Although Empiricus is a true sailing craft, Transiting the Northwest Passage has never (To my knowledge) been accomplished without the use of an auxiliary engine.  Ronald Amundsen carried thousands of gallons of fuel for his multi year passage.  He was the first to do so and attributed much of that accomplishment to being able to make way when the wind was not blowing.

6 of these canisters (fresh off craigslist) will be shipped to Prudhoe Bay, where we will retrieve them and top of our tanks before heading further East.

Here we are testing the fuel transfer system which is designed as a transfer / filtration system when utilizing the “On Deck” fuel.  The fuel pump is a Holley, with 5-7 PSI rating.  The filter is a salvaged housing that was discarded in the oilfield.  By plumbing the pump and and filter together with standard 3/8 fuel line and a 25 foot delivery hose.  The system can operate as a transfer pump, or a completely redundant supply system, should the engine based fuel pump quit.  Or the main fuel supply becomes hopelessly contaminated.

The final product will be mounted on a board that will hang from the lifelines in use, and the filters can be acquired globally at little cost.  Redundancy is key and this is just another piece of the puzzle.