Rum_Pirate
Well-Known Member
I found it incredible that more people have been into space than have sailed around the world singlehandedly.
Going into space v sailing solo around the world
- Thread starter Rum_Pirate
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macd
Well-Known Member
I find it incredible that, as of now, over six times as many people have been into space as have read this thread. And all before breakfast 
But yes, it does put solo circumnavigations into some sort of perspective. I wonder which is safer to attempt. It's pretty obvious which is the more dangerous to fail.
But yes, it does put solo circumnavigations into some sort of perspective. I wonder which is safer to attempt. It's pretty obvious which is the more dangerous to fail.
taifun
Active Member
Where did the second quote originate from?
Clearly from someone who had not done his homework.
Check this page http://www.joshuaslocumsocietyintl.org/solo/solotable.htm
Who keeps track of singlehanders round the world? I would say that there are a lot of cruising singlehanders not accounted for in any kind of lists. There is no "obligation" to report to anyone, and most of us don't care about such things.
rhinorhino
Well-Known Member
I think the statistic was number of people who had sailed; "non-stop" round the world, via both great capes, the wrong way (IE against the prevailing winds) was less than the number of men who had walked on the moon or sometimes the number who had gone into space. Now that I can believe.
Seajet
...
Well it'll soon be a lot easier - if a tad expensive - to get into space than sail round the world, thanks to designer Burt Rutan and Richard Branson's space tourism venture, William Shatner - Captain Kirk - was one of the first to sign up.
I heard yesterday we just lost Scott Carpenter, pioneer astronaut and aquanaut...as most people know, the 5 Thunderbirds pilot characters were named after him and his colleagues; I can think of no better tribute !
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24485864
I heard yesterday we just lost Scott Carpenter, pioneer astronaut and aquanaut...as most people know, the 5 Thunderbirds pilot characters were named after him and his colleagues; I can think of no better tribute !
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24485864
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r_h
Well-Known Member
This is one of the most erroneous paragraphs I've ever seen about the history solo circumnavigations.
Slocum only ever made one and was lost at sea in 1909. There's no mention of Harry Pidgeon, who completed two single-handed circumnavigations, one in the 1920s and one in the 30s. Similarly, Vito Dumas, who circumnavigated in the early 40s is not mentioned.
oldvarnish
Well-Known Member
stu9000
Well-Known Member
Ah Robin Lee Graham,,, that was Dove wasn't it? Fantastic book.
Ex-SolentBoy
Well-Known Member
And film. Deborah Raffin. Yummee.
The answer to your original question is simple. One is government funded, the other isn't.
Douglas T
Well-Known Member
You do have to clarify the type of solo passage as there could well be thousands of them.
I met 6 other solo sailers during my trip.
Douglas Thomson
First person to cruise solo round the world, via Panama Canal, Flying a Scottish Red Ensign.
I met 6 other solo sailers during my trip.
Douglas Thomson
First person to cruise solo round the world, via Panama Canal, Flying a Scottish Red Ensign.
maby
Well-Known Member
Did anyone notice that, according to Wikipedia, around about a dozen have walked round the world? Admittedly, not clear what they did about the Atlantic, but serious stuff no matter how you look at it!
AntarcticPilot
Well-Known Member
It's not even apples and oranges - the two activities are just not comparable.
If I wanted, I could set off round the world on my own tomorrow. I have a boat that could do it; so do vast numbers of other people. I have an income that (if I were to decide that was what I wanted) would allow me to do it (my wife might have something to say about it, though!). The problems I would encounter from beaurocracy would probably exceed the difficulties of actually doing the circumnavigation
The point is, a solo circumnavigation is within the reach of large numbers of people, and mostly we simply decide we aren't going to do it. Further, no-one is keeping count of those who just set off and do it! My hero is Alec Rose, who just got on and did his circumnavigation and was a bit surprised at all the fuss afterwards, rather than Francis Chichester who did it with a great deal of bally-hoo and publicity.
If I wanted to go into space, I could EITHER fork out a very large amount of money (even on the nice Mr Branson's sub-orbital hop), or (if I were a lot younger) join a space programme and hope that one day my number would come up in the lottery for places on a mission. Unless I was a top-notch test-pilot, I wouldn't fancy my chances of the latter, though. We hear about the Apollo astronauts who got to the moon - we don't hear about the ones who trained just as hard for just as long and didn't get a flight (admittedly, a lot of them went on to join the Shuttle programme). And although Mr Branson intends to make a brief sub-orbital hop affordable for the very wealthy, that is a far cry from getting into orbit - which is about an order of magnitude harder. I guess we might see orbital hotels in my lifetime (see Biggelow Aerospace (http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/)), but the cost of the ticket won't be cheap enough for ordinary people any time soon.
Finally, getting round the world is something I could do within the resources available to me. I wouldn't need any infrastructure beyond that available in thousands of ports round the world. To go into space requires an enormous organization behind the scenes, and there is no way I could buy or build a space-ship and set off into the blue on my own as 1950s Sci-Fi novels so often depicted! If there is a nautical comparison, we should compare space flight with the great exploratory voyages of the Portugese navigators, Columbus or Cook.
If I wanted, I could set off round the world on my own tomorrow. I have a boat that could do it; so do vast numbers of other people. I have an income that (if I were to decide that was what I wanted) would allow me to do it (my wife might have something to say about it, though!). The problems I would encounter from beaurocracy would probably exceed the difficulties of actually doing the circumnavigation
The point is, a solo circumnavigation is within the reach of large numbers of people, and mostly we simply decide we aren't going to do it. Further, no-one is keeping count of those who just set off and do it! My hero is Alec Rose, who just got on and did his circumnavigation and was a bit surprised at all the fuss afterwards, rather than Francis Chichester who did it with a great deal of bally-hoo and publicity.If I wanted to go into space, I could EITHER fork out a very large amount of money (even on the nice Mr Branson's sub-orbital hop), or (if I were a lot younger) join a space programme and hope that one day my number would come up in the lottery for places on a mission. Unless I was a top-notch test-pilot, I wouldn't fancy my chances of the latter, though. We hear about the Apollo astronauts who got to the moon - we don't hear about the ones who trained just as hard for just as long and didn't get a flight (admittedly, a lot of them went on to join the Shuttle programme). And although Mr Branson intends to make a brief sub-orbital hop affordable for the very wealthy, that is a far cry from getting into orbit - which is about an order of magnitude harder. I guess we might see orbital hotels in my lifetime (see Biggelow Aerospace (http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/)), but the cost of the ticket won't be cheap enough for ordinary people any time soon.
Finally, getting round the world is something I could do within the resources available to me. I wouldn't need any infrastructure beyond that available in thousands of ports round the world. To go into space requires an enormous organization behind the scenes, and there is no way I could buy or build a space-ship and set off into the blue on my own as 1950s Sci-Fi novels so often depicted! If there is a nautical comparison, we should compare space flight with the great exploratory voyages of the Portugese navigators, Columbus or Cook.
SamanthaTabs
Well-Known Member
Crewing for a very wealthy couple several years ago, he'd already crossed many of the seas and wanted some "excitement" so paid for (deposit probably at that early stage) the Branson trip. His wife was not happy, swmbos be aware - apparently life insurance won't pay out
BurnitBlue
Well-Known Member
There was a US submarine that circumnavigated in less than an hour. Underwater, at the North pole crossing all lines of longitude to arrive back at their departure point.
nimbusgb
Well-Known Member
One can do it in about 3 seconds by holding on to a post planted at the pole and simply walking around in a circle.
Unfortunately a true circumnavigation needs at least 2 transits of the equator.
interloper
Well-Known Member
I just saw the new Sandra Bullock/George Clooney movie. I've withdrawn my application for astronaut training. I'll now focus on singlehanded circumnavigation. I hope the new Robert Redford movie doesn't make me change my mind.
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AntarcticPilot
Well-Known Member
One can do it in about 3 seconds by holding on to a post planted at the pole and simply walking around in a circle.
Unfortunately a true circumnavigation needs at least 2 transits of the equator.
The post planted at the South Pole is the "ceremonial pole", with all the flags around it The actual pole of rotation is a few tens of metres away (not sure exactly how many - it might be a couple of hundred metres), and the marker is replaced every year as it moves. I know the guy who used to relocate the marker, and he gave me a reproduction of one year's marker as a paper-weight!
Of course, I know quite a few people who have circumnavigated the world by waliking round the marker a few times! And as most of them are from the northern hemisphere, they will have crossed the equator twice going and coming from Antarctica
For those who haven't come across it before, the poles of rotation of the Earth are constantly moving in a combination of regular and irregular components. The ice at the South Pole is also in constant (slow) motion. That's why the marker for the "real" pole needs relocating every year, and why the ceremonial pole (which has a lot of trappings) is a fixed location.
The system of latitudes and longitudes we use are tied to a framework that is provided by a set of observatories round the world.
BurnitBlue
Well-Known Member
One can do it in about 3 seconds by holding on to a post planted at the pole and simply walking around in a circle.
Unfortunately a true circumnavigation needs at least 2 transits of the equator.
Who said? How about a true north to south circumnavigation keeping to one line of longitude going north and its reciprical 180 degrees going south. Two transits of the equator but no crossing of all lines of longitude.
Buck Turgidson
Well-Known Member
We flew around true north back in 91. A couple of boats came to join in the fun! Getting there and back was a bit of a do what with AAR and grid navigation but we cracked it in the end. Some years later when flying Tristars someone hit upon the idea of doing a pole to pole circumnavigation which would have been a blast but we couldn't get the funding :-(
chinita
Well-Known Member
I saw it last week too.
Just about bearable up until the point when she glided through the Chinese Space Station.
Just in case we did not know it was Chinese, they had a Table Tennis Bat floating around (pretty useful in a weightless atmosphere).
But, hey...... how else are they going to get the message across!