[PUP] San Blas to Key West, leg one

[Scott E. Bulger]

Alanui is currently 275 miles north of the San Blas, Panama.  We are en
route to either Key West or Grand Cayman Island, depending on wx.  So far we
have had a great trip.  As some of you may recall I put the Admiral, Marian,
on an airplane and sent her home to visit the kids and avoid this segment of
the trip.  All my research had shown that this trip had the potential to be
rough and I didn't want to subject her to a thousand miles of pounding.  I
was lucky to have a good friend in Seattle offer to come along and he has
been a tremendous help, more co-captain then crew, I trust him completely.
There was no training curve as he has participated in a number of Nordhavn
deliveries and trips.  

 

We flew into the San Blas from Panama City and departed immediately Sunday
morning.  Bob Jones from OMNI had given us the wx go ahead for Monday, but
the previous nights calm and continued SW breeze in the San Blas suggested
an immediate departure.  Later in discussion via sat phone with Bob he said
we had made a good call.  We had 3 to 5 foot waves about 5 seconds apart.
Only 10 knots of wind.  Perhaps someone can explain to me why the Caribbean
develops such short steep chop?  Is it the depth of the water, the fetch
from the windward island or what?  In the Pacific I don't think 10 or 15
knots of wind would yield the same bumpy ride?  Perhaps these are waves that
are much larger and steeper several hundred miles from here and we are
simply dealing with the results of those conditions?  Regardless I'm very,
very lucky as they have a lot of East in them so we are taking them more on
the beam than from ahead.  We have passed a number of ships yesterday, but
since about noon only 2 freighters have appeared within 24 miles on radar.
Oh, for the first time in my life I'm running the radar at 24 miles.  It
must be the fact we are so far offshore that enables the radar to pick up
ships at distances that I'd previously not been able to discriminate targets
at?  Also, when you've spent 4,000 miles mostly less than 10 miles from the
coast, using the radar at 24 miles isn't necessary.  

 

We face a very significant decision in about 30 hours.  We will need to
decide to continue to Key West or go to Grand Cayman.  It is 100 percent a
weather call.  If we have continued outstanding sea conditions, we will
continue.  If things appear to be deteriorating, or if the Florida Straits
are not manageable in 3 days we will divert to Grand Cayman and wait for
good weather.  Preliminary discussions and forecast looks good, so at this
point we are prepared for another 6 days.  I know many of you will be
critical of our decision to bypass the Rio Dulce, Belize and the East coast
of Mexico, but our timeline and destination dictate moving quickly to FL and
getting started up the coast.  We are really looking forward to Fall  in the
Northeast as we have been in summer conditions for 10 months.  We will enjoy
another 4 months of summer while we ready ourselves for the Fall Colors.  

 

Oh, one last note.  Dwight brought with him a new device, I think called
SPOT.  It's a GPS receiver and Globalstar transmitter that sends your
position every 10 minutes.  It also includes the ability to send three
predefined messages:  I am ok, I am screwed, or SEND HELP FAST, or anything
you program.  Also for 8 bucks a year you get a 100 grand search and rescue
service.  Meaning they will process your SEND HELP FAST message and
coordinate SandR wherever you are in the world.  Cool box for less than a
few hundred bucks.  Not perfect, but helpful for lots of people.

 

I'll advise when we have made a decision regarding Key West or Grand Cayman,

 

Scott Bulger, Alanui, N40II, Seattle WA

Underway, San Blas to Key West