[PUP] Bluewater Noon Report - July 8, 2007 - Closing in on Cabo Sao Vicente

[Georgs Kolesnikovs]

Noon Report July 8, 2007

Position 37-40.8 N 11-33.0 W as of 12:00 London time (GMT +1 hrs) 
Sunday, July 8
Course 131 deg M
Speed 7.1 kts @ 2000 RPM
Distance to go: 328 NM to go to Gibraltar (29% of the way)
Distance made good past 24 hours:  165 NM (7.0 kt average)
Distance made good since Horta: 787 NM (69% of the way)
Total fuel consumed:  (121.3 engine hours) 580 gals (39%), average 
4.8 GPH (incl. genset), fuel remaining 900 gal. (61%)
Conditions: Wind NNE 11 kts, seas NE 2-4 and building, partly cloudy, 
visibility excellent
Barometer: 1026.0 and steady
Sea water temp: 69 deg F, air temp 72 deg F.
ETA Gibraltar: PM July 10

Another lazy Sunday at sea!   Winds and seas are slowly beginning to 
build and Wearger Bob says conditions may get thorny over the next 24 
hours, though all three Med Bound are still very comfortable.  It 
appears that we will have the easterly winds against the in-flowing 
current for transiting the Strait of Gibraltar, but we do not expect 
to see the kind of rough-and-tumble conditions the NAR yachts 
encountered in 2004.

Cabo Sao Vicente marks the southwest corner of Portugal and the 
European mainland and, as such, sees a huge amount of shipping 
traffic.  Every ship entering the Strait of Gibraltar from Northern 
Europe must pass CSV.  Likewise, every ship leaving the Mediterranean 
bound for Northern Europe.  Close passes save time and fuel, so most 
ships pass the cape close aboard using the well-defined traffic 
separation lanes off the cape.

It's easy to tell that we're getting near CSV because shipping 
traffic is on the rise.  That tends to make us watchstanders more 
alert, though in truth we've all gotten used to picking up the 
targets on AIS well before they appear on radar or we see them coming 
over the horizon.  One danger, of course, is to be cajoled into 
thinking that we have a complete picture by relying on AIS. 
International rules require that AIS be carried by all ships of 300 
gross tons or more and engaged in international trade; that exempts 
most ferries, work boats, fishing boats, yachts and other vessels 
working in coastal waters.

The past 24 hours have again reminded me what a huge difference 
communications can make on a passage like this-and also how much help 
we get from others in far-flung places.  Of course, we have weather 
coming in from Bob Jones at OMNI in New Jersey and from Ocens in 
Seattle.  Our friend Sonaia Marylon -Davis in Sotogrande, Spain, is 
feeding us very useful weather information for Tarifa, right off the 
strait.  And we had yesterday's report on the tough rounding of Cabo 
San Vicente in bad weather and heavy shipping traffic from Pam and 
Andy Wall aboard Kandarik.

Another case in point: Bernie Francis called from Moana Kuewa 
yesterday and asked about the Med Bound waypoint off CSV.  In 
addition to serving as Med Bound's chief engineer, Bernie, a licensed 
captain, stands regular wheelhouse watches aboard Moana Kuewa.  It 
looked to him as if I had placed the CSV waypoint in a location that 
would require our yachts to make a diagonal crossing of the traffic 
separation zone-designated lanes inbound and outbound ships-off the 
cape.  I checked my chart and told Bernie that I was satisfied with 
the location of the waypoint in the outer (inbound) lane, but Bernie 
still saw it differently and that got my attention.  More discussion 
led me to check other charts and cruising guides, and it became 
increasingly clear that my three-year-old electronic chart showed the 
traffic separation zone much closer to the cape than did Moana 
Kuewa's brand new electronic chart.   I should have updated my charts 
before leaving, but in the press of departure preparations it was 
something I just never got to-a stupid mistake for a guy who knows 
the importance of up-to-date charts!

Ambiguity makes me uncomfortable.   When in doubt I try ask the 
someone who has been there.  Andy Lund has taken his Nordhavn 46 
around CSV twice in the past year, so I e-mailed Andy in Seattle 
asking about the traffic separation zones.  He replied quickly: "I 
don't have any charts with me here at home.  However, I do know the 
traffic zones in general have been moved farther away from the 
Atlantic headlands and capes over the past few years.  I think it is 
a reaction to the recent shipwrecks and ensuing oil spills.  So the 
Cabo San Vicente zone is likely correctly shown on your newer MaxSea 
charts."

With that in mind, I asked Bernie, using Moana Kuewa's late-model 
MaxSea charts, to recommend a new waypoint that would place us well 
outside the traffic separation zone at the cape.  Andy's e-mail made 
the point that slow-moving vessels like ours do not mix well with 
faster-moving freighters and tankers, so I asked Bernie for a 
waypoint to the south of the southernmost traffic lane.  Minutes 
later, Bernie was on the radio with a recommended waypoint.  When I 
plotted it, it appeared perfect.  Decision made!  Shortly after 0900 
today, all three Med Bound yachts entered the new waypoint and 
changed course about 10 degrees to the right.  We're now on course to 
pass 40 miles SW of the cape, and that moves the wind and sea around 
a bit farther aft for our yachts-more comfortable.

This is a good illustration of the kind of collegial discussion and 
decision-making we've come to rely on in Med Bound 2007.  There is no 
fleet admiral and no one person calling the shots, but as the Med 
Bound organizer and leader I act as a coordinator and final arbiter. 
Of course, having a congenial group helps a lot!  With about 3,500 
Med Bound miles behind us, now, I cannot think of a single time or 
incident where this approach has been a problem.

All is well as our three Med Bound 2007 yacht continue their passage, 
still in our inverted-V formation.  We're rigged for heavy weather, 
hoping it never comes!

--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.