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Crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Alone. By Stand-Up-Paddleboard
- paulpauper 1y agowouldn't the current negate the paddling as you go farther out?
- foxyv 1y agoDepends on the crossing. Usually they will choose a route that is favorable. This is probably the same as the ocean crossings by row boat. https://youtu.be/6SYHamnHqU8?si=vp-NLeMnsdQz1R-Z https://youtu.be/6SYHamnHqU8?si=vp-NLeMnsdQz1R-Z Generally speaking there is a route called the "Milk Run" from Europe to the Caribbean that has tail winds and good currents in the right direction. Also much nicer weather.
- eesmith 1y agoPortugal to French Guiana means following the North Atlantic Gyre - The Canary Current then the North Equatorial Current. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Gyre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Gyre Looking at the current maps, I think most of the paddling will be southward, to get down to South America rather than the Caribbean. For example, Thor Heyerdahl's Ra II, a square-sailed reed boat, went from Morocco to Barbados - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Heyerdahl#Boats_Ra_and_Ra_II https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Heyerdahl#Boats_Ra_and_Ra... . The people I've heard of who have rowed across the Atlantic generally do Canary Islands to the Caribbean. There's even "The World's Toughest Row" for that route - https://www.worldstoughestrow.com/ https://www.worldstoughestrow.com/ .
- bobowzki 1y agoSeems like a really inefficient way to paddle?
- willvarfar 1y agoPeople have already rowed solo across the Atlantic and Pacific. Rowing won't get the attention the paddleboard will?
- jacknews 1y agoIt's rather stretching the definition of a SUP if you ask me, but fair winds and following seas to him anyway.
- roxolotl 1y agoMore power to him and I hope he makes it but ambitious action against climate change this is not. Under no circumstances will modified paddleboards become standard modes of transportation nor will anyone with the ability to make change look at this as something other than a rich dude risking their life.
- willvarfar 1y agoThe whole project is a series of neat stunts that bring publicity to the cause. They also make documentaries.
- wtbdbrrr 1y agoa team building exercise, basically. how nice
- colechristensen 1y agoClimate change doesn't need any more publicity, everybody is aware whether or not they align, everybody is aware.
- xavirg 1y agoI don't see the point beyond feeding one's ego. I think he does it because such experiences brings in money in his talks.
- vintermann 1y agoThere are easier ways to make money, though, so it's fair to think there are more important motivations.
- bluGill 1y agoThis is an investment though - he has however long it takes to cross the ocean that is hard. There after he can make money giving talks which is a lot easier (if you hate giving talks of course this isn't easy money, but if that doesn't bother you)
- paddleon 1y agoAssume you viewpoint is correct. How is this different from so many tech bros? The person is doing something physically and technically challenging. Perfect HN material. Would love to dive into how he built the paddleboard, etc.
- bluGill 1y agoLikely talks that they fly him to thus making him a lager than average cause of global warming...
- axpy906 1y agoNaive question - how will he handle storms? This is hurricane season.
- willvarfar 1y agoThe blurb says it is an 'offshore' paddle board and that they do expect to encounter storms.
- sjsdaiuasgdia 1y agoFrom the pics, it's a little difficult to classify it as a paddle board. Certainly doesn't look much like what I see if I search for "paddle board" or "offshore paddle board". It's fairly large. There appears to be a hatch leading to an interior space. Presumably that's where he sleeps and stores supplies. It's really more of a small paddle-powered boat. Given the shape and the ability to seal off the interior, it probably can survive a fair bit of rolling around in a storm.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- voidUpdate 1y agoIs there going to be anyone checking that he is actually standing up all the time he's paddling, and not taking a sneaky kneeling break?
- huitzitziltzin 1y agoWhy stand up and not use your legs at all?? People have rowed it. This is a weird stunt that won’t prove anything. If he (magically) made it in a week people would still fly. What’s the point? Don’t say “raising awareness”. Whose mind does the exercise have a chance of changing about what question? What behavioral change will that changed mind cause?
- canterburry 1y agoLike...why? Why do we need to try this?
- NoiseBert69 1y agoWell.. better doing that then trying to understand cryptic C++ compiler warnings.
- bluGill 1y agoI don't know about you, but I get paid a lot of money to understand cryptic C++ compiler warnings, and I'm not risking my life at sea. In a strange sort of way I enjoy the challenge (which is part of why people cross the sea, so I can't even claim I'm very different)
- bombcar 1y agoYou’re risking your life at sea++
- farias0 1y agoWhy are humans pushing themselves to do challenging stuff? I don't know man, but it's just what we do, and I think that's cool.
- bluGill 1y agoWe don't. I'm not going to try this. You appear to not want to either, and that is fine. He is trying this, and I see no reason anyone should prevent him from trying. (I'm open to changing my mind if someone comes up with good justification, but in generally I like the freedom message and so place a high bar on what a good justification would be)
- bombcar 1y agoThe real question everyone is wanting to know but not asking - can we laugh if he dies?
- singularity2001 1y ago"Ubaid/Uruk did not possess the blue ocean technology to reach America. All cultural diffusion models assuming external impulses in the creation of Caral / Olmec civilizations are ruled out" Writing, Metallurgy, Weaving, Pyramids, … all co-evolution? Could be. Or…
- bcraven 1y agoWhere on the page are you quoting from?
- eesmith 1y ago"Hyperdiffusionism is a pseudoarchaeological hypothesis that postulates that certain historical technologies or ideas were developed by a single people or civilization and then spread to other cultures. Thus, all great civilizations that engage in what appear to be similar cultural practices, such as the construction of pyramids, derived them from a single common progenitor." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperdiffusionism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperdiffusionism Thor Heyerdahl advocated hyperdiffusionist ideas, and to his credit showed two such routes were possible. However, "His hyperdiffusionist ideas on ancient cultures had been widely rejected by the scientific community, even before the expedition." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Heyerdahl https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Heyerdahl I write more about it at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44399051 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44399051 .
- boringyawn 1y agoClimate change fanatics are not just climate change fanatics
- BurpyDave 1y agoI'm intrigued how he will store 600,000 kcals of food for the 2500 hours+ on that board. And Water... Any help from a helicopter will be a bit disingenuous.
- cjaackie 1y agoThis was my question too, my bet is support from a vessel and so this whole thing is kind of silly.
- willvarfar 1y agoFresh water will presumably be reverse-osmosis energy-recovery desalination. These are normal on sailboats nowadays and often driven off a small PV array like shown on the pictures of the paddleboard. Regards food, the paddleboard looks about the same size as people who have previously rowed across the Atlantic solo.
- barney54 1y agoI don't quite understand this. I guess the point is to do a stunt, but it also shows how useful carbon dioxide emissions are. You can cross the Atlantic in 100 days with zero emissions or a few hours with carbon dioxide emissions...
- zimpenfish 1y ago> You can cross the Atlantic in 100 days with zero emissions Which is fine for a lot of the cross-Atlantic shipping traffic that is currently contributing to the CO2 emissions.
- etamponi 1y agoFor example? I don't want to be ironic, I am genuinely curious.
- throw83939449 1y agoZero? Human exhales like 2kg of CO2 every day. That is just 200kg of CO2 emmisions from existing! > Preparations for this special challenge have been ongoing for many months. However, for a project like this to come together, a lot of things have to fit together perfectly. Take all the people, time and energy spend on preparations! It is probably several tons of CO2! Very long list of sponsors! I refuse to believe, that super economy flight for $130 has higher CO2 emmisions than this stunt! It is like taking public transport!
- echoangle 1y agoThe 200kg of emissions aren't from the crossing though, they are there anyways. You would have to calculate the additional emissions from the physical exercise in the crossing.
- throw83939449 1y agoWhy not? We already calculate cow farts! And kill animals because they breathe to much! Human is the engine here! Take old galleys where hundred people rowed single boat. All that food to feed them! That is not very effient transport!
- Reubachi 1y agoLooking at the plotted journey....IE Portugal, ivory coast, west to FG.... Isn't this a route normally/regularly done by sail? Before modern era, surely was done this way in antiquity.. I guess I just don't get it. Does the "paddleboard" represent something more than sail?
- drob518 1y agoThis seems… ill-advised.