Spacing in Mexico
Hello Scott,
I've thought about this a number of times. I think I will speak to your
"group" leader and see what their thoughts are. I personally would like to
distance myself from the smaller boats that will potentially have less
overnight open water sea time. I could envision heading offshore 5 miles
and then form the V shape that Milt Baker used on the Med trip. I also
experimented with spacing this summer on the trip to AK. I found that a
mile is about the minimum I would feel comfortable with. I have always
planned my overnight passages to arrive sometime after dawn. This gives us
the entire following day as a buffer for the unexpected and eliminates the
rush to arrive before nightfall. With that said, I'm not sure I want to be
in the same area in the dark with all of these boats converging on a single
point. My thought here again is to run a parallel course, in V formation,
to a point outside of the arrival point. When we hit that waypoint we can
cruise back towards shore, 3-5 miles, and arrive at our destination. With
this sequence and seperation our chances of having an incident may ease some
of the tension. We may potentially only have to watch out for our group.
Les Dobbe
"Voyager"
Selene 53
Having discussed all this, I'm really
wondering how the FUBAR is going to
play out? We were three boats sharing an
ocean for 3 days. That's going to
be 60 boats for two weeks. I can only
imagine the fun that's going to
result!!!!
Even at night for an event like FUBAR with 150+ boats
on the water, congestion is simply a non-issue. It's
nothing like a sunny day on San Francisco Bay or the
Chesapeake where the boats are going all directions.
You'll find the boats naturally spread out, and
there's no reason for them to re-assemble: they are
all going the same direction, and the boats rarely
alter speed so there are few overtaking situations.
Slow boats might depart early to get to an anchorage,
and occasionally a faster boat departing afterward
will overtake the slow boat. Some boats will head a
little further off land, others will skirt closer.
Anchoring - well, that's another issue. Same issues
apply anywhere there are more than 2 boats. The FUBAR
scheduled anchorages are huge basins and easily
accommodate 150 boats. But still, the natural
inclination is for #2 to anchor too close to #1...
Sounds like a fun trip..
Peter
Willard 36 Sedan
San Francisco
(Did the 2006 Baja-Ha-Ha with Patrick & Eileen Gerety
aboard Aloha, a Willard 40)
Re: Spacing on the Fubar
I wrote to Bruce Kessler to ask what the plan is, and this is his response:
"...Ken, this subject of close proximity to each other has always been my
biggest concern. So if you can assure everyone of that, and that I am also
aware of everything that HaHa does and Milt and needless to say the NAR. I
have a plan which they will get that has been given a great deal of
attention designed to bring the fleet together only in daylight for
staggered group departures and fleet arrivals. Again, since I conceived this
rally in 97 safety has always been my primary concern.
I have spent my adult life in a rewrite business where I had to be flexible,
so if I see something is not working I will change it, and I will listen to
anyone worth listening to. Yes there is a plan and they will get it in San
Diego. You can copy this or do your own version, and I appreciate your
drawing it to my attention. What I am really concerned about right know is
if they have made there Ensenada reservations since the 91 day rule just
went back in effect re / Ca sales tax. Thanks...........BK.... "
Ken Williams
www.nordhavn68.com
Sans Souci