Roehrig Wheelsea

Wheelsea is a home-built amphibious conversion of a yellow school bus by Mark Roehrig of Louisville, Kentucky, who earlier built the Amphigeo. The idea took shape in November 2003 and building started in early 2004, with the aim of becoming only the second amphibious vehicle to circumnavigate the globe, following the jeep Half-Safe. Roehrig was later joined by his first mate, Chad Hayes.

Construction

The bus was given steel hull sections along its sides, each supporting one of six 200-gallon (about 760-litre) displacement tanks. A bank of valves lets each tank be vented, blown clear of water with air, or sealed. A 500-gallon fuel tank was fitted, and the hull sections, tanks and fuel tank together added more than 1,800 kg of steel. The bow was extended and strengthened, filled with foam for buoyancy and given a deep chain locker for an anchor. The gaps around the rear wheels were plated in, and the steering column was given a home-made watertight seal where it passes through the firewall.

On top, a 16 x 8 ft (4.9 x 2.4 m) sundeck with tall folding railings was built, reached by a catwalk and a roof hatch taken from a city bus. Inside are folding crew bunks over two 100-gallon water tanks, a shortened school-bus passenger seat and plexiglass storm covers for the windows. The rear emergency door was cut and hinged like a gull wing. To keep things simple, the original 6.9-litre diesel was to be mounted on the floor inside, as on the Amphigeo, leaving space underneath for a propeller shaft.

History

The project attracted local press and television coverage, sponsors such as a foam-insulation supplier, and an article in Ocean Navigator (July/August 2004). On 18 November 2004 Wheelsea was towed to a boat ramp at Cox's Park in Louisville for its first flotation test; after a christening it entered the river with six people aboard and floated successfully. At that point the marine propulsion had not yet been installed.