with Peter Sinclair
Ross: "WindSled is moving – this is incredible! amount of gear and people now cruising across the ice without fossil fuel. My mind is blown! pic.twitter.com/Z4Kr8VtxJS
— Jason Box (@climate_ice) May 26, 2017
First phase of Field season 2017 is already underway.
Dark Snow Project is supporting Snow Chemist Ross Edwards in an ice sheet transit via the amazing Wind Sled – a new initiative in Green Science in the arctic.
Fundraiser is still going on, almost to our goal – see post elsewhere on this page.
Phase 2 will be when I go to Greenland in July, more on that as plans gel.
Jason Box has been tweeting out Ross’s updates from the ice.
Ross Edwards: "We're followed by a large seagull. The joke is that it's following a polar bear and is waiting for the scraps." #IceRiver2017 pic.twitter.com/6K0SWB7JMc
— Jason Box (@climate_ice) May 29, 2017
Ross: "We've sailed 120km from start point! Now first @DarkSnowProject pit, smashing through 2012 ice layer with axe. #IceRiver2017 pic.twitter.com/Vhhb5CSsEA
— Jason Box (@climate_ice) May 28, 2017
.@PolarOuroboros satellite SMS from #IceRiver2017: "I feel like a character in a novel; on another Earth, sailing across its melting ice cap pic.twitter.com/IcTw4pv7xD
— Jason Box (@climate_ice) May 29, 2017
Ross Edwards: WindSled "sailing to next site. Surface is rougher. Feels like repeated punch to back. Greenland fight club!" #IceRiver2017
— Jason Box (@climate_ice) May 29, 2017
"The sharpest climate denier debunker on YouTube."
- TreeHugger
"@PeterWSinclair is a national treasure." - Brad Johnson, Publisher Hill Heat
May 30, 2017 at 6:38 am
Amazing! Such a simple and clever solution!
May 30, 2017 at 4:54 pm
If “Mad Max” is set in a hot post-apocalyptic environment, then this is “Mad Min” in a cold pre-apocalyptic environment!
May 31, 2017 at 9:08 am
LOL
The WindSled is indeed a clever idea and appears to work quite well. When working against the wind, does it “tack” by sending the kite off to the side?
June 1, 2017 at 6:05 am
Yes, I’m pretty sure it can tack though probably not as well as an ocean yacht.
Parafoil kites are only really effective within a 45° cone downwind, so going against the wind would be a struggle and require a lot of tacking for little gain.
I expect they will just have to wait for favourable winds for the return journey, or just continue and be extracted on the other side.
June 1, 2017 at 7:28 am
Looked it up, and the WindSled has made some quite long trips—-out and back in triangular circuits—so it does appear that it tacks well enough.