Voyage of the R/V Vanguard: Kerbin Sea Circumnavigation

[Yukon0009]

The Elcano challenge is something I've attempted but never succeeded in, so out of boredom I decided to do it in style, with a nice boat.

 

The RV Vanguard is an amphibious ship with the purpose of circumnavigating Kerbin by ocean. The ship uses a quartet of Wheesley jet engines for propulsion, two mounted inline with the hull and two on side-mount pods, which allows for very quick turns using alternating thrust reversers. The rear of the ship also has a flooded cargo bay with claws inside, which lets smaller vessels dock with the ship. As the ship doesn't have the range to circumnavigate Kerbin unrefuelled, nor does it carry ISRU equipment, the plan is to refuel from fuel tankers placed along the planned route. 

 

 

 

The voyage starts when a truck picks up the 6-kerbal crew from the Astronaut Complex. My headcanon is that a single agency handles all scientific and exploration-related matters, hence these sailors are also stationed in the KSC.

Spoiler

The truck drives them out to the Administration Building tarmac, where a Snowbird helicopter waits to take them to KSC Harbor, about 8 kilometers southwest of the Space Center. 

The Snowbird lands at the harbor after a rathe brief flight.

KSC Harbor is a port facility I made out of empty MK3 liquid fuel tanks. It is far enough from the Space Center to avoid lag when launching aircraft and rockets, but close enough that travel times from the harbor to KSC is short enough, which is good as the harbor itself and the assortment of vessels moored within are almost 500 parts.

The harbor itself is 80x80 meters, which provides ample space for relatively small Kerbal-sized ships to fit. The expedition ship itself, the Vanguard, is docked alongside. The port facilities include a fuel/utility barge where excess fuel can be offloaded, a small crane, a tugboat and accommodation for Kerbals in the form of a few MK3 crew cabins. 

Below is a screenshot of the port during the process of the Vanguard being moored to its berth.

 

 

 

Anyways, back to the mission at hand.

In order to qualify for the Elcano circumnavigation, a flag has to be planted at the start of the voyage, so one of the kerbals gets out of the helicopter and does so.

 

 

 

The expedition crew pose alongside their ship.  Left to right: Isaemy, Seerod, Ludin, Heloly, Leaman, and Thomvis.

 

Spoiler

 

Before departure, the gangway linking the Vanguard to shore is retracted.

 

At first light the next morning, the harbor tugboat pulls the Vanguard away from its berth, and the engines spool up, slowly pushing the Vanguard out to sea.

 

 

The Vanguard's design is a result of me playing around with using the MK3 cargo ramps as a ship design, which resulting in this odd appearance reminiscent of the Zumwalt-class destroyers.  

 

 

The tugboat escorts the Vanguard out of the harbor, giving it a send-off before returning to its moorings.

 

 

 

Ending the first post here with a pretty shot of the Vanguard leaving KSC Harbor with its tugboat escort.

[Yukon0009]

 

 

 

The mission will also include a small coaxial-rotor helicopter, which is flown to the ship via remote control from the Island Airfield.

Spoiler

With the helicopter landed and stowed, the Vanguard gets underway, threading the gap between the islands just east off KSC.

 

Having passed out of visual range of the KSC and the Island Airfield, the ship continues through open waters, aiming for a large island southeast the the Space Center, where a fuel tanker is anchored waiting to top up the ship's fuel tanks.

First sunset of the mission.

 

The crew keeps themselves occupied with the large stash of board games that have been brought aboard. However, Monopoly is quickly banned by the ship's crew to prevent fighting after just one round.

Sailing under the stars.

As day breaks, the bridge crew take pretty photos of the sunrise.

The Vanguard has now burned through over half of its fuel, but it is more than enough to last it until the first refueling stop.

 

 

The island is sighted from the bridge, the first land the crew have seen after leaving the Island Airfield behind.

 

The Vanguard sails around the island to reach the inlet where the fuel tanker is moored.

 

The crew gingerly maneuver the ship alongside the fuel tanker, and the fuel hose is attached.

 

Thomvis Kerman inspects the fueling arrangements for any issues.

 

Meanwhile, Seerod prepares the helicopter for a survey flight while the ship refuels. The helicopter will be used to scout for safe landing sites when the ship has to beach itself to continue its journey overland, so it is quite important to test it out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hastily made map of the progress so far

Edited March 31, 2021 by Yukon0009

[Maria Sirona]

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