Abstract: A transom mounted retractible rudder for sailboats or other small vessels. A rudder blade is pivotally mounted on a lower portion of a rudder stock. By means of a handle located adjacent the stern of the boat and connected through a linkage to the rudder blade, a crew member can raise and lower the rudder blade between a fully retracted position and a fully extended position. The handle and a dial on the rudder stock cooperate to provide an indication of the attitude and depth of the rudder blade at any given time.

Abstract: A portable salvage lift apparatus for use in an underwater environment coising a buoyancy system having a variable lift capability and a tethering system employing a brake whereby the rate of ascent of the apparatus is controlled.

Abstract: A hollow elongated cylinder has a cup with a central opening at one end and is open at the other. A plurality of equidistantly spaced like slots are cut into the cylinder wall and extend for a short distance in the axial direction from the other end toward the cap. An elongated bar parallel to the axis of the cylinder is secured to the inner wall of the cylinder, one end of the bar being adjacent the cap, the other end of the bar being adjacent the slots. A threaded bolt is aligned with the axis of the cylinder and is disposed therein, the head of the bolt being alignable with the slots, the end of the bolt extending through the opening of the cap. An eye is secured to the exposed end of the bolt. A flat circular disc has a central threaded bore threadedly engaged by said bolt, the disc being disposed in the cylinder and having a diameter slightly smaller than that of the interior of the cylinder. The disc has a portion cut away whereby the disc bears against the bar slidably but non-rotatably.

Abstract: A bumper assembly for a marine structure where a vertical resiliently encased main cylinder is secured at the upper end to the marine structure by a releasable connection with the lower support for the main cylinder including an upstanding stab post extending into the bottom of the main cylinder and coaxially aligned with the upper end of the main cylinder. A resilient cylinder is positioned between the inside of the main cylinder and the outside of the stab post. Preferably the internal diameter of the resilient cylinder is slightly larger than the diameter of the stab post and provides a pivotal cushion at the bottom of the main cylinder to permit angular displacement of the main cylinder from the vertical position.

Abstract: A pivot position sensor sensing outboard motor trim includes a housing within which a pair of U-shaped movable contacts are secured in axially spaced relation on an operating rod which extends outwardly of the housing. The housing is attached by the motor. The end of the rod is interconnected by a flexible cable to a clamp coupler affixed to the tilt tube or shaft. The cable extends over the collar and wraps and unwraps thereon as the motor pivots to position the rod with respect to the motor. The fixed housing is provided with a chamber having a pair of wound linear resistor units secured in longitudinal recesses on opposite sides of the chamber and engaged by one of said contacts. At ninety degrees therefrom, a pair of limit contact strips are mounted in offset recesses on opposite sides of the chamber and connected by the other contact. At a preselected up-tilted position, the limit contacts separate from the strips and open the circuit therebetween to terminate up-trim drive.

Abstract: A boat hook is provided with a series of attachments engagable with a coupling device on the prod end. The coupling preferably includes a threaded section, and is set back from the point of the prod for the dual purpose of protecting the threads, and for utilizing the point as the means of assuring positive coaxial alignment of the coupling. The attachments provide a variety of areas of utility, and the preferred form of the invention has a telescoping handle capable of being locked in a plurality of degrees of extension appropriate to the particular attachments that may be coupled to the basic device. The original utility of the boat hook is not impaired by the provision for the attachments. One of the attachments is a hoop with a provision for temporarily retaining a loop in a mooring line.

Abstract: A boat is provided with an elongated vane extending along each side of the hull. This vane is supported in a closely spaced relationship with the hull's surface to define a longitudinally extending slot. The vanes so positioned reduce the tendency of the boat hull to drift out on turns, by biting into the water. These vanes may be provided with mechanisms to close off the slot when not needed.

Abstract: The disclosed valve assembly permits the automatic scuttling, or sinking, floatable pressure vessels or other containers, and comprises an extensible, spring-restrained nozzle containing a spring-biased ball seal within a flow passage. Vessel internal pressure extends the nozzle from a retracted position to expose the exterior end of the flow passage. A calibrated restraining spring ring maintains the nozzle retracted and in the extended position during pressure vessel operation. The ball seal is displaced from a nonsealing position against a ball seat to preclude pressure relief through the flow passage. After exhaustion of internal pressure, the bias spring and external water pressure force the ball seal from the ball seat to permit water entry and subsequent sinking of the vessel.

Abstract: A marker buoy, attachable to a submersible article by controllable explos cutter, is provided with a buoyant housing having an interior chamber for storage of a coiled length of flexible cord connecting the buoy to the submersible article. The chamber is provided with vents to permit water flow therethrough. An element of buoyant material within the chamber helps to orient the top surface of the buoy in the upward direction. Release of the buoy by the explosive cutter permits it to float to the surface, with the flow of water through the chamber vents ensuring rapid ascent.

Abstract: A riser is tensioned from a floating platform by the use of one or more active hydraulic heave compensator units, each having an in-line backup unit coupled thereto so that the backup unit will automatically take over the load if there is loss of pressure in the active unit.

Abstract: A manually operated propelling apparatus for a boat comprising a clamp for attaching the propelling apparatus to the transom of the boat, a propeller shaft housing attached to the clamp, a driving gear device attached to one end of the propeller shaft housing and a flexible propeller shaft within the propeller shaft housing attached to the driving gear means at one end and to a propeller at the other end.

Abstract: A catamaran has two hulls each having longitudinal axes with reference to which the hull is asymmetrical. The hulls are located at opposite sides of a longitudinal symmetry line of the catamaran and the axes of the hulls are longitudinally inclined relative to this line, so as to diverge away from this line either in forward or in rearward direction of the catamaran. Each hull has at least one propeller shaft which extends substantially parallel to the symmetry line and which has a shaft portion projecting from the hull and located either adjacent the outwardly or inwardly facing side of the hull, where it carries a propeller.

Abstract: A marine exhaust system for boats powered by an internal combustion engine is disclosed. An exhaust chamber is located in the stern of the boat and is connected to the engine exhaust manifold. A submerged exhaust port emits exhaust gases below the water level to silence exhaust noise. The exhaust port has a recessed opening so that relative movement of water past the port assists in drawing the exhaust gases from the chamber. Atmospheric vent holes communicate the chamber with atmosphere to exhaust gases when the boat is idling or operating at slow speeds.

Abstract: A combined mooring and transfer system for oil and other liquid to a ship from an off-shore installation which rests on the sea bed and extends above sea level, comprising a floating transfer hose from the part above sea level and a mooring hawser from the sea bed part of the installation, the free ends of both being connected to a floating buoy to be picked up by an approaching ship.

Abstract: A fending device for oil containment booms. A floating, open structure with vertical fenders extending above and below the waterline breasts oil boom away from vessels and other structures.

Abstract: A low temperature liquified gas storage tank is supported in the hull of a ship by a plurality of chocks secured to and spaced peripherally around the tank and by chock engaging members carried by the ship's hull. Pressure resistant heat insulating pads disposed between the chocks and the chock engaging members are arranged to provide sliding surfaces which support the tank horizontally and vertically and permit thermal contracting and expanding movements of the tank relative to the ship's hull and which compensate for thermal expansion and contraction of the chocks and the chock engaging members.

Abstract: A system for interconnecting a barge and a pusher tug in which the stern of the barge is provided with a groove having a cross-section complementary to that of the bow of a pusher tug which it is to receive in mating engagement. The mated vessels define a clearance zone and are held together by a connecting rod. The two vessels are provided in the said clearance zone with support plates and inflatable compression devices such as inflatable cushions.

Abstract: A life saving device for vessels which provides anchorage for buoyant equipment such as life rafts or life boats, in the form of a buoy releasably carried by a vessel in a manner so as to float free if the vessel sinks, while remaining attached to the vessel by a cable held on a reel on the buoy and having its outer end connected to the vessel. The buoy carries a lifeboat mooring line for life boats or life rafts to secure themselves to the buoy, this lifeboat mooring line being buoyant and being relatively long compared to the largest dimension of the buoy. The lifeboat mooring line is normally stowed on or in the buoy and arranged to be automatically released after the buoy has separated from the vessel, and preferably a delayed action release mechanism is provided which ensures that the lifeboat mooring line is not released until the buoy has cleared the vessel's rigging so that the mooring line cannot become entangled with any part of the vessel.

Abstract: A trolling motor has a housing provided with a longitudinal axis and wherein a propeller is mounted to rotate about said longitudinal axis; the housing having inlet and outlet openings vertically spaced apart and wherein the propeller is disposed therebetween; inlet and outlet guide vanes of substantially L-shaped configuration disposed in an array diagonally related to the inlet and in a diagonal array related to the outlet. The trolling motor is provided with a mount on which is it is rotatable on its longitudinal axis, whereby rotation of said fluid trolling motor about its longitudinal axis provides for reversing of thrust when operated as an outboard motor.

Abstract: A multi-hulled vessel and the hull design for the hulls of a multi-hulled vessel capable of operating as a hydroplane are presented. Each of the hulls of the multi-hulled vessel are of hydrostatically and hydrodynamically identical configuration. The forward portions of the oppositely disposed sidewalls of the hull are conically shaped and the rearward portions are planar; the forward portion of the base of the hull is cylindrically shaped and the rear portion is planar; and the stern is planar. The two conically shaped front portions of the hull sidewalls are interconnected at an acute angle by a common generatrix which forms the front bow or stem of the hull, and the cylindrical portion of the base of the hull has a horizontal generatrix. The conical sidewall portions and the cylindrical base portion are each tangent to their respective rearwardly disposed planar elements.