Indonesian Digital News Archive

A team of researchers are en route to a chain of remote islands in the South Pacific with the hopes of solving one of the great mysteries of the 20th century. Armed with new data, the team hopes to find the remains of Amelia Earhart, the famous aviator who went missing in 1937 while attempting to fly around the world.

A few weeks back I posted a story about Wave Vidmar, the ocean kayaker who was preparing to paddle 3100 nautical miles (5741km) solo from California to Hawaii. At the time, Wave was putting the final touches on his preparation for the start of his journey, which included picking up his custom custom built Seaward Kayak in Vancouver.

Yesterday Vidmar officially launched the expedition, setting out from Horseshoe Cove in Sausalito, not far from the Golden Gate Bridge. He'll now spend the next 45-56 days out on the open ocean, completely solo, as he makes his way across the Pacific to Hawaii.

As far as I can tell there is no live tracking of Wave's progress. There is an official website for the expedition, which can be found here, but it has little in the way of information. Seaward Kayaks is posting updating on their Facebook Page however, so that may be the best place to follow along with the adventure.

It should also be noted, and this was pointed out in the comments section the last time I wrote about Wave and his journey, this isn't the first time someone has attempted this crossing. Back in 1987 Ed Gillet made a similar paddle, successfully completing his California to Hawaii crossing in 64 days. That was 25 years ago this year and Wave is celebrating that anniversary as part of his paddle as well.

Good luck to Wave and be sure to watch for updates.

Explorer Wave Vidmar is preparing to embark on another epic adventure. The man who has years of sailing experience and has made a solo journey to the North Pole, will soon set off on a long distance paddling expedition that will see him journey from California to Hawaii in a kayak.

Dubbed the 2012 Seaward Pacific Ocean Expedition, Vidmar intends to paddle his specially designed and built Seaward Kayak 3000 nautical miles across open ocean. Along the way he intends to document the journey on video while conducting research on marine wildlife, the effects of a prolonged paddling expedition on his body, the use of technology in the field and more.

The plan is to set out from Monterey in California and work his way west to Maui in Hawaii. When he'll set off isn't exactly clear, but according to PR from Seaward it should be any day now. I also haven't been successful in finding an official website for the expedition, but updates are being posted at the Seaward Kayak Facebook page.

Wave, who seems aptly named for aquatic adventures, says that he thinks it should take him about 50 days to reach Hawaii. That's a lot of time in the cockpit of a kayak. Good luck!

After years of mostly being ignored, the Mariana Trench has become a busy place this year. A Chinese submersible named Jiaolong (aquatic dragon) is set to make another dive into the trench sometime in the next few days, where its crew of three hopes to plummet 7000 meters (22,965 ft) below the surface of the ocean. To date, the vessel has only been down to about 5188 meters (17,020 ft).

As of the last report, the small craft was still aboard the  Xiangyanghong 09 science vessel and was approximately 200 nautical miles away from the proposed dive site. The crew was waiting for a tropical storm to vacate the area, and for seas to calm, before proceeding with the operation. They intend to make a shake-down dive to 5000 meters (16,404 ft) before proceeding deeper towards their ultimate goal.

This deep sea expedition is vastly different from the one James Cameron made back in March. For starters, Cameron went down solo and in a smaller vehicle. The Jiaolong will be manned by Ye Cong, Cui Weicheng and Yang Bo who are hoping to claim a "deepest dive" record, although what that record is I'm not sure. When he went down a few months back, Cameron reached a depth of about 10,940 meters (35,900 ft).

Still it is great to see more renewed interest in exploring the ocean's depths and I'll be watching to see how this crew fairs when it finally does make its big dive. Hopefully all will go well and they'll come back with some interesting finds as well.

Yesterday I posted an update on Sarah Outen, who was hit by a tropical storm while rowing across the Pacific Ocean. Turns out Sarah isn't the only one hit by that storm and she isn't the only one who needed the Japanese Coast Guard to come to their aid.

British solo rower Charlie Martell has also been attempting to row across the Pacific this spring and he was also forced to activated his emergency distress beacon yesterday. Charlie's boat,  Blossom, was rolled multiple times by high winds and turbulent seas brought on by tropical storm Mawar, resulting in damage to the vessel. The extend of that damage remains unknown at this time although it was clearly enough to cause Martell to pull the plug on his journey - at least for now.

Charlie was attempting his crossing at an effort to raise funds for two charities – Toe in the Water and Give Them A Sporting Chance. The former is an organization that helps injured servicemen to get involved with competitive sailing, while the latter works with the disabled to allow them to pursue their recreational sporting dreams to come true.

As of this writing, Charlie is still waiting for the Coast Guard to come pick him up, although a search plane has made contact with him. Meanwhile, the latest news from Sarah's blog indicates that she is now safe and sound aboard a rescue ship and on her way back to Japan.

British adventurer Sarah Outen has run into a bit of trouble on her London2London Expedition. As you might recall, Sarah is attempting to circumnavigate the globe completely under her own power and has already paddled across the English Channel and ridden her bike across Europe and Asia as well. A few weeks back she started the next phase of her journey, a solo row across the North Pacific. But a tropical storm named Rosie has hit that area and now the Japanese Coast Guard is en route to render some aid.

The storm actually hit Sarah yesterday, but not without advanced warning. She and her weather team had been tracking it for a week, and Outen did her best to prepare her little boat, Gulliver, for the impact. Still, Rosie packed a punch, bringing winds in excess of 55 knots (63 miles/101km) per hour. As a result, the rowboat rolled more than once and has sustained some damage, although just how much has yet to be determined.

After a very rough day, Sarah turned on her emergency beacon and a Coast Guard aircraft flew over her position to assess the situation. She is safe and in good health, but will need to be picked up and brought back to shore so that Gulliver can be repaired. A ship is expected to rendezvous with her sometime tomorrow.

This set back will obviously cost time and money and Sarah was hoping to cross the Pacific in the height of summer. Whether or not that can still happen will depend on how long it takes to repair the boat. Hopefully this will be a brief delay at most and she'll back on the water soon. For now, it's good to know that she is safe and sound.