Keri Island in Baltic Sea

Two day test 24 - 25 June 2011 on Baltic Sea

I have avoided salty seawater so far. But finally discovered nice mouth of the Jägala river you can acess and head out to the sea. There I can enter to fresh water and exit from fresh water. This way I can postpone serious rusting of the car to more serious travel time. Keri is small island in one third of the way from Estonia to Finland. 

Some modifications needed testing also: bridge between pontoons made of two connected sand ladders, motorcycle scottoiler series modified chain oiling, replaced side camera and other smaller modifications.

Meeting point of Jägala River and Baltic Sea.

In search for deeper water and avoiding rocks. It is always serious task, as no map shows rocks on so shallow water. I have hit some during the initial test with the pontoons and resulting bends teach to be even more careful.

Careful driving in the water.

Co pilot Paul did provide great help.

Only occasional splashes on calm sea.

Followed by dark clouds and rain.

Keri host Peep Rada introduces the island.

Amphibear anchored with two anchors, between rocks on all sides.There is no port at Keri. It was tricky task to get anchored. First to find wide enough safe place between rocks. Then getting in seaside anchor to right spot. Of course I misjudged the distance. Then got anchor rope around one propeller. Finally managed to get to the place, one anchor at sea other on shore around one big rock.

Keri Lighthouse.

Lighthouse interior.

Stairs

Some building from old times servicing the lighthouse. All Keri was Army base during Soviet era.

Good morning trip around Keri. I slept in the car, to guard it against hitting rocks during the night. Sea was calm, just some residual waves. I got asleep and then suddenly somebody was pulling my bed with great force away from me. It was the shore anchor with rigid Dyneema line. Waves pulled the car slightly, until the line got fully tensioned on some waves. It continued through the night as you can see from my face.

Back to home on incredible sea,

where the only waves were the ones Amphibear created.

 Amphibear first Sea journey on the map.

Distance covered on land 74 km. Distance covered on sea 58 km. Fuel used 37 l. By test results some bridge fixing modification needed, chain oiling main control unit failed, and more seriously support on the roof of car needs strengthening.

Lake Võrtsjärv

A short report on test results on lake Võrtsjärv on May 5-6, 2011. As you may have noticed, there was long gap between the first and second cruising tests. The time was spent on paperwork! It took 14 months to register the car as rebuilt and find solutions for all road safety agency requirements (new bumper, lights, hood modifications, etc). Also, a small portion of the time was spent for improvements after the initial test.

Cruising is planned, speeds, fuel consumption calculated, Also, I gave sleeping in the car a try.

Ready to start.

Driving to the lake was easier than planned. Just follow the road. It was flooded due to spring runoff.

Arms akimbo. This is the position to enter the water. Even if you misjudge depth, you still don't sink the car totally and can raise the pontoons.

I had enough water to test speed. Normal cruising speed: 5 knots. Maximum: 8 knots. Minimum was about 2 knots. Shown here at cruising speed.

Amphibear's wake. A good design means waves generated from pontoons meet in different phases.

Wave patterns between pontoons tends to raise peak to meet rear differential.

At cruising speed land is lost quite quickly.

To enjoy the moment you have to stop and let things settle.

Getting from one pontoon to another is acrobatic task, need some bridge.

First night in the car. There is enough room for a tall, thin man (me) to sleep. As usual, sleeping depends on your mood. Do you listen to all the creaks and cracks of the vehicle? Are you ready for 2 degrees Celsius at night? I woke several times and finally heated the car with the Webasto system. But the hardships are bearable when can wake to a beautiful sunrise.

Beauty of evening.

Heading home.

Distance covered on land: 337 km. Distance covered on lake: 29 km. Fuel consumed: 54 liters. Major improvements needed: chain oiling, waterproofing cameras, stern drive rising change and bridge between pontoons.

First Cruising Test

Some pictures of the first cruising test at Kiiu, August 2009.

Morning swim to map the bottom. Lucky me, I had my windsurfing wetsuit.

Running around, planning, controlling, worrying.

Aligned for entry.

  It raises. It works. Wow.

Cruising at idle throttle.

Anchored for lunch.

Half of the test time I was in the water releasing the car from different rocks I found.

Coming out I got stuck! Tire pressure was too high and the bottom too soft. Fortunately I wasn't stuck long.

The rope coat broke, rope stuck and with multi-tool scissors I had to cut away the coating. Half of it under the water (wetsuit needed one more time) and half later of total 26m of rope.

Test complete.

It worked. I made more than 20 notes for improvements before the next test. The most serious is the paperwork to register the car's reconstruction at the road safety agency.

Some build process photos

Some photos from the building process (2008-2009):

It all was done first in the computer, 3D of course. It's just cheaper to modify a drawing than a real car. General design must be well in place. Some components, as with the car, lack details.

Then you add the details.

Then came basic components like major frame beams. It's an interesting job to drill a 20mm hole through 5mm-thick stainless steel. One hour - one hole. If you're lucky.

When frame components are ready, installation is a fun and endless job. Major beams took two months for installation. Special thanks to Marek Pedak from Offroad Service who delivered car components while en route to other jobs. In this photo: rear beam with winches. Wooden poles model the wire rope path. With seven tons of pull you better be sure there's nothing in the way.

The wires are not small, and there are not a few wires needed! As usual, first I connected them wrong just to make life interesting.

Then you can set the frame together and align winch ropes through the frame. And then redo almost all steps three times, as there are always some tolerance, alignment or installation procedure issues.

Now the rubber meets the road. Will it work? Can the winch raise the car off the beams. Wow, it's cleared the ground!

Shiny new U-Fab Boats pontoons from Canada may now be attached to the frame.

Installation of the hydraulic pump into engine space required two companies' maximum effort and help from even more. All 127 kW of engine can be now transferred to the hydraulic pump. And free room around major components is 5mm at most. But thanks to Hydroscand and Offroad Service, it's done!

The hydraulic fluid tank was a real test for my design skills. Fitted in place of one car battery, it has almost no straight edges. Finest Steel cut the plate and Spurtfaas welded it. The stainless steel fits perfectly to freed space to allow maximum capacity.

The hydraulic system was designed and built by Hydroscand. Designer Margus Kukk giving a final inspection to the system.

And after making countless other small adjustments, Amphibear is ready for her first test.