Kerbin Sorta-Circumnavigation

purpleivan · February 16, 2019

... or around the world in far too many days!

With a huge amount of vacation time owing to them, Jeb, Bill, Val and Bob have decided to take a trip around Kerbin by ship in something like a circumnavigation. With a true circumnavigation not possible without crossing land, and Bill claiming that building some kind of amphibious craft was heresy, they did the next best thing.

Their goal will be to travel along the route of the coastline, always keeping in sight of land, until they complete a trip along it that brings them back to the KSC.

For the trip Bill dug deep into his engineering knowhow to design the ship, and for their part the bosses at the KSC gave them the keys to the equipment stores and said "have at it".

In addition to the ship, Bill also added a rover that it will carry with it, to give the team a chance to head in land and check out the sights. The ship is equiped with refining equipment, so it can produce the fuel for its two jet engines.

Any journey has to start somewhere, and this one began on the launch pad of the KSC, headed to the sea, then out to the the runway island before finally heading along the coast south of the space center.

"Bye, bye KSC see you in a few... er... how long is this trip going to take Jeb?"

"I'm not sure, but it can't be long, I mean Kerbin's a pretty small place right!".

Into the drink.

Free to roam the... er... how many seas does Kerbin have?

Let her rip.

Hi runway island.

The little seen dark cliffs of the South side of runway island.

Leaving the Three Sisters behind.

Mainland in sight.

"Take her in nice and easy Val."

Refuelling the half empty tanks was going to take a little longer than expected (about 1.5 days) so Bill took the opportunity to inspect the vessel.

Before taking a dip while the rest of the crew tucked into dinner on the deck.

The salty sea, the Mun hanging overhead and a beautiful sunset... perfect start to some RnR.

Edited April 27, 2019 by purpleivan

Triop · February 16, 2019

Nice !

Goodluck dude, I'll sure be following this. :cool:

purpleivan · February 16, 2019

A nice early start after filling the tanks with fuel.

Time for Bob to go ashore in the rover and a quick fuel top up.

Heading away in the rover.

Gonna go a little further guys... don't leave without me.

Just a bit further.

Coming back now honest.

Jeb welcomes Bob back with the international signal for "come on, we've gotta go".

Loading up the rover.

Back at sea once more heading South. The mountains of the Cape of No Hope dominate the region.

A quick stop to make a save. Jeb notes that there's nothing South of here until you hit the South Pole.

x

Heading for the Cape, hope the weather will be fine.

The ominous cliffs of the Cape.

Having rounded the Cape, the crew heads North into an area of shallow water. Val spots this lagoon and says it should make a good place to stop for the night.

Good thing this boat has a small draft, the entry to the lagoon is seriously shallow.

But the setting for an overnight stay is well worth it.

Fuel extraction and sunset. The end to another great day for the crew.

For those who like more motion in their pictures, check out the video.

Edited February 16, 2019 by purpleivan

4472TJ · February 16, 2019

Going to have to try this tomorrow! Also keep us posted this sounds like a trip like no other

purpleivan · February 17, 2019

Bit of a late start as Val wanted to get herself seated on deck witha good supply of snacks.

Heading North.

The crew stopped off to process more or into precious fuel, while Bill and Val took the rover into the hills nearby. Val would be happier at the wheel, but as Bill got there first, he called dibs.

Heading away.

After a climb past a nearby lake, the pair stopped for a moment to take in the scenery.

Ship in sight.

With the tanks fuel it was time to leave and head North once more.

On their way again.

Munlight boating.

Finally with darkness almost upon them, it was time to make camp for the night.

purpleivan · February 17, 2019

Hmmm... something is not quite right with our crew of coastal cruiser. The ISRU gear is taking forever to process fuel, the reason being that the pair of Drill-O-Matic Juniors aren't really up to the job.

Jeb's having second thoughts about the whole venture, but the KSC is going to lend a hand.

Enter... The Juice Goose.

These handy refuelling tankers will be sent out to points along the crew's route, to reduce their reliance on home brewed fuel. A quick slug from one of these, and they're on their way again, isntead of waiting several days for a bunch of recycled central heating parts to give them some of the good stuff.

The first of these headed out to the far shore of the sea that the crew are currently in. It'll be a while until they meet up with it, but at least the pilot took a deck of cards.

Now the waiting begins.

The 2nd tanker took off a few hours later, headed for about 130km North of the Coastal Cruiser's position.

Better make a right there.

Ok Jeb, I got ya fuel right here.

purpleivan · February 17, 2019

With the KSC lending a helping hand with the fuel, spirits were high for their continuing journey North.

Once out of the bay that they'd moared in overnight, the Coastal Cruiser headed out into the open sea, with Val at the helm.

Bob's already excited about an attempt to take the rover up those mountains in the distance.

A patch of rugged coastline, best avoid those rocks Val.

While stopped for a save break, Val and Bob head to the top of some nearby hills.

Then head back down again.

ALL ABOARD!

Looking pretty shallow here.

Back into deeper water.

Fuel's getting really tight now as Jeb, who's back at the controls, guns the engines towards the awaiting tanker.

"Fill her up on premium".

Gonna grab that rover right in the face.

Full tanks again and another perfect sunset.

Edited February 17, 2019 by purpleivan

Triop · February 18, 2019

11 hours ago, purpleivan said:

Enter... The Juice Goose.

I love that name. :lol:

The further you are getting away from the KSC, the further the Juice Gooses are going to have to fly later on, that's great for the story :cool:

I know pictures look better without the HUD, but I kinda missing seeing the extra details, like time, speed and fuel levels.

Great story so far, loving it.

FleshJeb · February 18, 2019

Wonderful concept, beautifully documented, fantastic names for geographic features.

I wish you fair winds and following seas.

GDJ · February 18, 2019

Pretty neat! Best of luck in your trip!

purpleivan · February 18, 2019

5 hours ago, Triop said:

I love that name.

The further you are getting away from the KSC, the further the Juice Gooses are going to have to fly later on, that's great for the story

I know pictures look better without the HUD, but I kinda missing seeing the extra details, like time, speed and fuel levels.

Great story so far, loving it.

As some info, the Coastal Cruiser has a top speed when full of about 45m/s and a bit over 70 when near empty.

I don't know the range on full tanks, but I'll be checking that sometime soon.

I thought about the consumption of the fuel by the Juice Goose, and trips to the other side of Kerbin would eat up most of what's on board. So the plan is to make something bigger when the time comes... the Juice Moose perhaps, that can deliver a decent slug of fuel anywhere on the planet.

Triop · February 18, 2019

30 minutes ago, purpleivan said:

the Juice Moose

You are killing me with the names :lol:

purpleivan · February 18, 2019

Passing through Crater Alley... or another day of playing with boats, rovers, and planes.

For anyone curious here's a shot with the HUD to show some info on the boat. As it turns out I was a bit conservative with my figures about its speed, as even with 80% of fuel on board, the Costal Cruiser still does a respectable 66m/s flat out.

Jeb wanted to make an early start and make as much headway as possible on this leg.

After a while a stop was made for a save break, at yet another sandy cove.

The area of Crater Alley, so named due to the theory that the pock marking of lakes and bays was due to a storm of asteroids impacting the surface. Others say that when Kerbin was young and made of mud, The kraken took his dog for a walk through here.

Another stop, this time for Jeb and Bill to do a little exploring with the rover.

Nice view from up here.

Time to move on, so better head back.

Pretty big island, in a pretty big bay.

Bob's keen to take a crack at those snow coverred mountains in the distance, but Val explains that they are way too far from the coast to consider.

Almost dry of fuel, Val guns it for the shore, reaching a top speed of 72.2m/s.

And now we play the waiting game.

The Juice Goose that they met with the day before, takes to the skies to deliver more fuel, making use of a nearby hill for as a ramp.

Hi guys... heard you were running a little low.

Another day, another rover to grab.

Guys... where's the bathroom.

Ahhhhhh... that's better, but how the hell am I going to get back in the cockput.

Triop · February 18, 2019

53 minutes ago, purpleivan said:

Ahhhhhh... that's better, but how the hell am I going to get back in the cockput.

Park the rover next to it, climb the rover and walk over the wings might do the trick.

Jacke · February 18, 2019

Cool travelogue, dude. I was wondering what mods you're running.

purpleivan · February 19, 2019

17 hours ago, Jacke said:

Cool travelogue, dude. I was wondering what mods you're running.

Visually it's Scatterer, SVE and EVE.

Edited February 19, 2019 by purpleivan

purpleivan · February 19, 2019

Day of Realisations... or hmmm, why doesn't that thing work.

In the evening the crew of the Coastal Cruiser left Gusman Kerman on the short where his Juice Goose had given them a fresh tank of fuel.

The sun was heading for the horizon, so not too much more boating left in the day.

Bill was unsure about his decision to sit out on the deck for this part of the cruise.

Not going to be much light left, so better plan on moaring up soon.

That's not going to help our fuel efficiency.

Definitely time to head for shore.

Sitting under the stars enjoying a late night snack or two.

With the sunrise comes another day along the coast.

A stop for a save break and a chance for Bill and Bob to go ashore and take a look at an interesting looking lake up close.

Bob suggests that it's probably an extinct volcano... well he hopes it extinct.

Back to the ship and back to sea.

It looks like running the jets at full throttle is wasting precious fuel, as the boat can do 50m/s at half throttle, but only 70m/s with the taps wide open. So no more gunning the engines for the hell of it now Val.

Another quick save break at the end of a sand bar in a lagoon.

This one.

Time to move off again.

With less than 100 units of fuel in the tanks, it's time to moar up and start the painful process of mining for fuel.

Bill has a few too many mimosas and almost falls into the cargo back containing the ISRU gear.

And this is where the realisations start to kick in.

The ISRU fuel system is basically just decoration... it's taking an obscene amount of time to mine enough ore to turn into fuel and fill the tanks. So the plan now is to rely on tanker aircraft only. Fortunately the Woomerang and the Dessert Launch facilities are going to help out, by providing aircraft from those locations, which will make the job of supplying the Coastal Cruiser a bit easier.

On the plus side, sticking to 50m/s is making the fuel go quite a bit further, so there's one positive to come out the day.

Edited February 19, 2019 by purpleivan

purpleivan · February 20, 2019

Bigger Plans... or this thing is getting way out of hand.

In a change from our scheduled programming, we will today be focusing on rocket and plane action... all in a good cause.

As a lot of the globe would be near the end of the range of the Juice Goose, even when flown from Woomerang and the Dessert airfield, the crew of the Coastal Cruiser will be getting assistance in the form of rockets. Big, beefy rockets, that can lob 11,250 units of liquid good stuff to anywher on the planet.

Enter the "Fat Bob" Fuel Depot.

This rocket launched slab of jet fuel is seen here dropping down towards the Northern regions of Kerbin.

With the booster fuel expended, its time to jettison them and activate the airbrakes.

Finally onto the chutes to provide a 12m/s landing...

... and now in daylight.

With Fuel Depot Alpha in position, fuel for the Coastal Cruiser's travels in the Northern waters they are now entering will be covered locally, rather than with flights from the KSC.

The image below shows the area this depot will cover, rough adjusted to account for the projection onto a globe (i.e wider towards the pole). Other depots will be placed at the locations indicated by the red dots, as the Coastal Cruiser enters the area they will serve.

Ok... enough about plans and maps, what about the planes I mentioned.

Well, here's a Juice Goose heading out from the KSC, to supply the Coastal Cruiser, before heading on to Fuel Depot Alpha.

Here the ever reliable (if a bit slow) Juice Goose passes over the cove the Coastal Cruiser is moared in (it's the small grey blob to right of the nose).

It takes a tight turn over the sea, to fly back in over the cove, to land on the steep slope beyond.

Just need to roll down to the shore now.

The slope of the beach looks a bit steep where the boat's moared, so the Juice Goose parks up next to shallower water.

Once the Coastal Cruiser has move along the shore, Bill guides the pilot in to grabber the rover, alowing refuelling to begin.

With a fresh load of fuel on the Coatal Cruiser, it and the Juice Goose part company.

Then they part company a lot faster, as the JG hits the gas to rocket up the sloping hillside.

Zooming up the hill the plane is finally back in the air... now to find that Fat Bob.

See ya later guys.

Out over open sea.

Fat Bob looks pretty small from up here.

A bit bigger from here though... now to grab myself some full tanks.

That's better, fully loaded now.

"Errr... KSC, do these Panthers have reverse thrust".

"That would be a negatory Juice Goose".

Hmmm... I can see a slight issue with this design.

After much raising and lowering the gear, coupled with some dabs of thrust, she's finally free to run a new supply mission.

purpleivan · February 21, 2019

Scaling the heights... or setting some records, plus some actual heights scaling to keep Bob happy.

Well it looks like this has been the longest leg yet, I've no actual distance to refer to, but looking at the map it seems the longest trip so far. It also featured the fastest speed yet, when Jeb gunned it for the shore at the end of the leg, getting the boat up to 74m/s

But back at the start of the leg...

The sun about to set after the Juice Goose gave them a fresh refill, and Jeb wanted to get the most out of the day, so headed out to sea. Bill seems a little unhappy to be out at this hour.

Bob doesn't look too happy either, but Val's happy enough for both of them.

Way too dark to be messing about at sea, so better head to shore.

Next day it's an early start and everyone is looking happy.

The coastal Cruiser strikes out across the sea.

I think I hear Bob drooling in the rover... it looks like mountains ahead.

It is and mighty big ones too.

Jeb guides th boat into a shallow cove and goes as far in as he can, bringing the boat to the edge of the foothills.

With the boat parked, Bob and Val take to rover and head inland and uphill. But decisions, decisions... which mountain to head for.

That one!

Bob guns the motors up through the foothills, eager to get to something more challenging.

Soon he's guiding the little rover along a narrow ridge.

Things then got a little steeper.

Then a lot steeper... even Val was getting worried at this point.

Still heading up... there's gotta be some flat ground to park on somewhere.

This'll do.

The rover's beached at first, but a bit of wiggling on those springy little wheels soon has it free.

Val climbs out the top hatch to get a better look at the view, then checks the time... she remembers that Jeb's cooking dinner, and she doesn't want to miss those spicy hot wings.

Time to get climbing or heading home.

Bob once again pushes the rover upward, wanting to get as high as they can before heading back.

A momentary breather on some near level ground and a chance to charge the batteries.

This is probably going to be the last climb ahead... looks pretty treacherous after that.

Val's hanging on to the grab handles and shouting obscenities at Bob... what on Kerbin does he think he's doing out here.

On the other hand, she has to admit it's a fine view.

Ok, this has to do... this high and no further.

The pair have climbed to 2425m above the Coastal Cruiser, down at sea level, which is 12.4km away.

Time to head back down hill... hot wings are calling.

Bob looks satisfied with today's climb.

But secretly he's have liked to have a crack at the summit.

Back down into the foothills.

Finally back at the boat in time for Jeb's cooking.

Dinner's finished, but the day's not over yet as there's still plenty of gas in the tanks, so Jeb heads out to sea.

Bob's a bit unhappy about leaving those mountains behind... don't worry fella, I'm sure there'll be more later in the trip.

So long and nice to have met ya mountains.

With the fuel tanks running low, it's time to stop for the night and and wait for tanker support at the end of a long and busy leg.

Edited February 21, 2019 by purpleivan

purpleivan · February 23, 2019

Fuel all round... or, how Gusman Kerman finally gets back in the game.

No travels for the Coastal Cruiser today, but plenty of plucky Juice Goose action. Here one of these fine birds is seen leaving Fuel Depot Alpha, after getting freshly tanked up.

A boat with near empty tanks is waiting to take on another load of fuel.

This beach is a bit steeper than others the Goose has made stops at, which makes hooking up with the boat a little tricky.

Like I said... a little tricky. Good thing the Goose is as happy floating in the drink as it is on land.

Leaving one satisfied customer behind it, the tanker heads off to supply a vehicle of a different kind.

Hey that's Gusman Kerman's plane over there.

Didn't quite make the shore, but fortunately the Juice Goose made a good water landing and not just a splash followed by a bunch of lost parts.

"Here's ya fuel Gus...so what ya been doing the past couple of days?"

"Just hanging out, looking at the sea... oh, can you give my bird a shove into the water when you're done fueling, so I can climb onboard."

With some extra fuel on board, enough to get his plane to Fuel Depot Alpha, Gus swims over to a wing to climb up on and get to the cockpit.

He's just so happy at the thought of getting back in that cockpit.

Finally Gus gets onboard his plane and brings it back on shore. Both these Juice Goose are now ready to head on to the fuel depot to get fully laden tanks once more.

Jacke · February 24, 2019

Cool! You need to add a ladder to the cockpit on them thar Juice Geese.

purpleivan · February 24, 2019

13 minutes ago, Jacke said:

Cool! You need to add a ladder to the cockpit on them thar Juice Geese.

I didn't expect the pilots to ever come out of the cockpits so didn't bother with a ladder. Then I went and took a screenshot with him with the boat's crew and realised I didn't have an easy way to get him back in the plane.

Then I thought why not come up with a complicated way for him to get back in the plane.

Hotel26 · February 24, 2019

On 2/21/2019 at 4:40 AM, purpleivan said:

I can see a slight issue with this design

He heh, I feel your pain. After all the experimentation I have done with coupling to receive fuel... "Always approach from the downhill [when possible]."

I really like your plane and your strategy to rocket fuel into an area!! Good luck with the endeavor!

purpleivan · February 24, 2019

Trick of the light... or playing about with the KS3P postprocessing mod.

Today was split into two parts, first getting a pair of tanker birds to Fuel Depot Alpha, then a dash North West in the Coastal Cruiser.

I installed the KS3P mod by @The White Guardian and it's certainly giving some of the screenshots extra punch.

With some extra fuel in the tanks for the trip, Gusman Kerman takes off, leaving her budy behind to catch up later.

She takes to the air and catches a nice depth of field shot for the occasion.

She makes it to Fuel Depot Alpha and starts to refuel.

Then another pilot takes to the skies, heading North to the depot.

A pair of geese and a Fat Bob.

Though these days Fat Bob is looking pretty svelt... filling up these two bird (well, one is only about 90% full) has drained it dry. Taking the fuel used in flying around, that's probably a total of 3 more refills for the Coastal Cruiser. But that should be enough to see the boat headed a long way South, but a new Fuel Depot will need to be launched, this time headed for the North Eastern part of the desert region.