Sailing Archives
April 12, 2012
The voyage of the Titanic in Google Earth
This weekend marks the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's collision and subsequent sinking in the North Atlantic Ocean. Today we'll take a look at the journey that led to the iceberg, and tomorrow we'll explore ways to view the ship as she sits today at the bottom of the ocean.
GPSed.com has a great track of the voyage of the ship. You can view it on their site or download this KML file
to see it in Google Earth.
3D Warehouse users 'DannyDijk' built a nice 3D model of the ship while it was beginning to sink. The elevation seems a bit off (the ship is floating in air), but the model is very well-done and is worth checking out. You can view it in Google Earth by using this KML file.
The best model I've seen is likely from user 'fsmdf'. His model is only available for download to SketchUp and can't be viewed directly in Google Earth, but he created a video to show how it was created and it's nothing short of amazing.
At the end of the voyage, of course, the ship broke into two pieces and sank. James Cameron went to great lengths to portray the sinking the ship as accurately as possible in the 1997 Titanic film, but has since discovered some errors. While he is not going to correct them in the 3D remake of the movie, he's released a revised CGI animation that is thought to be the most accurate rendering of how the ship went down.
There are two major differences in the new rendering from the original movie. The first is the angle of the ship when it breaks. It's now thought to have been just 23 degrees, but was shown at a considerably higher angle in the movie. The other change is the way the bow of the ship sank; in the movie, it stands straight up and holds for a few seconds, then begins to sink. The new rendering is similar to that, though it doesn't quite go vertical and certainly doesn't hold in that position. All in all, it's a very interesting way to view the sinking of the ship.
Posted by mickmel at 6:23 AM
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March 6, 2012
Captain James Cook's exploration of Australia
A few months ago, we showed you Colin Hazlehurst's excellent tours of James Cook exploring New Zealand and South Island, New Zealand. Colin is back with a new presentation and it's simply amazing.
This time his presentation covers Cook's exploration of Australia from April 18 - August 23, 1770. The presentation contains over five hours of animation with audio accompaniment, and is split into 17 tours. You can load the KMZ file here, but be aware that it may be somewhat slow to load each segment due to the detailed models and large audio files.
Below is a quick look at what is contained in the file, as written by Colin.
Approaching Australia on 18Apr1770
On the 18th of April, 1770, the crew of Endeavour saw Pinatado birds, a good indication of the nearness of land. Their navigational instruments also showed them to be to the west of Abel Tasman's longitude of Van Diemen's Land (present day Tasmania), so they couldn't be far from a landfall. The following day Lieutenant Hicks was the first to sight land and Point Hicks is named in his honour. Cook's plan, agreed with the other officers, was to explore the coast of New Holland (present day Australia) to the northward. He was very keen to determine whether or not New Holland was connected to New Guinea, a point of much discussion among geographers.
First attempt to land on 28Apr1770
On 28th April, some people were seen on the beach and an attempt was made to land and communicate with them. However, the people ran off into the woods and Cook was further frustrated by finding the surf too powerful for him to land safely. The following day, Endeavour arrived off a large bay in which Cook decided to anchor. The first name of this inlet was Stingray Bay but Cook later amended this, writing in his journal: The great quantity of plants Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander found in this place occasioned my giving it the name Botany Bay.
First landing on Australian soil on 29Apr1770
The crew of Endeavour stepped ashore on 29Apr1770. They stayed about a week, resupplying the ship with wood and water, and fishing in the bay. The first interactions with the aboriginal people of Australia were not happy; darts were thrown and muskets were fired.
On leaving Botany Bay, Endeavour worked her way northward with Cook surveying and charting the prominent features as they sailed. One thing he wasn't aware of was the presence of the Great Barrier Reef and the way that it grew closer and closer to the land the further north they sailed.
Whitsunday was on 04Jun1770
Cook was impressed by the number of safe anchorages there seemed to be in Whitsunday Passage, the strait of water they discovered on 04Jun1770. Beyond this point, the sailing still seemed to be straightforward; the 'knowable unknowns' became known to the north of Cape Tribulation, named by Cook: 'because here began all our troubles'. He directed the ship to sail offshore in order to avoid some islands ahead. They narrowly missed hitting the Pickersgill Reef, but an hour later, at about 11pm on 10Jun1770, they ran aground on Endeavour Reef.
Aground on Endeavour Reef (10Jun1770)
It was fun for me to animate the ship running aground and the attempts heave her off, but less fun for the men on board who were divided into two teams - one working full time on the pumps and the other throwing heavy items overboard (over 50 tons were ditched in the oggin) and heaving on anchor chains in an attempt to pull her off the reef. The story is one of calmness and bravery under extreme stress.
Once hauled off the reef, two high tides later, the ship was fothered, a process that involves treating a spare sail with oakum and wool (and other items like sheep's dung or 'other filth'), and passing the sail under the hull, using ropes to position it over the hole. In this way the ship was patched up temporarily and they were able to sail along the coast to find a place for more permanent repairs. They found this in an estuary to the north, which Cook named Endeavour River.
Beached in Endeavour River on 22Jun1770
In the tour, I couldn't resist flying to the same viewpoint as this engraving by Johann Fritzsch (1786). Either Fritzsch has his Vertical Exaggeration set to 2.0 or the scale of the model in the tour is too great.
Endeavour remained in this anchorage until 05Aug1770, following which they sailed cautiously northward. They were surrounded by shoals and reefs and advanced very slowly. Cook estimated that they travelled over 1000 miles with a man in the chains, sounding, or with one or more of the smaller boats ahead seeking out the safe channels.
They made a decision to try to get outside the reefs which surrounded them. They could see the Pacific ocean swell pounding on the outer edge of the reef and throwing up huge breakers, and longed to be in that deeper water.
Cook's Passage near Lizard Island
They finally achieved their aim by sailing through Cook's Passage, an opening in the outer reef near Lizard Island, on Monday, 13Aug1770. They stood off north-east until daylight the following morning, and then headed north-west and west. Cook was determined not to miss the northern extremity of New Holland.
A few days later they were in serious trouble. In an area where the currents were strong it fell quite calm, and a sailing ship without wind is at the mercy of the currents. They found themselves being carried ever closer to the reef - a shear wall of coral rock - with nothing to prevent them being smashed to pieces. Again, calmness under pressure was required. The smaller boats were deployed to pull the ship's head to the north, and with the help of the tides and a few very light airs they managed to find a way back inside the reef system, calling the opening they found Providential Channel. Cook wrote:
'It is but a few days ago that I rejoiced at having got without the reef; but that joy was nothing when compared to what I now felt at being safe at anchor within it.'
Providential Channel (16Aug1770)
The new plan was to stay inshore and dodge all the shoals and reefs they they were becoming expert at negotiating. By the end of the following week, Cook had found the northern extent of New Holland (Cape York) and a passage through to the Indonesian seas which is now called Endeavour Strait. By this, he had demonstrated to his own satisfaction that New Guinea was an island.
"I could see no land between south-west and west-south-west." (Endeavour Strait on 22Aug1770)
Posted by mickmel at 8:01 AM
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February 8, 2012
The Costa Concordia 3D tour is now stunningly realistic
A few weeks ago we showed you Peter Olsen's 3D tour of the Costa Concordia. It was a very impressive file, showing a 3D model of the ship as it progressed through its fateful voyage.
Peter has been hard at work since then, and we simply had to show you the file with his latest updates. He has rebuilt the ship model from scratch, added much more data to the timeline, built 3D lifeboats (which slowly descend into the water), and even a 3D helicopter to show how the rescue operation unfolded!
As you may recall from Peter's work on Stone Mountain and the MLK Memorial, his attention to detail is incredibly high. If you're curious where he got some of the data used in this animation, here is a list:
• The general conversation between ship and harbour master and times is from here.
• The specific conversation between the captain and coastguard is here. (his version is slightly abridged)
• Some of the timeline is from here.
•The AIS track data is from here.
• The list of dead and missing came from here, which is now a dead link, as well as here.
•The chaotic way the lifeboats departed is from here.
• The helicopter is an exact replica of the real one used in the rescue - call sign VF-57. It is an Agusta Bell ab412SP Air Ambulance, based on the Bell 412. It was manufactured under license by Agusta for the Italian Rescue Service. The photo at the end just before the list of names shows the actual helicopter hovering over the ship. The general line of Bell helicopters of the family, including the Agusta's is here.
• The Bell 412, with size specifications, is here.
• The shape of the helicopter is here.
• The actual VF-57 helicopter is here.
• A video of an identical model (call sign VF-67) is here.
To see it for yourself, you can download the file from the 3D warehouse or watch the video below:
Posted by mickmel at 8:53 AM
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January 27, 2012
An amazing 3D tour of the Costa Concordia
Last week we showed you the fresh satellite imagery and tour of the wreck of the Costa Concordia. It was a great file that helped to show what happened, but now Peter Olsen (who just days ago unveiled the excellent Terra Nova models) has built an incredible 3D tour of the wreck, with the entire journey animated!
The speed has been increased to save time, so you don't have to wait 2-1/2 hours for it to finish, but it's otherwise as accurate as possible. To see it for yourself, simply visit the Costa Concordia Disaster Animation page in the Google 3D Warehouse and choose the "View in Google Earth" link.
If you're not familiar with using Tour files in Google Earth, simply click the "Double-click me!" text on the left to get it started, then click the play button at the bottom to step through the introductory slides, as seen here:
Fully animated tours like this are a great way to recreate events, and Peter is one of the best around at creating them. A similar example you might want to check out is his recreation of the 1977 Tenerife Airport disaster from a few years ago. Great job, Peter!
Posted by mickmel at 7:09 AM
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January 19, 2012
Satellite imagery and 3D model of the cruise ship Costa Concordia
By now you've likely heard all about the wreck of the Costa Concordia, the cruise liner crashed off the Tuscan coast last Friday, killing at least 11 passengers.
DigitalGlobe has since captured aerial imagery of the site of the wreck, which can be found in their gallery or viewed below.
I've added that image to Google Earth as an image overlay, which you can view by downloading this KML file.
Another great way to view the ship is thanks to Paul van Dinther from PlanetInAction.com. A few years ago we showed you the amazing collection of cruise ships that Paul created for CleanCruising.com.au. One of the ships that Paul created for that project happened to be the Costa Concordia.
Since he had a 3D model of the ship and the skills to make some great tours, Paul put together this short video showing a bit about what happened.
Thanks to the generosity of the folks at CleanCruising.com.au, they've allowed Paul and PlanetInAction.com to release a full KMZ file of the stricken ship, which you can download in this KMZ file. Paul's model is amazingly accurate, and he includes various notes in the file to show the path of the ship.
Great work, Paul!
Posted by mickmel at 8:05 AM
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More entries for this category:
- Captain James Cook's circumnavigation of South Island, New Zealand - January 6, 2012
- Tracking the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in Google Earth - December 27, 2011
- Captain James Cook's circumnavigation of New Zealand - November 28, 2011
- Tahina Expedition in Fiji - August 1, 2011
- Tracking the Hurtigruten along the coast of Norway - June 20, 2011
- Great collection of resources for the Fukushima power plant - April 7, 2011
- The Sargasso Sea Expedition - March 3, 2011
- Geospatial Revolution: Episode Three Released - March 2, 2011
- Follow the Mission Blue expedition to Salas y Gomez - February 24, 2011
- Mission Blue: Tracking the gulf oil spill recovery effort - January 13, 2011
- Kite Aerial Photos of Manihi Now in Google Earth - October 11, 2010
- Boat race replays in Google Earth - August 18, 2010
- Google Earth For Sailors and Travelers - August 12, 2010
- Exploring the Suwarrow Atoll - July 13, 2010
- Following the Plastiki - May 18, 2010
- Ocean layer is now a default for all users - April 8, 2010
- Bow waves for more realistic-looking ships - March 26, 2010
- Playing games in Google Earth - March 9, 2010
- Frank's kite imagery of Petite Tabac is now in Google Earth - March 5, 2010
- Frank's Tahina Expedition is now in the Ocean Layer of Google Earth - January 6, 2010
- Stunning virtual cruise tours - December 17, 2009
- Tahina Expedition Departing Soon - November 12, 2009
- MS Oasis of the Seas heading for Florida - November 9, 2009
- Caribbean 1500 Rally using Google Earth once again - November 2, 2009
- Fresh Update to the Ocean Expeditions layer - September 22, 2009
- Preparing for the Big Trip - September 2, 2009
- Kaisei Project - Researching the Plastic Vortex - August 5, 2009
- Watch the LongPac Yacht Race - July 31, 2009
- New Google Earth Imagery - July 2009 - Good and Bad Part 2 - July 11, 2009
- World Oceans Day, 3D Design Competition, Britain Archeological Site, New Imagery Tour Idea - June 8, 2009
- Where 2.0 - Day 1 - Workshops and Ignite - May 20, 2009
- Current Positions of 10,000+ Ships World-wide in Google Earth - May 8, 2009
- Henry Hudson 400th Anniversary in Google Earth/Maps - May 4, 2009
- Two Collections: US Coast Guard and Right Whales - April 28, 2009
- Links: Ocean Now, Michigan Earth Day, Goldman Prize, Convention Center, Queen Mary - April 21, 2009
- 3D Tour of Tahina Expedition Catamaran - April 20, 2009
- Submarine Sim for Google Ocean - April 14, 2009
- Announcing TahinaExpedition.com - April 9, 2009
- Endangered Right Whales Off Florida - February 20, 2009
- Rowing Around the World with Google Earth - February 11, 2009
- Google Earth 5 Released - 3D Ocean and More! - February 2, 2009
- New View of Ocean Floor in Google Earth - January 17, 2009
- Les Saintes Got Some Terrain in Google Earth - January 14, 2009
- December Sailing Passage in Google Earth - December 30, 2008
- Links: Santa Tracker Popular, Volvo Ocean Race, Lost World Discovered, Cold War KML - December 26, 2008
- Links: Going Sailing, Mumbai Attacks, Street View, South Africa Award - December 11, 2008
- Vendee Globe in Google Earth - December 2, 2008
- Somalia Piracy Map in Google Earth - November 20, 2008
- Links: Where 2.0, Weather Buoys, Argentina, Earthscape, MapMyPage, and more - November 19, 2008
- Carolina Beach Inlet in Google Earth - November 4, 2008
- WikiSailing - Flying/Sailing Sightseeing Tours in Google Earth - October 29, 2008
- Using Google Earth at 90 MPH on a Boat - October 14, 2008
- Introducing Our First Sailing Partner: Google - October 2, 2008
- The Boat Story Continues - Boatyard, Name, Moving - September 21, 2008
- Sailing Update - Arrgh! - September 19, 2008
- Storm Preparations - September 4, 2008
- Sailing Passage From Exuma to North Carolina - August 25, 2008
- Circumnavigation: The Boat - Part I - August 24, 2008
- Spinning the Globe - August 21, 2008
- Links: Joshua Slocum, Chemical Brothers, Other Links - August 6, 2008
- Links: Talks, boat slips, Trails.com, Featured - July 28, 2008
- Links: Walking, Havana, Eclipse, Oil, Follow the Boat - July 23, 2008
- Notes from the Bahamas: GE in Education, AGE More KML, Disney 3D - June 26, 2008
- Clipper Yacht Race in Google Earth - June 1, 2008
- Links: NBA Destination, EarthNC 2.0, Geo Education - May 7, 2008
- Links: Games, KML, Data, and more - March 4, 2008
- Miami Post - Links: Mapper Tool, GE Game, KML Wishlist - February 15, 2008
- Top 25 Stories of Google Earth 2007 - December 27, 2007
- Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2007 - December 26, 2007
- Links: GE on Phones?, PhotoOverlay Tutorial, EarthNC Update, Time Embedder Tool - November 6, 2007
- Caribbean 1500 Sailing Cup in Google Earth - November 5, 2007
- Links: Ohio Class Sub, Galactic Delight, Constellation Drawings - October 5, 2007
- News Roundup: Flight Simulator Goodies, PhotoViewer Stuff, Video tourism - September 4, 2007
- Scientific Ocean Drilling Database in Google Earth - August 14, 2007
- Our Sailing Holiday in Google Earth - August 10, 2007
- Sailing with Google Earth for Navigation - August 6, 2007
- Sailing in the Virgin Islands - with Google Earth - July 23, 2007
- Encompassing the Globe - July 16, 2007
- OgleEarth Roundup: Illegal Fishing Caught, Picasa Web Albums Review, Geo-Ads Patent, HeyWhatsThat - June 28, 2007
- Watch Weekend Boating Live in Google Earth - May 18, 2007
- EarthNC Releases Browser-based Google Earth Content - April 26, 2007
- 677 US Marine Charts for Google Earth on 1 CD - March 31, 2007
- Majesty of the Seas - February 9, 2007
- Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in Google Earth - December 27, 2006
- Route du Rhum - Live Sailing Race in Google Earth - November 1, 2006
- Shipwrecks Around the Google Earth - September 2, 2006
- Sailing Adventures and Anchorages of the Caribbean - July 1, 2006
- Pete Goss in 2006 Shetland Round Britain and Ireland Race - June 18, 2006
- Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7 in Google Earth - May 18, 2006
- Multicup 60 - Live Sailboat Race in Google Earth - May 10, 2006
- The Aviva Challenge - Sailing Record Attempt - May 3, 2006
- Mini-news Roundup - April 10, 2006
- Sailblogs.com Supports Google Earth - April 8, 2006
- Follow Volvo Ocean Race Leg 5 - April 3, 2006
- Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race in Google Earth - March 29, 2006
- Maldives Island Group in High Res - March 24, 2006
- Bermuda Treasure Shipwrecks Map - March 7, 2006
- Follow Volvo Ocean Race Leg 4 in Google Earth - February 19, 2006
- Follow Volvo Ocean Race Leg 3 in Google Earth - February 12, 2006
- Transatlantic Sailing Adventure Using Google Earth - January 18, 2006
- Volvo Ocean Race Leg 2 - January 6, 2006
- Back on Land - December 19, 2005
- Gone Sailing! Passage Plan in Google Earth - December 13, 2005
- Transat Jacques Vabre 2005 Race in Google Earth - November 16, 2005
- And They're Off! - November 13, 2005
- Volvo Ocean Race in Google Earth - November 11, 2005
- Another Sailor Documents Trips Using Google Earth - November 9, 2005
- Watching Sports with Google Earth - September 27, 2005
- Sailing the Seven Seas - September 10, 2005