We are announcing a slight change in plans. It's fantastic news. Our daughter called to announce her engagement and intent to marry later this year. Of course this impacts our plans and the schedule. However, we are retired and quite capable of adjusting our agenda. Since the young man she intends to marry is a great individual and a definite future asset to the family, we are delighted.

This does mean that we will slip the schedule by one year. Since the Mississippi is a fickle litttle stream, we must traverse it at the right time. Late July or August still looks like the best time to begin our adventure, so the new start date will be July or August, 2009.

We are also communicating with several fine companies for a sponsorship of the propulsion system. A later date will give them more time to budget and plan.

Overview

This will be a trip down the navigable length of the Mississippi River under solar power. The boat will be a small light catamaran with minimal living quarters. A retired husband and wife team will plan and execute the trip. It will start in the Minneapolis, MN, area and end in New Orleans, LA. Proposed time line is from August of 2009 to late October 2009. There will be several media stops along the route to promote energy efficiency and encourage power conservation technology. The team will link with the educational system by collaborating with the Houston, Mississippi High School Solar Team. We also intend to invite elementary school students to visit the boat and learn about alternative energy first hand. To our knowledge this has never been accomplished by using solar power. Signage on the boat and verbal acknowledgment at media events will provide great exposure for our sponsors.

Chuck and Diana Hall currently live in Texas. They both attended Purdue University, Chuck's background being Electrical Engineering and Diana's being Education. Chuck holds three degrees in Engineering and Project Management. They are now retired from Verizon and have been involved in Solar projects since 1996 participating as judges for the Dell-Winston Solar Challenge (Winston School in Dallas, TX). In this capacity they scruntineered the solar powered cars proper construction and road worthiness. In their ongoing interest in the environment and solar power they are proposing a project with the following purposes...

On December 2nd we met with the Houston, Mississippi, High School Sundancer Solar Team to collaborate on the solar panel configuration and electrical design.
There are photos and more information at their blog. Why not take the link and check it out? http://sundancersolarcar.blogspot.com/

Chuck and Diana have teamed with the Houston, Mississippi, Solar Team for a design collaboration to produce the solar powered boat. The Houston team has been involved in design and production of solar vehicles for many years. They have successfully participated and won the Dell-Winston Solar Challenge several times. Their solar car was featured on "Good Morning America" and the "Early Show" in 2001. They recently tied for first place on the 2007 challenge from Round Rock, TX, to Newburg, NY.