Gee, let’s not talk to the other people who think maybe, just maybe, this was a bad idea gone even badder? I had to laugh when I saw this on their Facebook page. It reminds me of the days of denial put forth bv that other collection of clowns arctic explorers that were caught out faking biotelemetry readings.
Uh oh, Brits only now. Everybody else is to be excluded. I think that soon, comments to team members on their website and Facebook page might become unmanageable. Obviously, they don’t realize they are on the world wide web.
For those of you just joining us, recall that “Row to the Pole” is in name only, they aren’t actually going to reach the magnetic north pole of today, nor the geographic north pole. And, at the rate they are going, they likely won’t make the magnetic pole of 1996 either.
But hey, it’s a publicity stunt to promote this Scotch Whisky few have heard of, so don’t expect too much.
By the way, has anyone noticed that not once has the team posted any updates on the “the science” they are supposed to be doing on this stunt trip?
The whole thing is sheer poetry.
Row, row, row, your boat, fake it to the pole
Merrily merrilly merrily merrily, ice is but a dream
It seemed like a good public stunt at the time. Oh, well. We had a real adventure, saw some cool stuff and several times got hammered on free Scotch.
So what’s all this about our trip being a failure? With failures like this are built whole careers, if sometimes obituaries also.
P.S. please send more bear spray. Turns out the polar bears didn’t drown after all.
This whole thing is deliciously representative of the whole AGW movement. Talk about the Emperor’s new clothes. Speaking of which, that guy in the photo, wearing shorts, freezing his knackers off – he probably actually believes he has suitable clothes on. That really sums these idiots up perfectly.
Oh how precious! They cannot handle comments that suggest their “project” is a farce. Thank Gore for FaceBook and Google Maps, we would otherwise be told by the “Operations Team” that the “project” was a complete success. Just think of all that planet killing CO2 at ~40,000ppm/v being exhaled by all involved.
“Merrily merrilly merrily merrily, ice is but a dream”
HOWEVER, the ice is all too real, methinks they will find.
Anthony,
Best not to be so disparaging about an expedition that perhaps has been infiltrated by warmistas. And careful about the Brits, plenty of us browse these pages.
Row To The Pole Facebook page has certainly been infested by Artic ice free imaginaries but this should not deflect from what is a noble, genuine and very British thing (ultimately stupid as most British attempts are) – an artic expedition. Sponsored, not by a largely unknown single malt Scotch Whisky, but, as Old Pulteney is,, a well known and pretty good dram.
Fair do’s here. The guys on the boat are obviously honest Joe’s working hard to try to achieve a milestone in their lives. Shame that they are possibly unaware or complicit in the propaganda that surrounds their effort. And shame on those who are pinning such politics on these efforts remotely.
“Lets make this an ever so British forum, lets be polite.”
Following the examples provided, it therefore must be “ever so British” to leave out the apostrophe from the contraction of “let us”. The “Blackberry excuse” doesn’t count, they clearly used an apostrophe-s for a possessive form above that line so they can use that character just fine when they want to.
And the spelling is “skeptic” with a k like we Yanks have been doing, not with a c. All you “British” UK’ers using the “c” have obviously not been using proper British spelling while trying to make us think otherwise. Shame on you!
☺
Yeah, I don’t think “Lets make this an ever so British forum, lets be polite.” means Brits only. Its an appeal to maintain an archetypically polite demeanor. Too bad these chaps have been out of touch and aren’t up to date with the new British archetype, the riot.
Let’s be polite? Gwyneth Paltrow comments on uncivilized Americans: click click click click☺
AleaJactaEst says:
August 12, 2011 at 7:20 pm
==========================================
Right. It wasn’t for flippant reasons that the Pen Hadow crew were referred to as the “Three Stooges”.
“Uh oh, Brits only now. Everybody else is to be excluded. ”
You misunderstand. They actually mean that things should be kept polite “in a British manner”, not that non-British people shouldn’t comment.
I still think it’s a stupid thing to say and I’m British. The whole jaunt is an embarrassment.
So how is anyone meant to tell them, in an oh so nice and polite British way, that “you are making fools of youselves, chaps”?
Don’t these guys read science papers? We already know the Arctic was ice free in the summers during the early Holocene so is there really any reason to row a boat in the Arctic to try to show that ice melts in the summer?
How about they do something original like circumnavigate the globe in their row boat while intoxicated? Now that would be interesting and worth paying attention to.
That chap in the photo can’t be British, he isn’t wearing socks.
Incidentally, Ms Paltrow is entitled to be rude about Americans, she is one.
I am still wondering if they may not have sampled too much of the promoters wares when they were planning this trip!!!!
Fear not!
There is a new Facebook page – Row to Himmelbjerg – which also covers a really important scientific expedition. Feel free to befriend. Unfriendly comments welcome!
Ever so British? Yikes! They have a secret plan to ransack every shop on sight!
“Row, row, row, your boat, fake it to the pole”
If we all were back at home we’d all be on the dole…
I’ve been socializing with a couple of Brits for the last few years and am not sure I can speak the Queen’s English anymore. Does not help to frequent the Bishop’s blog either.
Now I am wondering what a knacker is and just where I can buy some Scotch that makes you want to row to the North Pole.
Heide de Klein:
We need you to make an, ever so polite, comment … … …
QUICKLY!!!!!
Row, row, row your boat, 90 North or so it seems,
ha, ha, fooled you, I’m a submarine.
unfortunately we have a strong taste for mock-heroic antics, here in the UK. The bathos seems to be in the blood. (Bathos-so pathetic that its funny)
Largely unknown!!! How dare you sir! This whisky is splendid stuff and well known here in Britland
However, only buffoons mix decent malt and ice. A splash of mineral water at room temperature is all that’s needed – and polar bears are not required at all… 😉
“Gwyneth Paltrow comments on uncivilized Americans”
Cut her some slack; after all, she is a Merkin… 😉
I admire these guys. They signed up for an adventure with some real risk and they are blogging about it on a daily basis, failure or success for all to see. It’s easy for me to find fault with them as I sit in my living room, if I had any guts I would be out there with them.
I think they’re upset that we’re snowing on their parade.
If they want to keep it British why are they spelling it “skeptic.”
If they are British – does that mean they are rioters, not rowers?
From their support crew bio’s:
Richard James Webster
“is looking to developing his knowledge of a new ecosystem within the support crew”
UH?
Another PhD soon to be printed.
Also he “trains for half Ironmen”, so what’s a half ironman……aluminiumman(atomic number) or siliconman(atomic weight)?
“Playing the waiting game. Hiding out in Napier Bay after encounter with pack ice.”
That pack ice is the Republicans fault. It’s freakin’ August in the Northern Hemisphere. Try the trip in March.
From Robert Morris on August 12, 2011 at 7:41 pm:
Ah yes, that polite reserved demeanor famously displayed during the heyday of the great British Empire. Calmly finish your tea while your assistant polishes your boots and brass then readies your Webley revolver, and perhaps the Lee-Enfield rifle, then you will feel refreshed and be ready to face the marauding hoards of Krauts and/or heathen mongrels who have advanced to within 100 feet of your camp.
Yup, those were the days, which could be a Monty Python sketch, or a bit from Blackadder Goes Forth.
Some of those FB photos pages show more of a male bonding ‘expedition’ than anything.
Like hunting season here, where armatures tend to go in bigger groups and do little actual hunting.
Just can’t imagine the more serious minded doing the naked butt group shot out on an Arctic expedition.
‘Tis a pity that these Pommy fellows were sucked in by the inducement of scotch, as their scientific appreciation is based upon, to quote what’s his name, “Bullshit!” The recent FB response by a Mike Bromley succinctly captures the moment “Stiff upper lip, chaps, the world loves a lost cause.”
These idiots are so stupid they think there are penguins in the Arctic. Look at this video at the 0:17 second mark. Maybe they made the video after drinking a case of that crap they’re promoting? ROTFLMAO
REPLY: I think those are Puffins, not Penguins – Anthony
Frank, I don’t think they’ll go very far in March 8) They might try in September though. Not that it’d get much better.
I think you have misunderstood the “British” comment, you need to be British to understand it 🙂
Gwyneth Paltrow is American (Just because she played a part in the film “Shakespeare in Love” it does not mean she is British, however she is married to Chris Martin so she can now apply to become one).
We have had riots of thieves intent on looting, which has been very sad as many areas in Croydon I knew in my youth have been destroyed 🙁
But lets look on the bright side, we have the olympics next year, we are arresting the looters, all the Pro-AGW crowd are stuck in the ice and … we still have or AAA credit rating 😉
Brits + scotch = the other kind of ‘row’ to the pole!
kadaka;
Ekshully, AleaJactaEst can’t even spell where they (almost) are:
That would be ‘Arctic’ for the eddicated amongst us.
In case you were wondering, that webtag means “the die is cast”, referring to rolling ½ of a pair of dice.
A knacker is someone who dismantles dead animals (now you know). As for the Scotch, quantity is probably more important than quality when it comes to persuading people to do this kind of thing.
Admiration for their courage, and scorn for their expedition, are not mutually exclusive. There haven’t been a lot of Arctic expeditions that went well, at least historically speaking… things go wrong, food goes bad, you eat your dogs and then their harnesses, and finally your shoes…but these guys had all of the most up to date technology telling them that there WAS ice, there WILL CONTINUE to be ice, and even though it looks like they intended to either row or drag the boat, the kind of ice that they are most likely to encounter allows them to do neither. I hope that they freeze their fannies but that they don’t lose toes or noses. I hope that they struggle and make it obvious that the ice is unrelenting and uncaring, but that they get home safely. But most of all, I hope that they learn something… and that they are honest enough to admit it. THAT would take courage.
Will we now refer to “Drunk Man’s Row” in climate statistics analysis? Seems so appropriate.
yet they will somehow declare victory!
but yeah- thanks for my schadenfreude fix. 🙂
“Lets make this an ever so British forum”…..
As a Brit and after the first week it made me thing the full sentence should have been ….
“Lets make this an ever so British forum and start a riot”! It has been embarrassing enough being a Brit abroad during the last week without this bunch of numpty watermelons giving cause to be more ashamed!
I am tempted to go give them an earful but it would be such a waste of time! Let them embarrass themselves with their hopeless venture. Lets hope no one is put in harms way when they start squarking on a radio for help!
This is a disaster in the making.
These bozos should do the right thing and head straight back home.
Their attempt to prove the point that the North Pole –any North Pole- is now navigable by vessels other than giant ice-breakers has failed.
I am split equally between laughter at the absurdity of their endeavour and genuine concern for their safety.
Dear RTTP Team, your publicity stunt has succeeded. The entire world now believes we are headed towards a climate catastrophe by 2100.
While you were away, all of the remaining skeptics converted to the CAGW religion and we have all now decided to drink Old Pulteney to the end of days.
Don’t risk any further your lives and limbs. Come back home to your loved ones before it is too late.
And a knacker is also the singular of what the male has a pair of!
Adam Gallon said on August 12, 2011 at 11:44 pm:
So one has knackers, the other has knockers.
Wow, that’s take careful handwriting to avoid confusion. Also good enunciation when speaking. Too much Old Pulteney would make that difficult, could lead to some brutal bar fights. After which those who were fighting may feel completely knackered!
Not all Brits are this stupid. Honest.
The British way – we drink our whisky neat… No ice! Basic fail I think…
Knackers would be the “Rocky Mountain oysters” that my amused american host watched me eat.
See
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Heroic-Failures-Official-Handbook/dp/0708819087/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313219992&sr=8-1
for Britains long and distinguished history of heroic failures, another for the next reprint!
Sundance
I suggest you look up “puffin”. They occupy a similar ecological niche to penguins but can fly well which is why you see them sitting on a cliff. White underside as in penguins is to disguise them from predators like seals who attack from below while they are in the water. Greenland has nesting sites for North Atlantic Puffin.
Most of the anti-AGW comments are downright hilarious and poisonous! I would be angry if i was them…
LJHills says:
August 13, 2011 at 12:24 am
Sundance
I suggest you look up “puffin”.
***********************************
More likely Guillemots.
Our British talent for heroic failure – best expressed by the late Peter Cook:-
“I want you to lay down your life, Perkins… we need a futile gesture at this stage. It will raise the whole tone of the war”
Just a small point that ‘Joanie’ and her fellow Americans may find amusing, because we in the Commonwealth certainly do, is that the term ‘fanny’ has been a cherished slang term for…Ummm, how can I put this so it won’t get snipped? A females reproductive portal. So no need to worry about the chaps then.
John R. Walker says:
August 13, 2011 at 12:09 am
The British way – we drink our whisky neat… No ice! Basic fail I think…
Actually John as a long term member of the Whisky society and veteran of many hard and difficult tasting sessions, I can confirm that ice with a good whisky is a bad idea, but the gradual addition of water can be essential to experience the full range of a malts potential.
LJHills says:
August 13, 2011 at 12:24 am
Sundance
I suggest you look up “puffin”. They occupy a similar ecological niche to penguins but can fly well which is why you see them sitting on a cliff. White underside as in penguins is to disguise them from predators like seals who attack from below while they are in the water. Greenland has nesting sites for North Atlantic Puffin.
Garethman responds
I think they are actually Guillimots, but the principle of convergent evolution in colouring remains accurate.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/guillemot/index.aspx
They should just nip south-west across the strait to Bathhurst Island and visit the 1980-ish to 1962 North Poles on their way back to Resolute. Success!
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/GeomagneticPoles.shtml
To orientate, I think they are now (Aug 13th) where the label (not the dot) 1973 is, and Resolute is just below the label 1948. You can see why they thought visiting the more recent poles inadvisable.
I think they have started to moderate the comments now…
Penguins in the Arctic?
Highly possible, after ALF frees them from a zoo and returns them to their natural habitat.
What? It’s cold, there’s ice, there’s ocean water with fish. Hey, those ALF people don’t seem that smart. Be glad they got that close. 😉
(Semi-)seriously, is there a reason why penguins couldn’t survive and prosper in the Arctic? If a breeding population was released up there, surely those cute fluffy polar bears couldn’t eat all of them.
I don’t mind the sentiments expressed in the message from the Row to the Pole Operations Team. They are entitled to ignore sceptical comments if they wish to since their expedition is not funded by tax payers. Also it is good that they should appeal to their followers to be polite. However, being British myself I am embarrassed by the ungrammatical way in which the message was written.
First of all they should have written “comment on or reply to” not “comment or reply on.” Secondly, as others have pointed out, the British spelling is “sceptic” with a “c” not a “k”. Thirdly, their understanding of apostrophes is even worse than kadaka (KD Knoebel) indicated. Not only should “lets” be let’s” but unless there is only one sceptic, the apostrophe in “sceptic’s posts” is in the wrong place; it should come after the “s”. Finally, in the very last sentence, “sceptic” should be in the plural unless they really think there is only one sceptic in which case they had the apostrophe in the earlier sentence in the right place after all!
Roy
I agree with other posters that the expression quoted was probably intended to act as a plea for posters to adopt British manners when commenting/responding to other comments, not to suggest that other nationalities should be excluded from the forum. Regretfully, after the recent riots in the UK, one wonders the extent to which the British are civil and with good manners.
Old Poulteney is a good malt. But I think these people had too much of the stuff when planning this jaunt.
Less Scotch and more thought as to how to row home is what is wanted.
Typical british enterprise. Jolly hockey sticks and all that, let’s blunder on.
They have removed not so favorable comments from their site.
Posting a comment has also been changed.
Us Brits have an history of heroic failures. It should be pointed out that in order to fail in an enterprise, you must first attempt it. The reason the Brits fail more missions is that they are not affraid to risk that failure.
Byz says:
August 12, 2011 at 9:56 pm
…
But lets look on the bright side, we have the olympics next year, we are arresting the looters, all the Pro-AGW crowd are stuck in the ice and … we still have or AAA credit rating 😉
Ouch! 😉
British wit and abuse tends to be a lot more sophisticated than American vocabulary which has about one (1) really abusive word, that the stings, barbs and downright obnoxious British commentary can be misread as civility.
This is not a serious expedition, that’s quite obvious.
But even though Mr Watts is correct when he says few have heard of it, this is a seriously good single malt.from the Highlands. Time for the distillers to tell the marketing wonks to ‘eff off back to London.
Should have driven. http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/extras/production_notes/polar_special.shtml There’s plenty of ice to drive over.
Here in Aussieland “knackers” is a nick name bestowed on a good mate and it is also a dramatic expression or declaration, like, I’d give my left knacker for the chance to… (name your fantasy)
Maybe the scotch weaves its own..
“DAY FOURTEEN: ICE DRILL PRACTICE”
You bet they’re gonna have to practice it! Send them the icebreaker already before they get in real trouble… Being so inconscious towards the nature makes me feel sick. They probably watched too much AGW propaganda from the TV and thought it would be easy?
Looks like they have deleted any skeptical comments from their “Message the Crew” page.
When Jeremy Clarkson and James May drove to the magnetic pole on Top Gear, they didn’t seem to run across any open water. Thin ice a couple of times, but no water.
And they were drinking gin, not scotch.
Pah! Ingrates. I was going to organise a prayer vigil to melt all the ice for them. I shant now.
They have now taken to taking comments off the page, mine was near the top of ‘Likes’ and has now disappeared.
The best message came early in the thread at their web page.
The reason the alarmists have fooled the vast majority of the people is that the “sky is falling” type announcements are remembered and the debunking of those same announcements are rarely noticed and even more rarely remembered.
I bet this fool thinks it gets to 80F in the summer and people swim in the Ocean like they were at Miami Beach, Florida.
So this expedition will end in failure will it?
The BBC are folowing this expedition (BBC camera crew followed in support boat)
“Arctic ‘Row to the Pole’ highlights ice cap melting”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-14464305
“Welcome to Rowing The Arctic”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/rowing_the_arctic/
Assuming they do not get iced in and have to be rescued, then even if they have to turn back the story wil be the team made it further north than ever before. The melting is unprecedented etc, etc.
LOL – they’ve started removing skeptics comments – maybe gavin has started advising them?
knackers are goolies; what else could they be?
The BBC can not resist it. Any chance to promote AGW and they will jump at it. You can be sure there will not be an Arctic Row trapped by ice fields headline.
“Arctic ‘Row to the Pole’ highlights ice cap melting”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-14464305
Considering I have just come back from a whisky tasting trip to various Speyside and Highland malt whisky distilleries (didn’t get as far north as Old Pulteney) and, of course, now that I consider myself an expert in the field, and being of a scientific bent so therefore not wishing to rely on argumentum ad verecundiam, and anyway being a wee bit short of the amber stuff, I popped out and got a bottle and I can now report back that it’s not bad at all.
As far as the expedition is concerned I agree it’s not serious, will be great fun for the guys on it and it achieved at least one more sale of a bottle of the sponsor’s wares.
Also, if the expedition does have to be aborted because of the lack of clear water, it will bring attention to the possibility that the Arctic may not after all be ice-free any time soon.
LJ Hills & Sundance
Those birds are almost certainly Guillemots or, as they are known in the US/Canada: Thin Billed Murres(q.v.)
Those people rowing towards a supposedly ice free Magnetic Pole remind of the Sex Maniac who broke into McVities Biscuit Factory…..
AleaJactaEst says:
August 12, 2011 at 7:20 pm
Anthony,
Best not to be so disparaging about an expedition that perhaps has been infiltrated by warmistas. And careful about the Brits, plenty of us browse these pages.
Row To The Pole Facebook page has certainly been infested by Artic ice free imaginaries but this should not deflect from what is a noble, genuine and very British thing (ultimately stupid as most British attempts are) – an artic expedition. Sponsored, not by a largely unknown single malt Scotch Whisky, but, as Old Pulteney is,, a well known and pretty good dram.
Fair do’s here. The guys on the boat are obviously honest Joe’s working hard to try to achieve a milestone in their lives. Shame that they are possibly unaware or complicit in the propaganda that surrounds their effort. And shame on those who are pinning such politics on these efforts remotely.
OK, let’s count the stupid remarks.
1. “Perhaps” infiltrated by warmistas
2. Careful about the Brits (WHY?)
3. …is a noble, genuine and very British thing
4. The guys on the boat are obviously honest Joe’s working hard
5. …they are possibly unaware or complicit in the propaganda
6. And shame on those who are pinning such politics on these efforts
Possibly the most astronomically stupid post (on so many levels) I have ever read on WUWT.
First we have the idea of skeptics selling out to big oil.
Next we have the idea of the consensus selling out to big green.
Now we have the idea of amateur arctic ice melt promoters selling out to big whiskey.
What will we have next? Educators who are selling out to just about anybody? Oh, wait . . . UEA, PSU . . .
John
It looks more and more like “Whisky on the rocks”. Skol, cheers!
Someone should tell them that they row into the wrong direction. http://www.rowtothepole.com/satellite-tracking/
I guess there is too much ice for the whisky floating along. That’s why they can’t get into the open(?) sea.
As for the Brits on here apologizing for these overgrown boys and their neat survivalist toys – not necessary as this canuck sees it, we’ve loads of our own eco nuts to cause us to cringe – current one wants to rid the whole globe from the bad human population asap – him we should watch much closer, imho.
Old Pulteney, mouthwash for [snip – obscene ~jove, mod]. Talk about the emperor penguins new suit
While I know this expedition is a publicity stunt, with AGW overtones, and it’s great that they are at least making an effort to accomplish something, when looking at their website and reading their updates, I can’t help but come to the conclusion that these guys really didn’t have a clue as to what they were getting into. And what generally happens when people go into hazardous environments without proper knowledge, planning, training or equipment, disaster strikes. They might get lucky, the winds might shift the ice out of their way and they could get open water. But they could also get weathered in and find themselves in a situation where rescue was impossible. As to deleting skeptic comments, that’s stupid. Maybe, just maybe, given enough negative comments, they’d get the idea that what they are doing could be hazardous to their health. And maybe they’d pack it in before the casualties begin.
I thought they were supposed to be ROWING to the pole.
Note liberal use of large OUTBOARD MOTOR in this video.
Or is this some other expedition?
REPLY: this is the support boat for the expedition, which turned back to base a few days ago – Anhtony
Dear, dear me, has it really come to this?
Cold conditions freeze what few brain cells they were in possession of in the first place, BTW luv the shorts…………. and spirits – perfect for the Arctic – good combo mate!?
Well, I’m British.
I’m also (mostly) quite polite.
Silly buggers.
Not saying I wouldn’t have done it too for the free whisky, mind.
That’s great work! Hollyweird liberals deserve ridicule. She is definitely no rocket scientist either.
So she says. But like Madonna she sometimes flaps her lips with an English accent. Perhaps she is just acting (which would be a first).
Everyone knows that there is only one true whiskey … Jack Daniel’s of course!
/SomeSarc!
Disasters always lay ahead in the future.
And if your first prediction does not seem to be valid you lay it a bit further away in the future.
If I check their website they claim:”The poles could be icefree within 30 year”.
I thought that was 2015 initialy acoording to Al Gore.
They will get there , eventually.
@Sundance:
That pinguin thing is hilarious.
Now they can be the first ones to proof that polar bears DO eat pinguins.
Harry
LOL, I have just been comparing their proposed route: http://www.rowtothepole.com/the-expedition/the-route/
with their actual route so far: http://www.rowtothepole.com/satellite-tracking/
As usual with the CAGW herd, there is a cavernous gulf between what they Believe and reality.
They can plug their ears all they want, but reality will win in the end. It always does.
Let’s make this an all Brit thing…uh right we could also include the Canadian Coast Guard and Search and Rescue… Ah right sir … And whiskey drinkers around the world.
For “knackers” read “nadgers”.
David UK – I suspect an essay into irony, don’t you think?
From their “message the crew” page. Irrelevant satellite images! A statement about about the planning or lack of?
Mick.
David, UK – given your reaction to AleaJactaEst, I do not think you’re from the UK.
whiskey on ice
I really don’t understand why these types of expeditions need to be so . . . primitive. Kayaking, walking, rowing. If they assume they will have open water, why not use a powered boat? If they are in water, and then on ice, why not use an amphibious craft? I just don’t get it, so I must be a little dense.
I cant see the video jack!
well, maybe all i needed to do was log in for I now can see it!
To be fair, most of these guys probably in it for the adventure.
And those are Little Auks not Penguins.
Michael Palin and Terry Jones of Monty Python fame published a book: http://www.amazon.com/Bert-Feggs-Nasty-Book-Girls/dp/041332740X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1313249061&sr=1-2
One of the stories within this book details the travails of an expedition which attempts to cross the Andes by frog. It’s a send-up of the British predilection for mounting expeditions intended to accomplish something or other in the most inappropriate way possible. Row to the Pole certainly qualifies.
I just noticed on their website:
7000 Calories Per Day
450 Miles to Row
6 Crew Members
1 Pole
Kind of odd that they would say one pole when they are going to the 1996 Magnetic Pole. I count 3 Poles. True North, Current Magnetic and then there is their destination.
REPLY: Five if you count the south mag and geographic poles – Anthony
Ian H says:
August 13, 2011 at 8:18 am
To be fair, most of these guys probably in it for the adventure.
And those are Little Auks not Penguins.
Guillemots I reckon. To big for little Auks, though the Great Auk was a near as dammit as you can be to a Penguin without being one. By the way, Penguin is one of only 4 Welsh words ever to make it into general usage. The other three being “Cardiff City nil”.
Looks like we Brits are having a “National Embarrassment Week”. what wiith the riots and and warmists who will only speak to British warmists. Let’s hope nexxt week is better!
D Lee said
‘When Jeremy Clarkson and James May drove to the magnetic pole on Top Gear, they didn’t seem to run across any open water. Thin ice a couple of times, but no water.’
That programme was BRILLIANT!
Almost restored my faith in the BBC.
But not quite.
I think it was probably early summer, so fairly sure of having continuous thick ice all the way. Clarkson and May were either pretty gutsy, or very pissed, most likely the latter, but not stupid. Not very stupid, anyway.
Janice ‘I really don’t understand why these types of expeditions need to be so . . . primitive’.
Yes usually this kind of British public school show has to be man v nature, if you know what I mean. Well, you obviously don’t, but that doesn’t mean you’re dense. It’s because they’re stuck in a pre-industrial version of the world. That’s why so many posh people are greenies. Actually, most Brits much prefer Clarkson and May. I think the Beeb would love to get rid of Top Gear, but knows there’d be another riot if they did.
You guys and your empirical data, pah.
Next year we are rowing to the South Pole.
p.s. Last time I did it we used a submarine and to highlight what we British are like we had a game of cricket.
Our rowing friends are just following the marching orders of a blogger at a site that ironically has the word “science” as the first word in its url: http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/06/why_is_anthropogenic_global_wa.php
“If you are a blogger and they comment on your blog, you need not be intimidated by screechy references to the “First Amendment” … just delete their blaterhing or change their links to point to the web site of the Spam Museum, a major Minnesota Attraction. Or whatever.”
You have to admire the initiative of the little known Whisky brewers. While the goal of the rowing team is not practical and is an obvious shameless attempt to promote global warming, a good advertising company can promote the sale of the Whisky from the stunt. Free enterprise is great but there is always a risk in being associated with a failure.
It may be good advice not to communicate with skeptics, after all would Billy the Kid go into a gunfight with no bullets?
I love middle school’ers with their oft used “whatever” and “speak to the hand” retort as they take their ball and go home in the midst of unasked for and unappreciated advice from the wise to the unwise. However, it is less than charming when adults use it. Their catty refusal to address sceptical comments displays the childish nature of AGW.
Gareth Phillips says:
“By the way, Penguin is one of only 4 Welsh words ever to make it into general usage. The other three being “Cardiff City nil”.”
What??? When did Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch fall out of common usage? Why, I’ve even got the t-shirt.
Olen says:
August 13, 2011 at 9:56 am
You have to admire the initiative of the little known Whisky brewers. While the goal of the rowing team is not practical and is an obvious shameless attempt to promote global warming, a good advertising company can promote the sale of the Whisky from the stunt. Free enterprise is great but there is always a risk in being associated with a failure.
Good Lord Sir, you do not brew Whisky, it is distilled in the arms of fine men and true!
Why not get off the internet (the porn and forums for angry, impotent folk will be there when you get back) or switch the TV off and go and have an adventure yourselves? Set up a Facebook page to tell us all about it, then we can tell you what a [snip]
http://www.rowtothepole.com/the-expedition/the-route/
They seem to have taken some pragmatic liberties with the actual route thus far. I can only see more pragmatism ahead, as the planned direct, serene progress through open water becomes more like an Arctic version of a Greek island-hopping holiday across Table, Cornwall and Amund Ringnes islands. Eventually, staring across forlornly to Ellef Ringnes island with sore backs, they decide there’s only so far you can drag a boat and instead reach for the flares…
By Jove I think he’s got it!
kadaka (KD Knoebel) @August 12, 2011 at 9:15 pm: “hoards of Krauts”. Hordes of Krauts, if you please. The hoards of the Krauts are now needed to bail out the rest of Europe.
Jack Savage says:
August 13, 2011 at 5:51 am
Whoa, not far from being snapped like a twig. Definitely time for the brown safety trousers there…
well, I got banned from their facebook page after questioning their use of an outboard motor! bahahaha
So they are now waiting to cross the Belcher channel to Cornwall Island. Discovered by Edward Belcher in 1852 on the British navy ship Assistance, They are hardly doing something that hasn’t been done before…a long time before.
LexingtonGreen says:
August 13, 2011 at 8:34 am
“I just noticed on their website:
7000 Calories Per Day
450 Miles to Row
6 Crew Members
1 Pole
Kind of odd that they would say one pole when they are going to the 1996 Magnetic Pole. I count 3 Poles. True North, Current Magnetic and then there is their destination.”
No, no, no. They meant that they had only one pole to row with. Its like tying one Arm behind your Back. They wouldn’t try to deceive anyone into thinking they were trying to “Row To The Pole”.
omnologos says:
August 13, 2011 at 6:48 am
David, UK – given your reaction to AleaJactaEst, I do not think you’re from the UK.
Wow. Now THIS is a contender for the most astronomically stupid comment I have ever seen on WUWT. Is there some kind of competition going on?
Speaking about Welsh names – I prefer the name of the town Llandudno – it resembles that of our Czech towns Kopidlno or Smecno, although the language roots are entirely different. Maybe that’s the reason the name of Fresno in California sounded to me like a home, sweet home.
BTW, Smecno was even under the transcription Smetschna among the GHCN stations once upon the time…
Ulrich Elkmann says:
August 13, 2011 at 11:07 am
……The hoards of the Krauts are now needed to bail out the rest of Europe.
——————————————————————————————————
Quite right! They are needed to bail out the rest of Europe, but could you please explain why they are doing so? Since the demise of the GDR, Germany has not been noted for embarking on futile exercises.
I saw a video on this a few days ago and these people were about to be trapped between some shifting ice. Do you know what they did? They powered up the outboard motor and drove out thorough an opening in the floes.
Are they really “rowing” or are they using the outboard motor to get around?
Its their support boat
This folly reminds me of Michael Palin’s “Ripping Yarns” series from the late 70’s; specifically the episode entitled “Across the Andes by Frog.”
“I think that soon, comments to team members on their website and Facebook page might become unmanageable”
How very snotty and immature.
AleaJactaEst says:
August 12, 2011 at 7:20 pm
Possibly? Here’s what they have to say about that:
http://www.rowtothepole.com/the-science/
I’m not sure, but while the deaf & blind fellow is possibly unaware of it, he’s also not on their little jaunt.
Glenn says:
August 13, 2011 at 12:4
Sundance
I suggest you look up “puffin”.
***********************************
More likely Guillemots.
Agreed Guillemots.
Flightlessness a problem for birds given the nature of predation on the Arctic North; foxes, bears etc.
Antarctica devoid of land based predators, hence penguins in the South.
Good old evolution does it again.
Does anyone know how those of us on this side of the pond get ourselves some Old Pulteney? Can’t seem to find it anywhere.
Being a loser myself, I thought it only appropriate that I support an exercise in futility.
Heide de Klein, are you stashing some, somewhere?
RGH says:
August 13, 2011 at 5:29 pm
“Flightlessness a problem for birds given the nature of predation on the Arctic North; foxes, bears etc.
Antarctica devoid of land based predators, hence penguins in the South.
Good old evolution does it again.”
More like bad logic does it again. Most penguin species do not inhabit Antarctica and have a variety of land based predators to contend with, let alone birds and ocean animals, which also do inhabit Antarctica.
There was no reason to interject evolution into the subject of bird identification, more bad reasoning.
Well, there *is* a suspicious looking object on their “rowboat”, if you can call it that, looking like the top of an outboard motor. But an outboard won’t help them anymore than an oar on the ice.
David, UK says: “freezing his knackers off”
Bill S. says: “Now I am wondering what a knacker is …”
Ian H says: “A knacker is someone who dismantles dead animals …”
Blimey, Bill. No-one’s got the cajones to tell you! Tsk, tsk. (That’s a clue BTW.)
Lads & Lasses,
Yer nar drinking a true Scottish drink lest it’s drambuie neat !
Green Sand:
“……The hoards of the Krauts are now needed to bail out the rest of Europe.”
——————————————————————————————————
“Quite right! They are needed to bail out the rest of Europe, but could you please explain why they are doing so? Since the demise of the GDR, Germany has not been noted for embarking on futile exercises.”
Futile exercises: more like “since 1945”, Eastern Germany operated at gunpoint from Comrade Big Brother and got a taste of the price for disobedience in 1953. After 1945, every sensible politician in the West said “never again” (and, more importantly: world wars are no sensible economic option; trade is) and lobbied for the common market. Unfortunately, they also sold the “common political destiny”, a.k.a. “Unified Europe” as the only alternative to totalitarian barbarity (despite ample evidence to the contrary from, say, Norway or Switzerland). Until now, despite occasional grumbles about Germany being the “paymaster of Europe”, they constantly profited from the arrangement. It dawns on them (some of them) just now that with the brash expansion of the Eurozone and the looming legislation of the ESM, the European Stability Mechanism to “rescue” the common currency, they have painted themselves into a corner by subscribing to the Greatest Legal Pyramid Scheme Ever.
“Lets make this an ever so British forum, lets be polite.”
The Britain of my Father’s time was polite, looking at Britain today I’m afraid it is even as polite as America which is saying something.
Gareth Phillips says:
Guillemots I reckon. To big for little Auks….
——————————
After comparing pictures of Little Auks
http://images.adventure-life.com/2007/04/25/lg/1153846049stnroz.jpg
and Guillemots
http://www.wanderingalbatross.org/images/northwardbound/guillemots_cliff_lrg.jpg
I stand corrected.
These guys have about ten days to make their target. the weather will close hard and fast afterwards and storms can last for weeks.
LOL! Been looking for some humour. Post on their website – I assume from a fervent AGWer – “hope the ice clears”. The irony is completely lost on them.
I’ll say it again:
Billy Liar says:
June 16, 2011 at 6:25 am
AndyW says:
June 15, 2011 at 10:37 pm
AndyW is right, it’s highly unlikely they’ll get anywhere near the old N Magnetic pole. Take at look at the ice charts for August and September last year:
http://ice-glaces.ec.gc.ca/app/WsvPageDsp.cfm?Lang=eng&lnid=3&ScndLvl=no&ID=11715
Waaay toooo much 8, 9 and 10/10ths ice for them to row through. It’ll take forever (even if their boat doesn’t get crushed).
I would row for rum.
Ian H says:
August 12, 2011 at 10:23 pm
Now I am wondering what a knacker is and just where I can buy some Scotch that makes you want to row to the North Pole.
A knacker is someone who dismantles dead animals (now you know). As for the Scotch, quantity is probably more important than quality when it comes to persuading people to do this kind of thing.
——————–
ah but the colloquial freezing of knackers has nothing to do with animals…
but a lot to do with blokes Dangly bits:-)
and thats the way it was meant.
just a version of Brass monkey weather:-)
as in freeze the balls off of a “brass Monkey”
which was ( in fact) a stand that held ironshot for cannons.
an aussie beer brand had some good brass monkey adverts, ages ago.
A comment said that JRJ Webster was //developing his knowledge of a new ecosystem within the support crew”//
Does that mean he’s checking them for endo-parasites?
It looks like ‘Message the Crew’ on the Row to the Pole site has been closed.
Sorry, still working!
Be fair!
Three points …
This is probably a “grand expedition” in the British Tradition: Shackleton, Scott, etc. Not to forget dear Vivian Fuchs who a frustrated Ed Hillary beat to the South Pole driving Fergusson tractors! I do hope that the boat these people will be using can be pulled by dogs when the open water runs out.
Scotch has ever been present: read Shackleton and Worsley on the victualing for their expeditions, and recall that some very old Scotch was recently discovered in Scott’s hut near Scott Base.
The Free Dictionary on line describes “sceptic” as an archaic form and (in parenthesis) “US: skeptic”. I’m happy to be archaic in my usage!
OK, from what I understand polar bears are sneaky, and their prey is wary.
This stunt, introduces an alien presence into the arctic environment.
The polar bear fears no other carnivore, and has an (apparent) curiosity for submarines.
Not sure what this expedition is trying to accomplish, but if a polar bear is encountered, I’ll bet on the polar bear unless an experienced (dangerous game) hunter is on board.
I am very concerned that if the winds kick up like they have in previous years and pile/compress the ice, we might just get below the 2007 ice area record low. The ice does not appear as concentrated as it did last year.
We need to be ready for an “I told you so” from the pro-AGW group.
I love the British use of the English language. They are the only people in the world who are able to find 3 syllables in a short word like “evil”.
bil says:
August 14, 2011 at 12:01 am
LOL! Been looking for some humour. Post on their website – I assume from a fervent AGWer – “hope the ice clears”. The irony is completely lost on them.
=====================================
We love Arctic ice so much. That’s why we would like it to decline. Shades of Monty Python:
“I love animals. That’s why I like to kill ’em”:
LexingtonGreen says:
August 13, 2011 at 8:34 am
“I just noticed on their website:
7000 Calories Per Day
450 Miles to Row
6 Crew Members
1 Pole
1 Pole? I thought they said they wanted to keep it an all british affair!
Yesterday’s satellite photograph shows the Western side of Ellef Ringnes Island and the MNP of 1996 totally devoid of ice, except at the southern end where the Danish strait between King Christian Island and Ellef Ringes has a fair amount of ice. But once they have cleared the Danish Strait the rest of the journey should be plain sailing unless the wind changes.
At the moment they are in Londesborough harbour on Table Island and waiting to cross the Belcher Channel to Cornwall Island.
Link to satellite photograph for the 14th August (scroll hard right and about 80% down, north is to the right of the picture)
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/imagery/subsets/?subset=Arctic_r04c02.2011226.terra.250m
Here is a link to a fantastic mapping tool for the area. Which calls into doubt the mapping skills of the team, as Jock Wishart’s latest report said they were just to the East of Cape Ogle. This map clearly shows when compared to their yellow brick road track that they were just to the East of Cape Briggs and about 6.7 km to the west of Cape Ogle.
http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/topo/map
Here is an example of the danger of this kind of BS. Quoting from a posted entry on their blog: “The children want to know if you have seen Father Christmas yet”
Now we all know that “Father Christmas” resides at the geographic North Pole. Have these children been deceived into thinking that’s where these rowers are going? I guess this just is in keeping with the mantra that to turn lie into the truth, you start with indoctrinating children.
Jock’s audio report posted today seems to indicate they think this stretch is the hardest. I would not have expected that. I would love to see a good image of the ice conditions. I thought it was just going to get harder from here on out. Hmm.
Is this more or less the same Magnetic North Pole the Top Gear folks *drove a truck* (and sledded a sled) to a few years back? They had some thin ice, but lots of thick snow and ice boulder fields.
Having seen that, a boat seems an extremely unlikely vehicle for reaching the same general area.
othercoast, it is exactly the same spot. Top gear went there in early May when everything is still frozen solid and Jock Wishart is now rowing there in late August when the ice has melted. This jolly does not prove anything. All the places they are visiting were given names 150 years ago when the Europeans had the money and inclination to send exploratory ships up there in the Arctic Summer.
Look at the maps and you will see rivers on them. What else is there to say?
If you dig a little deeper you will see that Wishart used science to first define the North Magnetic Pole in 1996 and has since then made a living out of staging a biennial race from Resolute to his North magnetic Pole.
Unfortunately for Wishart a couple of his entrants decided to stage their own annual race to the North Pole called the Polar Challenge and they are now making big bucks out of it. Jock’s race attracted only four people this year while the Polar challenge was inudated with amatures wanting to get to the 1996 North Magnetic Pole.
At the end of the day this is all about making money not pure science. I am sorry to say.
Jock’s Polar Race http://www.polarrace.com/
The Polar Challenge http://www.extremeworldraces.com/
Have just revisited the Row to the pole site and they have now taken down Wishart’s voice message saying they were to the East of Cape Ogle on Devon Island. Incredible. I can easily accept people making mistakes and owning up to them but deleting the original mistake is not good…not good at all.
Looks like they are monitoring your Blog Mr watts
As for ‘a whisky few people have heard of’:
“Inver House Distillers has been awarded Double Gold, Gold and Silver medals for their ‘exceptional whiskies’ at the prestigious 2005 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Old Pulteney 12 year old Single Malt, Balblair 16 year old Single Malt and Speyburn 10 year old Single Malt all impressed judges with complex and carefully crafted flavours.”
http://www.oldpulteney.com/press-media.php
You shouldn’t assume that because you haven’t heard of something therefore few other people have.
No worries! ABC’s World News Tonight had Heidi Cullen and the sky is falling crew on tonight, who assured us there’s very little ice left at the North Pole. The row-your-boat boys and their Scotch should get through just fine.
Can’t wait to see the updates.
Tree hugger, I saw that too and almost threw a book through the TV. In the last week I switched from NBC because I could not stand the GE climate change crap. And then I see ABC and it is even worse. Does anyone have any suggestions for getting the evening news? I can’t stand Fox.
I quit watching the ABC, NBC, and CBS news in the middle 1980’s. The nightly attacks on Reagan were too much. I knew back then they had chosen sides.
Time is growing short:
…AUGUST 2011 YEAR GROUP AND FALL OUTLOOK…
THE YEAR GROUP FOR AUGUST IS 1997. OTHER YEARS THAT ARE CLOSE ARE
1996 AND 1989. AT THE START OF AUGUST 2011 THE ICE IS DIMINISHING
QUICKLY FROM THE ALASKA NORTH COAST. THE ICE EDGE IN THE CHUKCHI SEA
IS BETWEEN 71N AND 73N. THE EXTENT OF THE MAIN PACK ICE IN THE
BEAUFORT SEA IS BETWEEN 71N AND 72N. THESE ICE CONDITIONS COMPARE
MOST WITH EARLY AUGUST 1997 ICE CONDITIONS.
FOR THE OUTLOOK IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT BOTH 1996 AND 1997 WERE LA
NINA YEAR…AS IS 2011. THE MAJOR DIFFERENCE IS THAT THE WINTER OF
1996 TO 1997 REMAINED IN A WEAK LA NINA PATTERN. THE WINTER OF 1997
TO 1998 BECAME A STRONG EL NINO PATTERN. THE CLIMATE OUTLOOK FOR THE
EARLY WINTER OF 2011 TO 2012 IS FOR A WEAK LA NINA TO CONTINUE. THE
OUTLOOK DATES BELOW ARE BASED ON ICE CONDITIONS IN BOTH 1997 AND 1996
TO ACCOUNT FOR THE FORECAST LA NINA PATTERN.
EVENT OUTLOOK DATE
FIRST ICE TO REFORM ALONG AK NORTH COAST 25 SEPTEMBER
FIRST ICE AT BARROW 5 OCTOBER
FIRST ICE IN KOTZEBUE SOUND 10 OCTOBER
FIRST ICE AT KIVALINA 15 OCTOBER
FIRST ICE IN NORTON BAY 12 OCTOBER
FIRST ICE IN KUSKOKWIM BAY 15 OCTOBER
FIRST ICE IN BRISTOL BAY 20 OCTOBER
FIRST ICE IN NORTHERN COOK INLET 30 OCTOBER
FIRST ICE NEAR NIKISKI EARLY DECEMBER
2011 KCOLE
$$
@LexingtonGreen
Why can you not stand Fox? Fox is actually not as far to the right as most folks think.
Manfred,
I am more Libertarian and Fox is not. They seem to cover up Republican hypocracy. So I just have not found a happy home for my evening news. I think I am back to NBC with Brian Williams.
They are going great guns now. Across the Belcher channel and carrying on to the West of Cornwall Island, their longest stint so far.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/breaking-news/polar-bear-kills-one-injures-four-on-british-expedition-to-arctic/story-e6freuyi-1226109387553
umm?
was this the booze crew?
Lexington Green. Ah! Looks like we are in the same camp, almost. While Fox is not as far to the right as it should be, It is the furthest right of any of the other main stream media. Incidentally I view the Republican party as being too far to the left as well.
Zac – indeed they are doing well today – 60 miles in 24 hours and have reached Ellef Ringnes island.
Thanks for your links and maps – I’ve learned a lot about this area this week (from the comfort of my sofa!)
They are now on Thor Island, only a few miles to go now. Satellite info has enabled them to avoid most of the ice .
Are they rowing back or waiting for a plane to pick them up at Isachsen?