[PUP] Bluewater Underway Report May 30, 2007

[Georgs Kolesnikovs]

Position 29-57.15N  77-13.35W as of 12:00 EDT Wednesday, May 30, 2007 
- 212 NM E of St. Augustine
Course 086 deg M
Speed 7.5 kts @ 2000 RPM
663 NM to to go Hamilton, Bermuda
Distance made good last 24 hours 170 NM, average speed 7.0 kts
Distance from Fort Lauderdale 346 NM
Total fuel consumed 310 gals, average 6.7 GPH, fuel remaining 1,170 gals
Conditions: Wind 115 deg M @ 11 kts., swells 2-4 ft with 1-2 foot 
chop from 115 deg. hazy, visibility excellent.
Barometer 1023.8 mb and steady.
Sea water temp 80 deg F, air temp 80 deg F.
ETA RBYC Hamilton, Bermuda, mid-day Sunday, June 3


" 'tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."

 
	--Shakespeare (?)


I am sorry to report that one yacht left the Med Bound 2007 fleet 
overnight, turning back to the Florida coast to deal with a problem 
that left the boat completly without stabilization.  Coming to bed 
about 0300 after her mid-watch, Judy awoke me to tell me that the 
fleet has slowed while Nordhavn 50 Downtown time pinned a stabilizer 
fin after the system began seriously leaking hydraulic fluid.  Not 
long after that, crewmember George Howerton knocked on the door to 
report that Downtime had another serious leak on the other side and, 
reluctantly, Captain Walter Smithe III made the decision to turn back.

I spoke with Walter by radio just after he made the turn, telling him 
we were truly sorry to see Downtime returning to Florida.  However, 
in his shoes, I said, I would probably do the same-as good as these 
yachts are, they are not meant to go to sea without stabilization. 
For me, good stabilization is a safety issue as much as a comfort 
issue-being tossed around a rolling yacht risks falls and bruises, 
and interrupts crew rest.  Crewmembers without good rest make bad 
decisions.

It is tough to spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to 
get a yacht ready for a serious offshore passage only to have a vital 
system fail, forcing the crew to seek the nearest port.  Any seasoned 
yachtsmen has been there, and I can tell you from personal experience 
it's the one of the worst days a skipper faces.  There goes everyone 
else headed off over the horizon, and here we go back to spend more 
time and money getting the boat fixed.

Downtime's experience brings to mind the Shakespeare line above, and 
I salute Walter, his mate Mary, and their two late addition 
crewmembers.  They cast their lot with Med Bound 2007 and 
successfully covered nearly 1/3 of the miles to Bermuda before 
turning back.  They enjoyed the camaraderie, made a real contribution 
to the Med Bound experience, and we're all saddened by their 
departure.

Yesterday at 1700 the fleet made its turn for Bermuda, changing 
course about 80 degrees and picking up the rhumb line for a waypoint 
on-soundings just south of Bermuda.  Winds remained from the east at 
about 20 knots and seas were 4-6 feet as we made the turn, putting 
both wind and sea on the nose.  As someone said, "Goodbye Mr, Roll; 
hello Mr. Pitch!"   We saw bows rising and falling, bulbous bows on 
the two 62s coming almost all the way out of the water from time to 
time.  Not comfortable!  As the water temperature dropped a few 
degrees and the Med Bound fleet made its way out of the Gulf Stream, 
the wind no longer blew against the current, and the seas diminished. 
By midnight, the motion was much less.  By daybreak, winds were down 
to 15 knots, seas were down, and morale went up by a like amount.

Having done passages both alone and in company, let me say that 
something I really like about going with other boats-besides the 
safety and camaraderie-is comparing notes with other skippers. 
Yesterday I mentioned how impressed I am with AIS.  Today, I want to 
hasten to remind you that AIS is not without its problems.  Pickey, 
pickey . . . several of us are finding that we do not get as much 
range as we would like, either receiving AIS signals from other 
vessels or transmitting our own information.  On my 2100-to-2400 
watch, several of us explored possible reasons.  We believe we came 
up with some reasonable answers-avenues to follow to resolve the 
problems.  Today, the discussion continued.

Today's discussion segued to stabilizers and how to deal with 
failures like the one Walter had.  We're not sure exactly what 
happened aboard Downtime or how they sought to make repairs, only the 
end result.  Most of us in this fleet have electronic stabilizer 
systems, meaning a system problem can often be temporarily resolved 
by manually pinning a fin and disconnecting electrical power to it. 
The other fin will then carry all the load.  Aboard Bluewater we had 
to disable a fin once last year and covered 100 miles or more across 
the Gulf of Maine and Cape Cod Bay and down to Newport, RI-we barely 
noticed the difference.  I should point out, however, that our fins 
are oversized, which may have made a difference.

Now that we are out of the Gulf Stream, the fishing has taken a 
nosedive.  Fishing meister Dennis Bruckel aboard Salty Dawg landed 
one more today if I remember correctly and I beleve that's it for 
today's catch.  Jim Fuller has e-mailed RBYC to see if we can bring 
our own catch to be barbequed at out welcome BBQ event.

With gentle weather, light winds, smooth seas, and good camaraderie, 
Med Bound 2007 has fallen into an easy motion-the right kind of 
passage . . . may there be more of this to come!

--Milt, Judy, George, and Schipperke Katy