[PUP] Fwd: [kensblog] Update #20 (Or, Fubar Update #8)- The Fubar runs at night

[John Ford]

Begin forwarded message:

> Greetings all!
>
> On Thursday night there was a huge dinner for the Fubar
> participants. While standing in line waiting for food I started
> talking to Scott Bulger of Alanui (Nordhavn 40). I mentioned that we
> would be leaving at daybreak to head to Turtle Bay, and Scott
> surprised me by saying he was leaving within the hour. Our plan,
> aboard Sans Souci was based on running the 295 nautical miles to
> Turtle Bay at 9 to 9.5 knots. With a 6am departure time on Friday
> morning we would be arriving on Saturday around 3pm.  I hadnt
> really thought about how much different this math might look for a
> slower boat. Scotts plan was to run at 7 knots. We were looking
> ahead to a 32 hour run, whereas Scott would need 42 hours to
> traverse the same distance.
>
>
> Visible in the back of the marina is a giant pirate ship. Our cab
> driver
> claimed it was from the move Pirates of the Carribean.
>
> We are becoming a well oiled machine. Everyone was up at 5am and by
> 5:30 we were ready to leave the dock. We lost a little time when we
> discovered that one of our dock lines was tangled with a neighboring
> boat. This didnt take long to untangle, but chatting with the
> neighbor took a while. Also, when I estimated in my last update that
> we had six lines out, because of the swell in the marina, I guessed
> low. We were being held in place by twelve lines! It worked. We
> hardly noticed the swell.
>
> One of my goals for this trip has been to improve my docking skills.
> Technically I am the captain on this run, but I have along as crew
> Jeff Sanson, a 1600 ton master. Jeffs docking skills are superior
> to my own, and he has been coaching me as I come in and out of port.
> Over the years, Ive gotten in the habit of bypassing any slip that
> looked hard to get into. Our slip in Ensenada was in that category,
> but Jeff was confident that I could make it easily. My biggest
> mistake has been over-reliance on my thrusters. My normal mode is to
> not use the rudders, or even the twin engines, once I enter a
> marina. I have developed a habit of being overly cautious. I tend to
> put the boat into gear just enough to get moving forward, and then
> use the thrusters for turns. This technique has served me well, but
> if I can take my skills the next step Ill be able to get into port
> even when the weather or location makes it a challenge.
>
> It was still dark when we left port this morning. Bruce Kessler had
> recommended at the captains meeting that we visually verify that
> our running lights were functioning prior to leaving the dock. He
> also recommended that once lit, we leave them going all day. His
> rationale was that lights tend to fail while being turned on or off
> and it is critical that everyones lights are working for tonights
> run.
>
>
>
> The seas today have been bumpier than what we experienced yesterday,
> but remain relatively calm. Winds have stayed in the 10-16 knot
> range, always behind us, which has caused a bit of zigzagging with
> the autopilot. Were maintaining a straight course, but theres a
> side to side sliding motion that seems to encourage seasickness. I
> overheard a few boats talking about seasickness today, and my dad
> spent a fair piece of the afternoon laying down. Ive avoided any
> seasickness thus far this trip, and am hoping to keep it that way.
>
> Another of Bruces strong recommendations was to not start fishing
> until we get south of Turtle Bay. This passage was timed such that
> the trickiest parts are during daylight hours. If someone were to
> hook a marlin, and stop for hours to reel it in, they would arrive
> after dark in Turtle Bay. This would leave them entering a strange
> bay in darkness, and anchoring in the dark.  This didnt stop poles
> going in the water on some boats. I heard one boat reeling in ten
> fish in a matter of minutes. Meanwhile, other boats (such as ours),
> had no success. Im confident that will change.
>
>
> Jeff and Jeremy
>
>
> My dad watching Jeremy fishing on the back deck
>
> One of the first things I usually work out before any overnight
> passage is a watch schedule. Every captain has a different system,
> and each is unshakably convinced that his (or, hers)  is the right
> system, and the only system that works. Following are some of the
> rules aboard my boat:
>
> -          Rule #1: There must always be two people on watch at all
> times. There should never be one person alone in the pilot house.
> The one exception is during dinner. If we have a seasoned skipper at
> the helm, I dont mind rushing through dinner, and then relieving
> them, so we can get as much of the group as possible together at the
> dinner table.
> -          Rule #2: One of the people in the pilot house is charged
> with driving the boat. The other is the gopher. The job of the
> gopher is to go-fer things. If the person driving needs coffee, the
> other person goes fer it. This lets the driver focus on driving
> while someone else does all the errands. The other important jobs of
> the person not driving is to keep the person driving awake and to
> relieve them when they need a brief break of the type that cannot be
> delegated.
> -          Rule #3: Someone skilled must be in the pilot house at
> all times. This rule is particularly difficult on Sans Souci because
> we have only two skilled boaters on the boat. There are five people,
> but mentally I think of them as two captains (Jeff and I), two
> newbies (Jeremy and my son Chris) and a passenger (my dad).  Theres
> a Nordhavn that bounced off a freighter a few years back. I dont
> know the details, but in the version of the story I heard, the
> captain was making dinner while his dad stood watch. Upon returning
> to the pilot house his dad asked what the big growing blob was on
> the radar. The rest of the story is history (they collided with the
> freighter. Fortunately, Nordhavn builds great boats and they escaped
> with relatively minor damage, but no injuries).
> -          Rule #4: Nothing can be ambiguous. It must be clear at
> all times who is driving. It must be clear when shifts starts and end.
> -          Rule #5: Engine room checks are hourly, and they are
> thorough.
> -          Rule #6: If you dont know, ask. There is no such thing
> as a dumb question.
>
> Following is a brief description of some of our navigation
> equipment. Many of the people reading this blog are families of
> persons on the Fubar, and I need to give a very brief background on
> marine electronics so that what follows will make sense.
>
> -          Radar.  When running at night, radar gives you a view of
> the world around you. Its the primary tool when visibility is
> restricted, such as running at night or in fog. Splotches on the
> radar give you the location of land and other boats.
> -          Arpa. This is a feature on high-end radars which helps
> the captain interpret radar results. By tagging dots on the radar
> screen, that you believe to  be other boats,  the radar can study
> the dot with a built-in computer and analyze its motion. Within a
> few seconds, you are able to see the speed of the object, and its
> direction. This is displayed and updated in real-time so that you
> can always know what the other boats around you are doing.
> -          AIS.  Radar, combined with Arpa, gives you the direction
> and speed of other boats. AIS takes this concept further by enabling
> a boat to constantly transmit its position, name, size, destination
> and more. AIS is required on commercial vessels, and is dropping in
> price to the level where it can be popular on private boats.  There
> are two kinds of AIS; receive only, which costs around $1,000 and
> AIS which has full transmit and receive capability, which costs
> around $5,000. If a boat has the receive-only AIS they can see
> information for AIS boats, but do not transmit their own info. On
> the rally, only a hand-full of boats have AIS transmitters, but many
> have the ability to see AIS data.
> -          VHF. This refers to the radios on boats.
> -          Starboard/Port: Right/Left respectively.
>
> Sans Souci was not the only boat that wanted to get rolling at dawn.
> From the moment we left the marina in Ensenada, until we dropped
> anchor in Turtle Bay, we were running with a group of other boats.
> The slower boats had left the night before, so that they could
> arrive in daylight. The bulk of the remaining boats left at dawn. We
> were provided a series of way points (locations on a map) which
> would provide a safe route from Ensenada to Turtle Bay. Although
> everyone was free to establish their own route, most of the group
> stuck fairly closely to the waypoints we were given. I suspect that
> on many boats, the waypoints were plugged into the computer
> navigation system, and the route was run exactly. To understand what
> this means, imagine fifty-three trains all running on a single
> track. Because the bulk of the boats left at the same time, and
> because the majority were running on the same track, there was more
> crowding than really needed to occur. Normally, I would have swung
> several miles away from the group, but in this case, it felt safer
> to run the suggested route. I dont trust the charts in Mexico, and
> knowing that I was on a track that had been run before inspired
> confidence.
>
> During the day, running close to other boats is fine, but at night,
> it is important to spread out. This is easier said than done. On the
> Atlantic Rally we ran as close as 100 yards from each other during
> the day, but spread to a minimum one mile separation at night. A
> problem with radar is that you cant really see boats that are too
> close to you. Your own boat interferes with the radar signal, and
> other boats within as much as a quarter mile may not show on radar.
> If it is night, and a boat is only a hundred yards away, you may not
> know they are there. Even a one mile separation between boats means
> that someone can converge with you, at 10 knots, in six minutes or
> less. There are other reasons for maintaining good separation.
> Squalls are regular occurrences in some parts of the world. These
> are extreme storms which are usually short, but can contain strong
> winds and rain. During these, the radar often becomes useless. Ive
> had low clouds cause the radar to become virtually useless. In these
> situations, you are running blind. If other boats are too close,
> both of you can have a bad day.
>
> When dusk arrived and everyone was still running close, I got onto
> the radio and asked the group to spread out. Our radar showed 18
> boats within a four mile radius. I was boxed in on every side by
> other boats and feeling severely limited in my ability to maneuver.
> Other boats also got on the radio to ask everyone to spread out.
> This had little, if any, impact. In our group, only three boats had
> AIS. Thus when you would see a boat that was too close to you, you
> werent sure how to tell them to give you space. Radar would give
> you the latitude and longitude of the boat that was too close, but
> not its name (unless they had AIS). Radio calls would go out like:
> Would the boat at 24 50.123N by 115 55.111W please identify
> themselves. This never seemed to work. Other techniques seemed to
> accomplish even less. For instance, I heard more than once Would
> the boat on my port side beam please give me some space! This just
> seemed to add to the confusion. Sometimes, boats would be confused
> about the identity of surrounding boats. I received a few calls from
> other boats saying Sans Souci were right behind you. Id respond,
> Great, what is your position? Sometimes it was me they were
> following, but other times it wasnt. This lead to some creative
> methods of identifying other boats. I heard a few boats calling
> other boats saying things like Mystic Moon, would you blink your
> deck lights?
>
> All boats are supposed to monitor VHF channel 16 at all times. It
> was not clear that all Fubar boats were adhering to this standard.
> Even with all of the discussion on the radio some boats just didnt
> get the message. At one time I noted three different sets of boats
> that were running so close to each other (in the dark) that I
> decided it was some sort of strange radar echo. On my radar, it
> looked like the boats were close enough together to mate. One of the
> teams was a Nordhavn with AIS, so I was able to call them directly
> on the radio. Senjero, this is Sans Souci. Im checking on what I
> believe could be a problem with my radar. Is there another boat very
> close to you? The response: Sans Souci. This is Senjero. You radar
> is correct. There is a boat which will not give us space. If we
> speed up, they speed up. If we move to the side, they move to the
> side. We cant seem to shake them. Weve tried to call them, but
> they dont seem to be listening. My theory is that for some of the
> boats, this was their first major passage. For them, the whole
> reason for a rally was to run in the company of other boats. I cant
> account for why they werent paying attention to the radio.  Perhaps
> they did hear the calls, but felt safer running along side another
> boat. I dont know, beyond that I know it made the night much more
> dangerous than it needed to be.
>
>
>
> Over time, I was able to open some space around me. I could see on
> the radar that other boats were still struggling to clear the space
> around them, but we were able to  open up a one mile radius to the
> nearest other boat. Even this didnt make us safe. At about four in
> the morning, while I was driving, I noticed a boat, a mile ahead of
> me,  and to my starboard side, that had suddenly turned to be
> directly in front of me. They had also slowed and alarms started
> going off on Sans Souci reporting that we were on a collision path.
> I put out a call on the radio to try to identify the boat, and ask
> them their intentions, but couldnt figure out who it was. Out the
> window, all we could see was a white light (their mast light) and
> the red glow of their port side running light. I really didnt want
> to stop, or alter course. This would cause the boats behind me to
> alter course to avoid me, and start a chain reaction. All of the
> boats were going exactly the same direction, so I figured it would
> be easy for the boat in front of me to know I was talking about
> them: Would the boat who is zigzagging in front of me please
> identify themselves? A few other boats kicked into the conversation
> and were helping me identify the boat, but within a few minutes I
> had no choice. I slowed nearly to a stop, turned to starboard, and
> sped back up. Had I not been paying attention it could have been
> ugly. All I can guess is that the boat was fishing, and had
> something on the hook that was distracting them.
>
> About 75 miles prior north of Turtle Bay, there is a large island
> called Cedrus. Jeff has fished this area extensively and knew that
> if we were to run close to the shore on Cedrus we would be
> approached by pangas offering to sell us lobsters.  Prior to leaving
> Ensenada we had purchased beer for the purposes of trading for
> lobster. Jeff thought a couple cases of beer might get us more
> lobster than I could imagine. About an hour prior to arriving at the
> north end of Cedrus I started making my move. I had to get out of
> the center of the pack, and work my way to the west side, so that I
> could run the east shore of Cedrus. This strategy worked and we had
> an incredible view of Cedrus, but unfortunately the pangas never
> appeared.
>
>
> Approaching Cedrus
>
> As we approached the south end of Cedrus, a call came on the radio
> Fubar Fleet, Unreel is proud to announce that we are the first boat
> to successfully capture a lobster pot. We captured it with our
> starboard prop, and will leave it there until we get to Turtle Bay,
> where we shall retrieve it. This was said humorously, but its a
> serious issue. Lobster and crab pots are a major hazard. These are
> small cages, sitting on the bottom, with a line rising to the
> surface where there is a floating buoy. These buoys are sometimes
> large enough to show on radar, but usually not. If you are running
> at night, it is easy to run one over. Once your prop snags a crab
> pot, the line is spooled onto your prop and you have no choice but
> to go beneath the water and cut it off. I cant imagine how this is
> handled in cold water, such as Alaska. Luckily I havent yet had to
> find out. During daylight, you can sometimes see the buoys and avoid
> them, but not always. If there is any chop in the water, they hide
> beneath the waves, and by the time you see them, it is too late.
> Sans Souci has line cutters ahead of the props which are designed to
> cut the lines of any crab pots we run over, but these do not always
> work.
>
>
> Arriving at Turtle Bay
>
> On arrival at Turtle Bay, we dropped anchor, did some cleaning, and
> took a panga ashore for a Fubar Party. My dad stayed behind. He
> was tired and wanted a quiet evening. Jeff stayed with him. Jeff
> wasnt giving up on finding some lobster for us, and had worked out
> a deal 40 lobsters for $100 US dollars with a panga guy who came
> by. He was waiting for his lobsters (that never showed up).  The
> party was fun, and it was a chance to talk with the other boats. I
> asked around for interesting stories from other boats, but mostly
> struck out. Big Mama had inverter and water tank problems. Fish
> and Game was desperately seeking Racor 2000 filters (and, still
> is). Paloma had an interesting problem, with a creative solution:
> Their shaft seal was overheating. They tried loosening it but this
> didnt help. For those not familiar, there is a seal on the
> propeller shaft, where it passes through the hull, that is
> purposefully left slightly loose, so that it can be cooled by a
> steady drip of sea water. There is nothing but some packing material
> (it looks like rope packed in wax) that sits between the shaft and
> the hull. If the shaft seal is overheating, it can mean that the
> packing is in too tight, or that it has failed. Paloma needed to get
> the temperature down, so that they could reach Turtle Bay, and
> replace the shaft seal. Scott, aboard Alanui gave them the advice of
> using a fresh water hose, with a light stream of water, to cool the
> shaft. This got them to the anchorage, where they were working this
> morning on replacing the packing material.
>
>
>
> A few items of interest from the party: Above the tents where we
> were enjoying ourselves, we were being watched by Mexican military
> with very serious looking rifles. This seemed highly unusual, so I
> asked what was happening. Apparently there are two different fuel
> suppliers in Turtle Bay; Enriques and Anabels. The Fubar negotiated
> a deal for fuel with Anabels, leaving Enriques without customers.
> The Fubar probably represented more power boats in one day than
> normally stop in Turtle Bay during a year. Enriques fuel guys were
> going boat to boat trying to peddle fuel, and being rebuffed. After
> a bit, tempers flared, and somehow the military arrived to ensure
> that there wouldnt be a problem. Im not much of a partier, so I
> left early to head back to the boat. Several others had the same
> idea, and there was a group standing on the beach waiting for a
> panga to take us to our boats. The panga driver brought his boat up
> onto the sand, let about 10 of us in, and then discovered he
> couldnt drag the panga into the water. A few of us jumped out and
> tried to help push. It took a bit, but we succeeded. Then began a
> search for our boats. There was no moon, and all anyone could see
> was an endless stream of white anchor lights. The panga was
> overloaded, and the driver advised us that he had no reverse. This
> made the search from boat to boat interesting. Apparently the
> party became quite fun at some point. The running gag on the VHF
> this morning was that one person had incriminating video from the
> party, and the other boaters were bidding to keep it off the market.
>
>
>
> When we woke this morning, our plan, and the schedule, was for a
> relaxing day at Turtle Bay. I was surprised when I noticed Samurai,
> a Nordhavn 64, pull anchor. I called them to ask if they were
> leaving. Yes, they responded. I noticed Senjero follow a few minutes
> later. Then another boat, and then another, until about 15 or so
> boats had rolled out. As we proceed south the weather and the water
> is getting warmer. This means blue skies and great fishing. Given
> the choice of another day in Turtle Bay or heading further south to
> the warm air and water, many boats were opting for an extra day of
> fishing. On our way south we have spoken with several northbound
> boats who have raved about the marlin fishing. One boat said that he
> had never seen so many marlin in one spot. I can see why the other
> boats are in a hurry. This led us to thinking about our own
> departure, and if we should leave a day early or not. We studied the
> charts and Jeff came up with a good idea. We would leave at 2pm,
> which would place us at the ridge a popular fishing ground, 150
> miles south, around 6am tomorrow morning. This would also put us
> into our next stop, another 70 miles further south, just in time to
> anchor before dark. I asked around to see if any other boats wanted
> to accompany us, but given our experience with crowding the night
> before, I didnt try as hard as I might of otherwise.
>
> So .. as I type this, we are running south, alone. The wind is calm,
> the boat is running great, and Jeremy is cooking up some spaghetti
> for dinner for us.
>
> Im including a few pictures with this email, but not too many, and
> with minimal quality. There is no internet or cell service here. Im
> stuck using my satellite connection which is slow, and expensive.
> Ill send along more pictures when I can.
>
> Ken Williams
> Sans Souci, Nordhavn68.com