The proposed seastead features a 39-foot equilateral triangle frame enclosing a 7-foot high living area, topped with solar. It utilizes a small waterline area design similar to a semi-submersible, but with far less drag thanks to three 13-foot NACA 0030 foil-shaped legs/floats. Each leg is 50% submerged, contains a built-in ladder on the exposed front, and is equipped with two RIM drive thrusters. Active stability is provided by three tail-stabilizer units (using a servo-tab actuator design). The rear includes a 14-foot RIB dinghy with an electric Yamaha HARMO outboard, flanked by 5-foot extending decks. The vessel can be anchored via helical mooring screws and tension legs, and multiple seasteads can connect inline to form a community.
Secure funding, pick a naval architect, and have preliminary discussions.
Work out rough estimates for the design with the help of AIs to narrow down which type of design might work well and be affordable.
Make a scale model and test in scale waves. Includes testing for stability, heave, pitch, roll, and cable stress. Return to Step 1 if results are not good enough.
Do CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations on local computers to check design (with AI help).
Before final engineering, determine the exact classification society and flag state (Anguilla/Panama) requirements. Map out necessary safety equipment (bilge pumps, fire suppression, life rafts, navigation lights per COLREGs), structural scantling rules, and electrical standards to ensure the design passes regulatory inspection on the first attempt.
Once a good general concept is established, the naval architect will engineer the real, production-ready design.
Design the internal layout within the 7-foot ceiling constraint. Plan the routing of plumbing, electrical, and network cables. Ensure weight distribution of internal components (water tanks, batteries, solar charge controllers) aligns with the center of gravity and buoyancy calculations required by the naval architect.
Develop and bench-test the software for the active stabilizers, RIM drive thrusters, kite power control, and remote-control drone operations. Ensure the control system architecture has hardware redundancy and failsafes for man-overboard or system failure scenarios.
Prior to sea trials, the flag state or classification society surveyor must inspect the assembled vessel to issue its initial certification. Without this, legal sea trials (especially those involving crew or remote navigation) may be prohibited.
Testing all onboard systems and redundancy modes. Priorities:
Refine and optimize the structural, mechanical, and living-space designs based on rigorous real-world sea trial data.
Establish standard operating procedures (SOPs) for routine maintenance (e.g., biofouling removal from the NACA foils and RIM drives, solar panel cleaning, seal checks on the stabilizer actuators). Create a supply chain plan for replacement parts to support future customers operating far from shore.
Develop production models for customers. Establish marketing, sales, user-training, and delivery pipelines for the commercial versions of the seastead.