Mysterious "Spider Boat"

These pictures were taken in the Port of Ilwaco on the Washington State coast. The crew wore civilian clothes but guarded the boat closely and would not answer any questions. It was suggested it may be something Boeing is working on. The pontoons appear to be made of very thick rubber and may be fuel cells. Note that each of the steel spider-like legs are jointed in three places. Perhaps the boat can be lowered in calm seas and raised when it is rough. The boat had no name or number...



A friend who lives there said it arrived out of the fog the night before.


Rivrdog's new yacht?



The crew would not say who they were or where they were from, and were not allowed to discuss the craft. Notice how the rear of the cabin can be lowered into the water but has a very small prop .

One man stayed on the float at all times ... none wore uniforms.



Looking a bit like the bridge of a spacecraft, the mystery vessel's cockpit hangs about 15 feet above the water.

Then on October 6, in San Francisco Bay:

Today's photo of the day is of Marina Bay's newest tenant. A number of readers alerted us to the arrival of this unique craft on Tuesday, so we did some research - or at least tried to. Precious little is publicly available about this craft, but we were able to dig up a few facts: It was designed by prolific Bay Area yacht designer Jim Antrim from Ugo Conti's original concept; it's 100 feet long and 50 feet wide; it's powered by twin diesel engines; the inflatable hulls were built by Arcata's Wing Inflatables; the craft was assembled in Anacortes, WA (where it was spotted several times during apparent sea trials); and it's capable of crossing oceans with "as much, if not more, stability than a normal catamaran," according to Jim Antrim.

As we were snapping this shot a fellow gawker noted, "It looks like a windshield wiper." In reality, it's one of four gigantic shock absorbers.

It's all very hush-hush, but a press conference is forthcoming in the next few weeks that will hopefully answer the most pressing question: "What's it for?" We'll let you know as soon as we find out, built.

Followup: Several places on the web seem to have just about the same information on this interesting craft, but some big questions remain unanswered, such as who owns it, and what do they plan to use it for?. I found one picture that shows the "Aft Cabin" section being a separate unit that can be used as a launch. The picture also shows the craft in motion and by the amount of water thrown up astern, it looks like it's a jetboat, rather than conventional propellers. Although the legs are attached to the hulls with large leaf springs, I don't see any damping, or shock absorbers. I wonder why not?
This post is from an email from MaryS. Original source is not known......