Somewhere beneath the waters of the tropical Pacific Ocean, likely
around the island of Tonga, a volcano recently erupted.
Localization with the GeoGarage platform (Linz nautical chart)
The proof lies
in a sprawling raft of extremely lightweight volcanic rock called
pumice, which is so porous that it floats. NASA posted satellite images of the drifting mass on Aug. 23, though the geologic display was first spotted in mid-August.
"Many of the world’s volcanoes are shrouded by the waters of
the oceans," wrote NASA.
"When they erupt, they can discolor the ocean
surface with gases and debris. They also can spew masses of lava that
are lighter than water."
NASA spotted a floating island, and a volcano is to blame
As of Aug. 13, the raft, in total, appeared larger than the island of
Manhattan, which is about 23 square miles in size.
Pumice is created
during explosive volcanic eruptions, wherein the gas trapped molten rock
explodes out of the scorching material in a violent pressure release.
Adventuring sailors on a catamaran met the great pumice raft up close.
They encountered floating pumice ranging in size from marbles to
basketballs, some of which jammed their rudders.
The team also noted the
ominous smell of sulfur wafting through the air, and posted their experience on Facebook.
On August 9, 2019 we sailed through a pumice field for 6-8 hours, much of the time there was no visible water.
It was like ploughing through a field.
We figured the pumice was at least 6” thick.
The oceans will incrementally disperse this fleeting geologic wonder,
but it's common for some marine life to hitch a ride on the floating
stones, and journey across the globe.
What is Sir Robin Knox-Johnston's greatest fear at sea? @deecaffari interviews @SirRKJ about his thoughts on fear & how he copes with a very real psychological challenge which impacts every sailor heading far offshore What is the greatest fear of this legendary round the world sailor?
How do you pick yourself up when times get tough?
What huge surprise do we find out about Sir Robin which makes his Golden Globe win even more remarkable?
1950's Monitor first sailing mono-hull hydro foiler
Gordon Baker developed and tested 'MONITOR' in the 1950’s.
A monohull with outrigger foils could get up on the foils in about 13 knots of wind and sail at about twice the true wind speed.
Top speed was reported at over 30 knots, with some reports claiming 40 knots.
At 40 knots, cavitation would probably have set in.
Baker's future designs employed two main wing sails which the 3D animation video shows. To think it took over 65 years for this technology to be evolve to The America's Cup almost seems a tragedy. 'Monitor' is on display at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia.
1950`s sailing hydrofoil Monitor 3D model, of what she became and what she was intended to be. Originally the designers intended a dual wingsail version but it was too expensive.
Imagine if they would have had the money they would have built in 1955 - a sailing hydrofoil - with wingsails - with a mechanical computer, stabilizing it - foils from sophisticated alloys - high speed sailing 40kn´s
As a part of its cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD), Boston-based Sea Machines Robotics announces that it has successfully demonstrated its autonomous systems in action on board a Kvichak Marco skimmer boat during events held along the Portland harbor earlier today.
Sea Machines’ technology opens a new era of capability for the marine industry, and today the company demonstrated its ability to increase the safety, productivity and predictability of response for marine oil-spill operations.
The on-water demonstrations took place aboard the world’s first autonomous spill response vessel – a Vigor/Kvichak Marine Industries-built skimmer boat, owned by Marine Spill Response Corp. (MSRC) – before a live audience of MARAD, government, naval, international, environmental and industry representatives.
To make the on-water exercises possible, Sea Machines will install its SM300 autonomous-command system aboard a Marine Spill Response Corp. (MSRC)-owned Marco skimming vessel and will train MSRC personnel to operate the system.
The boat carries a Marco filter belt skimmer to recover oil from the surface of the water.
Sea Machines Robotics photo
From a shoreside location at Portland Yacht Services, a Sea Machines operator commanded the SM300-equipped skimmer boat to perform the following capabilities:
Remote autonomous control from an onshore location or secondary vessel,
ENC-based mission planning,
Autonomous waypoint tracking,
Autonomous grid line tracking,
Collaborative autonomy for multi-vessel operations, and
Wireless, remote payload control to deploy on-board boom, skimmer belt and other response equipment.
Additionally, Sea Machines discussed how to operate the skimmer in an unmanned autonomous mode, which enables operators to respond to spill events 24/7 depending on recovery conditions, even when crews are restricted.
These configurations also reduce or eliminate exposure of crewmembers to challenging sea and weather, toxic fumes and other safety hazards.
Sea Machines autonomous marine technology can be installed aboard existing or new commercial workboats and vessels, adding capabilities that increase productivity, predictability, efficiency and safety.
All SM300-enabled workboats can benefit from the system’s dynamic obstacle avoidance capabilities, which can be automatically activated during planned missions.
Sea Machines products recognize common obstacles – such as other watercraft, buoys, marine life and more – and will autonomously and safely reroute an operator’s vessel to mitigate a potentially costly and harmful incident.
Once the danger of collision passes, the system reroutes the workboat back on track to complete the mission.
This safety feature can be disabled in advance or in the moment by an on-board or remote operator, if needed.
“Our operation of the world’s first autonomous, remote-commanded spill-response vessel is yet another significant industry first for Sea Machines,” said Michael G. Johnson, founder and CEO, Sea Machines.
“But even more important is the fact that we’ve proven that our technology can be applied to the marine spill response industry – as well as other marine sectors – to protect the health and lives of mariners responding to spills. We are proud to support MSRC’s mission of response preparedness and to work alongside MARAD for these important demonstrations.”
“MSRC is excited to work with Sea Machines on this new technology. The safety of our personnel is the most important consideration in any response. Autonomous technology enhances safe operations,” said John Swift, vice president, MSRC.
"This is the future of the maritime industry. It’s safer, it’s faster, it’s more cost-effective,” said Richard Balzano, deputy administrator, MARAD.
“This technology is here and it will make you a believer. We are here because we want to help the maritime industry evolve. It’s about safety, the environment and reducing risk on the water.”
Sea Machines’ SM Series of products, which includes the SM300 and SM200, provides marine operators a new era of task-driven, computer-guided vessel control, bringing advanced autonomy within reach for small- and large-scale operations.
SM products can be installed aboard existing or new-build commercial vessels with return on investment typically seen within a year. Sea Machines is also a leading developer of advanced perception and navigation assistance technology for a range of vessel types, including container ships.
The company is currently testing its perception and situational awareness technology aboard one of A.P. Moller-Maersk’s new-build ice-class container ships.
In August 2018, Sea Machines demonstrated the capabilities of its SM300 product aboard the world’s first autonomous-command, remote-controlled fireboat, owned by TUCO Marine, during the Maritime Kulturdage event, in Korsør, Denmark.
A U.S. Navy Douglas SBD Dauntless drops a message container known as a “bean-bag” on the flight deck of Enterprise (CV 6) while crew members dart to catch the message to deliver it up to the ship’s bridge.
Despite ballyhoo about the need for military cyber, electronic warfare and more tech-adept forces for future war, the Navy and Marines are testing war tactics more common nearly 100 years ago.
No longer can Marines and sailors take for granted uninterrupted electronic communications at sea or on the battlefield.
Tech-capable forces from Russia to China are packing capabilities that can jam U.S. systems or hone in on radio communications to find U.S. forces and ships at sea.
That’s why Marines and sailors aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship Boxer tested in early August an old silent communications tactic used during World War II, according to a command release.
A U.S. Navy Douglas SBD Dauntless drops a message container known as a “bean-bag” on the flight deck of Enterprise (CV 6) while crew members dart to catch the message to deliver it up to the ship’s bridge. (Naval Aviation Museum)
The Boxer currently is floating with 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit somewhere near the Persian Gulf.
The tactic is called a “beanbag drop," and during World War II pilots used to drop weighted beanbags carrying messages onto the decks of ships to avoid having their messages intercepted by enemy forces.
In early August, crew members with Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron flying an MH-60S Seahawk conducted a beanbag message drop onto the Boxer as a proof of concept to deliver messages without relying on radio systems, the release detailed.
It’s a tactic liken to the carrier pigeons of World War I, which carried important tactical battlefield messages across the front lines.
The Navy’s experimentation with a communications tactic used in World War II sheds a small light on its tactical thinking and how it plans to prepare sailors and Marines for a major bout with adversaries with the capability to find, jam and sink U.S. Navy ships at sea.
Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 2nd Class Bradley Peterson from
Mora, Minnesota, assigned to amphibious assault ship Boxer (LHD 4) runs
to a beanbag dropped on the flight deck during an exercise to
communicate with Boxer from an MH-60S Sea Hawk assigned to Helicopter
Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 21.
(Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class
Brian P. Caracci/Navy)
“We’ve got the best communication technology onboard our helos [helicopters] but today we practiced the use of a more conventional form of aircraft-to-ship communication in the event electronic communication is not an option,” Navy Lt. Taryn Steiger, the pilot who flew the HSC-21 Seahawk that dropped the beanbag, said in the release.
After the message was dropped from the MH-60 onto the deck of the Boxer, a sailor simply ran and scooped up and delivered the message, the release said.
“The purpose of the bean-bag drop was to show timely pilot-to-ship communication can be done without electronic transition," Lt. Cmdr. Michael Brown, the HSC-21 detachment commander, said in the release.
“Together HSC-21 crew and Boxer demonstrated timely communication from the aircraft to the ship during EMCON [emissions control] procedures."
Gen. Robert B. Neller, the former commandant of the Marine Corps, has oft repeated that he would turn off the net to force Marines to fight and train in environments where GPS and communications are degraded.
Marines have been training and experimenting with reducing their radio and visible footprint from Norway to the battlefields of Syria.
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