Latest NEWS...Press Release from the BELAU ROYAL Yacht CLUB... EARTHRACE returns to Palau, Micronesia,
PRESS
RELEASE FROM PALAU, MICRONESIA!
For Immediate Release from the
Balau Royal Yacht Club
EARTHRACE
returns to Palau,
Micronesia.
What is earthrace?
The goal of Earthrace is to set a new world record
for a powerboat to circumnavigate the globe,
running 100% renewable biodiesel
fuel, and with a net zero carbon footprint.
The amazing Earthrace boat will make the attempt
starting from Sagunto in Spain. Earthrace is also
undertaking a two year promotional tour, visiting 100
great cities around the globe. The crew meet local
people, talk about their experiences, and most of all
connect with people about the need to get renewable
fuels into our energy mix and to inspire them to do
something themselves to minimise their impact
on the environment.
KOROR, PALAU, May 29, 2008:
Earthrace, the world’s
fastest eco-boat returns to Palau on its second
attempt to break the Round-The-World record set by
the vessel Cable and Wireless back in 1998. The
24,000 nautical mile journey began in Spain and has
included crossing the Atlantic Ocean, transiting the
Panama Canal, and crossing the Eastern Pacific
enroute to Hawaii. The current leg of the journey now
underway took EARTHRACE from Hawaii to Majuro,
Marshall Islands with Palau as the next refueling
stop before heading for Singapore.
The complete round-the-world itinerary includes
Sagunto (Spain) – Horta (Azores) – San Juan (Puerto
Rico) – Colon (Panama Canal, Panama) – Manzanillo
(Mexico) – San Diego (USA) – Maalaea Harbor, Maui
(Hawaii) – Majuro (Marshall Islands) – Koror (Palau)
– Singapore – Kochi/Cochin (India) – Salalah (Oman) –
Port Said (Suez Canal, Egypt) – Sagunto (Spain).
EARTHRACE powered in to Hawaii well ahead of the
record time however she suffered a fuel line failure
shortly after departure that reduced her to one
engine, slowing her progress from Hawaii to the
Marshall Islands where repairs were made to get her
back in the race. Even on one engine, EARTHRACE
manages 16 knots so despite the delays, she remains
very much in the race.
Skipper Peter
Bethune
said: “The progress we’ve made so far is nothing
short of outstanding, but it’s nervous times. There
are so many possible situations that can slow
you down when you take on a challenge as ambitious as
this, but the team has so far managed to overcome
every obstacle that’s been thrown at us. “We’ve
conquered the Atlantic and most of the Pacific, at an
average speed of 20 knots. The engine problem is a
setback but we have overcome challenges all the way
through the race so far.”
Earthrace is already beyond the half-way point on its
historic round-the-world record attempt to
circumnavigate the globe in a vessel powered by
renewable bio-diesel, a fuel created from plants and
waste materials. Given diminishing fossil fuel
reserves worldwide as highlighted by rapidly
escalating gasoline costs, EARTHRACES goal to focus
attention on the need to develop renewable sources of
energy makes more and more sense.
EARTHRACE is crewed by skipper Peter Bethune, New
Zealand; Robert Drewett, Britian; Mark Russel,
Britian; and Adam Carlson, Sweden. The Royal Belau
Yacht Club bestowed Lifetime Honorary Membership on
Skipper, Peter Bethune during his last visit to
Palau, recognizing him for his outstanding
accomplishments and contributions to the art of
circumnavigation.
EARTHRACE is scheduled to arrive in Koror, Palau late
Saturday evening, May 31. The public is invited to
join the Royal Belau Yacht Club in giving EARTHRACE
and her crew a warm welcome to Palau at the Royal
Belau Yacht Club, located at Sam’s Tours in Malakal,
immediately following port clearance and refueling,
Saturday evening.
On Sunday, EARTHRACE is open to the public for a
unique opportunity to get a close up view of this
radical wave-piercing high speed craft.
EARTHRACE is scheduled to depart late Sunday, June 1
or early Monday, June 2.
For more information, please contact the
Royal Belau Yacht Club at 488-4382 or contact
Sam’s Tours at 488-7267.
EARTHRACE on-line:
www.earthrace.net
Human Fossils in PALAU MICRONESIA discoverd...an amazing find... recently screened on National Geographic TV...
© Gunther Deichmann - in the Dawn of Time
Palau Micronesia, for more on Palau click on
the image or the link below:
http://www.palautours.com/
3,000 year old small body humans
in Palau, Micronesia
Watching National Geographic on TV the other
day I was very fascinated by this amazing story,
only to read about it later on the Net again.
See below some excerpts from this truly
fascinating story.
For all the details and photos see the
link below the article.
© Gunther Deichmann - the Rock Islands of Palau Micronesia,
for more on Palau click on the image or the link below:
http://www.palautours.com/
PLoS One completely surprised me today by releasing this paper,
“Small-Bodied Humans from Palau, Micronesia.”
The research comes from South African and American
researchers, and the paper was edited by John Hawks,
who apparently can really keep a secret it seems. I had
no idea about this study and find it a really remarkable
find since fossils of another small bodied human, Homo
floresiensis, were found about 1,000 miles south of
these new findings.
So how were these bones found? Lead author, Lee Berger, writes to National Geographic
News that he was kayaking around rocky islands about 370 miles east of the Philippines,
when he found the bones in a pair of caves in 2006.
Crazy story! I wish I would find something like that while vacationing.
He reports that the, “the [Ucheliungs and Omedokel] caves were littered with bones that had
been dislodged by waves and piled like driftwood. Others had remained buried deep in the
sandy floor, and more, including several skulls, were cemented to the cave walls.”
http://anthropology.net/2008/03/10/3000-year-old-
small-body-humans-in-palau-micronesia/