Thread

The Return of Sail Power: Cargo Ships Are Turning Back to the Wind

193 points · 136 comments · gumby

walrus01 · 1789614861 · focus · HN ↗
The most recent example, it's somewhat down the page at the gcaptain URL:
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliner_Origin" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliner_Origin
1. lastofthemojito · 1789646862 · focus · HN ↗
  You can also sail on the Neoliner Origin as a passenger if you want to get a closer look: <a href="https://www.sailcoop.fr/en/our-crossings/north-america/" rel="nofollow">https://www.sailcoop.fr/en/our-crossings/north-america/
  1. walrus01 · 1789666674 · focus · HN ↗
    I know that freighter cruises or nontraditional ways of crossing an ocean by ship get costly quick, but looking at the prices, it adds up... You need to obtain and give them a medical clearance certificate issued in the last 30 days, you need to buy their special travel insurance, and there's a 110 Euro cost (at each end of the trip?) to take their designated taxi service to/from the ship, because regular vehicles or transportation can't approach the secured areas of the ports. It's definitely something I would still do if I had tons of extra money laying around and wanted to cross the Atlantic in a very novel way.
    tialaramex · 1789688152 · focus · HN ↗
    Huh. I live in a major UK port city and while of course the actual docks are a restricted area I don't think anybody would stop me just walking in. Indeed one of the city buses goes there - it does say that you need a reason to still be on the bus when it enters that restricted area but obviously nobody checked any of the times I've been on that bus.
    I think some of the "ride sharing" people are intimidated by the scary legal notices, when we tried to leave again after looking around a possible floating venue for my friend's big party she tried to summon an Uber (or maybe Lyft? One of them) and it did not result in ever getting a ride, but we eventually just booked an ordinary 20th century style cab out of the zone (the docks are sprawling, so walking out would take ages). This whole thing about paying €110 for a special taxi seems crazy. Is this normal in France?

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