- Some great songs have been written about boating.
But the one thing they never seem to mention is seasickness.
So if you're on the Sloop John B, you of course
want to "Ride Captain Ride," and the last thing you want
to do is "Rock the Boat," baby.
Now if you come "Sail Away" on your "Love Boat,"
you certainly don't need to be like the "Wreck
of the Edmund Fitzgerald."
But now there's one innovation that can make it
so you never wanna be sitting on "The Dock of the Bay,"
Here's Allie Ward to explain.
Did anyone under the age of 50 get any of those references?
(upbeat music)
- If only the water was this tranquil
every time you went boating.
But that's not reality.
- There's a reason why "don't rock the boat"
is an expression for upsetting things, right.
This is a basic human experience.
It's uncomfortable.
And if you can solve that problem, that's a big deal.
That's exciting.
- Avid boat lovers Shepard McKenney
and engineer John Adams set out together to solve
the problem of boats rocking when the waves are rolling.
What they created is a stabilizing gyroscope
called Sea Keeper, designed specifically for use
on boats greater than 27 feet long.
The relatively lightweight sphere
is placed on or in a boat.
And they say it can reduce boat roll by up to 95%.
Can you see the difference here between one boat
that has a gyro and the other that does not?
Inside the sphere is a high- strength steel flywheel,
the motor that drives it and the bearings
that support it.
- Our fastest flywheel spins at 10,000 revolutions per minute.
And all the air inside the sphere has been evacuated out.
- I met Shep and John at their factory in Mohnton
to perhaps do some boatin'.
Can you explain to me how does it work?
What's going on inside?
- These four corners are mounted to the structure
of the boat, and when this flywheel is spinning
at a high rate of speed, and the boat starts to roll,
the flywheel senses that motion and it wants to tilt
or precess in a fore and aft direction.
- Oh, so okay, if we were on a boat, the boat might
be rocking this way, and meanwhile, the gyro
is going this way.
- That's right, it goes at 90 degrees to the direction
it was disturbed.
- Their gyroscope combines a number of technologies
to make an old idea viable today.
- You look at this thing, and you say, it's just a spinning
flywheel in a containment.
It is such a technical task to get it to do what it does.
- The gyros are built and prepared for installation
here in Pennsylvania.
- The most interesting part of this
is these hydraulic cylinders.
And they are computer controlled to regulate
that precession motion, to keep it in phase
with the rolling motions of the boat.
- The open water was calling,
so we met up on their boat at a nearby lake
to sample the technology.
We started at the dock with human-made rocking.
I'm no engineer, but I can tell,
that this is not very steady.
- So calm it.
- Okay, engage gyro.
No way, that is just bonkers.
Look at this, you guys are still going.
You can't do it.
Even though it was a calm lake,
we tried to make some waves anyway.
So we're just make some waves,
and then we're gonna shut 'em off, essentially.
Oh my gosh, whoa.
Wow, oh my gosh, how are we not rocking?
I mean, I realize that that's a complex answer
involving physics and engineering,
but that is nice, wow!
(upbeat music)