Articles tagged “adventure travel”

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14-year old granted permission to sail solo around the world

by Kraig Becker on

14-year old Laura Dekker has waited months for her opportunity to attempt a solo circumnavigation of the globe, and after being denied on several occasions by Dutch authorities, yesterday she finally received permission to set sail at long last. She now plans to begin the voyage, which could take upwards of two years to complete, sometime in the next couple of weeks. The teen hopes to set a new record for the youngest person to sail around the globe alone.

Laura first received attention last year when it was announced that she hoped to make the solo circumnavigation attempt at the age of 13. Before she could set out however, a Dutch court intervened, barring her from sailing. Since that time, she has been under the supervision of child protective services, who have continually recommended against allowing her to sail. That recommendation changed recently however, as the young woman trained to improve her sailing and survival skills, and joined a distance learning program that would allow her to continue her studies while she is at sea. Even Laura’s mom, who had been against the voyage, had changed her tune, now granting the 14-year old her blessing to sail.

The voyage that Laura has planned differs quite a bit from the one that was taken by Jessica Watson, the 17-year old girl who recently set the new “youngest” record and Abby Sunderland, who had to be rescued from the Indian Ocean back in June. Those two sailors faced the perilous waters of Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope, but Laura will instead take a route that passes through the Panama and Suez Canals. While this lowers the risks involved with her having to deal with some of the worst seas in the world, it does increase the amount of ship traffic she’ll encounter, which means she runs the risk of colliding with another ship in those busy sea lanes.

Perhaps more importantly, Laura will have a support ship that will be following her closely and will be on hand in case the need arises. This ship will be there in the event of trouble, but will not aid her in any way as she navigates the oceans. With this plan in place, she’ll have a safety net to help protect her, but one that won’t endanger the “solo” status of her voyage.

Over the next two weeks the teenager will be working hard to prepare her ship, the Guppy, for the voyage. Once it is stocked with all the gear and supplies that she’ll need, she’ll be on her way, and off on a grand adventure on the high seas. What were you doing when you were 14?

[Photo credit: Associated Press]

Ship made of plastic bottles completes trans-Pacific voyage

by Kraig Becker on

Way back in March we told you about the Plastiki, a ship made almost entirely out of plastic bottles, that was setting out from San Francisco to complete a crossing of the Pacific Ocean. The plan was for the ship, and her crew, to sail to Sydney, Australia, by way of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, in an effort to raise awareness of the impact that we are having on the Earth’s environment, most notably the oceans. Yesterday, after spending 128 days at sea, and covering more than 8300 nautical miles, the Plastiki sailed into Sydney Harbor, completing her voyage at last.

The ship is the brain child of explorer and environmentalist David de Rothschild, who came up with the idea to build a boat out of plastic bottles more than four years ago. At times, de Rothschild, who is the founder of Adventure Ecology, wondered if he would ever see his dream become reality, but eventually construction of the boat commenced, and the project began to take shape. When it was finally finished, the Plastiki had more than 12,500 bottles incorporated into its hull, not to mention a host of other environmentally friendly gadgets like solar panels and wind generators, added to its final design.

One of the main missions of the expedition was to visit the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a huge collection of garbage that has accumulated in a single place in the Pacific Ocean. The GPGP is estimated to be larger than the state of Texas and continuing to grow all the time, as more and more waste is dumped into the ocean and ends up deposited in this strange gyre. The Patch is a testament to the damage that is being done to the environment and was quite a sobering sight to the crew of the ship.

Joining de Rothschild on the voyage were Skipper Jo Royle, Co-Skipper David Thomson, and the rest of the crew which consisted of Olav Heyerdahl, Graham Hill, Luca Babini, Matthew Grey, Max Jourdan, Singeli Agnew and Vern Moen. Well done crew!

[Photo credit: The Plastiki via Flickr]

12-year old climbs highest point in all 50 states in record time

by Kraig Becker on

12-year old Matt Moniz of Boulder, Colorado will have quite a tale to share with his friends when he returns to school this fall. While most kids his age spend the summer relaxing and doing as little work as possible, Matt, along with his father Mike, launched their 50 in 50 in 50 expedition. The plan was to reach the highest point in all 50 states, in 50 days or less, and on July 16th, they completed their quest, reaching the summit of the 13,796-foot tall Mauna Kea in Hawaii, setting a new record for completing the high points in the process. The previous record for the fastest time to reach the highest point in all 50 states was 45 day, 19 hours, and 2 minutes, set by climber Mike Haugen back in 2008. Matt and his dad completed that same feat in just 43 days, 2 hours, and 8 minutes.

America’s high points vary greatly in altitude, with some being quite easy to reach, while others involving true mountaineering skills. The lowest of the high points is Britton Hill, which is located in Florida and stands just 345 feet above sea level. The highest is of course Mt. McKinley, also known as Denali, which is found in Alaska and stands 20,320 feet in height. Other peaks of note include Mt. Whitney, which is the highest point in California at 14,494 feet and Mt. Rainier, which stands at 14,411 feet and is the tallest mountain in the state of Washington.

Matt’s climbing resume is quickly becoming a very impressive one. Not only has he now completed the 50 high points, he has also climbed Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, and Elbrus, the highest peaks in Africa, South America, and Europe respectively. He has also made the trek to Everest Base Camp as well, and with the completion of Denali, he now has four of the Seven Summits under his belt. Not bad for a young man who hasn’t even entered junior high yet.

[Photo credit: Matt Moniz]

Alberto Contador wins 2010 Tour de France

by Kraig Becker on

Spanish rider Alberto Contador has claimed his third Tour de France win after securing the victory yesterday in a 32.3 mile long individual time trial that ran across the French countryside from Bordeaux to Pauillac. Despite being pushed to the limit by his rival, Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck, Contador extended his lead in the race, winning by 39 seconds. Today, he’ll finish off the 2010 Tour by taking the ceremonial ride into Paris wearing the leader’s Yellow Jersey, while the top sprinters vie for one last stage win on the Champs Elysees.

For the past three weeks, the world’s best cyclists have dueled one another across France, fighting it out most spectacularly in the Alps and the Pyrenees. This year’s route threw some of the toughest climbs ever at the riders, and it was Contador and Schleck who were clearly the two best cyclists in the Peloton. Schleck actually led the race heading into Monday, when the two riders were on the final climb the day. Misfortune hit on the slopes of the Port de Balès, when Schleck dropped a chain and had to stop to make a quick repair. Sensing an opportunity, Contador attacked, gaining more than 30 seconds, and taking the lead in the race for the first time. He never looked back and Schleck was never able to recover.

Today marks the final stage of the race, a 63.6 mile ride from Longjumeau to Paris. Traditionally, the riders don’t attack the Yellow Jersey on the final day, allowing the leader to ride to the finish line in a glorified victory lap. Once there, Contador will take the top of the podium in Yellow, while Schleck will win the White Jersey, which is awarded each year to the Tour’s best young rider under the age of 25. France’s Anthony Charteau has won the Polka Dot Jersey, which goes to the King of the Mountain, the Tour’s best climber, each year. The final jersey to be awarded will be the Green Jersey, which goes to the best sprinter in the race. Sprint points will still be up for grabs on today’s final stage, with three riders in a position to win the title.

In his final ride in the Tour de France, seven-time winner Lance Armstrong finishes in 23rd place, nearly 40 minutes behind Contador.

[Photo credit: Reuters]

Yellowstone visitors provoke bison, pay price

by Kraig Becker on

Earlier this week, it was reported by a number of sources, including the National Park Service themselves, that an unnamed woman and her friend were attacked by a bison in Yellowstone National Park. The story was that the pair were passing through a parking lot near Old Faithful when they wandered too close to a bison, who became agitated and attacked, slamming into the woman and sending her soaring end-over-end into the air. The woman and her friend, we were told, were lucky to walk away with minor injuries. But, as often is the case with these kinds of stories, there is more here than meets the eye.

It turns out that the woman in the story is 49-year old Kathy Hayes of Utah, and the man accompanying her was her brother-in-law. The two did indeed come across a bison, as the original tale went, but once the full video was released, it told another side of the story.

As you can see below in the video that comes our way courtesy of CNN, Hayes and her companion did spot a bison in the parking lot, and then proceeded to approach it on their own, getting as close as 10 yards. Park regulations prohibit visitors from coming within 25 yards of bison or elk for obvious reasons. (FYI: Safe distance for a bear or wolf is 100 yards.) While playing the video, watch very closely. On one of the close-ups of the bison, you can see that someone throws a stick at the animal, striking it in the hind quarters, which immediately sends it into an agitated state. The beast then turns on the two humans invading its turf, and the video becomes a mix of the Blair Witch Project meets Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom as Hayes scrambles to get out of the way while still holding the camera, which dutifully goes on recording the proceedings.

After tossing her into the air like a rag doll, the bison does wander off and leaves Hayes and her companion alone. She ended up suffering just some severe bumps and bruises, but is honestly lucky to have come away alive. Her brother-in-law wasn’t quite so lucky however, as he ended up suffering a broken shoulder, as well as injuries to his hand and foot, but as the park service press release stated “He was not injured by the bison.” In other words, he hurt himself while scrambling to get out of the way of the creature he provoked.

Where I come from, that’s known as Karma.

[Photo credit: J. Schmidt]