purpleivan

Witch way now... or, not another sequel. After the 14985Kn alarm clock woke him, Dean had some flying to do. The plan was to send him to the Coastal Cruiser, then on to a later stopping point to do the same again, before heading for the new Fuel Depot. It was quite a long journey, with the vast majority of it over open sea. Out here Dean had nothing to keep him company. Except the clouds of course. With about 1/4 of the fuel on the Goose consumed by the light there, Dean was finally in sight of the boat. Once down and hooked up to the boat, more fuelling fun ensued... not forgetting that little tank at the front. Dean watched as the freshly fuelled Coastal Cruiser headed out into the blue. As it's headed (very) roughly in the direction of Fuel Depot 2, he'll meet up with them again soon for a top up, then South to his new base. Some nice sandy beaches in this part of the world. So Bob... care to take a crack at a name for this unusual feature. "Well, obvious isn't it" Not really. "Witch's Hat Mountain" But didn't you call something else the same thing. "No, that was Wicked Witch Mountain, totally different thing". So leaving Witch's Hat Mountain in the rear view mirror, the boat sped on. eventually coming across one of those annoying little "gotta divert into it for a peak" bays, so all the coastline has been seen from the boat. Ok... we've peaked, now can we get on with the trip. Nice try there lake, but you've cleary not joined to the sea, so we'll just keep moving on. Down to half tanks. There are a number of fairly large coastal islands in this neck of the wood. Jeb thinks about pulling over for a save break, but knows that Bob will only pester him to go play with the rover, and this cruise needs to get motoring. Beyond the back of a large bay lay some mountains, one of which was particularly spikey and probably impossible for Bill to climb. So car to give it a name Bob. "Sure, I'd call it Witch's Hat 2... The Witchening". Bill headed out on deck as the boat plowed on Eastward, to get a nice arty shot of the rear of the boat at sunset. Something for him to add to his next "Dear Bill" article for the Kerbin Gazette. Jeb wanted to get the most out of the fuel they had onboard, so he heads into the darkness, looking for a good place to stop. He guides the boat towards a shallow headland that he thinks will make a good spot to meet a Goose at. However there is a large area of shallow water and that bottom suddenly comes up at him, making him more than a little worried. He swings the boat around to avoid a sliver of rock that's sticks slightly above the water line. But the boat gets grounded at the end of that sliver. It's not a catastophe, as they're pointing towards slightly deeper water, but it was a bit of a moment when the boat just suddenly stopped. So this is where they will be spending the night, and in the morning they'll use a light boat and jet power to free themselves for a meeting with Dean and the Goose.

There in 30 minutes or you money back... or, heading South and setting up camp. It's was again time for the faithful old fuel depot to get back into the game. After it's sterling service in the northern reaches of Kerbin, it was needed once more, this time in the southern hemisphere. Woomerang was chosen as the launch site as the targetted landing site was much closer to it was to the KSC. Liftoff was uneventful, although Dean, asleep in his Juice Goose, did wake up a little panicked when this thing took off beside him. With the ascent phase complete, the engines were shut down for the coast to the SSE Almost looks like the same picture, but now the blunt end is pointing SSE and the engines have roared to life once again for a braking burn. With the boosters detached the fuel depot glides down towards the surface. Chute deployment this time went without a hitch (looking at you MIRF), but for some stange reason, the trees seem to have been frightened by this visitor from the sky. Really frightened. But they needn't have worried, there was no fiery end to the descent. Fuel Depot 2 had landing and was open for business, even if the trees were still hiding on the horizon. But a scene reload persuaded the local fauna to come back, a little something extra for future screenshots.

Leaving the Lake of Sorrow... or, so long and thanks for nothing. With the boat now needing fuel, but a long way from Woomerang, help from above was called upon. De-orbiting was straightforward, as was the descent to parachute deployment altitude, but at that point things went a little pear shaped. For some reason staging just didn't work... I was mashing the Space bar, but nothing was happening. So I tried to do it manually, which led to deployment of one parachite, then immediately cutting it as I franticly tried to deployed the others. The resulting debacle was an F9 requiring impact with the sea. Thankfully on the 2nd attempt staging worked fine. Kersploosh... one fat tub of fuel in the drink. With news that their orbital gas station had arrived, the boat headed out on thr 8km journey to meet it. Well thar she blows... but in this part of the world whale harpoons you. Jeb jumped out on deck to check that everything was hooked up properly, then went back inside to get the Coastal Cruiser slurping the juice down. With full tanks once more, the crew headed off on their journey around the Lake of Sorrow. Here's a better picture of the "lake". On the right are the two fairly narrow passages through which access to it from the sea is made. As they sped towards the South end of the body of water, there was land. On the other nothing as far as the eye can sea. Finally the South end of the "lake" came into view, so it was time to swing the boat around and head back towards the passage to the open sea. After a while the inner most of the passages came into sight. Then a few minutes later the second. At this point the Coastal Cruiser, which hadn't quite made it to the open sea, was 100km from the MIRF at the far end of the "lake". Break out the bubbly... it's celebration time. The boat is finally back out on the sea, albeit with only 1/3 fuel left in the tanks. As the speed East along the coast, the Mun rises above the waves. Travelling East means that for the first time on this voyage, the sun is setting behind the boat. Time to find a good spot to stop overnight. That little cove to the right of the small islands should do. Bob gets a bit blinded by the glare from the setting sun, so he pulls a hat over his face and gets a little shut eye. A couple of minutes later and the Coastal Cruiser is moored and empty of fuel once again. But it looks like things are going to have to move around the board when it comes to fuel supply. Woomerang is now so far that a Juice Goose could probably only refuel the boat once before having to head back to base. So in the next post, it'll be time once more, to bring rocket power back into the equation.

Sounds like a fun plane to take a seaplane to points arond Kerbin. I actually started with the plant to have an electricly propelled boat. However with the engine designs I found and mods I added, the speed was so low that it would have been more painful than all the refuelling. It's not something I'd used before, so possibly I made a mistake somewhere and I bailed on the idea too early.

Now you've got me thinking... I'll have to take a closer look at the map. When I made my rough route layout for my map images, I didn't think that almost-lake was connected to the sea, as you can see from one of my earlier leg images (ringed in red). The bit to watch out for in "17-25 legs"... is that the water in the bottom left of the image that juts up North from the East/West coastline, with a couple of bigish islands in it's entrance? Hoping it's that, as it's something I know is coming.

More boat entertainment for me today, that started before 5am (on vacation this week and my sleep is broken). One tanker plane gives what it can spare to another tanker plane... Then that tanker plane flies to the boat and fills it with fuel. The boat then heads South until reaching the narrow entrance to a huge bay, that it's now exploring. Then the boat puts ashore just after sunset to wait for... more fuel. It's a never ending cycle.

Part D'oh!.. or, who put that there. Getting fuel to the Coastal cruiser in the exciting 2nd part of today's feature was a little more complicated than usual. Although Staemy had enough onboard to get the boat and fill it up, she would have been unable to get back to Woomerang, as the route to it was pretty much a straight line away from base. So Tanford, who was still parked on a beach further North, headed out to meet their fellow pilot, to top up Staemy's Goose, with what they could spare. Another beach landing ahead. Not the smoothest landing, but the Goose is down. After transfering about 700 units of fuel to Staemy's plane, Tanford has 808 units to get back to base with... not a bad state to be in, with Woomerang only a shortish flight away. Staemy thanks Tanford for the top up and hits the afterburners. After the flight South, Staemy met up with the Coastal Cruiser and filled up their tanks. She still had a little over 1400 units left for the long trip back North to Woomerang. With a full belly, the Coastal Cruiser heads out once more. Jeb braves the shallows to buzz through the gap between a large island and the mainland. At around the 1/2 tanks level, the crew arrive at something they've not encountered before. It's the entrance to a huge "almost lake", which unfortnately is attached by a narrow inlet to the open sea. This means that they have to venture into it, as it forms part of the mainland coast. That would normally just be a minor inconvenience, but this thing is huge. Jeb guided the boat through the first of two narrows that have to be passed through to enter the "almost lake" (can't believe it's not lake... wish it was a lake). A couple of minutes later it's time to pass through the inner narrow, that gives the final access to the large body of water beyond. Finally they make through to the large expanse of water. "Who nicked the coastline" Jeb asks. It's still there... just a long, long way away. Not the clearest image (damm you clouds), but this is a big area of water to explore. This picture is looking inland from above the open sea, towards the back of the thing. So Bob, you fancy giving this place a name. "How about the Lake of Sorrow". How come? "Cos' we're sorry it's not a lake". The sun is getting low and so is the fuel level. Jeb's going to have to start thinking about where to bring the boat in. Any time now Jeb... It's lights on time and Jeb's still ploughing on, wanting to make as much use of the remaining light as possible. Finally he brings the boat to a stop on the shore of a small cove. With Woomerang now quite some distance North and no planes with spare fuel nearby, it might be time for a visit from MIRF.

Double Feature... or, what happens when you get up stupidly early. With Bob recovering from his fever dream and claiming that he doesn't need to climb that mountain, as it feels like he's already done it, more fuel is called in. This time it's Staemy's turn to take to the skies. Then to fly over some mountains. There's her target, just a few kilometers away, so time to make a turn. She swung the Goose round in a long turn and brought it in along the beach, over the Coastal Cruiser. Once refuelled it was time to say goodbye (for now) to Staemy and head out to deeper waters. Jeb (who if Val's think's has been hogging the pilot seat) guides the boat down the coast and past the end of the mountain chain. It was evening when they set off, so it's not long before they have to think about where to park overnight. Still more than half fuel onboard, so plenty more boating tomorrow. Jeb brings the boat in at a rather different angle than normal and hopes he hasn't grounded it. But he's not going to worry about that until morning. So time to crank up the margarita machine and get out the board games. Another sunny morning for the crew, as they head out again on leg 31. The terrain on this leg has been pretty tame compared with the mountains that they left behind, but this one feature stood out. So what are you gonna call it Bob? "The bookend" he suggests. Hmmm... well, I kind see it. This stretch of the coast even looks boring from this altitude. Not much to see here, even inland. Fuel's getting low, so time to put in and wait for a Goose delivery. Jeb takes it easy coming in to shore, as he doesn't want the boat parked on a steep slope like last night. The margaritas kept sliding off the table. Well that's it for this nail biting leg... so much drama and excitement. In the next leg, the brave crew of the Coastal Cruiser get fuel, drive boat, go somewhere.

That would be a no. I didn't think about the fact that although it had 3x the range, it also needs 3x the fuel, so no real benefit in terms of time. Plus having the distraction of planes and a minisub (in addition to the rover) would make the trip take even longer. So I built the thing, did a bunch of testing and tweaking, brought it out to the location of the Coastal Cruiser, took a bunch of pics... then scraped it.

I built an improved boat for the Kerbin Sorta Circumnavigation as a possible replacement of the one I'd been using to sail around the entire mainland coast on Kerbin. It had various advantages over the original, with 4x battery capacity for the rover it carries, as well as a couple of mini jet planes for some aerial fun and game. It also had a minisub hidden inside. It's main practical advantage was almost 3x fuel capacity, so in theory a more practical vehicle for my trip. However once I made the thing and moved it to where the original boat was moored, I realised that my fleet of tanker planes and de-orbit-able fuel stores were too small to supply the thing. I didn't fancy redesigning my whole resupply structure, plus having planes and a minisub to play with on the journey would have made the trip take even longer. So it was consigned to a cheesy fever dream of one of the crew.

Things took a turn for the wierd in the K.S.C. With mini-planes... ... and a minisub. Plus the not so wierd with a trip to the top of a mountain by Bob.

Perchance to... or, go easy on the cheese Bob. The day started like any other, with the early morning sun spilling across the bay. Then Bob saw something on the horizon... some that was rapidly getting closer. As the object drew closer, he had to rub his eyes, as it was almost like looking in a mirror. A boat very similar to their very own Coastal Cruiser was headed towards them. It was indeed very similar, but somehow... better, and Bob was excited to find out what this new arrival was. The mystery boat came to a halt a few metres from the one on which Bob stood. The roar of its jet engines drew the attention of the rest of the crew, who all headed out to the deck to take a look. Suddenly an old friend appeared at the cockpit hatch. It was Andin Kerman, who had been one of the pilots to fly out from the KSC to refuel them, in the early weeks of their voyage. Andin jumped into the water and swam towards the waiting crew. After a brief chat Andin returned to the new boat, which had the offical name of the LRC (Long Range Cruiser), but was known by the team who had worked on it as the K.S.S Kitchen Sink. She brought the vessel alongside their boat and they quickly leapt across, eager to see what was onboard this shiny new craft. Bob headed to the stern, where a rover very much like his own, but with one major addition, in the form of a 1000 unit battery, sat ready to be driven. Val also headed to the rear of the vessel, having spied a pair of mini jets attached either side of the rover. With everyone aboard this intriguing new craft, Andin turned it around and parked it at the shoreline. Then she made her way to the rover to join Bob who was waiting in the cab. The pair headed for the mountains and suddenly they were in the foothills. Even with the 1300 units of electical power, the rover needed to charge on a steep slope a couple of time, leaving Bob and Andin sliding down as the power went up. But soon there were up in the white stuff. Bob was sure that they couldn't have made it up here in the rover on the Coastal Cruiser... this would surely make a wonderful replacement. Soon they were at the top... almost 5.5km. Not a record, but a fine feat in this new piece of kit. Before heading down, Bob and Andin took a moment to check out the view. Then the headed for the edge. Bob would normally be more careful and find a less perilous route down, but for some reason he just drove straight off the top of the mountain. Fortunately this new rover was equiped with parachutes, that slowed their descent to 30m/s. So what might have been a nightmare of exploding rover parts, was instead a leisurely drive to the foothills below. It seemed like no time and the pair were back where the two boats were moored. Now it was time for Val to get just what she wanted for this trip. A tiny plane for her to buzz around in and get a little stunt flying done. Suddenly it was Andin's turn to have some fun. She gunned the boat's engines and headed a few kilometres out to sea, before coming to a halt in deeper water. She made her way to the a suprise in the belly of the shiny boat... a minisub. Bob could have sworn than Andin couldn't swim and had a morbid fear of water, but she said this is what she did for fun. She took the sub down into the murky depths... down, down, down she went, until she was almost a kilometer below the boat up on the surface. Finally she reached the bottom and sped around, just above the ocean floor. After whizzing around the bottom for a while, she headed back to the surface, and in seemingly no time she had the underside of the boat in sight. She overdid her speed of arrival at the surface and leapt from the water like some great fish, before slapping back onto it with a big splash. Andin brought the minisub back to Kitchen Sink, cruising along on the surface, before diving under the rear of the boat and docking in the cargo bay. Suddenly there was a jolt... Bob sprang up from the deck, the morning sun on his face. His stomach felt rather uncomfortable and his mouth tasted like he'd been chewing for hours on a mouldy old sock. He straigtened up and got to his feet, blinking in the strong sun. The sound of waves lapping against the shore gave him a clue he wasn't out at sea, and that boat, with its collection of fancy toys, was nowhere to be seen. He sighed... there was no denying it, it looked like last night's gorgonzola eating competition had probably been a bad idea.

if I did this again (what am I talking about... not a chance) I'd go all out and equip the boat with a submersible and a mini plane, as well as a rover. Actually if no-one else does it, I might make the thing just to see how ridiculous it is. If I do make it, it has to be called the K.S.S Kitchen Sink.

This one was made a while ago (2015... the wild days of aerodynamics, what aerodynamics) and weighs in at a svelt 5025 tons, and is probably the heaviest launcher I've made. It was made for a shortest time to Eve challenge Made it there in 9 days 2 hours. Suffice to say Jeb was pretty satisfied.

Is that an impact (judging by the numbers)... 149m altitude and 134m/s vertical, or is that just communication issues.

It was a bit wierd to see it was accelerating.

Got a feeling I'll be adding some ksp hardware to it at some point

Descending. Just wish the ocasional interference that sounds like someone sucking the end of a milkshake would stop... keeps making me laugh.

I've got the terrain altitude readout from KER in the "with HUD" images, but the text is a bit small for the size limit for images. This one has the boat at 913.1mm Motoring along at 81.1m Deep stuff here off the desert coast at 639.7m

I knew the landing was coming up in the next few days, but didn't realise today was the day, until I checked Ars Technica when I got home. Dinner and a moon landing... what could be better.

Is it just me who's imagining this as a small child leaving a collection of toys just behind the front door, ready for an unsuspecting adult to trip over them.

Not yet. I usually wait a week or so for the mods to have time to catch up... then I forget... forget some more, and after about a month I get around to it. Is there something in 1.7 that might be an advantage/disadvantage for the cruise?

Bleary eyed... or, yellow does not equal cheese. With an empty boat and a nearly full tanker, Tanford leapt into action and sped along the coast, towards the Coastal Cruiser. It was getting late in the day, so she made a quick landing close to the beach. Lots of little boxes means one thing... the boats taking a satisfying gulp of fuel. Once filled to the brim the crew headed out to sea, this time not follow by some flourescent green lines in the water (Jeb thought they looked untidy, if informative). With the sun heading towards the western horizon, the boat ploughed on through the water, leaving behind it, the usual mystifying double trail. That sun seems to be in a special hurry to set today. Bill got this shot while he hung on for dear life, crouched between the two jet engines, as the boat sped across the sea. In the comfort of the cockpit Jeb also got snap happy with this shot of the setting sun. best not waste time taking pictures though if we're going to make the most of the daylight. Well... the sun has officially set, so time to find a good refuge for the night. The tanks are still over half full, so plenty more boating to do tomorrow. Once moored, the tanks are close to half empty and the crew setting down for dinner. It's Bill's turn to cook this evening, so it's cheese, followed but something else that may or not be cheese. In truth it's something he found stuck to the back of the refrigerator and looks kind of yellowish, so he's betting it's cheese. After Bill's "cheese surprise" meal the previous evening, no-one got any sleep, so to make use of the time, they headed off at dawn. Of they went, this time being chased by the sun, instead of running towards it. Bill again risked life an limb, clambering out onto the deck to get a shot of Bob's favourite things. Something tells me a rover trip is on the cards. The further they travel, the closer those mountain become (strange how that works) and Bob's already sitting in the rover cab, making sure it's fully previsioned with all the snack groups. Bob's getting worried now, as Jeb seems to be driving by these mountains rather than stopping at the first opportunity to offload the road. Bob starts yelling of the intercome something unrepeatable... no expletives, it's just that his panic at the thought of a missed mountain trip, caused him to replacing vowels with farm animal noises. Jeb approached the tip of a headland, near the far end of the mountain range. He's been checking the map and thinks he's found a good spot to park the boat and wait for for the Goose, while Bob heads for higher ground. Yep... that looks like a good place to drop anchor. Jeb lines up for a shallow angled part of the beach and guides the boat in. Before heading off in the rover, Jeb asks Bob to get a nice photo of him on the boat. He sucks his stomach in and gives the camera (the one perched on a long stick that Bob's waded out into the water with) a cheeky little grin, then sits down with Val for some tasty mid morning pizza.

Depending on success/inclination, this might be a common view.

Is it wrong that my first reaction was to start laughing uncontrollably (long day at work)... sorry. We've all had those kind of "oh you've gotta be kidding me" moments.