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In this issue: Endurance paddlers prepare for the Arctic, revisiting pedal drives in honor of R2AK and 3 reading recommendations.
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🗳️ Submit your questions: I'm working on the next two installments of a special series about the role of technology and innovation in boater education and safety.
- The USCG has approved electronic visual distress signals (eVDSD) in lieu of pyrotechnic flares. What would you like to know about them?
- More than 450,000 people have been certified to meet Washington's boater education requirement, many by completing an online course. What are your questions or impressions about online boating education?
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Endurance rowers and paddlers prepare for the Northwest Passage
🚣 Three expeditions, each using different small vessels, aim to take on the challenging crossing late this summer. One group calls it the “last great first.” The Arctic ice typically reaches its minimum coverage in late August or early September. Ships big and little are eyeing the route with the reduction of sea ice.
- After a multi-year postponement, Karl Kruger will attempt the journey on a stand up paddleboard. In 2017, he became the first person to complete the 750-mile Race to Alaska (R2AK) on a SUP. Well known in the Pacific Northwest maritime community, Kruger also runs sailboat charters and is a yacht broker.
- Starting from the eastern entrance of the Northwest Passage, a group of kayakers calling themselves “The Arctic Cowboys” also plan to transit after a multi-year delay. The group is led by Texan West Hansen, who has paddled thousands of miles on the Amazon River and the Volga River in Russia.
- Also starting from Baffin Bay between Canada and Greenland, is a 16-person expedition led by Scot Leven Brown. The NW Expedition crew will be split across two ocean rowing boats, appropriate for the international group’s extensive ocean rowing experience.
Related: Hakai Magazine looked at a new study that found instead becoming more navigable by 2050, many trans-Arctic routes are already navigable for large chunks of the year. Another researcher says the variability of ice year-to-year still presents a navigational risk but that may decrease in the next decade or two.
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Race to Alaska starts on Monday
The 2022 edition of R2AK starts on Monday, June 13 at 5 a.m. PST. No SUPs are registered this time around though, leaving Kruger's record intact.
The tracker will go live at the start and the race will be covered by three field reporters. The R2AK website has it all: team bios, a new rule change, social media links and, of course, some of that signature R2AK attitude.
Ahead of the start, revisit these past Future Tides' articles featuring the race:
And I highly recommend The Race to Alaska movie, there are a couple more theater screenings left on the schedule in Washington.
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Three recommended reads
1. Future Tides reader Jeanne Currie recommended MIT Technology Review's article on flow batteries featuring Wilsonville, Oregon-based ESS. With so many things going electric, on and off the water, the demand for lithium is expected to skyrocket.
Jeanne said in an email: "Iron-flow batteries! Don't require lithium mining (is just iron/water/salt) and can eliminate the need for back-up natural gas by storing wind/solar energy for nighttime. Portland General Electric is doing some big pilots with it this year."
While these large scale batteries may not be applicable to use in recreational and commercial vessels, they may become part of the offshore wind ecosystem and prioritize lithium for batteries used in compact spaces, like boats.
Jeanne is also reading about solid-state batteries, which could be the next big step forward since lithium-ion batteries became commercially available 31 years ago.
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The Bristol Bay watershed is home to one of the most valuable sockeye salmon fisheries. (Photo courtesy of Frances Bursch)
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2. This article from Alaska Public Media shares the latest developments in the ongoing Pebble Mine conflict. Returning to Bristol Bay for her 30th summer, Future Tides reader Frances Bursch wrote on Instagram: "Even for those of us closely tied to the Pebble Mine issue, it can be hard to keep up."
Advocates, including many working in the salmon fishery like Frances, continue to push for long term protection of the watershed from a proposed mine. The EPA is currently holding a public comment period through July 5, another opportunity to protect the Bristol Bay salmon habitat and fishery, which has close ties to Seattle.
Although published before the EPA's latest announcement, Frances recommends this in-depth New York Times story for more on the issue and its history. She says the United Tribes of Bristol Bay continues to be a leading voice for long term protections.
3. After departing the U.K. on its second attempt at an Atlantic crossing, the Mayflower Autonomous Ship reached Halifax, Nova Scotia this week. While not the ship's initial destination, the voyage will resume and continue the experiment of an oceangoing autonomous vessel.
This Fast Company article sums up the current voyage, the background of the venture as well as other recent developments among autonomous ships.
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