[PCW] Northwest Passage - was mono vs. cat

[Robert Deering]

Mac said:  "How many years will he have to wait before this is possible?
10?  50?  100? 1000?  5000?  Is this according to the same folks who can't
really tell us what the weather will be in 72 hours?"

Well...yes Mac, if you get your weather forecasts from U.S. Coast Guard
broadcasts.  According to them the trip has already been made by hundreds of
boats over the past few years, possibly thousands, though no one is tracking
it.

The Coast Guard is planning to deploy assets in the Bering Strait and Arctic
Ocean as soon as possible.  Their statement is that they anticipate doing
everything on our "new coast" as they do on the current left and right
coasts - meaning search & rescue, law enforcement, navigational aids,
communications, homeland security, and all of the rest of the stuff they do.
I understand the Canadian Coast Guard is planning likewise.  

Once the basic support infrastructure is in place up there (measured in
years, not decades), summer Northwest Passages will become feasible for many
intrepid boaters with a suitably equipped boat (doubt that there will be too
many fuel docks, at least for awhile).  Probably beyond the capabilities of
Gary Bell's PDQ 34, but not for Dennis Raedeke's WWIV!   

Bob Deering
Juneau, Alaska