sea gliders

[kalianna]

I would guess that because itʻs electric it would be noiseless. I would hope that the vessel would be gone before the whales knew it was there. But now I wonder...

[TomK]

Don't get me wrong, I do like the idea. I also liked the super ferry idea but that didn't last long. But although electric engines are pretty silent, this thing will make a noise at that speed over the water. I see one or two other issues as well, but don't want to give info to the naysayers. One of my regrets was never taking the hovercraft across the Channel to France - and that thing did actually "float" before it set sail.

PS. The disturbance of the surface water will be heard by a whale a long time before the craft gets there as the speed of sound in water is much faster than the craft. Leilanidude may have a different opinion as he has other ideas about physics and water.

[leilanidude]

@TomK - you sure are quite the a$$... but I suppose most folks here are quite aware already.

[TomK]

@TomK - you sure are quite the a$$... but I suppose most folks here are quite aware already.

All I said is you may have a different opinion.

[dobanion]

Neat history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-effect_vehicle

I think the concept is cool, a further evolution of what has been tried before. I'm concerned the same historical risks remain for this craft, however. Mainly, when you fly 20ft off the water, you're likely to run into something, eventually. Be that a rogue wave, a breaching whale, a powerboat, etc.

[TomK]

I agree, I think it's a nice idea, I would love to travel in a vehicle like that but it wouldn't be fun running into a wave or a breaching whale. At the speeds they're talking about, you won't have a lot of time to avoid something. I think it would be great for calm waters without potential obstacles, I just don't think the Hawaiian islands are suitable. Who knows, though, maybe they have some technological breakthrough that makes it safe.

[terracore]

Various municipalities keep flirting with mass transit options that have always been over budget, over time, and ineffective.  Monorails, regular rails, fast ferries, they pretty much have never worked.  Sometimes, after a few decades, they find a way to make them work, sometimes even efficiently, but always billions $ over budget.  Oddly enough, when private industry does it on it's own, it's usually on budget, on time, and effective.  The transcontinental railway was one.  The rail system in Vegas is a more recent example.  Even more recent than that is SpaceX. It's almost like involving bureaucracy into anything automatically introduces chaos, inefficiencies, corruption, and waste.  It's easy to mis-spend somebody else's money.

So if the government isn't paying for or involved with this project, it MIGHT work.