Sunday, May 30, 2010

Change of Plans - Headed for Shore

Day #4, Sunday, May 30, 2010
Time of Report: 2115 Z
Position: 32.62 W 77.64 N, at 1600 Z, 58 miles from Cape Fear
Heading: North, Northwest
Speed: Not reported

Engine problems continue so have turned back and are heading to Cape Fear for repairs and plan to arrive on Monday afternoon. The hope is repairs can be made on Tuesday with a Wednesday departure, now direct to Nova Scotia. Captain and crew and doing just fine - so not to worry!

More soon and maybe while the repairs are being made, we'll get a blog posting from Woody. We'll keep you posted though as we hear more.

Tracy

Not One of the Finer Days

Day #3, Saturday, May 29, 2010
Time of Report: 2200 Z
Position: 32.30 N, 78.43W
Heading: NE
Speed: Did not report speed but the winds were from the east at 15 knots with heavy chop an foot seas

JD and Woody continued sailing in the Gulf Stream and experienced some rain but managed to avoid the thunderstorms. They were being pushed northeast due to unfavorable winds and current. They started having engine problems and suspected it was the filters and were going to try and fix it. The weather forecast for Sunday was favorable winds from the South, Southeast with winds freshening from 10 to 15 knots - so hoping for a better day.

More soon! Tracy

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Slow Goin'

Day #2, Friday, May 28, 2010
Time of Report: 2100 Z
Position: 32.11 N, 79.29W
Heading: 140, bearing 128
Speed: Apparent Speed is 3.4 knots; Actual Speed is 2.5 knots

In every blog posting, we’ll be using the format above. For those who are not as “tuned in” to all of the nautical lingo, here’s a quick lesson on a few things:
1. When we talk about time in the report, ‘we’re using Zulu time, which is Greenwich Mean Time. During daylight savings, East Coast time is minus four hours, so in this example, 2100 Z is the same as 1700 EDT
2. We will show two types of speeds, Apparent (through the water) and Actual (over the water). Here’s the difference, the Apparent speed is the speed of the boat relative to the water with which it is in contact and Actual speed is the speed of the boat with regard to a fixed position.
3. A Rhumb line is a line crossing all meridians of longitude at the same angle, i.e. a path derived from a defined initial bearing. That is, upon taking an initial bearing, one proceeds along the same bearing, without changing the direction as measured relative to true north.

Rewinding to Thursday, on their way to sea, Woody & JD spent a little time on a sandbar. The incoming tide allowed for them to gracefully slide out around 2030 Z, but due to unfavorable tides and wind, they had to motor out of the Sound. Thursday night, the winds were light and they motored part of the night to keep moving. JD reported an incredible sunrise on Friday morning, as he had the 0400 to 0800 watch. He said it was one of those that you in religious/spiritual materials and I got the feeling it was a wonderful way for him to welcome in his first day at sea. Friday was spent with adverse light wind, right on the nose and an adverse current and they spent the day tacking back and forth with 120 degree arcs (typical tack arc should be 90 degrees, to give you an idea). It sounded pretty frustrating but they were keeping their spirits up. Dinner was Chicken Alfredo, and Woody described their rations to me. The have three large black trash bags, one is for mutal rations, such as the Chicken Alfredo, and the other two are for individual rations. They expected to enter the Gulf Stream on Saturday morning which will fetch them North, and by the Spot-Finder, it looks as if they are right on track.

Bill Tumlin (BT) is expecting to hear from Woody tonight at 2200 Z to give him a weather report, and Alice (his wife) talked with him and got a report once they hit the Gulf Stream and said it was a beautiful indigo blue, and that they were speeding along.

On another note, here’s the link to the YouTube that Parker, Woody’s son put together for him for the Bon Voyage that we weren’t able to view that evening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axBufuE4qHo&feature=email

And for one of the most famous quotes of sailing times…. There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. - Water Rat, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

More Soon! Tracy

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Woody & JD Depart for Bermuda

At 9:43am this morning, Woody Norwood & JD Shiver set sail from Beaufort, SC to Bermuda. Some friends from Beaufort, Jim Travis and Reggie followed them out for a bit, and thanks to Vosbury's for taking the pictures! For those of you who are wondering who is behind the keyboard, my name is Tracy Tumlin Allardice and I am one of Woody's very proud nieces. My husband, Darryl and I are the Communications Crew and will be updating the blog while Woody is at sea.

We expect to hear from him daily via his satellite phone and he will be checking in with my father, Bill Tumlin (BT) for weather updates.
If you would like to receive updates from the blog via email, please get signed up, but clicking on the orange icon, just to the left to get signed up.

Here's a note Woody sent early this morning:

" We are definitely departing today. The sun is shining and we should have generally northerly wind all day, getting stronger as we get offshore. I expect 15 to 20 knots (kts) this afternoon and tonight. There are no tropical storms in sight. However, we will be going through the Gulf Stream (GS) all day tomorrow, and with a northeast wind at around 15 kts, opposing the direction of flow of the GS, the wave heights will be significant (8 +feet) and steep. By tomorrow night we expect calmer seas. After sailing through the GS we will have to dodge the northern curl of an eddy. This eddy is termed a "warm eddy", spinning off the GS and rotating counterwise. We will sail south of the rhumb line Sunday-Monday to avoid the adverse current and maybe even pick up a boost on the south edge of the current.

Longer term the wind looks light and will be adverse for a couple of days. If it is light and adverse we'll use the engine some. We have enough fuel for roughly 200 miles.

The boat is loaded. We are running last-minute errands this morning, including a run to the dump with trash. We bought more food than we need (or could possibly fit on the boat. Tha addage is, "Don't send a hungry man to the grocery store". We will leave this legacy to our neighbors at Carriage Court in Beaufort. Enough Ramon Noodles to put a young person through a semester of college.

~ Woody"
I did hear from Woody & JD around 2:00pm today. On their way out to sea, they took a short cut through Bay Point Reach, but the tide was not their friend and ran out on them which caused them to run aground - just in the sand. So they jumped in the water, cleaned the bottom of the boat and did a little swimming and R&R, waiting for the tide to come in. They were expecting to be back at sail around 5:00pm, spirits were high.

Bill Tumlin (BT) is serving as Weather man and was ready with a report at 5:00pm for Woody. BT had been tracking the progress (to do so, click on the Spot Finder to the left) and noticed the tracks stopped around 12:30pm and figured he must be off the coast. Little did he know that he was literally on the coast. We expect to get tracks around noon each day from the spot tracker.

Last Saturday night about 40 people gathered for a Bon Voyage party for Woody & JD. We had such a great time and Woody's kids, Liz and Parker and their families joined us via conference and sent YouTube videos. I'll post the links of their videos and pictures of that evening in the days to come.

In closing, please find one of my favorite quotes:

There are good ships, and there are wood ships,
The ships that sail the sea.
But the best ships, are friendships,
And may they always be.

More soon! Tracy

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Bon Voyage Party; departure postponed

On Saturday evening friends and relatives from Beaufort, Atlanta, Savannah and Charleston attendeda Bon Voyage party in honor of JD and me held at the Beaufort Yacht and Sailing Club. This had been organized primarily by my sister and her family (Atlanta) and my good friend Frank Pontious in Beaufort. After everyone toured "Jubilee" the 30 to 40 of us enjoyed libations and a dinner of hors d'oeuvres, toasts, and friendship for a wonderful send-off.

Our departure, which had looked good for Sunday evening just 3 days ago has been postponed due to a forecast of gale force adverse winds and predictions of 15-foot waves related to a low pressure systems emerging out of the Bahamas that might become the season's first named tropical storm. This system would have crossed our path Monday-Tuesday just as we would be crossing the Gulf Stream. Packing winds in excess of 30 kts from the northeast, this system will likely be creating conditions that even large ships try to avoid.

It now looks like Thursday morning we will head down the Beaufort River and out to sea bound for Bermuda. The good news is that this gives us a few relaxed days to do some additional preparations and to be fully rested before leaving. The week leading up to departure on an offshore voyage is a lot like the week before opening night in a theatrical production. Inevitably there are a thousand things to be done. I will be away from home nearly 3 months. That alone is a big deal in terms of preparations. Then the boat. My rigger, Greg Pittrizzi, installed a new throttle control Friday and new fresh and sea water pumps yesterday(Saturday) morning. Other, less major, items still need attention.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Pictures from Sea Trial (aka Shake Down Cruise)

JD took these on our shakedown cruise. The first is at sundown the first day, already well offshore. The pole on the starboard quarter goes up to the wind generator. The pole on the port quarter goes up to the radar. That package you see on the port stern contains our "LifeSling" man-over-board rescue device. You'll notice that I am wearing an inflatable life vest. It inflates with the pull of a string. It also serves as a harness. I have a six-foot and a three-foot tether that connects me to a "jackline" (nylon strap) that runs the length of the boat on both sides. Our rule is that we clip on anytime we are outside the cabin. The second picture is of our approach to Charleston the next day. The safety netting helps keep the downed foresails on board as well as our bodies. The third picture, obviously taken from within the cabin, shows that we did not fully properly repack the LifeSling after our M.O.B. drill, On the left is the door to the "head". A back-up hand-held GPS is in my lap. You'll notice a platform just outside the companionway (the case for my cell phone and a line is on it). This platform covers our life raft and ditch kit. It is important to have these items in a place that is easy to get to in an emergency. The life-raft is a four-person, a vacuum-packed raft that, with the pull of a line, will automatically unfold and inflate itself. It has a sheltering room. The ditch kit includes signal flares, a signaling mirror, a GPS, a VHF radio, a fishing kit, emergency rations, some fresh water, and a water-maker that converts sea water into fresh water. Just inside the companionway is our principal EPIRB signaling beacon device. In an emergency we can push a button on the EPIRB and it will automatically send an SOS signal to a satellite showing our precise location, identifying exactly who we are, and triggering a rescue mission by the Coast Guard or whatever rescue is close by. Signals will also get forwarded to all ships in the area. I hope we don't have to use any of the emergency stuff, but it is comforting to know that we are prepared.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Report on Sea Trial

Our sea trial round trip from Beaufort to Charleston was 3 days, 2 nights at sea with 15 to 25 kt winds. Each direction took about 18 hours over-the-ground (by the GPS). We averaged 4.4 kts with a mix of favorable and unfavorable tidal currents, wind directions, and some use of the engine. True to the purpose of a sea trial, we found that some things did not work and we needed to change some things. This was JD's first night offshore in a sailboat. On the second night he described his sleep "like a stone". We returned happy, with a to-do list, and with enthusiasm for the fist leg of the big trip: to Bermuda, departing around May 24. Please see the full story at my website.

Woody

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Sea Trial Begins on Friday - from Beaufort to Charleson & Back



Preparations are coming along toward a 3-day sea trial starting this Friday, May 7. The plan is JD, my sailing partner from Beaufort, SC to Bermuda and Bermuda to Nova Scotia will drive from Athens, GA to Beaufort on Thursday evening. We'll turn loose the dock lines around noon on Friday and sail up to Charleston, arriving Saturday in time for lunch and a walk around. Then we'll depart Charleston and spend Saturday night at sea, returning to Beaufort Sunday evening.

Right now, the weather looks fine although we could have a thunderstorm on Saturday. We'll deal with it just as we would at sea.

JD will be bringing all of his gear, though we might not take it all on the trial. The goal is to go through what his has and identify anything else that is needed. Synthetics are key to avoiding mildew and allow for quick drying.

The last items for the boat were installed yesterday. The main item was an extension of the keel to overlap the bottom of the rudder. This is intended to keep crab and lobster trap lines and fishing nets and other debris from getting tangled between the keel and the rudder.

Last night I made a plexiglass companionway cover that we'll use at sea in the rain. This will allow us to be able to read the instruments that are on the swinging panel in the companionway from the cockpit while keeping the rain out of the cabin.

The boat has been compounded and waxed and looks good. It is raining today, and the boat is suspended on the launching machine while the keel extension sets up. Tomorrow (Wednesday) we plan to step the mast and install the radar and wind generator and test the electrical system, then launch on the high tide in the afternoon. Thursday, my rigger (Greg Pittrizzi) and I will take her out to synchronize the systems, set the wind gauge compass, and ensure that the various systems are talking to each other in a coordinated way. We'll also test the charging systems.

Other things that are still on the list of "To Do's" today are I need to scrub out and sanitize the water tank and its pipes and then fill it. Also, on the inside, I need to check out the stove and install the holders for the propane portable heater. Additionally, I'll be installing a system of nylon straps to keep our gear and the sail inventory from sliding around while we are at sea. These are among today's tasks.