(Actual 10th century photograph of Lief Ericson)
Crew circles North Pole in one summer
A trimaran sailing boat has circled the North Pole in a single summer season, a feat made possible by global warming and the melting of the Arctic ice cap, the boat’s international crew said Thursday. 100 years ago, a circumnavigation would have taken six years,” the “Northern Passage” crew said in a statement.
No doubt it would have taken longer, when there was no information about the current state of the ice, no communications, no weather forecasts, no ice forecasts, no radar, no sonar, no lights, very limited navigational tools, and little hope of rescue.
We also know that in 1922, an expedition sailed to 81º 29′ in ice free water – closer to the pole than was possible in 2010.
h/t to Tom Richard