Ahoy, Swan Song! A belated congratulations on another ocean passage without fuss and bother! One of these days I must catch up with you as I would dearly love to see Swan Song in the flesh, as it were. I’m going to post your PUP message to the main T&T List because more people should know about your remarkable boat and remarkable passages. Until the next time, all the best! —Georgs Originally posted on Passagemaking Under Power: http://www.trawlersandtrawlering.com/forums/passagemakinglis.html <http://www.trawlersandtrawlering.com/forums/passagemakinglis.html> > Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2017 09:36:59 -0400 > From: Dave Cooper <villadecoop@gmail.com> > To: passagemaking@lists.trawlering.com > Subject: [PUP] Swan Song > > > Long but could be interesting. > Swan Song is now in the Long Beach Area after a 2800nm passage from > Honolulu. Up wind, up wave and up current! > Weather forecast's were way under the actual wind/seas that we encountered > on the passage. The HNL LAX rhumb line passage isn't one that any sailboat > makes and that few non-commercial powerboats due either. > > Swan Song is a single engine vessel with no backup which makes the number > of sister ships that have made this passage drop to very low numbers. We > couldn't find nor anyone on either end that could come up with a private > recreational vessel that has done this run. Must be someone out there and > if you know them please let me know as I'd like to salute them and compare > notes. > > Biggest issue was trash. We were stopped 5 times with trash in the > prop/rudder. Running 24/7 there's 12 hours of darkness and with big head > seas you can't even see the trash in daylight till its on the wave in front > of you. We were roughly 500 miles south of the Gyre so hadn't expected so > much trash. In 2008 coming from Cabo San Lucas to HNL we never saw > virtually anything nor caught anything on the prop/rudder. This time there > were thousands of pieces that went by us. > > Swan Song's prop and rudder are behind and above her keel. I can't imagine > how many more items a twin prop rudder system would pick up but it sure > would be more than Swan Song's configuration. Even a setup with a offset > 'get home engine/prop' would get fouled and given the size of the trash > more than likely would be made unserviceable from a bent prop/shaft/strut. > > We have an onboard air system that is specifically set up with a dive air > system on hose(s). My experience using tanks offshore in a seaway puts you > at increased risk as the tank(s)s/BC add way to much bulk and weight. When > the boat is going up and down many feet on each wave the danger of getting > disabled by not moving with the boat is high. Being able to wedge yourself > under the boat and become part of the movement add a huge safety factor, > IMHO. > > In any case we had a bad wrap @ 2150 one night and had to shut the boat > down as the 8" line cutter didn't have a chance. ART, Swan Song's zero > speed stabilization system, which works all the time. so . Underway or > sitting beam to a sea makes no difference in it's operation. Up/down or > pitching are still happening but rolling is well under control ;-) > > The wrap turned out to be about 15' of 1 3/4" high modulus line woven into > netting all trailing behind. Pete lost the coin toss, suited up and went > down with my 'Hook Knife' He managed to cut the line free with a couple > pulls of this incredible knife and then unwrap it all. We pulled it aboard > as his souvenir and so that folks can just see what you might have to deal > with. > > Any case, I think that an onboard air system is something that all > passagemakers need to seriously consider as the world's oceans get more and > more trash. Doesn't matter how many engines/props/rudders you have they > will get fouled and you will have to clear them sooner or later. > > We had two powertrain issues. one was the front seal in the transmission > started leaking badly. 3 qts a day so we fashioned a catch tray and were > able to capture most of it and return it to the transmission. The 2nd > issue was a blown diaphragm on the fuel pressure sending unit. It managed > to spray several gallons of diesel about before I saw it and shut down the > engine to repair it. A mess but was all cleaned up and underway in a couple > of hours...again ART steadies the roll so that working in the engine room > with tools isn't a worry > > I have a policy of shutting down the engine at noon every day and doing a > close detailed inspection of fluids, belts and all other parts. > Before shut down the IR gun is swiped over the engine to make sure there > are no unusual 'hot spots'. Over my many years I've found that this shut > down along with the hourly visual engine room scans allows one to keep > ahead of surprises in general. > > 2800 nm 18 days 1200 gal of fuel used! Not bad for a 100,000+ 60' trawler > ;-) > > Swan Song is for sale(BST) but if she doesn't sell by October in California > we're heading south to Cabo San Lucas and then on down the coast to the > Panama Canal. Then into the Caribbean and who know's from there?? Florida, > Cuba or the British Virgin Islands..... can't let her sit around too long > as she was built to be off the dock and on the sea not a dock queen ;-) > > > _______________________________________________ > Passagemaking-Under-Power Mailing List