"Only by soaring above the clouds can one feel the immensity of the heavens."
- Wind, Sand and Stars Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Every year, for almost two decades, I've gone camping on Catalina island with close family and friends over July fourth weekend. It's a magical little refuge to remember what's really important and real in this crazy mixed up world. Here's an illustrative image.
Getting to the island is a quick boat ride away. A short distance made famous by the Four Preps:
Twenty-six miles across the sea
Santa Catalina is a-waitin' for me
Today you can also take a fifteen minute helicopter ride to Avalon, the main city, for ~5x the price of a boat fare. There is also the option of chartering a plane to the airport in the sky, more of a fun option for hobbyist pilots.
I can't help but wonder: why not another way? The big Catalina express boats are typical diesel chugging ferries. Further North, the Bay Area will soon have electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) taxis traversing the skis.
Something similar seems perhaps apropos for a trip to Catalina. The only big question I'd have though is how effective those electric taxis would be for schlepping a lot of gear. Helicopters and eVTOL machines are very much weight conscious.
In the great book Ministry for the Future, Kim Stanley Robinson envisioned lighter than air travel making a comeback as the world grappled with climate change.[1]
Today that vision is increasingly becoming a reality. A fully electric airship is set to embark on a non-stop, around-the-world flight in 2026. Utilizing a combination of solar and hydrogen power for its electric engine, the airship aims to cover approximately 25,000 miles in a 20-day journey.
Perhaps in a Catalina in the not too distant future our group will be able to take an airship across the sea.
“Alone within the vast tribunal that is the stormy sky, the pilot is in contention for his mailbags with three elemental divinities: mountain, sea and storm.”
- Wind, Sand and Stars Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
[1] Granted this shift happens because freedom loving peoples in particularly climate affected countries engage in large scale industrial sabotage against carbon intensive heavier than air planes with massive drone swarms.
