Around the World in a Duck!

[gunug]

I came across this link at Boing-Boing:

http://members.iinet.com.au/~daveb/halfsafe/halfsafe.html

It's about a man who went around the world in one of those amphibious vehicles in the 1950's:

[Highmac]

When I saw the title I thought you meant one of these.....

[gunug]

I worked some on a Paleo-Indian archeological site in the Shenadoah River in Virginia and we got to work on something like this one in the background:




I couldn't imagine going around the world in one of these either!  This is the link that references the book about this guy's journey:

http://ruk.ca/article/1843

[beacher]

Don't know that "brave" is the right word. . .

[Mrious_be]

QUOTE(gunug @ Jul 19 2006, 05:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I worked some on a Paleo-Indian archeological site in the Shenadoah River in Virginia and we got to work on something like this one in the background:

At least it looks more comfortable than what the guy is sitting at in the foreground

Some people do live their dreams

[gunug]

The more I look at that last picture the more I wonder just what the heck that thing is; any WWII Vets or historians here?

[RHPConsult]

gnug – probably some kind of mine detector/detonator, and probably sometime in the 50s.

As to the "Duck", what a tribute to the imagination/skill/prowess of the 2 parties: Ben and his spouse and the guys who designed/manufactured the vehicle.

Boggles the mind.

Prior to this, the wildest (craziest) voyage I've ever heard about was a local guy who spoke to our Rotary Club some years ago about sailing to Hawaii.

(Relatedly, I have a pal who, to satisfy a lifelong dream, sailed to Hawaii in his 75 ft schooner . . . 75 foot! It was such a terrifying voyage (12 days of gales) that he and his co-owner hired a crew to sail the vessel back to SF)

Now to the Rotary speaker. He got a call from a boyhood chum who asked him if he'd like to sail to Paradise (loosely constued). Both had only sailed on LAKES prior to this harebrained decision. The "boat" – are you ready for this – was 14 ft. overall. Kinda, sorta modified. But, teensy-tiny nevertheless, and after some "practice" in San Diego harbor – now there's a test bed, if I ever heard of one – off they went.

I forget how many days . . . over 40 I seem to recall. The key factoid: They were not too experienced (so to speak) in the fine points of navigation, Fortunately for them they encountered a supertaker about 500 miles from Hawaii, whose skipper was astonished to encounter such a craft afloat there. He somehow paused midocean to render (presumably unneeded) assistance. The intrepid sailors told the tanker of their course. From that they received a "suggestion" toward correcting that course just a tad, which unchanged would have had them miss the Big Island by 400 miles and sail on into the trackless Pacific beyond. And "real" Paradise!

Never unestimate the ability of Man to . . . .!

[Highmac]

Dick:  Reckon the Kon-Tiki raft - 4,300 miles across the Pacific on nine balsawood logs - in 1947 takes a bit of beating. He wanted to prove South Americans could, technically, have sailed to Polynesia. Took 101 days to get from Peru to the Tuamoto Islands, according to Wikipedia and the Kon-Tiki website, which carries tales of Thor Heyerdahl's other marine adventures.

I was six years old at the time and it's stuck in my mind... didn't even have to search to remember the raft's name  

Now, what was it I actually came in here for.....?

[Al]

We got a couple of those taking tours here.  They go to place like the Arizona Memorial and out by my house in Moanalua Bay.  It's a site to see them drive such a huge vehicle and then pull into the horbor and don't stop for the water.  SPLASH and there in.

I got to speak to one of the boat captains and he said he could not imagine taking it over 5 mph because the parts for it is so rare that if anything major broke on it now, they would have to have someone fabricate the parts.

[gunug]

Al - I've taken the Duck tour of Washington D.C. and it's kind of interesting to be taken out to the end of the runway at Washington International (Yeah, I know it has another name) and have those jets wash over you!  The driver gives out Duck calls to everyone and encourages them to harass the tourists walking down the street!

[Gregg]

Those "ducks" are used in Wisconsin Dells to get in and out of the water above and below the falls. (That would be the Wisconsin River.)