Bering Straits crossed by floaty Land Rover
 

Bering Straits crossed by floaty Land Rover W to E and some lovely pix of F E Russia on the way there.

http://www.capetocape.org.uk/

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/features/article4538168.ece

Ch

Bugger - that's another thing I wanted to do to cross off the list.

BUT - excellent that someone's finally done it and great photos too.

Alex
There is always crossing on the ice in winter. Its been done before by car and on foot but not (as far as I know) by motor bike.

But the ice has not been as thick in recent years, so its probably not on these days. Ford Motor Co had to abandon a 3 Maverick 4x4s 'London to New York driving only' attempt in about 1995 for just this reason. There is a BBC report if you Google for it - probably under "Bearing Straits,Ford Maverick, London to New York on wheels" or parts. (I just dont have the link to hand!)

I don't think it's been done by car, well not that I can find and I've been looking at this for years. There was however someone with the idea to ride a C90 across.

I suppose the big thing would be the first person to make a continuous drive including crossing the Bering Straits and not stopping and starting and leaving the vehicle around.

But, I think this is a huge effort and say well done.

Mind you not the first to circumnavigate a car round the world including ocean crossing, that was done in the 50's by Half Safe a WWII amphibious Jeep, but they went lower across the Pacific.

I don't think it's been done by car,

AFAIK you are right Alex. I researched the history of the Bering last year and at that time Steve B looked to be the most promising prospect in a car.
From what I learned of previous attempts (with a whole lot more money), his plan: land in winter, sea in summer - was the only way to succeed, and so it turned out, even if he was dragged much of the way to Uelen along the broken up coast by some sort of local tracked APC (his demountable tracks were too small).

...not stopping and starting and leaving the vehicle around.
I dont think it's possible in a near-conventional vehicle. The sea ice is too broken in winter unless you have something like an:
Home
and the land is too swampy in summer. In that part of Russia they can only deliver supplies by land in winter when the rivers are frozen hard.

Half Safe: now you're talking! I'm just finishing the book as he's heading for the Aleutians and the last lap. It's got to be the most incredible RTW by car ever and he did it all without a tow. Nothing comes close.

Ch

I've in the past looked at things like THIS and similar as they're Russian built specifically for charging round the boggy siberian taiga. Mind you how they'd cope with a sea-crossing I don't know, and of course I don't speak Russian so have no idea what the site - nor the magazine article I received say.

Still it'd be a great campervan wouldn't it?

Here is the link of the lead page of reports of the Ford attempt in 1993.
BBC - h2g2 - Overland Challenge - Overview


Another attempt is Land Rover Global Expedition

I am sure these are well known to Chris and Alex. Others may be interested.

And of course, lets not forget a great British eccentric, who famously, after walking across the ice from Alaska, was arrested in Russia for not entering at, or reporting to, an approved border point - Goliath Expedition

Hey Alex,
In regards to vehicles capable of crossing swampy taiga, the rollagon is something that is commonly used in northern Canada. I've been in a few to access remote locations when tree planting and the such but they are also widely used in oil and gas, mining exploration, etc. It is quite amazing what they will drive, float over. They do sit pretty high though, not sure if I'd want be out on the Strait without some heavy modifications. And the fuel bill must be out of this world...

Well, and this is just a mental exercise because I'm not nearly lunatic (nor rich) enough to consider doing it. It strikes me that the big challenge is to do the whole RTW via the Bering Straits in the SAME vehicle. This is pretty much what the Cape to Cape was trying to do.

BUT (and not to put them down at all) they did need several other vehicles, support, and numerous stops and trips home and back again to do it because of the appaling weather/road/ice conditions. The challenge would be to do it unsupported and with the same vehicle the whole way round - so it'd have to be a road-going and legal vehicle, which cuts out most of the suitable options, and leaves us with something Russian (see above) which can cross the taiga, or something more boat like so you could drive by road and then "swim" up the coast from community to community. That pretty much cuts out 99% of all road going amphibians and leaves us with something like:



The Gibbs system which I presume could be tinkered with to make it more capable at sea - an inflatable ring like a rigid inflatabe boat springs to mind. With that you'd be able to get along the coast (weather permitting) much quicker than almost all the other amphibians available. The only other option would be get your licence for a "tracked vehicle steered by its tracks and then:



The FastTrack, who I did contact but who never got back to me.

But really it's a mental exercise, and huge kudos to the team for a) doing it, b) being sensible enough to do it in summer on open water (why anyone tried to drive on the ice I don't know) and c) doing it in an old Landy.

Remember reading about these guys a while back, IIRC they were building a couple of specials for the trip, the floating landy and also a tracked version for some terrain. As much as anything it's a showcase for their engineering prowess as well as a massive achievement personally for them!


Also seem to recall there were some german guys talking about doing the whole frozen Bering Straits in cars this winter but researching that seems to have gone quiet!