Summer travel plans are well into the developmental stage and will soon usher tourists in droves toward popular Western hot spots that continue to obliterate previous attendance records. If you’re among those searching for alternatives that offer a little more breathing room, why not avoid the sort of limitations offered by land-locked destinations and chart a course for open water?
Thanks to a boat-sharing company that bills itself as “the Airbnb of the sea,” tourists are able to indulge occasional nautical siren calls without the investment of becoming a full-time boat owner. Started a decade ago, Click&Boat operates out of some of the most sought after marinas in more than 50 countries. It more recently spread to its current United States hub in Miami and is steadily making its way into some of the West’s more alluring seaside—and lakeside—locales.
Seattle, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Los Angeles, and San Diego, among many other locations, now showcase a blossoming network of vessels that range from fishing boats and catamarans to house boats and luxury yachts.
Following a similar framework as of home- or car-sharing networks, Click&Boat connects boat owners, both the private and professional charter varieties, with interested travelers who want a temporary taste of life on the high seas.
Interested guests—the company currently boasts more than one million users—simply plug in a location of interest into the site’s search menu before narrowing down results by preferred category of vessel and price range. A wide range of perks and amenities, depending on the listing, may be available for additional charges.
Have you ever dreamed of embarking on a luxury-style outing with your own onboard chef? That can be arranged. Perhaps you have your sights set on a first foray into the boating world but have approximately zero boating experience. Just reserve a boat that comes with a captain and away you go.
Visitors of the Pacific Northwest can enjoy a soothing sail with views of the Seattle skyline and Puget Sound on board a vintage 87-foot yacht or celebrate a special occasion from the deck of a 150-guest party boat. San Diego tourists can set sail on a 1938 rig or opt for modern flash with a 450-horsepower rocket that comes with everything you need to sharpen your wakeboarding skills. From a catamaran getaway in Mexico’s Baja California Sur to a romantic dinner on a Venetian Gondola in Marina del Ray, there are escapes ready to accommodate all manner of traveler.
Rental options range from a short day sail to a week-or-more course on open ocean. Of the 40,000-plus boats in its inventory, a total of 1,100 reside in the U.S., and that number is expected to double by the end of this year, according to a company representative.
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Tesla unveils details of a 100 year old battery
World-renowned battery technology expert Jeff Dahn works at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. So, Tesla started its Advanced Battery Research division at Dalhousie in 2016 to partner with Dahn and his colleagues and graduate students.
Dahn, research colleague Michael Metzger and PhDs in the program all worked on a paper with the memorable title “Li[Ni0.5Mn0.3Co0.2]O2 as a Superior Alternative to LiFePO4 for Long-Lived Low Voltage Li-Ion Cells,” which was recently published in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society. The paper explains the potential of a nickel-based battery chemistry. Like lithium ion phosphate batteries (the LiFePO4 in the paper’s title), the new technology holds a charge longer and has higher energy density than lithium ion batteries. Since the new technology requires fewer battery cells, it helps solve problems of material shortages and brings down the cost of the EV.
The use of nickel will up the new battery’s energy density. The paper noted that in an ideal situation where the battery maintained a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit), its battery life could last more than a century. The new design could work with little or no cobalt. This is key because cobalt mining can lead to polluted water, air and soil, and miners with respiratory and other health problems.
In the quest to develop the perfect battery, energy density is key. Less density means a bigger battery pack is required to go a given distance. Higher density batteries take up less space in a car and let you drive farther. The reason it’s so hard to give up fossil fuels is that they provide such high energy density—more than 100 times the density of manmade batteries invented thus far.
Tesla has opted to continue partnering with Dahn and his group of fellow geniuses through 2026. Here’s to a future with lower-cost, more efficient electric vehicles.
