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| August
31, 2008. Day 81 - Beaver Creek, Yukon - Haines Junction, Yukon |
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| Got up at 07:00, looked outside to find the grass and most everything covered in a light frost, purrrrrr!!!. The black solar car cover was almost white, wrote ICE on the ice :) No clouds in the sky, a deep blue sky on one side and a redish yellowish sky from where the sun was rising. Got the array set up and in seconds ice crystals formed on the wet array. Half hour later the sun was shining on the array but not much of charge happening only about 2.5Ah on the Fluke clamp meter, it translate to only 272Watts (2.5Ah X 109V). Tristin and I moved the car a couple of times to avoid trees shades. By about 10:00 the batteries were full. We said the good-byes to Jean-Luc who was looking sharp on his RCMP uniform. Didn't have a chance to say bye to Stephanie she left had an early shift at customs. Jean-Luc and Stephanie have been very kind and generous supporting the project. Thanks my friends, I'll have to come back one of these days for a volleyball game but it will have to be during the summer :) Once on the road, it was smooth sailing. The solar car was functioning just they way I like it. The steering was straight, no play. While cleaning and oiling the car yesterday I noticed a bit of play in a place I least expected. The solid aluminum pivot block holding the steering push rod developed on the left side, the gap is tiny (less than a hair thick) but enough to cause a slight play, nothing that a bit of treadlock couldn't fix. The sun was shining, fantastic breath taking view, "On the road again!!!!" ( - Hey Michael, I should play a recording of you calling online so people can appreciate you on radio every time we got back on the road "on the road again", it was price less). When Tristin drove past me to take some photos and film the solar car on the road, I noticed a very loud and unusual sound from the van, only to find out it wasn't switching gears, near 100kms (65 miles) later at 70kmh - 80kmh (43mph - 50mph) the transmission was gone. I pulled XOF1 onto the side of the road to take a look at the van but no can do, it was too late but at least it was still drivable at 30kmh. Whitehorse by the end of the day wasn't going to happen. Even getting to Haines Junction wasn't looking very good :( After driving about 124.1 miles (198km) we stop to buy gas and snacks. Linda Bonnefay on her way Moose hunting saw the solar car, turned around and followed us to the gas station. She was so excited about the project, right away start saying congratulating and praising the project. She was one of the most excited people I have encountered. Thanks Linda! Tristin wanted to return to Whitehorse to see a friend in Whitehorse and decided to stop in Haines Junction. I now had to find a new volunteer on an hours notice while driving the solar car in the middle of no where, "hang in there" I thought, things will eventually work out okay and it did :) Throughout the day we drove by a cyclist (Phellipe), then he passed us while we stop to check the van's transmission, later we passed him, he passed us again when we stopped to get some food and gas up the van. Towards the end of the day we did a quick stop on the side of the road to met Phellipe and his crew by their camp site. Phellipe is biking from Purdoe Bay to Argentina. We talked about our projects, the challenge of finding sponsors (Tissot is sponsoring Phellipe. Very commandable of you Tissot for sponsoring Phellipe, well done! ), the distance we are covering, terrain, people we've met, etc...Phellipe also told me about a good friend of his (Louis) who is driving an electric plug-in solar car (solar taxi) around the world. Coincidentally, this morning I received an email from All Cormier (Electric Mobility Canada) introducing Louis and I to each other. Small world (I sent an email to Louis to say hi and congratulate him on his journey). Louis is at the moment driving his solar car in Ontario. Interesting development because I have been forbidden by the Ontario government to do drive XOF1 in Ontario. Like Louis solar taxi, XOF1 is a licensed vehicle and it is protected by the 1949 Geneva Conventional Road Traffic treaty. So, I also should been allowed to drive it in Ontario. However, the Ontario government sent me a letter stating "a solar car with a foreign licensed plate won't be allowed in Ontario public roads". I can drive XOF1 anywhere in the world except in Ontario. That's why had to start the drive in Buffalo, NY instead of Toronto where the solar car was originally built. Oh well, I thought about taking Mr.McGuinty and his government to court but I am just a little guy, don't have the funds or the time to fight government bureaucracy. So, I took XOF1 to the USA and the rest of Canada where I have been welcomed with open arms. Sorry for this rambling.... but I had to vent a little. .... back to the days event.... The temperature was dropping fast as the sun was setting and just as we were about to resume driving from the side of the road near Phellipe's camp site a family stopped by to check out the solar car. It was Cindi Cowie, Dave Weir and their kids Dawson and Callun Weir they were coming back from fishing on a near by late. We quickly engaged in a conversation about how the solar car works, their hybrid vehicle and the house environmentally friendly home they are building. In no time they offered us to stay in Haines Junction. Yeah, no camping tonight :) It took a long time to get to Haines Junction the drive was slow, cold and dark. It was about 23:00 by the time we arrived in Haines Junction. Just outside Haines Junction someone was following us but we didn't noticed until we stopped in Haines Junction. It was Andrew McCoy. He had hosted us while in Whitehorse for the first time and I was going to to stay with him again. It was just a great coincidence. Andrew was returning from a road trip back home to Whitehorse. It took me a while to register :) didn't expect to see him until in Whitehorse. At the end of the day it all worked well. Tristin got a ride to Whitehorse with Andrew and I had a safe place for the solar car and a place to spend the night. Special thanks to Linda Bonnefay from Yukon Best Practice Mentorship Program who adopted 40km/miles. |
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