Ivanpah becomes a wet lake

Was woken up this morning at 4.30 am, to the sound of rain on the window. Two hours of pretty good downpour flooded most of the lake, but, all is not as bad as it seems. There area has been exceptionally dry for the last few years and most of this should be absorbed in the next day or two. Some wind is forecast for the weekend, so we are hoping it is going to be dry by Friday.

For now the lake is closed, with the Greenbird marooned on the edge. Hopefully we will be able to get back to it tomorrow, and download the data from the weather station, to see exactly how much rain fell during the night.

As long as no more rain falls, we should still be able to test on the weekend.

Closed due to rain

We are now well into our second week of above average temperature, hot windless days, but hope is on the horizon! A BIG change in pattern is about to happen, with a big low pressure system off Alaska, poised to throw us some cold fronts around the middle of next week. The first storm is expected on Tuesday afternoon, while the second system will hit us on Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) or Friday. Although strong winds are not forecast, there are normally localised strong winds accompanying the fronts. The big concern for us is how much moisture and precipitation will also be brought by this system. Forecasts are mixed, with some saying most of the moisture will be lost in California, while other predict rain deep into southern Nevada. Although very heavy rains are uncommon, Las Vegas did record 0.6 inches on one day on November 30th 2007, so it is not out of the question. All we can do is try to utilise any wind before any showers hit us. If it does start to rain, we need to get off the lake ASAP, before the hard dry clay turns to mud!

The flip side of the having a week or two of no wind is that I have been able to finish a large number of jobs and perfect any snagging systems. I have also built a new faring on the front pod, to remove a turbulent zone behind the front wheel and help deflect stones that were being flicked up by the front tyre and on to the canopy.

I have installed a new GPS system, called a Driftbox, kindly donated from Race Logic, that is not only super accurate, it also measures the exact sideslip angle (drift) and records all the information onto a flash card for analysis later. The cockpit is pretty cramped, so it is tucked away behind the hydraulic steering system and and can just be seen through the steering wheel.

Simon Fitzerald from BHP Sport (Greenbird film crew) is now here with me, providing very welcome company. Should the weather play its hand, Simon will be capturing any action on the very latest Sony HD equipment. He has already spent a couple of days rigging the Greenbird with an array of recording equipment and miniature cameras, to get the vital on-board shots, which will hopefully give you an idea of what it is like to drive this crazy machine!

Watch the weather, pray for wind, and no rain!

Here’s a couple of photos of our first test run on dirt in light winds (13-20 mph) at Ivanpah the other day. Fingers crossed for a bit more of a breeze during the predicted shift in weather system next week.

Now fully set up at Ivanpah. Another day in the hot sun, ironing out any last glitches and fitting a few new systems. No wind forecast today, and until 2pm that was the case, absolutely nothing.

Then, from nowhere, the wind set in blowing 18-25 mph, almost instantly, and I was not ready!

These are not record wind speeds, but very good testing winds. I worked frantically to finish the hydraulics and bleed the system and finally got the wheel covers on at about 3pm.

Pushed it out on to the playa and sure enough, the wind meter was now reading 13 mph, where it stayed till sunset (our self starting threshold is 18 mph of true wind).

Typical. However this is the nature of the desert, sometimes a good forecast does not materialise, and other times a nothing forecast suddenly becomes good for an hour.

There is a better forecast for tomorrow, so hopefully, we will get some runs in.

Arrived today at Ivanpah after the weekend gathering supplies and tools. I did not expect to be back here now, when I left the ice craft up in Montana, so I left a lot of crucial spares and tools with the ice yacht and have had to duplicate a lot of that stuff now unfortunately.

However, I should get my lake permit this morning so setting up this afternoon on the lake. A lovely sunny day and some wind forecast for Friday Saturday so a good opportunity for an initial test.

I have got a 3g card for my computer, so I have fast internet direct from the lake, which will prove invaluable no doubt.

Setting up by myself, so might take a little longer than normal, but hopefully send pics this afternoon.

Picked GB up from warehouse in LA this morning. Now stationed at the test location near Vegas.

Can’t get the lake permit till Monday, so setting up next week. Will be on location till 1st December

Landed in San Fransico Nov 4, on my way to Nevada for an essential test period. I will be using the November weather window to evaluate the performance on dirt before the best weather next March/April. However, it is not out of the question that we may get perfect weather during November! If this happens and we do get a record speed, then we are preparing to be able to move quickly and capitalise upon it.

It seems that over the last 8 years, the weather is getting more and more unpredictable and therefore we can’t afford to waste any opportunities if they arise.

I have spent many days over the past few weeks analysing weather records for about 12 possible locations in the US. What is very apparent is the weather event that the ‘Iron Duck’ had in 1999 (current record holder) really was pretty unusual, in the strength, steadiness and duration of the wind event. There has probably only been one or two occasions in the last 12 years when this has happened. This is not to say that strong wind events don’t occur, just they are of shorter duration and more random.

Therefore, I intend to spend as long as it takes on standby to wait for that opportunity. We can’t sail past the end of November, but once the playa’s dry in mid March, there is pretty much a constant window through to July (at a variety of venues). It may well be the case that I have to spend 4 or 5 months sitting in deserts or frozen lakes, but this is what it is going to take.