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Monday, November 7, 2016

John Kerry going to Antarctica on Election Day... His flat earth model is wrong.


Kerry thinks flat earthers believe melting of ice will lead to water pouring over the edge of a flat earth. He has the model wrong because there's an ice wall that assures that, if ice melted, that water would rise in the flat earth bowl. He's ostensibly going to Antarctica to check the damage from global warming.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Are Antarctic research stations' being faked?


I ran across Jungle Surfer's analysis of the fakery of Antarctica's research stations several months ago-- possibly a year ago in mid 2015 but didn't want to admit that this could be possible since it would simply annihalate my current effort to measure the distance between the stations... and cumulatively figure on proving 60,000 or 15,000 miles as a circumference, thereby proving flat or spherical earth. However, after reviewing his work again, I think I have to at least consider the possibility that the stations, along with many of the other elements of Antarctica-- like fake solo crossings and the fake Vendee sailboat race-- might indeed be fake. Here's his flagship video on this topic.

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Airstrips & helipads

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?hl=en_US&mid=19Y2iONBpgycPsgQtOybwJaVTqhI

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Notice how the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research has to plan flights in sections.

Why is the SCAR planning flights in sections as follows?  Could it be due to the fact that the distance is too much for one flight? Notice how the planning map just deletes the area in the bottom left. Why? Were these flights flown yet? Where did they land and take off?
http://www.scar.org/

PDF] 
www.scar.org/.../14_08_23_SCAGI_Belgium_national_report.pdf
Aug 22, 2014 ...Syowa to Mawson” AADC. ▫ Supply the MXD of the 1:1million map “Aviation. Map: Mawson to Beaver Lake” . This map overlaps with the ...








The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is an inter-disciplinary committee of the International Council for Science (ICSU). SCAR is charged with initiating, developing and coordinating high quality international scientific research in the Antarctic region (including the Southern Ocean), and on the role of the Antarctic region in the Earth system. The scientific business of SCAR is conducted by its Standing Scientific Groups which represent the scientific disciplines active in Antarctic research and report to SCAR.








Friday, June 3, 2016

Syowa station (Japan)


In keeping with my study of all the stations in Antarctica so that we can eventually do a tight circumnavigation, I'll look at each one individually and index it below. I've picked Syowa, the Japanese station, at random, to begin. I don't recall looking at Syowa before. One thing that comes up in the searches of Syowa a lot are the radio call letters. That's a bit anomalous. Other stations have ham radio letters as well but Syowa seems to be associated with ham more than others.


WEBCAM - The only embed I can find is for this postage stamp size feed which is never very clear. 
Webcam Showa Station: Syowa station - Antarctica, Antarctica, Showa StationShowa Station
Fullscreen — Showa Station: Syowa station



AN ANTENNA ARRAY at Syowa seems to me to be more unique and extensive than any other stations' antenna I've seen What are those U shaped ones? 


More interesting looking antenna look like like masts of old sailing ships.



A more extensive electronics array lab from Syowa than I've seen at other research stations continues the ham radio and antenna mystery of Syowa. 




A so-called "satellite dish" points skyward under the dome which is a dominant structure at Syowa.  Since I don't believe in satellites (they're a hoax), the dish might be gathering signals bounced off the ionosphere-- which makes sense for ham radio. I know nothing about electronics in this regard other than having basic awareness of the general idea of ham radio.



The array of antenna in the background is NOT a common feature of all stations in Antarctica. This is unique.



Syowa is particular difficult to service, as a station, because it seems to be blocked by ice floes year round. Other research stations have warmer periods where its easy to dock a ship. Not Syowa. Consider the following tale of waiting two years before getting supplies in and how close they were to running out. This is made even more anomalous by the lack of an airstrip to fly supplies in. Interesting too is the lack of mention of a helicopter to fly supplies in.




Here is a playlist of Youtubes featuring Syowa that I chose. There are far fewer Youtubes of Syowa than other stations. 

1. 5 minutes of a station worker getting up and going outdoors.

2. Ham radio chatter from Syowa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Js0_reLfAk

3. Jogging around the station grounds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw578IR94bw

4. Japan's icebreaker that presumably services Syowa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBCN1zOqotY


VISITS TO AND FROM OTHER STATIONS are non-existent as far as I can tell.


WIKIPEDIA has a short article about Syowa which they write consists of 60 buildings-- which is quite extensive. 
Showa Station serves as a research outpost for astronomy, meteorology, biology and earth sciences. It comprises over 60 separate buildings, large and small, including a 3-storey administration building, living quarters, power plant, sewage treatment facility, environmental science building, observatory, data processing facility, satellite building, ionospheric station, incinerator, earth science building, and radiosonde station. Also present are fuel tanks, water storage, solar panels, a heliport, water retention dam, and radio transmitter.



TRAVERSE TO SOUTH POLE FROM SYOWA is claimed at this website.
https://nsidc.org/data/thermap/antarctic_10m_temps/traverses/syowa-pole.html

Treks to the Pole are not possible on a flat earth because the Pole doesn't exist on that configuration. The South Pole would be a South RIM that surrounds Antarctica some distance inland. On the site above, there is no indication of a rendezvous with workers at the claimed South Pole station, Amundsen Scott. The information on the traverse here is very sketchy and impossible to read as an amateur-- other than to indicate that it's possibly fake. 




WORKER'S BLOGS are sometimes useful in terms of gaining some insight and verification of the research stations. I'd like to see workers' reports of travel to and from various stations so I can verify miles and distance but that sort of information is rare-- and when it exists, it's difficult to correlate to the overall situation I'm looking at. Here is a worker's blog that considers food at Syowa-- a safe topic that likely won't lead to any trouble.

http://sspaces.exblog.jp/11480659/


RADIO at SYOWA is prominant and when googling the two keywords, radio and syowa, there appears to be a big NASA connection. Here's a NASA website that deals with radio information at Syowa.
http://gcmd.nasa.gov/KeywordSearch/Metadata.do?Portal=amd&KeywordPath=%5BParameters%3A+Topic%3D%26%23039%3BSUN-EARTH+INTERACTIONS%26%23039%3B%2C+Term%3D%26%23039%3BIONOSPHERE%26%2347%3BMAGNETOSPHERE+DYNAMICS%26%23039%3B%2C+Variable_Level_1%3D%26%23039%3BMAGNETIC+FIELDS%26%2347%3BMAGNETIC+CURRENTS%26%23039%3B%5D&OrigMetadataNode=GCMD&EntryId=NICT_AURORAL_RADAR&MetadataView=Full&MetadataType=0&lbnode=mdlb2


Apparently, the Aurora Borealis of the southern hemisphere-- called something other than Borealis in the south-- is a big deal. From my scant knowledge, the borealis lights are related to the ions in the ionosphere-- and how those ions are connected at the poles of earth by earth's magnetism. I haven't thought about how they make sense on a flat earth since that's not my focus-- the focus being simply the confirmation of distance around Antarctica. In any case, Syowa is definitely involved in a lot of radio and a lot of borealis study. 
The sky is seen here at Syowa, lit up by the borealis.



ImageReducerAction.do.png
Here's a close up of that U shaped antenna array that I have not seen elsewhere in Antarctica.


From the website just above, we learn that there is a 
World Data Center for Ionosphere.... 
http://wdc.nict.go.jp/IONO/wdc/index.html

Apparently, Syowa is THE data collection point for Antarctica ionosphere data. I suppose it's strategically located for that particular job-- which no other station has. That would explain why it was located in a "hard-to-service" location where it recently took two years to get supplies in.  You have to wonder why THAT location had to be chosen. And you have to wonder why JAPAN is the primary station for this type of data and why OTHER stations don't gather the same type of data.


Here's a sample of what Ionospheric data looks like.
http://wdc.nict.go.jp/IONO/wdc/iono_antactica/data/10/IonosphericDataAtSyowaStation-2015.pdf

Somehow, all this is tied into GRAVITY WAVES? Wow, that's wild. So-- is this what NASA and Japan are doing? Working with gravity waves? But why in Antarctica? Does the borealis have something to do with it?  Is the borealis a manifestation of the ionosphere dropping to earth? 
http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/2008JAS2539.1







IS SYOWA RADAR LOOKING "OUTWARD" for the "ICE WALL"???

http://www.ann-geophys.net/14/1454/1996/angeo-14-1454-1996.pdf






Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Quick Google-maps video tour of about 27 of 80 claimed research stations with map correlation

The following video claims that there are 80 stations. I'll have to look at the Wikipedia entry on stations again as well as other maps. The concept of the video is interesting-- I've posted it in this blog before. Today, however, I have a better understanding of the various stations and travel between them as well as fuel depots, GPS stations, and other aspects of Antarctica so it's interesting to revisit this approach.

Below the video is the first map I chose to correlate what is shown in the video with the standard map of Antarctica's research stations with clear latitude and longitude lines. As the video plays, you can scroll down quick to see where the station is, then scroll back up. Stop the video if you like to really get a lock on where you are, on the map.

There's more to be done in this post because there are stations mentioned in the video that I do NOT see on the up-to-date map below but again-- the concept is very good. Certainly the Google earth view can be used to detect convexity vs. concavity as well-- which should correspond to Antarctica as a rim or island but the video doesn't really make that as clear as I'd like. It appears convex, consistent with an island but the photos are arrayed pieces like a puzzle so manipulation is possible and likely. Anyway, I'll review the following video again and post updates below as I'm able to.

Saturday, May 28, 2016

If we're going to circumnavigate Antarctica by air or sea, we should check the weather but there's a problem.

Apparently, we can't check the weather in Antarctica. (Apologies in advance for the low volume and expletives used by the creator of the video which is interesting nonethe less.)

Friday, May 27, 2016

Measuring speed on water and in the air become a major problem for me.


Measuring speed on water and in the air become a major problem for me. 

I've been considering the problem of the distance around Antarctica as a way to verify a flat vs. a spherical earth for about a year now. Not once, in that time, have I really thought about how speed is measured-- on water or air. I'm familiar enough and trusting enough of the odometer in my car that I don't worry about land speed. It's speed over water and air that has me vexed now. I see all sorts of analyses and technical ways of understanding it when I do a search but frankly, I'm not grasping it as fully as I need to. It's a loose end. Without it, this mission is doomed. 

As a recent post I wrote began sinking in-- the one about the stupid computerized buoy's "they" are placing all over the world's oceans-- THOUSANDS upons THOUSANDS of them-- (financed by who again?)-- I started wondering exactly HOW they determined that a buoy would help determine that the speed of the ANTARCTIC CIRCUMNAVIGATION CURRENT (with it's own acronym ACC)-- was determined to be 1 knot or... in other articles I've seen 5 knots. NOTE that the difference is of an order of magnitude that could be the difference between a 15,000 vs. a 60,000 mile coast line for Antarctica. How convenient for "them" that there is "mass confusion" over this issue and that it's likely that not one-in-ten-million-people knows how to compute speed over water and air, either with ancient "old fashioned" methods nor modern "lying" GSP (which is NOT based on satellites-- which don't exist). 

I'm weary already. I'll continue to construct this entry over coming days. Right now, I have to tend to chores... the chores of a slave-human.



The following video will be turned into a youtube playlist in coming days and weeks as I learn more about how to measure distance in water and air. It turns out that I'm going to have to dig into this to be able to confirm or deny the distances various people are claiming is the distance around Antarctica. Join me in watching these videos as I teach myself how to navigate so we can understand the true distance around Antarctica-- and what to watch for if we watch others going around Antarctica.






Update on Sat. morning May 28, 2016. 
I only have 5 minutes to throw another idea into this post-- 

From  http://oceanmotion.org/guides/n_1/n_teacher_1.htm
quote 
The fundamental flaw in using this log line method to determine distance is that it does not account for the effects of surface currents. The log line method measures the speed of the ship relative to the surface water. It provides no means to estimate how fast the water itself flows. If a boat is carried westward by a strong current, the log line method will not reveal the existence of the current. This fact is related to Newton’s First Law of Motion, which states that steady motion in a straight line is “natural” and undetectable without reference to an outside reference object.
unquote

Rick continues-- Of course! How simple this concept is--- once you think about it. HOW am I  supposed to measure distance around Antarctica when I don't even know how distance is measured on the water-- and I didn't even understand the very basics of measuring speed on water-- or air for that matter. The OceanMotion.org link above provided this diagram of a log line used in determination of speed on water... It's actually a very tricky system. It's a problem... and if its a problem of this nature, it might be another key to unlocking the mystery of the length of the Antarctica coastline.

oceanmotion.org/guides/n_1/n_teacher_1.htm
To explain how ocean surface currents affect the path of floating objects. ..... Sailors measured the speed of the ship using the count of knots in the rope unrolled ..

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Circumnavigation by Carnegie in 1916 took 4 months but was well north of 60S.

You can see that the route of the Carnegie never goes higher than 60S latitude. You can see for yourself that there are significant "short cuts' being taken by the ship as seen in the pointed peaks of the dark line in the map below. On an azimuthal flat earth projection, those will be clearly seen as shortening the trip considerably. 

Notice that Antarctica is not completely outlined below. Note too that above 60S, the distance on an azimuthal projection increases considerably. It's quite concievable that if the short-cut routes of the Carnegie took 4 months-- that a non-short-cut-above-60S route (around 75S) -- would have taken much longer. My inaccurate sketch of that projection doesn't quite make that clear but you can at least see the problem we're faced with. More accurate maps can certainly be made... I'm just proposing a direction of research. 

Here's are links to stories about the Carnegie's voyages, including this Antarctica one.

https://library.gl.ciw.edu/ocean/carnegie/main.html

http://publicationsonline.carnegiescience.edu/legacy/exhibits/ault_exhibition/antarctica.html



I created the following map quickly in 5 minutes by eyeballing alone. It's not accurate but it's a starting point. You can see there's a big difference between the yellow line, the voyage as close as I could get it in 5 minutes, vs. that orange line which goes along Antarctica's coast. I guess we would have to capture the ship's logs and their latitude and longitude estimates-- and how they got those numbers-- a century ago. It's typical of many if not all of the circumnavigations of Antarctica I've seen involve latitudes that are too high for satisfying my curiosity about the true distance around Antarctica-- and the Carnegie is just another one-- albeit a bit more interesting than, say, the Vendee Races or individuals doing yacht trips around the southern oceans.




Monday, May 23, 2016

New Horizons Expedition tour claims to cover 1/3 of Antarctica coast in 1 month


New Horizon Expedition's partial circumnavigation takes 1 month, if true.

If the following 1/3 circumavigation route is covered by New Horizon Expeditions in one month-- then it appears possible to sail the entire circle around Antarctica in 3 or 4 months which would be consistent with a globe earth and a 15,000 mile 60 degree south latitude diameter circle around an island Antarctica. 
source: http://newhorizonexpeditions.com/expeditions/46/otl26%20ross%20sea.jpg
http://newhorizonexpeditions.com

TRIP ITINERARY AS ADVERTISED -- if it's real (which I haven't yet determined).

Visiting
Ushuaia, Argentina - Antarctic Peninsula - Peter I Island - Ross Ice Shelf - Macquarie Island - Invercargill (New Zealand)

Highlights
Landings by helicopter during voyage*
The wildlife of the Antarctic Peninsula, Amundsen & Ross Sea areas.
Stunning scenery, icebergs and glaciers. 
Ross Ice Shelf.
Cape Evans with the cabin of Robert Falcon Scott.
Visit US-station McMurdo and Scott Base (New Zealand).
Campbell Island.

Wildlife
Seabirds: Albatrosses, Fulmars, Petrels, Shags, Skuas, Prions, Shearwaters.
Penguins: Chinstrap, Gentoo, Adelies, Emperor, Royal.
Whales: Humpback, Fin, Minke, Orca, Southern Right, Blue, Sperm, Dolphins.
Seals: Weddell, Crabeater, Fur, Elephant & Leopard.

Duration
31 nights/32 days


Detailed Itinerary
Please note: Two voyages are available - Voyage NHO26 offers the same itinerary as voyage NHO25, but in reverse.

A true Discovery voyage including the southern Antarctic Peninsula, the rarely visited volcanic Peter I Island, exploratory program along the outer fringes of the pack-ice in the Amundsen sea, Roald Amundsen's starting point from where he gained access to the ice-shelf and finally reached the South Pole in 1911, sailing voyage in the Ross sea, the huts of British explorers Ernest Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott, Mc Murdo Station, the Dry Valleys and Macquarie Island - Welcome aboard one of the most spectacular expeditions on our planet

*Helicopter transfers:
During these voyages we will transfer our passengers ashore by zodiac. There will also be two helicopters availalbe in the event that zodiacs can not be used. Potential candidates for helicopter transfers are Peter I Island, The Ross Ice-shelf, the Dry Valleys, Mc Murdo Station, Cape Evans (hut of Scott) and Cape Royds (hut of Shackleton). In theory we plan on five helicopter based landings, but a specific amount of helicopter time can not be predicted. The use of helicopters is a great advantage and can support in the goal to reach certain landing sites, that otherwise are almost inaccessible.


But, this is a true expedition and we operate our itinerary in the world's most remote area, ruled by the forces of nature, weather and ice conditions. Conditions may change rapidly, having its impact on helicopter operations and passengers should understand and accept this.

Safety is our greatest concern and no compromises can be made. No guarantees can be given and no claims will be accepted. The vessel is equipped with two helicopters, but in the case that one helicopter is unable to fly due to for example a technical failure, the helicopter operation will cease or even be cancelled, due to the fact that one helicopter always needs to be supported by a second operational helicopter. No guarantees can be given and in no event will claims be accepted.

Special note: crossing the Date Line:
Both NHO25 and NHO26 have a total duration of 31 nights / 32 days. However, looking at the starting and ending dates of the voyages, it "seems" that NHO25 has duration of 32 nights and NHO26 of 30 nights. This is explained by the fact that we cross the "date line" at 180 degrees longitude. Travelling on NHO25 and crossing the International Date Line, results in a day being added and on NHO26 results in a day being subtracted. In any case, the duration of the voyage is still 31 nights / 32 days for both voyages.

Please note: Voyage NHO26 offers the same itinerary as voyage NHO25, but in reverse.

Day 1

Ushuaia - In the afternoon, we embark in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world located at the Beagle Channel and sail through this scenic waterway for the rest of the evening.

Voyage NHO26 starts in Invercargill, New Zealand and offers the same itinerary as described hereunder, but in reverse.

Day 2 & 3: at sea


Day 4:
We arrive in the Antarctic Peninsula and sail in the early morning through the spectacular Lemaire Channel and land on Pléneau Island, where Elephant Seals haul-out on the beaches. Gentoo Penguins, Kelp Gulls and South Polar Skuas are confirmed breeders. Pléneau Island was first charted by the French Antarctic Expedition of 1903-05 of Jean-Baptiste Charcot and was named after his expedition's photographer Paul Pléneau. We will also visit Petermann Island with colonies of Adélie and Gentoo Penguins and Imperial Cormorants (Blue-eyed Shags). Petermann island was named after the German geographer August Petermann who was a member of a German Expedition in 1873-74.


Day 5:
Sailing south through the Penola Strait, we cross the Polar Circle and arrive at the Fish Islands. The small islands lying east of Flouder Island are called the Minnows, first charted by the British Graham Land Expedition (1934-37) of John Rymill. Detaille Island was discovered by the French expedition of Charcot (1903-05) and named for a share holder in the Magellan Whaling Company. From 1956 till 1959, The British Antarctic Survey had their "Station W" located on Detaille Island. On both locations we may observe Adélie Penguins and Blue-eyed Shags.

Day 6 - 7: 
Bellingshausen Sea, where we may see our first pack-ice.


Day 8:
Peter I Island or in Norwegian Peter I Øy is an uninhabited volcanic island (19 kilometres long ) in the Bellingshausen Sea. It was discovered by Fabian von Bellingshausen in 1821 and was named after the Russian Tsar Peter I. It is claimed by Norway and considered a territory by its own. It is sporadically visited by passenger vessels.

Day 9 - 14: 
These days we sail through the Amundsen Sea along and through the outer fringes of the pack-ice, which - depending of ice-conditions - will give us glimpses of the Antarctic Continent, while we take advantage of the west-going Antarctic coastal current.


The sailing along and through the ice is very lively, with sightings of single straggling Emperor Penguins, groups of seals on ice-floes, and also Orca's and Minke Whales along the ice-edge, often accompanied by different species of fulmar petrels.

If the sea-ice allows, we will try to land on Shephard Island in Marie Byrd Land among colonies of Chinstrap Penguins and South Polar Skua's. Shephard Island was discovered by the US Antarctic Expeditions (USAS) of 1939-41 and was named after one of the promoters of this expedition: John Shephard.


Day 15:
We approach the Ross Ice Shelf, a floating mass of land-ice, with a front of 30 meters high. In the Bay of Whales at the eastern side of the shelf, close to Roosevelt Island (named by the American aviator Richard E. Byrd in 1934 for President Franklin D. Roosevelt), Roald Amundsen gained access to the Shelf and ventured to the South Pole, where he finally arrived on 14 December 1911. For us it is perhaps a chance to climb on the shelf as well.

Day 16:
Along the Ross Ice Shelf we sail to the west.

Day 17 - 21:

In the Ross Sea we will visit Ross Island, guarded by Mount Erebus, Mount Terror and Mount Bird with all the famous spots which played such an important role in the dramatic British expeditions of the last century such as Cape Royds with the cabin of Ernest Shackleton. If ice-conditions are favourable, we will also visit Cape Evans with the cabin of Robert Falcon Scott; from Hut Point Scott and his men set out for the South Pole. We will further make attempts to visit the US-station McMurdo and Scott Base (New Zealand).

From Castle Rock we will have a great view across the Ross Ice Shelf toward the South Pole. We will have a view into Taylor Valley, one of the Dry valleys, where on our planet you are closest to the conditions on Mars. For the Dry Valleys we plan to use our helicopters. This is just one example of helicopter use during this epic voyage.

Day 22 - 23: 
Sailing northward along the eastern west coast of the Ross Sea ,we pass by the Drygalski Ice Tongue and the Italian Station in Terra Nova Bay and further cape Hallet.

Day 24: 
Cape Adare is the place where people for the very first time wintered on the Antarctic Continent. The hut where the Norwegian Borchgrevink stayed in 1899, is surrounded by the largest colony of Adélie Penguins in the World.

Day 25: at sea.

Day 26: 
We sail along Scott Island.

Day 27 - 29: at sea.
At sea towards Campbell Island.


Day 30: 
Campbell Island is a sub-Antarctic New Zealand Reserve and an Unesco World Heritage Site, with a luxuriant and blooming vegetation. The fauna on Campbell Island is fantastic with a large and easily accessible colony of Southern Royal Albatrosses on the main island and breeding Wandering, Campbell, Greyheaded, Blackbrowed, and Lightmantled Sooty Albatrosses on the satellite islands. Also three penguin species, Eastern Rockhopper, Erect-Crested and Yellow-Eyed Penguins breed here. In the 18th century seals were hunted to extinction, but Elephant Seals, Fur Seals and Sea Lions have recovered.

Day 31: at sea.

Day 32: 
We arrive in Bluff near Invercargill (New Zealand) where passengers depart for their homebound journey. Voyage OTL26 ends in Ushuaia, Argentina and starts in Bluff, near Invercargill and offers the same itinerary as described above, but in reverse.



Argo telemetry bouys indicate world is 5X as big in Southern Hemisphere than we're being told.


Argo is a program of ocean monitering using sophisticated bouys. Here's one-- 1900978
http://www.argodatamgt.org/Access-to-data/Description-of-all-floats2

It was released south of South Africa in 2009 and is now south of New Zealand. Thus it has taken 7 years to float 3/4 of the way around the world-- 7 years! It's right in the area where they say the Antarctica Circumpolar Current ACC is strongest. If you say 1-2 knots (I found 5 knots)... then we'll take your number-- say 1 knot. 

A 15,000 mile radius at 1 knot (close enough to 1 mph for our purpose here), that's 15,000 hours. It should take 15000 mi / 1 mph = 15,000 hours / 24 hr/day = 625 days or 1.7 years to circumnavigate at that latitude-- give or take. 

But so far it has taken 7 years or 4X as long to go just 3/4 of the way around. If it takes another 3 years to finish, it will have been 10 years vs. the 1.7-- or close to 2 years it should have taken. That's an order of magnitude of 5X-- which is close to the order of magnitude difference between a circumnavigation of 15,000 vs. 60,000 miles for spherical or flat earth at that latitude-- which is 4X. 

In effect, Argo Platform 1900978 proves earth is flat. Thanks, Felix!

INDEXED BELOW UNDER "Argo"

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Sitting on a raft can get you around Antarctica in 4 months (or 2 years)


By my cursory analysis below, it appears I could FLOAT around Antarctica in less than a month or take up to 2 years-- without SAILS! [Indexed under "Southern Ocean - floating around Antarctica" in index below]. --Captain Rick Potvin, Virtual Circumnavigation of Antarctica to Determine 15,000 or 60,000 miles.


GREAT SOUTHERN OCEAN
Here we see an old map with GREAT SOUTHERN OCEAN labelled. I was under the impression that the Southern Ocean was only labelled in the year 2000 and that before 2000, it was merely thought of as the southern Indian, southern Atlantic and south Pacific. After reading this informatative Wikipedia piece under "Great Southern Ocean", it's apparent that there is still a mixed approach to the naming of the water surrounding Antarctica. Southern Ocean - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ocean






OCEAN CURRENT CIRCUMNAVIGATES ANTARCTICA
In my pursuit of a calculation of a true distance around Antarctica, I've overlooked the ocean current itself. According to the same Wikipedia article, The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is the strongest current system in the world oceans, linking the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific basins.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ocean
Antarctic Circumpolar Current and Antarctic Convergence[edit]
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current moves perpetually eastward — chasing and joining itself, and at 21,000 km (13,000 mi) in length — it comprises the world's longest ocean current, transporting 130 million cubic metres per second (4.6×109 cu ft/s) of water – 100 times the flow of all the world's rivers.

TESTING the LENGTH OF ANTARCTICA CIRCUMPOLAR CURRENT
Given that the Wikipedia and official sources the claim is based on-- say that the current CHASES and JOINS itself (!?) for 13,000 miles... and is the "world's longest ocean current" and most VOLUMINOUS current-- what might we be able to do to test that? We'd have to become sailing experts, I suppose, and be able to determine our speed or velocity ON WATER in a CURRENT. We might be able to also determine the SPEED of the CIRCUMPOLAR CURRENT by itself, if it CHASES AND JOINS itself, somehow. We could theoretically set a boat on the water at one point-- say the Greenwich MERIDEAN... at ZERO degrees LONGTITUDE.... running through LONDON... and give it a little push east and see how long it takes for it to return to us from the west. Isn't this essentially what the Vendee Globe racers do-- with the added speed from wind sails? What IS the speed of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current? 

SEARCHING... 

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22antarctic+circumpolar+current%22+speed&btnG=Search&num=100&newwindow=1&safe=off&hl=en&gl=us&authuser=0

oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/ocng_textbook/.../chapter13_04.htm
Nov 2, 2007 ... The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is an important feature of the ... Typical current speeds are around 10 cm/s with speeds of up to 50 cm/s near ...


SPEED OF ANTARCTIC CIRCUMPOLAR CURRENT (ACC) is 10 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND? 
The units of measurement of the speed of the Antarctic current is quoted in centimeters per second. I didn't expect that. I expected KNOTS. How would we convert cm/s to knots? I'm not sure yet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Circumpolar_Current
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is an ocean current that flows clockwise from west to ... The ACC has been known to sailors for centuries; it greatly speeds up any travel from west to east, but makes sailing extremely difficult from east ...

oceanmotion.org/html/background/wind-driven-surface.htm
In that region, the current speed may be as great as 9 km per hr (5.5 mph). ... Atlantic Ocean gyres, prevailing winds generate the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.


SPEED OF ANTARCTIC CURRENT ACC in MPH = 5.5 -- or is it 24 knots? 
It seems that we could be considering an order of magnitude of about 5 mph as an ocean current speed in the Antarctic. With a 15,000 mile circuit, the water would chase itself around and around for 15,000 miles / 5 miles/hr for 3000 hours -- roughly 4 months. That's fairly quick. It becomes apparent that the Vendee Globe Race claim of circling the Antarctica at 60S in 3 months is realistic-- if it's actually occurring. However it also appears that the wind doesn't speed them up too much. If they sat on a raft and did not sail, they would still circle the globe in 4 months.
www.shorstmeyer.com/msj/geo130/antarctica/polarinfo.pdf
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is the most important current in the Southern ... The average wind speed between 40°S and 60°S is 15 to 24 knots wit

INDICATIONS SO FAR VARY FROM 5 mph to 24 KNOTS
So far, I'm coming up with 5 mph to 5X as fast as that-- in the order of magnitude of 24 knots which is close enough to 24 mph to be useful for my consideration. Note that the variance is about 5X, which is consistent with the variance between a spherical earth and flat earth estimate of the distance around Antarctica-- the distance being 15,000 vs. 60,000 miles.  If the ocean current is 5X  as fast by certain estimates, then the trip around Antarctica should take less than a month, by simply sitting on a raft. On the other hand, if the time to circumnavigate the world is indeed 4 months by ocean current alone, we might be looking at 5X that time or 20 months, close to 2 years-- which is Captain Cook's time, they say, to circuit Antarctica. It's pretty confusing at this point but these numbers are at least a starting point. I need to do better work and be more accurate as to what I'm talking about. Where is the "father" in this picture by the way? He could be the one taking the picture I guess. This is not Antarctica, that's for sure.



ICE FLOES ARE NOT SUBSTANTIALLY HINDERING ANTARCTIC OCEAN CURRENT
If we did float on a raft around Antarctica at 5 to 25 knots, it's quite possible that we could avoid ice altogether at 60S. The Latitude lines below are in 5 deg increments and fake satellite (acutally GPS etc) pictures show that we have clear sailing at 60S. At 65S we encounter significant ice and land. 
http://www.shorstmeyer.com/msj/geo130/antarctica/polarinfo.pdf

PRETTY 3D PICTURE OF ANTARCTIC OCEAN CURRENTS
It's interesting to consider the following pretty 3D picture. Note the surface "ACC" which is what we're interested in if we FLOAT around Antarctica on a RAFT. 



http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Mi-Oc/Ocean-Currents.html


CONCLUSION
It appears that we can DRIFT around Antarctica without sails and simply ride the current on a raft. I would choose a houseboat over a raft however since I could include all the comforts of home. An old unpowered yacht or cruise ship might be better. No power and no sails would be required. I might start looking for a good deal on an old seaworthy riverboat with a non-working engine.