Alameda County Exhibit - Page 1 | 2  

Besides the five boats, the exhibit featured this windsurfer. Kristin modeled him, and I animated him.

I constructed a blue chunk of foam for the water he was on, then mounted that to a block of wood at the end of a spring. For about two hours I struggled to get him to move convincingly, but he kept wanting to fall over or stand completely still. 

Finally I struck upon the answer: I attached a bunch of weight below the spring, which swung around like a pendulum. With an electric fan blowing on the pendulum, the windsurfer (nicknamed Rob) bobbed back and forth beautifully.. almost frantically.

This was my greatest accomplishment all month at the fair, animating a 14" windsurfer. What a crazy job.

These black fans blew on the back of the Livermore windmills. The fans only spun half of the windmills, but that was good enough. Half of those windmills never move in real life anyway.

Sometimes the boats bunched up behind the slowest boat, which concerned observers.

I was happy to see them go at all, so this didn't bother me. 

The view from above.

Alameda county came together as I added signs, photos, maps, dressing and products to the display. It was bursting with information and color. 

A low fence was built to keep people from molesting the boats, but they still tossed pebbles. 

The Alameda county exhibit got a gold medal. It was a success! A lot depended on those little boats going around in a circle during judging. I guess they worked!

The display was fun and held visitors' attention. Because the boats were hidden for half of their trip, people would stop and wait to see what kind of boat would come out next. 

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