Annals of Archaeology–Here, Doggie, Doggie: An Edinburgh scientist, after years of detective work, is “quietly confident” that he has located the buried hulk of Charles Darwin’s famous ship, HMS Beagle. Missing since 1870, the ship on which Darwin spent five years pondering the origin of species, was auctioned for scrap to a pair of local merchants on the Essex coast. No one knows what happened after that. But Robert Prescott of St. Andrews University tracked the Beagle to a long abandoned dock buried beneath the banks of the River Roach and used ground-penetrating radar to reveal the outlines of a ship similar in size to the Beagle lying under 12 feet of mud. ‘Most of the upper part of the ship may have gone, but we have the lower parts and hull, and who knows what remnants of Darwin’s trip may still lie down there,’ said Prescott. ‘That is why this ship is so intriguing.’. Let the excavation begin…



Darwin’s Beagle Found? (note to TWC photo dept.: it’s a ship, you idiots, a ship!, ed)

Hey, It’s A Holiday (President’s Day) Today!: What the hell are you doing sitting around inside, surfing the web? Get…Your…Ass…Out…There (after you complete your perusal of TWC, of course)…



(Photo: Teton Gravity Research)

Jules Verne Update–Cheyenne is Dogging Orange I…Finally: On any round the world sailing attempt you are bound to get both lucky and unlucky with the weather. Steve Fossett and his 12-person crew struggled with light winds through their first week (which is doubly bad because weather routing should normally give you a blazing start), losing miles to the track of record holder Orange every day. At the worst they were more than 1 day and 600 miles behind. But Fossett and his team kept cool and kept sailing, and…were rewarded with one of the fastest crossings ever of the normally windless Doldrums around the Equator. In the bad old days of the 19th century, Doldrums sailing could drive men mad, as their ships wallowed for weeks and even months in the torpid, oppressive airs over the Equator. But “Cheyenne’ darted through a hole in the calms and rarely dropped below 15 knots. The result: she got across the Equator in 8 Days 6 Hours, whittling Orange’s lead to less than a day. And in the two days since, the 125 foot cat has kept cruising and this morning was just about 70 miles behind Orange’s 2002 record pace. In the world of big multihull racing that is basically nothing when there is more than 18,000 miles to go. But Fossett and “Cheyenne” had better keep sailing their asses off. Not only do they have to overtake the ghost of Orange I, Bruno Peyron just announced that he and his 13-man crew on the 120-foot “Orange II” will be setting off on their JV attempt Wednesday. Olivier De K will probably get back on the start line pretty soon after that. So this thing is going to be up in the air until the last multihull finishes…or disintegrates.

Meanwhile, here’s a little taste of life Equatorial onboard “Cheyenne” from Watch Leader Dave Scully:

“I was driving along yesterday. Mark was on the traveler. He is fiddling around with his fingers in his mouth, and suddenly pulls out a filling the size of a pea. “There, what shall I do about that then?” he asks me. I groaned, internally and externally. I hate dental work. As medical guy on board, I don’t mind dispensing a few anti-inflamatories, bandaging a wrist, or dispensing band-aids, but this was going to be a nightmare. I do not even like having my own teeth worked on, let alone groping around in someone else’s mouth with the packing and epoxy. Trouble is, no one else wants to do it either.

We maintained surprisingly good speed through the night, and I was wakened midmorning to hear that we would shortly entertain an important visitor. Sure enough, no sooner had we crossed the line, (Mike managed to clear it off the rudder), when King Neptune himself, and Badger Bag, appeared on the foredeck. Poor Mark was hustled forward, lashed to the tramp, and the litany of his sins reviewed. To the crews’ shouts of condemnation, a ghastly mixture of food slops and dead flying fish was ladled over his head, while Mr. Badger lashed him with a dead fish. However horrible, the King was well pleased with his forfeit, and promised us safe passage through his kingdom. Mark also survived, so it was a good start to the day.

Now we are loping along, close reaching in the south east trades. The big genaker has been laid to rest, it’s place taken by the solent. The comfort of VMG running has been superceded by the gut wrenching double bump of a catamaran bouncing over waves. Many of the crew followed Mark’s example, and did a bucket bath and shave. Guillermo is the trend setter in facial hair styles, and the crew now sport his characteristic pencil thin mustache and a lip drip of growth at about chin central.”



Cheyenne’s Crew Works Quickly to Clear the Equator Off the Rudders As the Big Cat Sails Over The Line…….

TWC News Flash 2–Geronimo Out: Easy come, easy go. Just as we are about to get Orange II out there, Olivier De K announces that “Geronimo” has turned around and abandoned her record attempt. The big tri is heading back to Brest, the victim of sail problems. Seems that 2 of the 3 gennakers (a headsail critical for light and medium winds) Geronimo was carrying blew out in the past few days, apparently due to a defect in the way they were built since 2 of the 3 were brand new. That’s the way it goes with Jules Verne record attempts. Only 4 out of 13 have succeeded since multihull sailors started to try to break the 80-day barrier in 1993. Still, I wouldn’t want to be the guy at the loft when De Kersauson comes storming in. TWC assumes Geronimo will try to restart, though it’s not clear what sort of spares De Kersauson has ashore, or how quickly the defective sails can be repaired. Stay tuned…



Disappointed De Kersauson: “F*cking sailmakers……”

TWC News Flash–Orange II Goes Code Orange: It just keeps getting better…Bruno Peyron has just announced that he and his weather router–“Clouds” Badham, one of the world’s best–have spotted a a potential weather window for this coming Monday. If it holds up, Peyron and his 125-foot, spanking new cat, Orange II, will set off in pursuit of Fossett and Olivier De K. So there could be three mega-multis in the global record hunt at the same time, and all within reasonable range of one another. Anything could happen. Anything. Peyron and Badham will review the situation tomorrow and make a “go/no-go” decision then. Keep your fingers crossed….



“Steve! Olivier! Better start looking over your shoulder because here I come!…Maybe.”

Annals of Adventure–Visiting Santa: This month, American Wave Vidmar (cool name, dude) will attempt to become the first American to trek solo and unsupported to the North Pole. He will leave from Russia’s Artichevsky peninsula, and getting to the top of the world will require him to walk, ski and swim more than 600 miles, pulling a 350 pound sledge. If the 39-year old Wave makes it–he’s aiming for 45-60 days–he will be only the third person to get to the geographical pole solo and unsupported. You can follow his polar bid here. Mountain Zone checked in with Wave before he left his hometown of San Francisco. Here are some excerpts:

MZ: You will face a variety of dangers – cold, bears, swimming arctic waters, weather – to say the least. What do you think is your greatest danger or risk?

Vidmar: The greatest danger is likely falling into the ocean and freezing/drowning to death. My greatest fear is swimming in the inky black water, with unknown killer whales (Orcas) and great white sharks. The most probable danger is frostbite and frostnip.

MZ: How safe are you sleeping at night in your tent?

Vidmar: That’s a relative question. More accurate to ask what dangers will I face while sleeping. Attacks from polar bears are still likely, though I’ll have a perimeter wire attached to trip flares to alert me to their presence (and hopefully scare them away). Also, the ice could crack beneath my tent and the ocean could swallow me whole. Or the ice could be rammed under or over another piece of ice.

MZ: How did you train for this trip?

Vidmar: I’ve been preparing for nearly a year now. Physically I have been swimming underwater, doing weights and Nautilus, bicycling, hiking, and dragging a semi-truck tire around to simulate pulling heavy sledges. Also, gaining weight has been an important part of my training. I had less than 4% body fat when I decided to go to the pole, so far I’ve gained over 50 lbs and another 12+% of body fat (this aspect has been the hardest for me, to gain weight).



“Welcome to my world, Wave. Oh. And thanks in advance for fattening yourself up…….”

TWC Quick Hits:

Meet Chris Kilham, Medicine Hunter: “Indiana Jones” of plant world travels globe, searches for herbal remedies, has a high ol’ time firewalking and shooting blowguns…

Porn-Star Snowboards Getting Parents Hot and Bothered: Teens love ’em, Sims Snowboards sells ’em, Vivid Video star Jenna Jameson endorses ’em…



Caution: Users could experience abnormal hair growth on palms…..

Have A Wetass Weekend…:

TWC Video Extravaganza–Watch “Crazy” (you think?) Ed Lucero Kayak Over a 105-foot Waterfall: Another score for Outside Online. They’ve got this world record “huck” (yup, that’s what it’s called) on tape. The time: last summer. The place: Alexandra Falls in Canada. The previous record: 101 feet. “Crazy Ed” was sucked underneath the water at the base for a full four seconds before he emerged alive, slightly older (but probably not any smarter). Click here to watch it in Quicktime, and here if you prefer Windows Media. Don’t bother if you don’t have a fast connection. You need bandwidth, baby, to get the full TWC experience….



Huckster “Crazy Ed” Hits the Lip: “Hey, Ed, we’re going to have to upgrade your nickname to “Insane”……

(Photo: Jed Selby via Outside)

Jules Verne Death Match Update–Another Contender Ready at Ringside: Steve Fossett’s “Cheyenne” has finally tucked into the steady trade winds and is rocketing south toward the Equator. The 125-foot maxi cat is about a day and a half off the record pace, and Fossett and his team will hope to make some of that up passing through the windless Doldrums, and then later in the Southern Ocean, where Orange had some slow days. In any case, “Cheyenne” is lucky to still have a mast. Watch captain David Scully describes the action yesterday:

“The sun rose on the sparkling sea this morning, to reveal that our rig was about to fall down. Guillermo Altadill, walking forward after his trick on the helm, happened to look up, and noticed that the large pin securing a link plate in the shrouds, had wandered part of the way out of it’s mounting. Pausing briefly for a few Hail Mary’s, we jibed, took a hammer to it, and restored our rigging to it’s normal integrity. At some time, probably during our fifty knot upwind slog to the start, the split pin securing the big rigging pin in place had sheared, and the big pin had been slowly leaving the boat ever since. Had we jibed and unloaded the pin, our return jibe might have been made memorable by the graceful descent of the rig and sailplan. Thanks to the sharp eyed Catalan, we are not, at this writing, paddling to the Canaries.

Sailing today is pleasant, but not very fast. We are sailing downwind angles, jibing on shifts. The wind has picked up some this morning, but the pace is still a bit docile. Adrienne [navigator] assures that we are sailing into more wind, and we hope she is right. No accurate position fix on OdK. We expect that he is totally becalmed somewhere around Madeira, wishing he had taken up accountancy in his youth, rather than sailing.”

Scully is a great sailor with a dry sense of humor, but unfortunately for “Cheyenne” Olivier De K is very happy to be a sailor at the moment, because “Geronimo” has made much better time than “Cheyenne” in the early going and is less than a day behind, chasing hard. Some figures: after 5 days “Cheyenne” has sailed 1682 miles. De K has done 1224 in just 3 days (at Day 3 “Cheyenne” had done just under 1000). This is good for “Cheyenne” because it will keep them pushing a full speed to stay ahead. At the same time, it will be stressful to have another boat so close. Imagine getting all the way around the world, breaking the record, and then having another boat break it again just a day later. D’oh. Worse, this problem is about to get worse for both Fossett and De K. Bruno Peyron, the French sailor who basically invented this class of giant multihulls, has just launched and christened the latest generation version of these sailing beasts, a 120-foot catamaran, sponsored by French telecoms giant “Orange.” Peyron and his crew of 13 have barely sailed the thing, but they are about to go on standby to take up the chase. If we get three maxi-multihulls out on the track at the same time, this Jules Verne Death Match is going to get extreme. In fact, there is a possibility that the world record will be broken three times in a couple of weeks…



Next in the Start Grid: “Orange” should be the fastest ocean racer on the planet, if Bruno Peyron can keep his spanking new cat from teething problems…