Posted in Boat, Enviroment, Posts by Nick on Apr 29th, 2011
For anyone who is interested you can find an article about our Northwest Passage on a shoestring in the May edition of SAIL magazine, page 12. The article highlights our voyage, the unique aspects of polar sailing and our environmental approach.
Enjoy!
Posted in Planning, Posts by Nick on Apr 24th, 2011
I have been doing research on our voyage from Iceland to Greenland and it sounds like some very challenging sailing! The northern route east to west is even more difficult than west to east. I have collected the following information from various sources.
Posted in Boat, Heat, Insulation, Posts by Edvin on Apr 21st, 2011
We are very proud to present our newest expedition partner Webasto!
With the Arctic climate promising to keep everything, including us, nice and cool the issue of heating has always been a central safety and comfort issue throughout our planning. Thanks to Webasto a hightech airborne solution has been found in their Webasto Evo 3900 air heater witch delivers 4kW of heat. The heater will be installed with three outlets giving us an even heat throughout the boat allowing us to keep warm and dry our foul weather gear in the wet lockers and head.
The Evo 3900 meets all our stringent demands of being a powerful, durable heater with great electrical and fuel efficiency. The heater can be run while heeling and can cope with the turbulence caused by the sails. As mentioned before heating the boat is both a safety and comfort concern and we now have pecace of mind having Webasto as part of our team. If you would like to have more information regarding their wide array of products visit them here at http://www.webasto-marine.com/
Pictures and posts about the installation to follow in the near future.
Posted in Boat, Engine, Posts by Edvin on Apr 21st, 2011
Finally it was time to lift out the old engine. The MD2B measures 90 cm from flywheel to reverse gear but the engine hatch in the cockpit is only 70cm making the operation quite complicated. I had read about Monsun owners who had been forced to drag the 230kg engine into the cabin to be able to lift it through the doorway. I was not to keen on the idea and was worried that i might destroy the interior woodwork, so I started the process of reducing the engine. After dis attaching all electrical connections and hoses I dismounted the heat exchanger, generator and starter. Soon I discovered that it still wouldn’t be enough and reinforcements had to be called in. My father who has had a very vocal opinion on the motor exchange issue drove down from Varberg to give me a hand.
We started off with the fuel intake which is placed right behind the reverse gear making it impossible to slide the engine backwards. Its made from a copper pipe which is attached to the tank top with a collar nut but there was no room to reach it with a wrench so we had to cut a notch into the nut and punch it with a hammer and chisel.
Next up was the flywheel. Since it sits on a conical shaft with a 55mm nut and hadn’t been removed in 30 years we had to put some effort into it. We heated the nut with gas and a heat gun for a good 40 minutes before we started to work it. Finally it came off after putting the weight of two people on the extended wrench handle. According to the service manual the nut was tightened with 500 nm but it took at least double that to remove it. We made a puller tool from four iron bars and attached it to the threaded holes of the belt pulley, pushing the shaft out of the flywheel. After a lot of turning the 30 kg wheel came off with a bang.
Than we attached a chainlift to a wooden crossbar in the cockpit. A few hours later the engine was hanging above the hatch ready to be hooked to the mobile crane.
Posted in Boat, Communication, Posts by Nick, Safety on Apr 19th, 2011
After entering Kannad Marine’s Adventure Competition last month we received word today that our expedition has been named the winner of the Safelink Solo PLB (EPIRB) giveaway! Northwest passage on a shoestring has been featured on the Kannad Marine website and press release which can be seen by clicking here.
Thank you for choosing our voyage in the Adventure Competition Giveaway!
Posted in Enviroment, Posts by Nick on Apr 18th, 2011
The WWF positioned 1,000 ice sculptures on steps in the German capital to highlight climate change in the arcticWith every piece of planning information I collect regarding our voyage to the Arctic I am constantly amazed how my research always leads me back to the dramatic effects that have taken place in the Arctic due to climate change and the threat that one of our last great expanses of nature is under. As highlighted before one of the purposes of our voyage is to highlight environmental change in the Arctic and its effects and the implications it has on the local cultures and the world.
In order to highlight issues surrounding climate change and bring attention to the dramatic changes taking place in the Arctic we plan on attempting a unique route that has just cleared of ice that no boat has ever taken. We will also be making modifications to our sailboat to sail in the most environmentally friendly way possible and offset our carbon emissions.
Over the next few months we will be highlighting on our website our work to modify Belzebub to make it a “Green Boat” to help inspire ecologically friendly travel. We will offset our emissions throughout the voyage and use the offset funds to support an organization working to protect the Arctic. Finally we will highlight, by attempting to sail a unique route that has just cleared of ice, various climate issues affecting the Arctic region.
For more information on the Arctic and climate change we highly recommend visiting the WWF’s website by clicking here , their work to protect the Arctic has been exemplery!
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