gives new meaning to the term Cannonball.
Speaking of cannons think of the range them puppies'd have, of course they'd have to be Nerf or something.
  

       Good un', mate!
Shz, Dec 08 2004
  

       Nerf cannonballs? No way! I say, blast people out of those puppies!
Machiavelli, Dec 08 2004
  

       I, I, well I suppose, but I went and bought all this silk and surgical tubing see, and I just about got caught swiping the winch so I think going back for the Helium canisters might be pressing my luck.

Okay, I’ve been daydreaming about this and nerf is definitely out, black, water balloon/cannon balls in for now.
[RayfordSteele] I don't know about a transparent cable so how about several smaller cables coming horizontally from a now wider tugpedo. It might let you have more control of banking and turning like a stunt kite and it may prevent accidental inversion.
One last thing; I wonder if you had thin, wide, lightweight skis that were very long and dished, whether you could air ski behind it? And whether the ship could hover if the head wind was strong enough with the tugpedo at low speed?
  
      
[annotate]
  


 

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