Thread by @kcimc

thread: since moving to LA i've been sailing a lot. i took @memotv yesterday and his analytical approach reminded me what a multifaceted activity it can be. it spans a number of disciplines and traditions, from polynesian wayfinding to cutting edge engineering.

polynesian sailors mastered the science of navigation. one of their traditional tools is based on swell interference patterns: they use the boat rocking to determine their position and orientation in known geography, or to estimate the location of unknown islands.

those drawings are from this incredible paper that describes another polynesian piloting tool called "te lapa": flashes of light that radiate from land at distances of 2-200 miles (3-320km). no one knows what causes them. tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.275…

i'm also inspired by adventurers like thor heyerdahl, who thought african sailors once crossed the atlantic in papyrus boats (spoiler: probably not). so he built & sailed a papyrus boat to test that it was possible. this doc about his process is epic.

his journey was a kind of activism. he chose a very diverse & international crew to demonstrate that people could live in harmony. they also discovered evidence that oil tankers were destroying the ocean and presented it to the UN. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Heye…

in terms of raw speed, wind-powered vehicles were doing 80+ mph (130 kph) long before trains or planes. an article from 1881 provides this visceral description of an iceboat on the hudson river. babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.…

people are still iceboating today and regularly exceed 50 knots (57mph, 92 kph)

i've heard the record for iceboating speed was set in 1938 at 124 knots (143 mph, 230 kph) on a lake in wisconsin. i have to admit i'm a little skeptical, but there's no doubt these dudes from 1881 hold the record for being most fashionable.

the idea of a sails being "a thing of the air" is also mentioned by paul larsen, creator of @sailrocket, the fastest sailboat in history: 59 knots (68mph/110kph) in 25 knots of wind. this quote totally changed my perspective on sailing. wired.com/2013/01/ff-pau…

paul provides some live narration for this video of sailrocket beating the world record. after 10 years of chasing his dream he's caught in the moment and completely at a loss for words. it's the exact opposite of the iceboat article.

one common feature between iceboats and @sailrocket is they have low friction: from ice skates or from hydrofoils. there are a bunch of smaller craft with foils out there that are completely changing how sailing looks. i really want to try this 😳

living in a city dominated by cars, there's something incredibly satisfying about flying around without any engine or exhaust, barely anchored to the surface of the earth. that's all. in conclusion: please enjoy this video of hobie 16 sailing in greece 🙏

wind-powered shipping making a comeback? "the biggest 15 container ships in the world create as much pollution as all the cars on the planet"... but the additional cost of sail-shipping only comes to 30¢ on €6 bottle of wine. via @jbibasse independent.co.uk/environment/sa…

@olafureliasson is getting some push back for #icewatchlondon where he transports 110 tons of ice from greenland to outside tate modern to tell a story about climate change. he gives a fair response.. but i would love to see the ice shipped by sail instagram.com/p/BrDZ4RenLfU/

wind-powered trains (not the dutch kind) from 1830s and beyond. i can easily imagine a solarpunk post-apocalyptic future where this is our best hope for long-distance travel over land en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sail_bogey

reading about polynesian navigation from david lewis (1972). i love the way the diagrams involve both stars and islands, the heavens and earth, in the same plane openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/11…

the snowfer, "The Most Versatile Snow Ice Sailing Board in the World" snowfer.com/Indexb.html

anuta is a remote island in the solomons. 0.4㎢ and 300 people, tiny but very dense. they are still sailing 200 year old canoes (pre-european-contact)

excellent documentary from 1983 about polynesian voyaging with a focus on mau piailug, micronesian navigator who navigated the replica voyaging canoe hōkūleʻa from hawaiʻi to tahiti and beyond using traditional techniques pbs.org/video/the-navi…

outrigger sailing canoe plans by tim anderson, who also happens to be one of the most prolific instructables authors and one creator of the tech used for zcorp 3D printers mit.edu/people/robot/

art residency on a polynesian-style catamaran (pahi 42) near helsinki

the current transatlantic sailing record is ~3.5 days. imagine if we put our engineering prowess into better sustainable transportation. i'd gladly take a 60km/h boat over a 800km/h plane
nytimes.com/2019/08/13/cli…

great documentary about the past, present and future of sailing canoes in the marshall islands. “wa kuk wa jimor” (2011) by rachel miller vimeo.com/31752506

absolutely love this pic of marshallese emilie ned pounding pandanus leaf (for sails) in the ozarks, using a deactivated american mortar brought from the marshall islands 💪 aam-us.org/2019/07/22/201…

the marshall islands were, of course, the primary site of american nuclear testing in the pacific. missile tests continue to this day. the US uses alternative names for all the islands.. maybe just for convenience?

..but i can’t help remembering a story from my grandfather, who said one of the first things the nazis did in poland was rename streets that referenced polish heroes and history. names and symbols are powerful. which is why i love that mortar being used to reclaim tradition.

cargo ships emit as much sulphur as 50 million diesel cars. some folks are trying to fix this with sails. one of my favorite projects is "tanker proa" which augments existing container ships with a polynesian-inspired design. their prototype is super cute.

@TOWindTransport is working on a massive 67m sail-powered cargo ship. they already transport goods on older boats, including their emissions-free rum, "rhum towt" (which is excellent)

@TOWindTransport @NewDawnTraders is working on the 60m "praocargo", which would be the biggest proa of all time? proas are different from european-style boats in that they always keep one side of the boat to windward, and use an outrigger for balance. newdawntraders.com/cargo-culture/…

@TOWindTransport @NewDawnTraders if you've been sailing, you know the boat has to constantly change directions, "tacking" (zig-zagging) when you are headed in the direction the wind is coming from. proas solve this with a technique called "shunting" where the sail changes sides.

@TOWindTransport @NewDawnTraders apparently there's a popular land-sailing class called a "blokart" (blow + go-kart) they go 65m/h (105k/h) and look ridiculous

new james bond, new westworld, new christopher nolan