In one of the most hilarious cases of being tripped up by dubious scientific hype, British yachtsman Adrian Flanagan attempted to be the first to sail across the arctic north of Russia. He based his hope on the fact that he believed in the Global Warming propaganda that the arctic is rapidly losing its ice thus making his trip possible. One little problem. Cold cruel reality has crushed the Global Warming hype and now Flanagan's boat is trapped by ice in the arctic. To add to the irony, Flanagan who seems to be destined to go down in history as Wrong Way Flanagan, is now pleading with Russian authorities to provide him with the services of a nuclear powered icebreaker to get him out of his embarrassing situation.
As recently as August 18, Wrong Way Flanagan's hopes were still high that he could sail across the arctic north of Russia. Moscow News announced his trip in an article ironically titled, Global Warming is Here.
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Flash forward to today and we can see the sticky situation that Wrong Way Flanagan put himself into by placing his faith in Global Warming to clear his path in the arctic as chronicled by Australia's Herald Sun in an article with the sobering title of Ice blocks British solo sailor:
A BRITISH yachtsman attempting the first solo Arctic sea passage across northern Russia was examining his options after heavier than expected ice blocked his route, his manager said.
Adrian Flanagan is discussing with Russian authorities the possibility of using a nuclear-powered icebreaker to lift his boat out of the water and carry it round the most icebound stretch of Russia's Northern Sea Route.
...He had hoped that his 11m reinforced yacht would be able to get all the way to Europe due to lighter ice conditions observed in recent years, thought to be a result of global warming.
But after making his way through the Chukchi, East Siberian and Laptev Seas, Flanagan has been forced to a halt by heavy ice at the most difficult point in the route, the Vilkitsky Strait.
...Flanagan is now anchored by an island just east of the Vilkitsky Strait, still hoping for the ice to clear but working on the backup plan, his manager said.
She described the yachtsman's mood as “pretty fed-up”.
But here is the funniest part:
Ostrov Peschanyy is a bleak, featureless island that is little more than a sand spit rising a few metres above sea level. It's a resting place for walrus and Western Arctic Marine Operations HQ have advised Adrian to keep a careful watch for polar bears hunting walrus there.
I love it!
4 comments:
As you have decided to publish your views based on other factually mis-informed blogs regarding Adrian’s Expedition I am taking the liberty of filling you in ..... that way if you decide to follow your last one up and write something accurate, you will be able to enlighten everyone else.
Here is an accurate synopsis as published at http://bsd.firetrench.com/
The Alpha Global Expedition has never had anything to do with a belief in Global Warming nor is Adrian ‘an environmentalist’. Adrian Flanagan is not trapped in ice and has not pleaded for rescue by an ice breaker.
Adrian sailed from Britain in October 2005 in a titanium steel sloop Barrabas at the start of an epic attempt to make the first vertical circumnavigation by sea in history, by any sailor, or crew, in any kind of boat.
He sailed South down the Atlantic to Antarctica, rounded Cape Horn against wind and current into the Pacific.
He sailed North towards the Arctic.
Failure of the prop shaft cutless bearing approaching the Aleutians - can only be replaced by taking the boat out of the water, or using a diver - required him to divert to Nome, Alaska for the failed bearing to be replaced. That, together with early reforming of ice in the Arctic, meant the boat had to be stored ashore in Nome for the Winter of 2006/7.
Adrian returned this summer and put Barrabas back in the water, sailing to Provideniya, Chukotka Province, Russia.
Given the only permission ever for a lone sailor to navigate the Russian Northern Sea Route without even an escort, Flanagan sailed through the Bering Strait and turned West for home. He arrived at his planned holding point half way along the NSR three weeks ahead of schedule. He has been holding, waiting for a promised brief window of opportunity to pass through the PVK Strait. He, the Russians, and everyone else with any knowledge knew this section of the route would be extremely difficult. MDA/KSAT are providing daily high definition satellite images and the Russian Arctic Research Institute AARI is providing expert interpretation, with the Russian Western Arctic Marine Operations HQ in Murmansk providing NSR support.
Getting a lift (from whatever vessel is available) if conditions are not right is the sensible and responsible thing to do. Adrian does not want to endanger his life and he certainly does not want to endanger the lives of anyone else should he need to be rescued.
I hope this has clarified the situation for you.
Best wishes,
Louise Flanagan
Expedition Manager
Alpha Global Expedition
01844 202878/07710 577099
Skype: alphaglobalex
For all expedition news including background, photos and BLOG visit:
www.alphaglobalex.com
blog: www.agx.firetrench.com
Hate to have to break this to you, I can't find one thing about his view on Global Warming. So...
I did not visit www.alphaglobalex.com before I did the story. I did however find two stories from Global Warming websites that were using this trip to argue for warming. These stories can not be accessed now. If they were using this to promote their cause without his permission, I apologize.
>>>>I did however find two stories from Global Warming websites that were using this trip to argue for warming. These stories can not be accessed now
That doesn't surprise me, alot of thing are removed from some not to be named sites.
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