The 1.5-ton ocean Pickup picks up; the ongoing saga of an ecologically correct technology for the Third World - inexpensive work sailboat

THE 1 1/2-TON OCEAN PICKUP PICKS UP

The idea: A fast, simple, inexpensive, work sailboat utilizing high-tech design and construction, yet buildable by ordinary folk, out of common woods found in less-developed countries.

The advantage: Fisherfolk being priced out of their profession byrising costs of motors, parts, fuel and fancy commercial craft can get back into the game and compete in a way that would be impossible in obsolete traditional boats, even if the big trees necessary to build them were available.

The players: John and Nancy Jack Todd, two of the founders of thefamed New Alchemy Institute in Massachusetts, now heading Ocean Arks International, dedicated to encouraging ecological sustainability worldwide by introducing proven techniques where they're needed; Dick Newick, yacht designer noted for clever and speedy craft; Jim Brown, inventor of a boatmaking process dubbed Constant Camber, in which mass-produced strips of common woods are assembled with epoxy on simple molds to make hull parts without the usual hassle; various friends, funders, Fisherfolk, sailors, and kin.

The boat: A 32-foot trimaran, named for benefactress Edith Muma; 1 1/2-ton capacity, light, fast, and proven seaworthy by a stint as a trawler off Cape Cod, and then by a daring 1983 sail to Guyana for trial under real Third World conditions.

The early adventures have been extensively covered in CoEvolution Quarterly #41. We left Edith Muma in Guyana awaiting a government-sponsored order for up to 200 craft. Fisherfolk were enthusiastic; tests showed a Pickup could pay for itself in one year in fuel savings alone. For the latest chapter in this saga, we excerpt a recent letter from the Todds:

Dear WER friends,

It's just another variation on the old"Technology is the answer, what was the question?' Guyanese fishermen were enthusiastic; one wanted to buy the Pickup on the spot. We found a local company that could make Pickup kits that could be assembled by smaller boatbuilders. Senior officials of the InterAmerican Development Bank offered to fund production, and the Guyanese government waxed positive. But nothing happened, despite continuing verbal assurances. A bit to detective work revealed that Guyana's siding with Nicaragua in condemning the U.S. invasion of Grenada cooled the bank's interest. It also became apparent that part of the fishermen's enthusiasm for the Pickup came from its potential for freedom. The Buyanese government controls fishing as well as the export and import of spare parts and all manner of goods by allocating fuel; no gas, you can't go far. Thus an enthusiastic letter from a Costa Rican fishing cooperative proved irresistable, and once again the Edith Muma went to sea.

A stormy voyage brought her to PuertoViejo, south of Limon, on Costa Rica's east coast. It wasn't long before the boat was back at work fishing. She served best as a sort of fishing platform for as many as five men. They made pretty good money --several of them began to design smaller Pickups for their individual use. But we made a tactical error: because we were not legally permitted to work at commercial fishing, we felt that we couldn't charge the fishermen for the use of the boat. In time, we were seen as rich gringos with a wonderful toy that did not require any sort of mutual exchange. We countered this by planning to establish a boat-building shop where locals could build their own Pickups.

Funding support came from the CanadianInternational Development Agency (CIDA), but once again the timing was not on our side. Brian Mulroney had just been elected Canadian Prime Minister, and had instituted massive budget cuts. This meant low priority for projects that didn't directly benefit Canadian industries. We weren't specifically turned down, but we weren't actually funded either. We had to borrow money to pay our Costa Rican director, Luis Lepiz, and the Pickup crew who had been living hand-to-mouth for months. Then, in November of 1985, misinterpretation of a hand signal caused the Edith Muma to hit a reef hard enough to wreck her. The project ran aground, too.

Then in early 1986, we had some luckwith funding. The Pickup's designer, Dick Newick, flew in to supervise repairs. At the same time it became clear that the social infrastructure of Costa Rica's west coast fishing economy was much better developed. Since the Pickup was already dismantled for repair, we took the opportunity to load it on a flatbed truck and haul it to a new life in the Pacific fisheries.

The Pickup's new home is the workshop/boatyard of Wayland and Aruna Combe-Wright, an English couple who sailed across the Atlantic in their homebuilt catamaran, Taulua. Dick Newick and Wayland designed, and Wayland built, a modified Lungstrom rig more suitable to the light winds of the area. The new rig is a great success. We decided to make the Combe-Wrights partners in the venture.

Wayland and Aruna built their boatof ash trees they cut, covered with a skin fashioned from paper and canvas stuck together with homemade tar. It's a synthesis of Irish coracle construction and Polynesian design. Like the Edith Muma, it's a craft that takes advantage of local resources. We immediately saw that future Pickups could be made in this manner rather than depending on epoxy. They will be; Wayland is setting up to build three more, and the Combe-Wrights' Taulua has been designated Pickup #2. The fleet grows at last.

Meantime, we are once more involvedin the seemingly endless red tape that must be negotiated to make the Pickup legal.

It's been 4 1/2 years since we launchedthe Edith Muma and proved her technology, proof once again that ecological design must take into account all aspects of a project, including the social, to make it truly useful. The voyage continues. We'll stay in touch.

--John Todd andNancy Jack Todd

Photo: (Above) Graceful, modified Lungstromrig has greatly improved performance in the light winds off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, where the Pickup is currently undergoing testing as a commercial fishing vessel.

Photo: (Right) Original gaff rig with roller-reefedjib proved effective enough to carry the Pickup from its home port on Cape Cod to Bermuda, Guyana, and finally the eastern coast of Costa Rica.

COPYRIGHT 1987 Point Foundation
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group