Around 2/14/2006 6:01 PM, wrote:

POLAR STAR REACHES ANTARCTICA
MCMURDO STATION, Antartica - The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star arrived
in McMurdo Station, Antarctica Monday, after a non-stop 8,200 nautical
mile transit from its homeport of Seattle.

More fun but fairly useless trivia:

That's the ship my old Scoutmaster (the one who was quartered at the
Mukilteo Lighthouse) served on for a time as a Petty Officer. The flag
of my Scout troop was, back in '96 or so, the only BSA flag to have
visited both magnetic poles.

He arranged for us Scouts to have a tour of the Polar Star during her
"off" season. Let me say, that was (and I'm sure still is) a mighty
impressive icebreaker! As is her sister ship, the Polar Sea.

http://www.uscg.mil/pacarea/polarsea/home.htm

"Polar Sea, and its sister ship Polar Star are two of the largest ships
in the U.S. Coast Guard and the world's most powerful non-nuclear
icebreakers. With a length of 399 feet and a displacement of 13,500
tons, Polar Sea is designed to move continuously through six feet of ice
at a speed of three knots."

Some great Antarctica photos:
http://www.uscg.mil/pacarea/polarsea...ica_photos.htm



--
~/Garth - 1966 Glastron V-142 Skiflite: "Blue-Boat"
"There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing about in boats." -- Kenneth Grahame
~~ Ventis secundis, tene cursum ~~

On Tue, 14 Feb 2006 20:32:50 -0800, Garth Almgren wrote:


http://www.uscg.mil/pacarea/polarsea/home.htm

"Polar Sea, and its sister ship Polar Star are two of the largest ships in
the U.S. Coast Guard and the world's most powerful non-nuclear
icebreakers. With a length of 399 feet and a displacement of 13,500 tons,
Polar Sea is designed to move continuously through six feet of ice at a
speed of three knots."

This post peaked my interest in nuclear icebreakers. I did a little
reading on the Russian icebreaker Yamal, also an impressive ship. I found
it quite interesting that it will never make it to Antarctica. Seems that
it needs cold water to cool it's reactor, and, therefore, can't cross the
warm waters of the equator.

http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarc...ce_breaker.htm



Some great Antarctica photos:
http://www.uscg.mil/pacarea/polarsea...ica_photos.htm