TRANSATLANTIC SUN 21 - JANUARY 07

First Solar Atlantic Crossing Attempt January leg

Transatlantic21

Using solar power only the catamaran "sun21" is undertaking the first motorized crossing of the Atlantic with solar power to promote the great potential of this technology for ocean navigation. The "sun21" is due to arrive on 8 May 2007, 6 pm, in New York, having covered about 7000 sea miles.

Jan 31, 2007: sun21: Navigation

26°C / 78°F

Position:15° 20' N-56° 46' W

Jan 28, 2007: Free energy from the sky

26°C / 79°F

Position:16° 00' 108'' N-53° 32' 138'' W

Jan 27, 2007: Six days away from Martinique

26°C / 79°F

Position:16° 21' N-51° 44' W

On Saturday morning, the sea was almost completely calm again. The water was transparent blue, turquoise – ideal conditions for the noble visitors, who surprised us. There they were, up to 8 feet long, approaching slowly and elegantly from the dephts of the ocean. Their back shimmered in a fluorescent light blue, the scale robes were shining in discrete gold, two perpendicularly floating fins in bright yellow: In this solemn way, the Golden Mackerel entered the scene. Not caring for human beings, they just passed by and gave this peculiar boat a casual yet dignifying eye. But sometimes, a sudden impulse let them jump high into the air, as a surprise for the stunned two-legged watchers. Thanks to this outburst of joy and magnificence, they carry a second name: Dolphin Mackerel. They mainly feed on flying fish. Apparently, the prey is easier to be caught by them than to be filmed by us.

Additionally, more pragmatic aspects influenced our working day. Martin was involved in cutting a film on the navigation techniques of our boat on his laptop: This became a truly Sisyphean task. For several hours, the electricity supply for computer, camera and external harddisk was impeccable. But then – whew — blackout! What happened? The thermostat turned the system off and protected the converter from being overheated. Just as the external harddisk is not driven by its own accumulator, the loss of material was inevitable. Once again, dear! Dinner: Swiss «Roesti».

Sea: calm
Wind: E 10 kn
Speed: 4-4,5 kn
Mileage: 93
Distance to La Martinique: 542 miles

Jan 28, 2007: Free energy from the sky

26°C / 79°F

Position:16° 00' 108'' N-53° 32' 138'' W

How come that we are the first five "Helionauts" crossing the Atlantic with solar energy?

A usual sunny day in January – we are charging 898 Ampèrehours (Ah). The capacity of the batteries is 1000 Ah. The sun provides almost a whole battery charge in one day. How come that we are the first five "Helionauts" crossing the Atlantic with solar energy? How come that the Swiss MW-line company, which constructed the "sun21", is not overflowed with orders for their fantastic solar boats? How come that the business people do not queue up in order to invest into this sustainable technology – energy that is abundant and comes free from the sky? How come that people do not seem to have discovered the unique comfort of a solar nautical vehicle yet – silent, almost no vibration, no pollution, soothing shade under the solar roof, calm proof, self-sufficient?

This morning clusters of a seaweed (brown algae, probably Phaeophycea Sargassum) passed our boat – are these signs of approaching land? In any case the "sun21" is a sign for the breakthrough of the solar age.

Wind: NE Beaufort 2 – 3
Waves: Up to 6 feet
Mileage: 93 miles per 24 hours

Jan 24, 2007: Crossing the Mid-Atlantic ridge

24°C / 75°F

Position:17°08' N-46° 57' W

Wind: 14km/h

Despite the cloudy sky, we have achieved the best result of our whole journey considering the charging of our batteries.

Our daydreams about fresh apples, oranges, juicy pineapples and papayas become more vivid with every day we come closer to Martinique. Today, there were a lot of clouds like hundreds and hundreds of toys scattered all over the sky. However, they did not impair the charging of our batteries. We have had the best result of our whole journey so far: 870 Ampère hours.

Today, we crossed a huge invisible mountain ridge, the Mid-atlantic ridge where the tectonic plates move apart. The visible peaks of this mountain chain are the Azores and Iceland. It is as if we were flying over the Alps without view. If we sank, the bottom of the sea would be at 10'000 instead of 17'000 feet. What a chance!

Wind: SE, 8 knots.
Speed: 3,7 knots
Long dune waves, up to 10 feet, mixed with short waves.
85 miles per 24 hours.

Jan 15, 2007: Mermaids, whales and flying fish

23°C / 73°F

Position:19° 25' N-31° 31' W

Wind: 0km/h

Inspite of total calm, our boat gets ahead efficiently. So, if a sailor asked us, what to do in such a calm, we would advise the crew to dig out the Bridge cards.

Friday's morning weather was calendar-photo-like. The quietness on the ship and around was marvellous. No ship at the horizon of all four directions. The next continental coast (Afrika) is 700 miles away, the next island (for us: Martinique) is 1'890 miles away.

So, there is plenty of time left for the wonderful mermaid Undine to finally visit our boat. She would like it. No motor rattling would scare her, our large deck would offer her room to rest. And she would be astonished, with all ships she comes across, to find two violins and no oil on ours.

Our position on 12 January 2007: 20° 35' N / 28° 20' W. We floated 82 miles, with 4 knots speed. Sea is calm (large dunes), there is nearly no wind. So, if a sailor asked us, what to do in such a calm, we would advise the crew to dig out the Bridge cards.

At the end of the afternoon, we spotted whales. It was a group of Pilot-Whales (Globicephala, in German "Grindwal"). We saw them from a distance of 500 m only. The males are 4-6 m long, the females 3-5 m. Those whales dive down to 4-600 m in order to hunt squids (Calamare) for food.

Our position on 13 January 2007: 20° 03' N. 29° 50 W. Wind NE, 18 knots. Waves up to 3 m., speed: 4 knots. Mileage today: 90. Temp. 23 °C.

Wind and clouds came back on Saturday. The waves were consequently shorter and sometimes crossed. Towards the end of the afternoon, we saw a new bird twice: His name is "Tropic Bird" (Phaeton). His feathers are light brown with white stripes. It has a red beak and long, thin tail feathers. The bird provided a living example for what we knew from the dry paper: We have crossed the tropical boundaries.

Sunday stood under the sign of flying fish. While Beat was writing mails in the deep calm of the night, a sharp shotlike bang on his starboard-"hut" surprised him (damn it, a pirat attack?). In the morning, we found the poor beast on deck. It had collided with our boat; this evening, another one crashed. At noon, we admired a whole swarm of flying fish but hurry up to watch them!

Our position on 14 January 2007: 19° 25' N / 31° 31' W. Wind NE, Beaufort 4, "Mer agitée à forte". Speed around 4 knots, mileage today: 98. Temperature: 77° Fahrenheit.

By the way, Undine has not joined us yet; but in the morning, Beat found a hidden shell in a corner of our boat with the following poem inside:

Troop home to silent grots and caves
Troop home! And mimic as you go
The mournful winding of the waves
Which to their dark abysses flow.

At this sweet hour, all things beside
In amorous pairs to covert creep.
The swans that brush the evening tide
Homeward in snowy couples keep.

In his green den the murmuring seal
Close by his sleek companion lies;
While singly we to bedward steal
And close in fruitless sleep our eyes.

In bowers of love men take their rest,
In loveless bowers we sigh alone,
With bosom friends are others blest
But we have none but we have none...

The Mermaidens Vesper Hymn (George Darley, 1795-1846, Ireland)

SHIVER ME SOLAR PANELS - YOU'RE A BIT EARLY MATEY

TRANSATLANTIC 21 - Solar Powered Atlantic Crossing Attempt 2006 - 2007
TRANSATLANTIC 21	THE BOAT	AIMS	ROUTE
TEAM or CREW	SUPPORTERS	HEADQUARTERS	F. A. Q.
NOVEMBER 06	DECEMBER 06	JANUARY 07	FEBRUARY 07
MARCH 07	APRIL 07	NEW RECORD	RECEPTION

FUTURE WORLD CONTENDERS

Solar powered trimaran concept drawing

PlanetSolar - solar powered trimaran

Solar record contenders Solar Navigator and PlanetSolar

LINKS:

National Center for Photovoltaics - Hotline-October 2006

10-9-06 Solar Boat A project called Transatlantic 21 is almost ready to attempt the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean – from Europe to the United States ... www.nrel.gov/ncpv/hotline/10_06_week2.html

Basel - official website of the Canton of Basel-Stadt

Sun21_Abfahrt Sun 21, On 16 October the transatlantic21 association’s solar catamaran left Basel en route for its transatlantic record attempt to New York. ... www.basel.ch/en/basel