Our Little Boat

Oops....

The original slogan was "It takes a licking, and keeps on ticking."

Why are you so enamored of "the little ship that could"? It's somewhat impressive that the authors wanted to to prove something here but, if they wanted to show something special, they would not have set it out without knowing more about how it would fare - better than this! Unless they didn't heed reality and just hoped it would do well.

I think hope, rather than science/math, made them launch the boat.

its no ship, its a tiny underpowered boat. I like a good underdog story, plus its always amusing to see over-animated Brits get uptight over trivial things

Try taking your family to sea, nearly killing them by ramming into a drifting forty foot container in the pitch dark and eight foot waves, then judge for yourself how trivial you think it is. Despite Penny and Sam's assurances this thing does not have an adequate radar signature as I know from experience. You think I am paranoid, fine, put my family at risk and I get paranoid, put some other poor smucks family at risk and I get paranoid. The odds of this vessel actually causing a fatality are tiny, certainly much smaller than causing thousands of pounds worth of damage to to a ten mile long fishing drift net. They don't fish in the sea lanes, so it could be heading directly for the fishing grounds. But how many drug barons, gun runners and people smugglers are watching the progress of this vessel. For them the lack of a radar signature is a positive asset. They are not going to paint on high visibility stripes (after taking the publicity photos) or hide a white lamp on it. How many commercial companies are watching to see if they can cut crew numbers even further. With unmanned cars there will be a host of regulations in an attempt to make them safe. The UN International Maritime Organization who regulate marine safety do not have the manpower or facilities to police poor watch keeping on existing ships. They are totally unprepared and ill equipped for unmanned vessels.

you need to switch to decaf for a week

And of course the US wouldn't over react if an unmarked, low light, essentially silent vessel turned up in its territorial waters; disrupting commercial - fishing; oil etc activities as well as pleasure boats; let alone if it impacted US Navy activities. Someone in the Navy may be smart enough to bring it alongside but its likely they would just blow it out of the water.

Based on US reaction to foreign hackers I would expect them to use 'declaration of war' legislation and extradition of those responsible to face war mongering charges.

A proper fully visible riding light and a radar signature would have been simple to add and show appropriate concern for other seafarers but no we are freedom loving, entrepreneurs so we can ignore everyone else. The Atlantic Ocean is NOT your playtub. Seriously do you think they have insurance to cover snagging fishing nets; damage to commercial vessels or the cost of search and rescue if their Alberg (an aluminium iceberg) impacts a private leisure vessel or is that sort of thing beneath the dignity of freedom loving entrepreneurs?

yes it is our ocean

The Royal Navy may well have run down the White Ensign and ceded dominance of the High Seas to the US Navy but unless the Alberg turns up with at least a battleship group in tow that expression of power is somewhat limited, as commercial vessels around the Horn of Africa have noted.

Apart from Russian subs the Atlantic is mainly populated with friendly commercial and naval vessels and so the US Navy is more interested in say the South China Sea

you Brits sure are drama filled

We Brits live on a small island so we have more concerns over marine safety than a couple of backwoodsman from Midwest America, and you apparently. Your country hicks had better hope that if this thing sinks it is away from any marine conservation areas. In February 2004 the Med Taipei lost a container full of car tires overboard (one of over 10,000 lost annually) and it sank inside an American east coast marine conservation area. The ship owners were forced to pay $3.25 million in compensation. Allowing for the way litigation fees and compensation has inflated over the last 14 years I hope your guys are insured for at least $10 million.

you're still upset about that little "tea thing" in Boston harbor. let it goBTW our lil death ship is over 1070 KM @ the moment. you might want to start ling the beach with pitchforks as the invasion is surely imminent now.

these "Hicks and backwoodsmen" are your fellow colleagues. one being an ME one EE. you should afford them better than to refer to them with such disdain.

What keeps this thing from plowing into a dock at the end of the voyage? Or, if it evades all potentially colliding objects, does it just mill around indefinitely?

plowing? maybe bumping into

oh come on Tony why don't you set-up a floatilla of yachts to cheer the American effort to victory?

That is a different matter, it is interesting even exciting to see. There is also a human element involved and hopefully they know where they are going.

I really can’t get excited about a motorised bathtub.

Bathtub racing, now that is fun and exciting. Well it was until I ended up in hospital.

It's only 9 years late.

http://www.transatlantic21.org

clearly you read and understood both missions the bay I've been following is fully autonomous!, it isn't a stable catamaran . if you want to knock someone at least use facts

This should been posted in the break room

It has been, this is where we post anything irrelevant.

hopefully my continued coverage irritates you it certainly is engineering, it isn't an opinion story BTW, just for YOU! this am we hit 1050 KM

Is your shift key broken Fredski?

nope but I am getting a kick outta this thread