California Man is Working on a Tsunami-Proof Boat

He wants to show a wooden boat can survive catastrophes. 

Inspired by the devastating tsunami that hit Japan in 2011, a California designer began working on a boat that could survive a similar catastrophe if one would ever threaten his state. Chris Robinson considered such survival methods as personal jetpacks and balloon houses before turning to a serious boat-building project he calls Tsunamiball.

Using Adobe Illustrator to help him design his vessel, Robinson also consulted engineers for help in making his calculations. The idea of a tsunami-proof submarine-shaped wooden boat apparently sounds absurd to some people, but the inventor insists he first considered what materials he would use. The outer hull is to be made of marine-grade plywood covered in Xyletol and epoxy. Xyletol is an abrasion resistant polyester material.

Robinson’s boat hasn’t been finished. However, the outer shell is nearing completion and, when done, Robinson plans to test it in a pool and then the ocean. Robinson says he isn‘t a survivalist. He wrote, “The project is about building this awesome and unique thing and not about any end of the world.” 

Even if Chris Robinson’s project doesn’t turn out to be a success, he is one person at least who doesn’t find the idea of a wooden boat surviving a catastrophe to be unimaginable. Thinking back to the Nye-Ham debate, we remember Mr. Nye had serious doubts about Noah’s Ark being able to do what the Bible says it did. Yet, like many modern Bible-skeptics, he is wrong about the Ark. Remember that while Robinson is relying on Adobe Illustrator and engineers to help him design his boat, the design for Noah’s vessel was given to him directly by God.

In an article on the Institute for Creation Research website, Dr. John D. Morris points out some interesting facts about the Ark which need to be considered. First of all, the vessel didn’t need a steering mechanism because it wasn’t designed to go anywhere. It only had to float and stay intact on what could have been rough seas. Its dimensions of approximately 450 feet in length and 75 feet in width are ideal for optimum stability. Many modern naval engineers use the same basic 6 to 1 ratio in their designs. The Ark’s long, slender shape would have kept the ark pointed into wave trends and thus minimize the odds of it being broadsided by waves that could have overturned it. According to Morris, the Korea Institute of Ship and Ocean Engineering carried out the most elaborate of several engineering studies of ark models. Their study found the Ark’s design to be the most optimum for its purpose.

Also, the matter of the gopher wood must be considered (“Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch” Genesis, chapter 6, verse 7, KJV). Answers in Genesis says, “We don’t know if ‘gopher’ is the name of a particular kind of wood or the name of a process to make wood harder, like laminating or burying, as the Chinese once did to harden teak.” Therefore, the gopher wood could easily have involved an ingenious method designed by God for protecting the wood and keeping the ark intact during the year-long flood.

Although Noah’s Flood was a major catastrophe, God did promise, “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done” (Genesis 8:21). God has kept His promise. Since Noah, there has never been any other global catastrophe which has wiped out most of humanity. 

God’s promise does not apply to the end-of-the-world event when Christ will return. Sadly, it seems only a minority of people will be able to escape that devastation (“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it” Matthew 7:13). But the narrow gate is wide enough for all the true believers to enter through it. (“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” Acts 16:31).

Reference: Alyssa Danigelis, “Tsunami-Proof Ark Floats Our Boat,” Discovery News.

Illustration of a Noah’s Ark replica from Answers in Genesis.

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QUESTION OF THE DAY

What type of lessons may help reduce a problem with snoring?

United Kingdom researchers found that singing lessons can improve the tone and strength of the muscles in the mouth and throat, leading to less frequent snoring. People in the study spent at least 20 minutes a day practicing singing exercises for a total of three months.

Source: Mayo Clinic Health Letter Special Report (February, 2014)

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Note: The statement regarding how the dimensions of the ark made it more resistant to capsizing was based on the ICR article referenced above.

http://www.icr.org/article/survival-noahs-ark/