British Yachtsman who Counted on Global Warming to Cross Arctic Now Trapped by Ice

NewsBusters ^ | September 4, 2007 | P.J. Gladnick

[PJ-Comix]

In one of the most hilarious cases of being tripped up by dubious scientific hype, British yachtsman Adrian Flanagan attempted to be the first to sail across the arctic north of Russia. He based his hope on the fact that he believed in the Global Warming propaganda that the arctic is rapidly losing its ice thus making his trip possible. One little problem. Cold cruel reality has crushed the Global Warming hype and now Flanagan's boat is trapped by ice in the arctic. To add to the irony, Flanagan who seems to be destined to go down in history as Wrong Way Flanagan, is now pleading with Russian authorities to provide him with the services of a nuclear powered icebreaker to get him out of his embarrassing situation.

As recently as August 18, Wrong Way Flanagan's hopes were still high that he could sail across the arctic north of Russia. Moscow News announced his trip in an article ironically titled, Global Warming is Here.

A British yachtsman, Adrian Flanagan, is due shortly to head off from Chukotka to attempt the first solo sail through the Northern Sea Route.

While one Chukotka port official described this as "kamikaze," Flanagan too is optimistic. Contacted by AFP he said that the ice looked set to recede at least as far as in 2005, which was a record year. But while some see opportunities, others are already counting the costs of climate change.

Flash forward to today and we can see the sticky situation that Wrong Way Flanagan put himself into by placing his faith in Global Warming to clear his path in the arctic as chronicled by Australia's Herald Sun in  an article with the sobering title of Ice blocks British solo sailor:

A BRITISH yachtsman attempting the first solo Arctic sea passage across northern Russia was examining his options after heavier than expected ice blocked his route, his manager said.

Adrian Flanagan is discussing with Russian authorities the possibility of using a nuclear-powered icebreaker to lift his boat out of the water and carry it round the most icebound stretch of Russia's Northern Sea Route.

...He had hoped that his 11m reinforced yacht would be able to get all the way to Europe due to lighter ice conditions observed in recent years, thought to be a result of global warming.

But after making his way through the Chukchi, East Siberian and Laptev Seas, Flanagan has been forced to a halt by heavy ice at the most difficult point in the route, the Vilkitsky Strait.

...Flanagan is now anchored by an island just east of the Vilkitsky Strait, still hoping for the ice to clear but working on the backup plan, his manager said.

She described the yachtsman's mood as “pretty fed-up”.

Besides the arctic ice, Wrong Way Flanagan now appears to have another problem. Remember those polar bears that Global Warming activists were warning us were endangered? Well, it now seems that the tables have been turned and those endangered polar bears are now endangering Flanagan:

Ostrov Peschanyy is a bleak, featureless island that is little more than a sand spit rising a few metres above sea level. It's a resting place for walrus and Western Arctic Marine Operations HQ have advised Adrian to keep a careful watch for polar bears hunting walrus there.

So as Wrong Way Flanagan, who has turned himself into a Global Laughingstock on the altar of Global Warming, remains trapped in the arctic perhaps someone would be kind enough send him a copy of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth for him to pass the time while waiting for the ice to melt and for the endangered polar bears to go away.

[bandleader]

Because AlGore said so?

[petercooper]

yes the segway dude and then this— classic

[bandleader]

COLDER?

[bandleader]

As Imus used to say:”You Just Can’t Make This Stuff Up”!

[OESY]

Bravo!

.

[Paul Heinzman]

She described the yachtsman's mood as “pretty fed-up”.

Upset that there's not enough global warming to prove his point about global warming.

[DejaJude]

Trip across arctic north? $50,000.
Cost for Russian naval help? 2 BA-Jillion Rubles.

Is he gonna sue to recoup the cost? That could be interesting.

[Paul Heinzman]

Adrian Flanagan is discussing with Russian authorities the possibility of using a nuclear-powered icebreaker to lift his boat out of the water and carry it round the most icebound stretch of Russia's Northern Sea Route.

That'll really do his environmentalist friends proud.

[Billthedrill]

I’d help, but polar bears gotta eat too.

[Popman]

Global warming may have jumped the shark

[Paul Heinzman]

"It's 1995 calling. They say they want their cell phone back."

[bray]

Another victim of Global Scamming.

Pray for W and Our Troops

[SuziQ]

To add to the irony, Flanagan who seems to be destined to go down in history as Wrong Way Flanagan, is now pleading with Russian authorities to provide him with the services of a nuclear powered icebreaker to get him out of his embarrassing situation.

He ought to call Algore. After all, he's the loud mouth who's been proclaiming this for years.

[SeaHawkFan]

According to the History Channel, the Ice Road Truckers had a record year this past winter. Guess global warming is over.

[Charles Martel]

Besides the arctic ice, Wrong Way Flanagan now appears to have another problem. Remember those polar bears that Global Warming activists were warning us were endangered? Well, it now seems that the tables have been turned and those endangered polar bears are now endangering Flanagan

(thanks, Mr. Larson!)

[VOA]

You might have heard the NorthWest Passage is now open as well.
It was open for about a week but all three routes through are
now closed off by the sea ice and I’m sure we will hear a few “
sailboat stuck” stories from others trying to make it through the
NorthWest Passage.

Yep, I'm sure it will be all over the MSM media.

NOT!!!!!

[Mercat]

Really fascinating book is “The Brendan.”

[VOA]

This is almost as rich as those two lady “explorers” that were going
north this spring “to publicize global warming”.

IIRC, they had to turn back from their arctic trek when the weather turned
cold and batteries failed for some devices.
(there were some rascally posts here at FR speculating on what those
devices actually were).

And needless to say, the ladies didn’t fall through heat-thinned ice
because it was plenty cold!

[Roscoe Karns]

And the hits keep coming... Good one!

[RinaseaofDs]

Sending that icebreaker isn’t cheap. They may send a helo, but he’ll be packing a bag and saying ‘adieu’ to his yacht.

That’s how this will end up.

What’s funnier about this is that the yacht will fall under the law of the sea for salvage. It means that anyone that can get the yacht out can either 1) Keep her, or 2) Split the value of the yacht down the middle with the original owner. It’ll likely be option 2) since the yacht’s owner is alive and reachable. Option 1) would be if the owner were dead or unreachable.

He may decide to turn around, and go back the way he came. I can’t see that being likely, but it depends. He’s going to have an easier time of it going back to the Chukchi Sea.

He can put in at Point Hope from there, or if he can make it down far enough, even Uelen in Siberia.

Barrow is probably out of the question now. Time’s running out for our hero, too. I’d wager that he’s getting about 8 to 10 daylight hours a day at that latitude now.

If a Breaker doesn’t send a helo soon, then they won’t, because you don’t break ice in the dark.

That means that this guy will be going through the worst fall, winter, and spring of his life, since it will not only be cold, but it will be permanently dark for the entire duration.

The only other fix, and I DOUBT seriously this will happen, is that the Russians will send a sub. He’s in Russian territorial waters now, so the Canucks, Vikings, and Yanks are out.