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Originally Posted by Orion
{snip} All I need to find is the crank mechanism and I'll try to duplicate your effort. Thanks for the link.
Regards, Orion
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I've often considered building such a beast myself and so have done a little research. One thing I didn't like about prop powered craft (vs the pedestrian paddle-wheels) was the increase in draft required. I've read that air-props (like on airplanes) are just as efficient as water-props in converting energy to motion (not sure if it's true, but that's what I've read). To that end I thought some sort of cat w/air-prop might be the way to go. It worked for MIT (though I wouldn't do the hydrofoils, at least to start with). Also would keep the moving mechanical bits out of the water. Just a thought for you to consider ....
http://lancet.mit.edu/decavitator/Decavitator.html
ps - if you do get to doing or thinking more about it, post on back, perhaps start a thread on HPVs in the boating forum.