Americas 2011

The postponing has come to an end. I have set up this page for those who have been asking me so long for details, and the ones just knowing about it. If you got this link you are either a friend, a friend of a friend or someone who might be interested or have interest in this expedition, so here is what we can tell so far.

The route

It all starts in Miami, heading west to Arizona and then all the way up to Prudhoe Bay, the further north possible place you can go driving (yes, it is above the arctic circle).

Top reached, lets go to the bottom, Usuhaia. The further south city you can go driving (no, it is not bellow the Antarctic circle, you can't go there driving). In between those two extremes, as many parks, forest, beaches, deserts and off road trails we can find.

The timing

In order not to freeze our a.... we will leave Miami on June and reach Alaska in July

We will finish the south continent exploring Brazil, its largest country and most full of contrasts; landscapes and people. Duration is not really an issue; we are not on a budget or guided tour. We estimated from 4 to 8 months and up to 25 thousand miles (we may add a couple of thousand just to make the equivalent of the circumference of the earth)

The Team

Could not be simpler. Renato & Renato, more then father and son, two guys facing the world the way it is supposed to be, adventuring it. The older is a photographer and inventor, the younger just graduate in Business management, after this trip he plans to get his degree in engineering. The 3 minutes video clip bellow was our presentation film to the 2009 Amazing Race and show a bit of us.

The Background

Although this will be the longest of all, car trips are not new to this team; thousands of miles in many countries have been accumulated.

By being a Rally pilot both in cars and motorcycle for almost 3 decades, Renato "Sr". has the expertise to keep things going on the toughest situations and developing solutions to minimize problems by anticipating the needs in such an expedition. This includes creating, fabricating, optimizing or modifying existing equipment.

The reason

Why do it? That is the wrong question, the right one is: Why not?

The Rig

Most of the way will probably be done on four wheels, and for that we have chosen a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon (yes, I know it is not the most suitable car to the job, some may say it cannot even be considered a true expedition car but, what a hell, it is damn beautiful!).

The VIPs (Very Important Parts)

Often what makes the difference between getting there or not, is the quality of what you are using, that is the prime factor.

Bumpers, Skid plates, Lights, Fridge etc, the aftermarket is full of options and you should never consider only the lower price if planning to use that part. A cheap winch will make you happy until you need it and it burns, the same as a bent rack ruining your roof. But paying extra bucks just because a brand is famous is also not wise. Why this introduction? Because you might ask why some brands are blured in the pictures bellow, it is because I have not decided yet which will suit me (quality/price) better. The chosen ones will be listed here in place of these pictures.

Tent

On the top of the Rubi a 71 or 87 in. wide roof tent, both sizes have plenty of space for two inflatable mattresses and even some room in between. The annex bellow the tent and an awning makes a great floor area.

The addition of this 15x15 tent will give us extra room and even a shaded space to park the car while doing any activity away from it.

Roof rack

Basically there are two types: basket and straight, the first is better for loose or smaller objects, the second has more contact surface for a tent. There are also two ways of fixing it, directly on the roof or through a kind of cage bolted on the front and back lower part of the car.

Winch

From $400 to $1200 in almost the same weight category, it is a difficult choice. Sure you don't want a phony made of plastic that will brake the first time you need it, but some just seems to be a lot overpriced for what they are. The options, besides brands comes to the kind of rope, steel or plastic (dyneema), this one being much lighter, but also very expensive. So I am still looking for the one that will be in front of our Rubi.

Suspension

Lifting is not an option for a car that will have to do a lot of highway in this expedition. But we can achieve a great improvement by changing the stock shock absorbers with the Rancho RS9000XL, in my opinion the best one your money can buy for use in various and unforeseen situations. It even have a wireless remote control but although I have used the absorbers for many years and in many cars, this remote is still an incognito to me, time will tell.

Extras

When not in four, we may be in two wheels, around villages or mountain biking. Our prime choice is this beauty bellow. The information that I gathered so far indicates that it is still not available, but man!! I've got to get my hands on two of these!!

This will not be a land expedition only, on the contrary, we will be on air on each and every possible opportunity, paragliding or skydiving out of a plane or paragliding. SOL Paragliders will provide a custom made model with thinner fabric for this trip.

The Electronics

Imaging

SLR camera - Primary cam is a Sony Alpha 100, it is light and sturdy. An a850 or a900 could be better because of its larger full size sensor (thus higher resolution) but I do not know if they are as tough as my proven a100. Secondary is a Minolta Maxxum 7D, although it is "only" 6 mega pixels it is a very robust and resourceful camera. Maybe I can take an extra body if the guys from Sony are interested in a test drive... Lenses will range from 18 to 800mm (35mm equivalent).

Point & Shot - Sony Cybershot TX3 (10Mpx, waterproof, freeze proof and panorama) and - Kodak V570 (Dual lens, out of production but still the best 5Mpx P&S camera money can buy)

Video
Action - Three Full HD, Contour or GoPro camera, both are excellent. I believe main difference is the form factor.
Regular - I had a good experience with the Canon HF-20 but sold mine last month, still shopping for the new one.

The camera bag is custom made by a friend (www.wollner.com.br).

Positioning

GPS Garmin 18 connected to a Fujitsu 12" tablet on the dashboard, GPS Garmin Nuvi 175 for the mountain bikes, GPS Garmin 76Csx for paragliding and recording the route.

Tuning

Not much, a turbo came to mind but I don't want to mess with the warranty on a brand new car. So a performance chip may be a good option to gain some HP and increase mileage. Many makers/models, reading a ton of reviews to find the best one.

Safety

Radios - CB (Uniden/Radio Shack), VHF (iCom ICV-8 and iCom IC-V90a) and GMRS/FRS (Motorola SX700).
Spot Satellite GPS Messenger - This is THE one thing no adventurer should leave home without.
See details in www.findmespot.com/en/

So this is it for now, I will keep updating this page so come back as often as you want. If you are interested in further details fell free to email us at americas2011@yahoo.com

Happy trails and Godspeed