Kerbin Sorta-Circumnavigation

[Fraston]

Oh well, your halfway through that thing I was warning.

[purpleivan]

8 hours ago, Fraston said:

Oh well, your halfway through that thing I was warning.

Knew that was coming up

Actually rounded the top and coming down the other side now.

Edited April 19, 2019 by purpleivan

[purpleivan]

Taking bigger bites... or, why didn't I have this from the start.

The numbers are in and they're looking good. This new boat design is a big improvement over the original one.

But first some fuel is called for, so Dean took to the air from his last meeting place with the Coastal Cruiser.

First came a stop off at the new Fuel Depot to fill the tanks on the Juice Goose.

"This thing looks a lot big when you're up close".

As soon as her resupply was over, it was time for Tanford to head over too.

Her journey was a lot short though (about 55km), so she soon has the depot in her sights.

The blinding setting sun made landing tricky, but she made it down ok, then she too filled her tanks.

The following morning Dean hit the afterburners at sunrise. There's a whole lot of boating to do, so no time to waste.

Nice terrain around here. Similar to the location in the north of Fuel Depot 1, but a little more bumpy and closer to the sea.

It was a fairly short trip (probably about less than 200km) to the boat.

Soon Dean was lining up "Mr Grabbyface" as Bob likes to call it, with the front of the rover, ready to resupply them.

The ads for the local curry house and carpet store are over... it's time for our feature presentation.

I said that in the last leg, it seemed like the new boat design had about double the range of the old one. Well, now we find out the truth.

Val throttles up the boat to full power and heads along the coast.

Ok... the boat's used up 1/4 of its fuel in 79km.

That doesn't sounds so good, but the engines will be throttled down later as the boat gets lights, so things should improve as the leg continues.

As the fuel guage slowly lowered, the boat zipped by islands... there are a lot of them around here.

Deep bay coming up, so time to duck into it until the far end is in sight, then head back out to sea.

That's the back in sight now, so Val swings the boat around.

Well, swing isn't quite the right word... haul... manhandle?

The new desing is efficient, but it's a lot less nimble than the original, especially with a lot of fuel onboard. With full tanks it won't actually turn at full throttle, requiring a dip in speed to make one, until the tanks are down to about 90%.

Down to 1/2 tanks now and they've made it to 194km. That's an improvement but things need to get a lot better if this boat is to have double the original's range.

Bill's attention is grabbed by something he's spotted in the upgraded rover. There are now snack holders for Mars bars... regular and fried.

That's 257km now, which is a couple more than the original boat got on the leg on which it was range tested. On that leg the tanks were taken down to 57.5 units of fuel at that range, but the new version still has 614 in the tanks.

The sun starts to set behind the boat, so it was time to head in to shore.

Just short of 300km, so a record leg distance, even if it stopped here, but there's still 507 units to go.

In the morning the Coastal Cruiser headed on down the West coast of the peninsular they had driven up most of the East coast of, the day before.

More islands around here, and some big ones too.

Who'd have guessed it... more islands to skirt around. The coastline around here is certainly interesting, even if it's particularly dramatic.

The Coastal Cruiser noses its way around another headland. Turning is now a lot easier than at the start of the leg.

The boat's reached 400km now, which is a big improvement over the original, but there's still 240 units of fuel to go.

We could take a look in here, but the sand at the entry to this cove looks low enough to say we can see over it. So.... skip.

We've just passed through the point were we would have emptied the tanks of the original boat, which might have made it to 275km if it ran dry. So 456km at this point is pretty good.

Another long bay to take a look into.

Then there's another one... this one was named "Bay of The Mouse" by Bob.

The boat is now down to 57.5 units of fuel, so same as the original had at 265km, so how far has the new one got with the same remaining.

481km, so an extra 216km for the new boat.

It's now time to park up and see our final distance for this leg.

489km and there's still 40 units of fuel left, so the boat would most likely make it to 500 if it used all the fuel aboard.

Not bad... not bad at all.

Edited April 19, 2019 by purpleivan

[OrbitalBuzzsaw]

I think you mean Duna bars

[purpleivan]

31 minutes ago, OrbitalBuzzsaw said:

I think you mean Duna bars

Ah yes, ahem... of course.

Duna Bars, Kerby Krisps, all that good sweet stuff.

[KerballingSmasher]

2 hours ago, OrbitalBuzzsaw said:

I think you mean Duna bars

OMG yes! Along with Kershey bars and (eesh how do I Kerbalize Kit Kats?) 

[purpleivan]

21 minutes ago, Kerballing (Got Dunked On) said:

OMG yes! Along with Kershey bars and (eesh how do I Kerbalize Kit Kats?) 

I think they're pronounced It Ats... it's a silent K

[purpleivan]

Close call... or, only a stone's throw away.

For the morning's delivery of fresh fuel (straight from the farm) it was only a short hop across the peninsular for Dean, from the last meeting spot to where the Coastal Cruiser lay.

The sound of clinking bottles of fuel in the morning... what a lovely sound.

The first attempt to hook up to the boat did not go well. The beach was steeper than expected when chosen as a parking sport the night before. Consequently the grabber unit failed to attached due to the angle of the two vehicles, resulting in the two coming together in an ungainly way. Some contact, a big bounce of the two and both plane and boat were in the sea.

Luckily no damage was done.

Dean pulled round towards the base of the bar of sand the boat had parked at and Val brought it round to meet him.

Ok.. that looks flatter now, so time to get over and get the juice flowing.

Minutes later the Coastal Cruiser was out at sea, heading South once more.

About 1/4 the way through the fuel and there's a big bay to duck into to take a look at.

That sun's getting pretty low, so time to look for a spot to park for the night.

The terrain round here is pretty heavily pitted, resulting lots of bays, large and small to duck into for the overnight stop... so spoiled for choice.

Val spots this intesting little cove, with steep walls and heads in.

It's Val's turn to cook dinner this evening, so after shutting down the engines, she heads for the galley to prepare her famous Teriyaki Surprise... the surprise is it's mostly chocolate.

In the morning they head out early. The lights on the boat are still blazing as they push further South.

The encounter one of several "almost lakes" on this leg, with this being the first.

Big without being ostentatious.

So how's the fuel doing... answer, it's almost 1/2 gone.

Thanks for asking.

Another fee 10's of kilometres and there's another sizeable "almost lake" to check out.

Then duck out of as soon as the inner shoreline can be seen.

Not exactly mountains, but there's some nice green hills around here.

Guess what... more wrinkly bits of coastline to explore.

This one contains a small island, which Bob immediately names Bob's Island and claims it for all Kerbin's Bob's... but especially this one.

Almost down to the 1/4 tanks point as they venture further South.

Ooo... more wrinkly stuff, time to divert off the main coast and take a look.

The single jet engine thunders above the cockpit. This thing's been running every day since the trip started. When the team at the Space Center build something, they build it right.

Bob suggests that this part of the world might have a problem with moles... real big ones.

Fuel's getting low again, but it's been another long leg that's taken the boat deep into the southern seas.

Val parks up and it's Bob's turn to make dinner, so yet another dish with a high cheese content.

[Fraston]

I bet the next leg or the next after that will have ice.

[purpleivan]

6 hours ago, Fraston said:

I bet the next leg or the next after that will have ice.

I finished leg 40 yesterday (will be posting about it shortly) and I've rounded the southern cape, but didn't quite get to see the ice.

I was really close to it though and I think in 4 or 5 more legs I'll be cruising along it.

[purpleivan]

Tripping the light fantastic... or, some would like it hot.

With the shadows from the early morning sun smeared across the landscape, Tanford departs Fuel Depot 2, to make another fuel delivery. It's just her and Dean down in this part of the world, as the depot only has enough fuel for two fill ups for each of their planes. Adding a 3rd Goose would be a bit of a waste, so Staemy is staying at the Woomerang for the timebeing.

It's a fairly short flight to the location of the Coastal Cruiser, which as it turns out make things a bit tricky. The mix of bumpy terrain and an almost full Goose, means that a successful (i.e. non explosive) landing takes several attempts. Heavily loaded the tanker needs a really light touchdown, or the undercarriage collapses, turning the landing site into a fiery junkyard.

With landing made and a refill of the boat accomplished, the crew head out to sea. Once again heading South.

The coastline is still throwing up some interesting features. This one Bob calls "The Recliner".

The crew are getting used to the greater range and therefore longer stints of driving the boat, that this new design affords them.

One thing that's been noticed is how much more efficient this design is when light, compared with the original one. Before there was definitely an improvement, but not as pronounced as it is with this design. Probably that's due to the reduced drag, making mass a greater factor.

Bob's been called to naming duty once more, and for this feature he plumps for "Flopped Cake Hill".

He toyed with "Crater Hill", but thought it was a bit too conventional.

The Coastal Cruiser passes underneath some large cliffs... the most dramatic features seen for a while.

Bill wonders why Bob looks so unhappy. Maybe he's missing his mountain climbing, or perhaps it's just the long time at sea.

But no... he's just heard that Jeb's cooked something he caught this morning for dinner, and he's not a fan of seafood.

With the sun not far from the horizon, the crew round the southern tip of the peninsula they've been heading South along for the past couple of days. They're very close to the antarctic coast and temperatures have dipped considerably, prompting Bob to name this place "Cape Cold". But at least the rest of this leg will have them heading North into warmer waters.

The put in to shore just around the tip of Cape Cold with a little 1/4 of their fuel left.

This far South they're treated to a fine aurora display... something to take Bob's mind off the fishy aftertaste of dinner.

They make an early start in the morning, so with the lights of the boat blazing, they head North up the coast.

It seems like this side of the peninsula is just as wrinkly as the the one they spent the last two days driving South along.

The boat's fuel guage drops below the 100 units mark so Val starts to think about a place to park the boat. She doesn't want to do that too soon however, as the last dregs of fuel are the most important, as with the boat at its lightest, they get the best distance on it.

Val's playing dare with the remaining fuel, so Jeb taps her on the shoulder and suggests that they don't want to have to rely on a MIRF drop to them. They're a long way South of the equator, so the plane change might be too much for the orbital fuel store, plus they'd have precious little fuel to use to go meet it.

So Val heads in to a small bar with a shallow beach (so no problems connecting with the Goose this time). One more refill should give them the fuel them need to make it to the main bulk of the mainland.

[OrbitalBuzzsaw]

For no particular reason when you get across the antarctic could you go and visit the ice island?

[purpleivan]

Darkness descends... or, making the most of the night.

Dean headed from yet another beach to bring the crew what they need, this fine sunny afternoon. For some reason the balance of the tanker was really off and kept rolling to the right. I put it down to some fuel imbalance, but I couldn't find, so I just put up with it until I landed, then drained the side tanks into the boat first, to get things straight again.

Once landed and hooked up to the boat the side tanks were quickly drained, along with much of the contents of the center set. Dean was left with just under 1000 units left, to get his plane back to Fuel Depot 2, which shouldn't be a problem.

As this leg started mid afternoon, it's not long before good old Mr Sunshine is going beddy byes.

Val parks to boat with about 2/3 of the fuel remaining.

The crew get a lie in until late morning, but once they're up, they're quickly on their way. The soon pass a "not quite almost lake" as Bob puts it, and it's a good thing it's not connected to the sea, as it would be quite a detour.

Take that not quite almost lake... trip progess 1 NQAL's 0.

When asked if he had a name to give this feature of the local terrain, Bob suggested "The Teaspoon".

There's a fair amount of rocky coastline, but also some nice beaches to zip past too.

As they get close to the bulk of the mainland up ahead, and the big left turn they'll be taking to follow it's southern coastline, this feature comes into view. Bill says that it used to be a harbour and a giant Kraken statue spanned the entrance to it, with a bunch of tentacles standing the two hills.

Talking of reaching the mainland proper... there it is up ahead.

Soon after this Val swung the boat round to port and headed Westwards.

But soon it's time to head along another peninsula, and Val once again swings the boat to port and the jouney continues ot the SSW.

The sun's setting but there's still a decent amount of fuel in the tanks. Val doesn't want to waste part of tomorrow using this part of the fuel, then waiting for a Goose, so she plans to plough onward.

The sun's gone and the lights on the boat spark into life.

The sea is just a black sheet under the boat, that invisibly meets the blackness of the sky. Slowly the headland at the southeastern tip of the peninsula comes into view and Val aims between it and a small island.

Val's eyes are on stalks looking out into the darkness. Is that a rock sticking out of the water, or a smudge on the windshield... who can tell.

She rounds the tipp at the SSE, then a couple minutes later another, at the SSW tip. There's really not much light to see by and it's a shame there's no moonlight to help out.

With the fuel almost exhausted, the boat is guided onto a beach for the overnight stop.

10 minutes ago, OrbitalBuzzsaw said:

For no particular reason when you get across the antarctic could you go and visit the ice island?

When I first laid out the line on the map that follows the coast, I saw that island was pretty close to the antarctic coast and thought I might drop by it on the way.

I'll try to remember to do that and not just drive past.

[purpleivan]

Quick change act... or, 2+2=9

Things on leg 42 started normally, with Tanford heading over to Fuel Depot 2 to refill her tanks, before heading out to the Coastal Cruiser.

There was the usual flight over grass and lakes.

The usual approach to her destination.

The usual line up to hook on for a refill.

Then... dun, dun, duuuun, there wasn't enough fuel in the depot to refill the tanks on the Goose. Strange I thought, there was supposed to be enough for 4 refills of the tankers, and it's run out mid way through the 3rd.

Then I realised the issue.

Fuel capacity of 1 Juice Goose = 5200

Fuel capacity of 1 Fuel Depot = 11125

That means just over 2 Goose refills, assuming they arrive with empty tanks, therefore clearly I can't divide a couple of numbers.

So maybe that should have been dumb, dumb, duuuumb

So... now what.

To the rocket shed... obviously.

First one then two upgraded MIRF launchers were thrust into orbit. The 2nd was launched from the Dessert Airfield (first time I've lifted a rocket from there) and it took a rather different launch profile than the one from the KSC.

The one heaved up from the desert was put into an inclined orbit, so that more northern and southern latitudes can be serviced by the new bringers of fuel.

These new vehicles named Super Multiple Independent Re-entry Fuel Stores (SMIRFS) have an increased capacity, allowing them to carry a full refill of the upgraded boat.

After a few orbits the Coastal Cruiser was near the orbital path of the SMIRF launcher, so one of the SMIRFS was detached and prepared to be fried.

Off it went, leaving its friends behind.

One of the improvements of SMIRFS over MIRFS is that it doesn't tumble during re-entry, so a more accurate landing is possible.

On its first use, the SMIRF landed 3.6km from the target.

The boat heads out to meet up with their helpful new friend (SMIRFS like to help out) and lined up for the hook up.

Once connected Val went out on deck to take a look at the new addition to the team.

I think she approves.

With full tanks once more, the Coastal Cruiser left the fuel store behind and headed onward along the coast.

The scenery was a little mundane, with no features that Bob was interested in naming.

The fuel's going down a treat and good progress is being made, with the boat now pointing West into the afternoon sun.

Ah... an almost lake, time to pop in for a quick look see.

What's that looming on the horizon. I think we can guess what the next post might be about.

The sun has set and Val guides the boat towards a good landing spot, that's close to the mountains. Once again it's time for some night driving.

Finally moored up, Val and Bill head out on deck with a K and K board (Kastles and Krakens) and the crew play late into the night.

[purpleivan]

Something's Rotten in The State of Dentistry... or, Bob goes for the high life again.

Bob got the rover ready for another high altitude jaunt nice and early, to make the most of the sunlight. Bill was busy finishing his breakfast, delaying Bob by several seconds before they could head off.

Looks like even the rover is happy to be adventuring inland once more.

Well that's the target... well, the the peak of it is on the far side, but you get the idea.

There's a steep, almost brush stroke like (with linear falloff) foothill on this side of the mountain. It's not difficult to climb, but long enough that they have to recharge at the top of it.

By this point they're already 17km from the boat.

Bob suggests that they have a crack at that peak instead, but Bill reminds him that either the steep ascent, or Jeb (if they're late back again) will kill them.

Up over 2km now, no sign of snow yet.

Talking of the white stuff, here it is in all it's dazzling glory.

Once you're up here, the going is fairly easy, with few steep slopes, but it's pretty bumpy.

Bob parks the rover just below the summit. There's no flat bit at the top, so he leaves it 30-40m below the very top and strikes out on foot.

When he gets to the top, he finds out that it isn't... not quite. There's anotehr slightly higher peak about 100m away, so he runs across to it.

4377m far from a record, but at least he made the last tiny bit on foot. He stands at the top and contemplates the world around him, his place in it and the fact that the radio on the rover is stuck on college rock.

After his moment of contemplation Bob heads back down to the rover, which thankfully is still there. It would have been a long walk back if Bill decided to play a trick on him and took off back to the boat.

Before he gets back inside, he asks Bill to take a picture of him near the peak for posterity. He strikes his best hero pose and Bill hits the shuttle button.

Back inside, Bob tells Bill his plan to get back to the boat quickly... Bill might have been a little disturbed by this plan.

They get one last good look from near the top and head down... straight over that edge. Bob's plan is to swing the rover over a 60+ degree drop, hit the brakes and let physics sort things out.

Hey presto, a few minutes later there are back down in the foothills. Certainly a lot less time spent coming down, that going up.

Once they're back at the boat, Bob aims the rover's rear end at the docking port and starts to reverse up to it. Val's look of panic is actually just a large belch. She had three bean salad and string cheese for lunch, with a doughnut chaser and some it's trying to make a break for it.

So Bob, do have a name to suggest for your latest conquest.

"Looking at it from up here, it's gotta be Bad Tooth Mountain".

Edited April 22, 2019 by purpleivan

[purpleivan]

Trick of the light... or, rules, what rules.

First up, a report from the team back at the Space Center. They appear to have created a faster than light drive, or at least that's what the engineering dept. claims.

The breathless administrators at the center broke the news to the waiting press. Apparently the object that had "broken the laws of know physics" was a piece of debris from an earlier version of the SMIRF, used in re-entry tests.

When asked the engineering dept was asked by their administrators how thet did it, and when they could have a commercial version for manufacture, they gave the following reply.

"Give us all huge pay rises and a massive budget increase and we'll get back to you on that".

A proud day for all of Kerbin indeed.

Meanwhile... back on boat.

Val wanted to use up as much as possible of the remaining fuel before stopping for the night, so yet another night drive was in store.

They headed out to sea and left Bad Tooth Mountain behind them.

It wasn't long before the sun was setting so Jeb flicked the switch to turn on all the lighting.

Still 440 units of fuel left and the engine's running at about 45 throttle, so a long night ahead.

Now that they'be rounded the lump in the mainland that they've been driving South along the coast of and now head West, the mountain chain, ended by Bad Tooth Mountain is silhouetted against the dusk sky.

Bob and Bill weren't too happy in the back in the rover. ploughing through black seas when you get some kind of view of what's ahead is one thing. Sitting at the back, waiting for a huge "rock meets metal" crunch is no fun.

Less than 200 units left now and driving in this darkness is beginning to frazzle even Val's nerves, so she decides to bring the boat in to shore soon.

At last... made through th dark waters without a scratch on it. A shame that more of the fuel couldn't be used, but had to stop sometime, preferabley before a hull ripping impact.

[Kerbinchaser]

For the depth of field in your images, are you doing that after you take the screenshot or are you using an FX mod?

[FleshJeb]

18 hours ago, Lo Var Lachland said:

For the depth of field in your images, are you doing that after you take the screenshot or are you using an FX mod?

I believe Ivan said somewhere in the thread that he’s using KS3P, which I just confirmed can do DOF.

Note on the main content: I definitely need to make a map with all the geographical feature names. This thread is just so dang entertaining.

[KerballingSmasher]

20 minutes ago, FleshJeb said:

I believe Ivan said somewhere in the thread that he’s using KS3P, which I just confirmed can do DOF.

Note on the main content: I definitely need to make a map with all the geographical feature names. This thread is just so dang entertaining.

that would be cool!

[purpleivan]

1 hour ago, FleshJeb said:

I believe Ivan said somewhere in the thread that he’s using KS3P, which I just confirmed can do DOF.

Note on the main content: I definitely need to make a map with all the geographical feature names. This thread is just so dang entertaining.

Yep the depth of field is from KS3P.

I actually thought about making a map with all of Bob's names for things, but I'll need to re-read through all the post to do that... I supposed I could seach for "Bob" to speed that up.

[purpleivan]

Truely Amazin... or, going all the way this time.

Once more the help of an orbital pal was required to refill the Coastal Cruiser. The Fuel Depot is actually quite a lot of effort to use, just for 4-5 refuellings of the boat. So for now, Tanford and Dean will be hanging out with their planes, on the beaches of the southern seas, until they receive the call again.

The SMIRF was brought down a little along the coastline (13.4km from the boat) so that some of the remaining fuel onboard could be used before topping up.

It was actually a little closer than planned, so Val hit the throttles, exchanging fuel efficiency for fun, taking the boat up to a top speed of 65m/s.

Topping up the new boat from the SMIRF is a good deal simpler than MIRF to the old boat design. Both have fewer fuel tanks, so less juggling of right click menus.

On their way once more, Bill comments on the the terrain being a bit on the boring side. Not much in the way of cliffs, or other interesting things to break up the shallow shoreline.

Well that's a mountain, happy Bill... go on, look happy... just the once.

This was the back of the Bad Tooth Mountain range that they'd sailed past on the previous leg.

It was a late start to the leg, as they had to wait for the orbit of SMIRF to come over their last parking place. So it wasn't long before the sun was setting.

For a change, Val decided to put the boat in at an island just off the short of the mainland.

Bob again claimed the island for all of Kerbin's Bob's, fashioning a flag out of an antenna and a pair of his underwear, that had his name tag sown into it That way anyone passing later would know who it belonged to.

At sun up Jeb suggested the take a jog around the island to work off some of the "boat fat" that they'd been building up while on the voyage.

The rest of the crew were still laughing at the idea by the time they'd finished breakfast (a large stack of waffles and syrup), and headed out to sea.

Another mountain peaking over the horizon. It's a big one and Bob pestered Jeb for a chance to take a crack at it.

Jeb told him that he had something better in mind. Something they'd only done once before.

"I ate 23 doughnuts in 9 minutes" bragged Bill.

"Better" replied Jeb.

"I flew a plane around Kerbin that had one missing landing gear and was on fire" out bragged Val.

"Even better" countered Jeb.

"I threw up this one time and it was green" offered Bob.

"Way better" said Jeb, more than a little disturbed by the last one, but also a little curious.

"Were going to sail up a river" stated Jeb proudly, "this one... the Amazin".

"and this time we'll go all the way to the lake at the end of it".

But that's going to have to wait until leg 44. The boat might not make it all the way up the river with the fuel on board, so time to call in the SMIRFS again.

Edited April 23, 2019 by purpleivan

[Kerbinchaser]

1 hour ago, purpleivan said:

Yep the depth of field is from KS3P.

I actually thought about making a map with all of Bob's names for things, but I'll need to re-read through all the post to do that... I supposed I could seach for "Bob" to speed that up.

I figured. Does it take much CPU power? I have a Mac that I'm running med res SVE and Scatterer on. I just don't want to take a big frame hit. 

[purpleivan]

19 minutes ago, Lo Var Lachland said:

I figured. Does it take much CPU power? I have a Mac that I'm running med res SVE and Scatterer on. I just don't want to take a big frame hit. 

I think it's fairly lightweight performance wise. I'm also using Scatter and SVE.

The last time I looked (a couple days ago) there wasn't an update of KS3P to go with the latest Scatterer. I tried the current KS3P and performance was really bad, so hoping of the new version to appear soon, especially as the new Scatterer has some nice stuff for water (shadows and refraction). There is a major rewrite of KS3P in the works that is supposed to have improved performance, as well as some new features, including in-game GUI for adjusting settings and Screen Space Ambient Occlusion.

[Kerbinchaser]

Just now, purpleivan said:

I think it's fairly lightweight performance wise. I'm also using Scatter and SVE.

The last time I looked (a couple days ago) there wasn't an update of KS3P to go with the latest Scatterer. I tried the current KS3P and performance was really bad, so hoping of the new version to appear soon, especially as the new Scatterer has some nice stuff for water (shadows and refraction). There is a major rewrite of KS3P in the works that is supposed to have improved performance, as well as some new features, including in-game GUI for adjusting settings and Screen Space Ambient Occlusion.

Well I'm running 1.6.1 so I don't need the latest I think...

[OrbitalBuzzsaw]

45 minutes ago, Lo Var Lachland said:

Well I'm running 1.6.1 so I don't need the latest I think...

Forwards compatibility for 1.6 -> 1.7 is pretty good.