Have you fired the old flares? Was that fun? I keep watching you and will keep you informed about the weather when you are near the Straights of Gibraltar. Keep safe and dry. Sonaia On 7/4/07, Georgs Kolesnikovs <waterworld@rogers.com> wrote: > > Noon Report July 4, 2007 > > Position 38-29.4 N 24-59.1 W as of 12:00 Azores time (GMT - 0 hrs) > Wednesday, July 4 > Course 097 deg M > Speed 7.0 kts @ 1850 RPM > Distance to go: 968 NM to go to Gibraltar > Distance made good past 24 hours: 161 NM (6.7 kts) > Distance made good since Horta: 183 NM > Total fuel consumed (26.3 engine hours) 1215 gals, average 4.0 GPH > (incl. genset), fuel remaining 1375 gal. > Conditions: Wind N 5 kts, seas N 3-4, partly cloudy, visibility excellent > Barometer: 1034.9 and rising > Sea water temp: 71 deg F, air temp 80 deg F. > ETA Gibraltar: PM July 10 > > Every day is a gift! The weather gods have been kind during the Med > Bound fleet's first full day out of Horta, offering up light winds > and flat seas as we regain our sea legs, giving us an altogether > comfortable ride for our three yachts as we eat up the miles between > the island of Faial and Strait of Gibraltar. This morning we passed > by the easternmost of the Azores Islands, Sao Miguel, so it's open > ocean for us from here to the European mainland. > > Weather, of course, is everything when one is making a passage in a > small boat, so we study the weather carefully, check many sources, > and take our best shot. Our own secret weapon is "Weather Bob" Jones > of Ocean Marine Navigation Inc. From his post in New Jersey, Bob > provides telephone and e-mail weather routing advice and counsel to > yachts around the world. In return for what we consider a very > reasonable fee, Bob-who is a trained meteorologist who has been doing > professional weather routing for years-provides us a daily e-mail > report: an overview of the weather systems interacting to provide our > weather and his best estimate of what to expect in the days ahead. > Based on Bob's advice, we are bound for a waypoint at 39 degrees > north and 15 degrees west, north of the direct course to Gibraltar > and about 250 miles off the coast of Portugal. That will add a few > miles to our trip, but Bob expects our winds to increase and move > more to the north in a few days, and taking this route should give us > an easier ride when that happens. > > The case for using a professional weather router for a yacht like > ours is strong: Bob has access to far more information from his > office ashore with full Internet capabilities than I do at sea with a > very thin e-mail connection, and as a professional meteorologist he > knows far better than I how to interpret the information he receives. > As much as we like and rely on Bob, we also have a backup and > counterpoint: Ocens WeatherNet. The learning curve for WeatherNet is > steep and it's not intuitive, but it's a rich weather resource with > real depth and breadth. It even offers real-time information on > ocean currents based on satellite data, something I've not found > elsewhere. > > Of course, none of this could happen without communications. In the > middle of an ocean, Internet connections and cell phone networks are > nowhere to be found. We employ an Iridium satellite phone as the > link between low-earth-orbiting satellites and our computer, using a > slow-as-molasses e-mail connection via an Ocens system specifically > designed for cruisers. It's painfully slow, operating at a fraction > of the speed of a dialup modem, and interruptions are frequent. At > around a dollar a minute, it's also expensive. All its disadvantages > notwithstandng, it's by far the best solution we've found for sending > and receiving text messages at sea. > > As compared with our Bermuda-Horta leg, Bluewater is riding more > comfortably now and we're making slightly better speed at lower RPMs. > That's because Med Bound chief engineer Bernue Francis and I > discovered in Horta, troubleshooting Bluewater's stabilizer problem, > that the boat had been "dragging" our port stabilizer fin through the > water at an acute angle causing considerable drag. That extra drag > both slowed Bluewater down and caused us to burn more fuel on the > last leg. We could have waited in Horta for a repairman to fly in > and fix the problem, but the truth is that we were ready to move on > and our ride to Horta was so comfortable that the decision to move on > was an easy one. Naiad promises to have a technician in Gibraltar > with the parts needed to make the repairs, a job that will be done > under warranty. Last we heard, the Naiad tech would be "Naiad Phil" > who spent time on many NAR yachts. > > Once upon a time, ships passing in the night depended on radar, > navigation lights and radio to determine how to pass one another > safely, but AIS adds a whole new dimension. You've heard me sing the > praises of AIS, and here I go again. Last night on my 2100-2400 > watch our AIS picked up a Mexico-bound tanker named Ballad at about > 24 miles dead ahead. As the ship tracked towards us at 14 knots, > the predicted CPA (closest point of approach) varied between one-half > mile and 30 yards. I spoke with the other two Med Bound yachts on > our "private" radio channel and we agreed that I would negotiate the > pass with Ballad. Once we were within 10 miles, I called Ballad on > VHF, noted that we showed a very close CPA, and proposed a > port-to-port pass with a CPA of 2.0 miles, suggesting that Ballad > change course to the right and that our three-vessel formation would > do the same to increase the distance between us as we passed. The > watch officer aboard Ballad agreed to my proposal and we changed > course, but I noted watching Ballad's course information that the > tanker did not. Minutes later, a woman's voice came on the radio > from Ballad calling Bluewater. She asked if our three vessels were > fishing and if that's why we were requesting a two-mile CPA. I told > her we were not fishing, that we were three vessels traveling in > company, and that a two-mile CPA in deep water offshore is our normal > preference. She rogered, and the ship began to change course. > Clearly, the first watch officer had kicked the decision up to > someone more senior and Ballad's female officer OK'd the course > change. The pass was actually at about 1.85 nautical miles, plenty > safe. > > David proposes that we shoot off some old flares tonight as > fireworks. If we have no other ships nearby, we'll give it a try! > Have a great Fourth of July! > > --Milt, Judy, George and Schipperke Katy > -- > Milt Baker > Bluewater > Nordhavn 47 #32 > http://www.bluewaternav.com > > A compilation of reports from Med Bound 2007 may be viewed at > <http://www.nordhavn.com>. Click on Med Bound 2007. > _______________________________________________ > http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/passagemaking-under-power > > To unsubscribe send email to > passagemaking-under-power-request@lists.samurai.com with the word > UNSUBSCRIBE and nothing else in the subject or body of the message. > > Passagemaking Under Power and PUP are trademarks of Water World > Productions, formerly known as Trawler World Productions.