Rusty the Junk - Problem Solving

Any hands-on boat owner knows the need for inventive solutions, and a large dose of lateral thinking. Building a boat just magnifies the requirement.

A lot of these problems have been solved before (often many times, in different ways) by boat builders in the past. However that does not mean that there may not be new approaches, maybe utilising new materials or equipment, that are in some ways better.

There are general techniques for problem solving, and they apply as well to boat building as they do in other fields. These approaches are very rarely used alone, and there is often a lot of overlap between the different approaches.

Modelling	Make a model of the problem/solution. This can be a physical model, a computer model or even a thought experiment although best if it is written up, so as not to lose it. This is good for testing possible solutions and examining the effects of changing the problem slightly.
Trial and error	Especially in combination with a model of the solution, try it, change the model and try it again.
Iterative approach	Having got a potential solution, keep moving it a little closer to a good solution. An obvious application of this being, making a template of a difficult shape. One cuts the template oversize, then progressively cuts away small parts until it fits well.
Rephrasing the problem	It has been said that every problem contains its own solution. One of the descriptions of Mathematics, is that it is about stating the problem in various different 'languages' until the solution becomes obvious. An example of this might be: We want to take our bicycles with us on board, there is always space on Rusty's decks somewhere, however it is difficult to pick one spot that isn't going to be needed at some time, for something else. If we rephrase the problem to, we want to carry our bicycles with us, we start to think about other situations where bicycles are carried. On the back of an SUV for example. So maybe the solution might be to get bicycle carriers and mount them on the stern of Rusty. There are better examples of this but I just can't think of them at the moment.
Divide and Conquer	One of the classic problem solving methods. Try to divide up the problem into smaller problems then try to solve each of those. It may be that not all these sub solutions will fit together, however it will often lead a long way toward an overall solution.
Analogy	This is especially useful in areas, where one lacks expertise. If one can see a similarity between the problem and something that one does know about, then similar approaches may work.
Research	Obvious really, especially with the Internet. Find out all you can about the problem and other peoples solutions to it. The chance that you are the only one to have met this problem are almost zero. BUT, bear in mind that people posting on the Internet, often know as little as you do, or quite possibly less. So ALWAYS try out their solutions and ideas if possible, before adopting them.
Sleep on it	An old favourite, but still a good one. After you have done all you research and applied as many of the other approaches as seem appropriate, stop. Let a day or two pass and then think about it again. It is surprising how often one has different insights, after one's subconscious has done its thing.
Lateral thinking	Here we are essentially thinking of approaches that change or possibly even remove the problem. An example: Because we have hydraulic steering Power is transmitted from the wheel to the rudder by hydraulics. The wheel acts as a hydraulic pump, and there is a ram attached to the rudder that acts as a hydraulic motor. Two steering positions are both connected to the ram, via non-return valves. and two steering positions, we cannot tell from the wheel, what position the rudder is in. There are ways to do this by the addition of a sensor and an indicator, but as always things like this add expense and complexity. However we plan to have an emergency steering system, that comprises a shaft directly connected to the top of the rudder. This will come out on deck, ready for a tiller Essentially a big wooden stick. to be attached. Obviously this shaft will follow the direction of the rudder, so if we mount an arrow on the top, we have a rudder indicator. Problem gone.
Listing	Make a physical list of every approach that you can think of. This is important for several reasons. To avoid being committed to one approach too soon. More ludicrous ideas may trigger good ideas. Easier for brainstorming with other people. When your first plan fails, you still have the list to refer to.

It helps to apply specific techniques and general experience from other areas of your life, whether it be business, arts or even housework. Our expertise is computer programming. This gives us quite a lot of experience with problem solving, using the general techniques above.

Being very comfortable with computers, led us to use them far more than the average boat builder might. A prime example of this being the 3d model, that we created.

Another tool we use professionally is critical path analysis, which maps out the tasks which have to be finished before a particular event, and the order in which they have to happen.
An example:
To make a cup of tea, you need a cup, a tea bag, and a kettle of boiling water. You need to fill the kettle with water before you boil it, and its easier to get the cup before the tea bag, otherwise you’re holding the tea bag while you find a cup. Also, while you don’t absolutely need a teaspoon before you add the boiling water to the tea bag in the cup, if you don’t have it ready you run the risk of the tea getting too strong while you search for it.
We didn’t use this technique very much, except as we came up to the three big milestones; painting, launching and shake-down sail.
It doesn’t usually produce any startling revelations, but it helps clarify things.

I’ve lost count of the things I assumed would be easy, only to find it’s not true. These range from insurance (a lot of companies don’t do builder’s insurance) to stainless steel staples (I had to buy over the Internet – minimum order about 10 times what I needed – I couldn’t find anybody local who had even heard of such a thing. DO NOT use mild steel staples on a boat, no matter how dry it is. They WILL rust.) Some of these things could have been solved if we had looked sufficiently far ahead – if we had made the rudder shaft ¼ inch less in diameter we could have had an off the shelf tiller arm A bronze arm that attaches the end of the ram to the top of the rudder. for a third of the price and 1/100th of the time. But you can’t pre-guess everything, so just accept that these problems will occur, and try to allow enough time to fix the unexpected.

Estimating time-scales.
Work out how long it could possibly take if everything goes wrong, then double it. If you have some kind of chain of command, each foreman or manager in the chain, should double the figure, before passing it up. If you do this conscientiously, you will be very close.
This sounds like a joke, but it’s true!
On the plus side, sometimes thing are easier than you expect. Not often, but it happens.

Sometimes its best to just go with a temporary bodge. As with all these things, the perfect solution can pop into your head a week later, when you’re not even thinking about the problem. Or subsequent events mean the whole thing has to be done a different way anyway. But if you do bodge it, you must keep thinking about a good solution. Write it down. Keep a list. Forget it, and it’ll come back to haunt you in the middle of the ocean. And it doesn’t work for problems in inaccessible locations – the top of the mast, under the water or just too many fittings to be removed.