The adventures of John Storm and the Elizabeth Swann. John Storm is an ocean adventurer and conservationist. The Elizabeth Swann is a fast solar powered boat. During a race around the world, news of the sinking of a pirate whaling ship reaches John Storm and his mate Dan Hook. They decide to abandon the race and try and save the whale.

(Original Chapter 14) – Darwin to Adelaide - 13⁰ S, 131⁰ E – 35⁰ S, 138⁰ E  (WSC)

SIX PACK <<<

Steve Green and Charley Temple surveyed the podium and the end points of the start line being built for the forthcoming electric car race across the belly of Australia, from Darwin along the Stuart Highway, some 3,000 miles, ending in the state capital of South Australia; Adelaide. 

The port of Darwin is the state capital of the Northern Territory, founded in 1860 as Palmerston and re-named after Charles Darwin the renowned English naturalist; Port Darwin in 1911. This sparsely populated city is home to the famous World Solar Challenge or WSC. The race is for electric cars, but only those that are solar powered.

“I wonder if this event will be the same again after the solar boat race?”

Charley frowned. “Just a little confusing I’d say - boss."

"The World Solar Navigation Challenge would have been a more accurate description of the boating event – the WSNC. A bunch of boats are literally going to race around the World.” She continued, “The WSC is a bunch of cars driving 3,000 miles across Australia’s belly. The only reason ‘World’ is in the title, is because entrants come from all over the world.”

Steve jumped in, “But then, there are other long distance land events with entrants from all over the world.” 

“True Blue,” said Charley with an Aussie twang. It was not often she was so opinionated. Steve smiled, secretly impressed.

"In fact they renamed the world navigation event to be even more precise, to avoid that kind of confusion. It is now known as the World Zero Carbon Challenge or WZCC."

"Why is that," asked Charley.

"Because some of the boats are solar and wind powered, and the 'World Solar and Wind Navigation Challenge' is a bit of a mouthful."

"Isn't wind power just sailing?"

"It would be if they used sails. They are using turbines as rotary sails to generate electricity," explained Steve.

"WZCC sounds better anyway if you ask me," said Charley.

The reporters climbed into a dusty black SUV and headed for the Mayor’s offices in City Hall. 

“Did you know solar racing began as a sport in the 1980’s with this race for cars across the Stuart Highway, through: Katherine, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs, Woomera and Port Pirie, ending in Adelaide. Contestants battled sand storms, brushwood, road trains (those large Australian trucks pulling several trailers) and each other across miles of unmade desert roads.” 

“Yuh” replied Charley, "we’re here.” They climbed out of the SUV and looked at the buildings façade. 

“Not as grand as Melbourne, but charming in its own way.” They entered the reception hall to see a historic picture display of the event that had made Darwin internationally famous.

Over the years the race became popular with engineering students the world over, attracting high street names like Panasonic, Hitachi, General Motors and Honda. Other countries introduced their own local version of the WSC race, including the American Solar Challenge (ASC) and the London to Brighton solar run and a solar car event in Hawaii.

Boating enthusiasts began circuit racing and the electric water speed record crept up from 50 to 60 miles per hour. Then in 2006 a catamaran called Sun21 crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Although this journey took several months, the accomplishment proved solar power was viable as marine transport. History was repeating itself, where Southampton University had crossed the English Channel in a solar powered catamaran, then came the Atlantic and finally a solar powered circumnavigation with skipper Raphael Domjan in PlanetSolar in 2012.

So too the intrepid Frenchman, Louis Bleriot had crossed the Channel in 1909 from Dover to Calais in 37 minutes, then came Charles Lindbergh, with his Atlantic crossing in Spirit of St Louis from New York to Paris in 1927 which flight took 33 hours and 30 minutes. This crossing fired the imagination of air operators, eventually leading to Panam, BA, Quantas and other air operators offering scheduled flights to shrink the globe. But at a price. Air Miles became Carbon Miles in reality, that would speed up global warming, as holiday makers basked in the sunshine destinations, they were helping to make hotter, by going there. Irony at its best.

The internet helped shrink the world further and faster, with websites operated by enthusiastic alternative sailors linking and learning to and from each other via powerful search engines, such as Google and Yahoo, until there were enough keen crews to want to pitch their vessels against others – all that was needed was an organiser. Finally, an advertiser on one of the most popular marine websites, decided to risk sponsoring a great race, where the boats must be electrically powered by energy captured directly from nature. Potential contestants flooded to the call.

The sponsor was an energy drink company, attempting to challenge the two biggest drinks companies, Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola. Such a challenge was probably a bigger undertaking than the race itself. But the gamble backfired with the name changing.

To begin with the car and boat designs were wild and uninhibited, but eventually the laws of physics tamed such flair, influenced inevitably by spiraling costs. The fastest solar powered cars ended up looking like stretched turtle shells on thin wheels.

Solar powered river boats sprang up all over the world beginning in Switzerland and spreading across Europe to the Mediterranean, London’s River Thames, Scotland’s Loch Ness, then to exotic holiday locations in the Caribbean, Australia and Canada. Most of these slow moving craft were little more than ordinary boats with parasols covered in solar panels. Crude and underpowered, but suitable for rivers and lakes.

Steve recalls a lecture given by John Storm in announcing the race that might change the future of marine transport :- 

"Climate change could have been nudged into top gear if motor manufacturers had been politically incentivised earlier in the day."

"One memorable vehicle represented a missed opportunity for mankind in 1996 – with instant electric refueling for a 250 mpg hybrid. The concept was pooh, poohed by US and British civil servants in favour of hydrogen, but then later in 2018, the same British and US think tanks were almost begging for the same solution, as battery electric cars took to the streets in greater numbers. But still with no support infrastructure, other than plug in charging."

“We take for granted our cars and trucks, but can you imagine a world without high speed convenience transport. The pioneering spirit of thousands of exceptionally gifted engineers developed the motor car to its present state, but the five pioneering inventors of modern transport, nearly all lived in Germany. We are standing on the shoulders of determined, hands-on intellectual giants, beginning with Nikolaus August Otto a German engineer who built the first practical gas engine which he displayed at the 1867 Paris Exhibition. He later built a four-stroke, spark ignition internal combustion engine which is where the ‘Otto Cycle’ comes from. Like many great inventions ahead of their time, it was to be another sixteen years before the next major step.”

John reached for a glass on the podium and poured water from a jug, taking a few sips, then he continued.

“In 1883 Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach built an IC powered motorcycle, then in 1890 founded Daimler Motor Co which built Mercedes cars. Karl Benz was the first engineer to sell four wheel, four stroke powered vehicles to a standardised pattern in 1885. Then in 1897 German engineer Rudolf Diesel built the first compression ignition four stroke engine. Henry Ford came along in 1908 with his famous Model T, followed by the all important mass-production line in 1913 which revolutionised car production for the masses. The production line was just as important, as the invention of the motor car.”

Pictures of these great men and their machines appeared behind John on a large silver screen, as he clicked to advance slides from a Macrosense™ presentation, which in turn were projected from his powerful Octlon™ powered laptop computer. Finally, AMD had overtaken the rival firm's Octium™ processor, for sheer number crunching ability.

"And then we come to the solar cell. NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, developed the silicon based solar cell to power satellites in the 1950s and 1960s. Satellites needed constant onboard power for inertial stability, to maintain geostationary orbit and radio transmissions." 

"At the same time the silicon transistor miniaturisation was born for use in modern computers, which first navigated Apollo Moon missions there and back. The Human race had come a long way since the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta invented his famous Pile, a battery to generate a small electric current. It was a British mathematician named Charles Babbage who originated the concept of mechanical calculations, with the construction of his vault size calculating machine. He died in 1871, after the government refused financial support to complete the work."

John was actually reciting from the work of his uncle, Professor Douglas Storm, a man who had inspired Israel, China and California to manufacture cars that could swap battery packs to recharge instantly. And now Mr Storm was about to enter the inaugural race around the world for zero emission vessels. This was what interested Steve Green, where the International Maritime Organization was on the lookout for solutions to give the world zero carbon ships before 2050.

Solar powered cars for ordinary transport had not taken off. Would it be the same for solar and wind powered ships?

The only way to find out was to give it a go.

SIX PACK >>>

- * -
 

GRAPHIC NOVEL

The graphic novel translation omits many of these chapters entirely, and condenses others, aiming for a lively visual read.

This story is a modern Moby Dick, the twist being that there is a happy ending for everyone involved with the $Billion Dollar Whale, even the whalers. Herman Melville would have approved.

Please use our A-Z INDEX to navigate this site