As of summer, 2011, the Interstellar Pleasure Barge has been permanently decommissioned.
We've removed everything except the base structural platform and a couple minor drive control subsystems and have, by and large, converted the barge back into a van.
The disposition of the van is still up-in-the-air. I find having a cargo van at my disposal super handy; but I don't really have a lot of space in which to store it. If there were someone who wanted to turn it into a new mutant vehicle I would be amenable to hearing their offer. I could even be persuaded to throw in the remote drive control system.
Not to fear: I, along with my brother, have plans for an entirely new, built-from-scratch, mutant vehicle that we hope to unveil at Burning Man 2012 (unless it gets cancelled, of course).
Everything on this site has been preserved as an archive of the IBP's four-year life.
Awesome Upper Facade
8/11/2009 8:44 PM
My brother and I put together a really cool looking curved facade around the upper platform. I'm pretty excited about how it turned out. We'll be able to do it even better next year!
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New Stairs
6/4/2009 3:07 PM
I've removed the old stair system and am half-way through building the new one. The new stairway will be an even slope from the ground to the deck (as opposed to two treacherous slopes as it was before) and will hopefully be significantly lighter. Instead of folding onto the deck (when transforming into a van) these stairs will slide (perhaps on little casters?). Also, the steps themselves I'm hoping to make a little nicer looking and better built-in lighting.
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New Fore Deck
5/25/2009 10:21 PM
My original vision had a semi-circular deck at the fore of the barge. I don't know why I didn't build this in the first place. Probably because a simple rectangle is easier and faster. Anyway, I spent today replacing the fore section of the deck with a semi-circle. You can see some of the pictures over yonder. I still have to carpet the deck and re-build the railing. Hopefully I can knock those things out in a couple hours tomorrow morning.
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Deconstruction
5/21/2009 9:16 PM
I started deconstruction this evening. I need to pull off all the panels and lights, pull all the wiring and cut off some of the steel railings so that I can change the observation deck layout.
I also discovered that the wooden benches did not fare the winter so well so I want to replace them with steel ones (or, at least, steel framed benches).
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New Season Begins
5/16/2009 6:33 PM
I had the van in for some basic maintenance and it got a clean bill of health. That means that in a couple weeks I can begin this season's construction without hesitation. Improvements for this year include a new fore-deck, a shorter (perhaps) aft-deck, new (lighter and even sloped!) stairway, entirely different facade, better (ie, louder) sound, fantastic lighting, a new roof, and maybe some improvements to the drive control (it would be nice to be able to shift and to start/stop the engine from remote).
Oh, and maybe I'll try to keep this site somewhat more up-to-date this year.
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First Lighting
8/8/2008 7:17 PM
 Over the past couple days my brother and I built the structure for the folding roof and began covering it. It folds down on top of the railings and it works really well! Unfortunately, he made the roof an extra 18 inches longer than we had talked about so the fabric I bought came up a little short. I'll have to hunt down some more of that white vinyl before we can finish the roof.
And today I installed the first lights (of many). I will now continue to install as many lights as I possible can before the end of this coming weekend.
Also pictured is my garage/workshop. The Ryobi tablesaw in the foreground choose today to stop working. Good thing it's my birthday in a couple days. Maybe I can get my dad to buy me a new one!
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roof
lights
Panels Nearly Done
7/31/2008 12:17 PM
 I've got nearly all the base panels designed, constructed and mounted. There's a little niggardly work to do in the aft of the barge but, with luck, I should be able to knock that out in a day (provided it's a non-raining day).
I'm attending my brother's wedding this weekend and, upon my return, I will dedicate my remaining time to lighting and the control system. With some luck, I might be able to trick my (other) brother into building a roof for the barge.
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nearly_all_panels
side_panels
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