Monday, May 30, 2011

Norfolk to Bermuda; May 28 - June 2, 2011

CELESTIAL, our IP 440 departed Vinings Landing on Saturday, May 28, 2011 a6 0600 after two preparation days. The crew members are: Captain Bruce Kachline (Louisiana), First Mate Billy Psimas (Virginia), and student crew members Spencer Cowles (Virginia), John Hoffman (Virginia), Kenneth Keppel (Maryland) and Greg Lennon (Massachusetts). CELESTIAL will make the passage to Bermuda via a non-stop ocean route. The cruise has an estimated distance of 650 miles, and will take approximately 6 days, sailing both day and night. We will discuss the route, weather and actual progress here on our blog as it happens, so please join us! To follow the discussion, see the comments to this blog post. To follow their actual progress on Google Earth, click HERE.

14 comments:

Rita Hanson said...

Captain Tom Tursi sent the following weather communication to CELESTIAL via Skymate at 0822 Saturday morning May, 28th, 2011, approximately 2 hours after departurer:

"High Pressure dominates offshore from Cape Hatteras to Bermuda. Expect SE10 winds Sat; E-NE10 Sun; NE10-15 Mon; Variable 10 Tue; S-SW10-15 Wed. No Thunderstorms. Rec’d auto position via Skymate 280400UTC"

Rita Hanson said...

We received the following communication via Skymate at 10:08 AM, Saturday May 28th, 2011. This position is posted on the Google Map:

"Departed fuel dock 0600
Motor sailing with wind on the nose.
Rounded Cape Henry @ 0845.
All is well BK
05/28/2011
16:54:30 GMT
36° 47.71' N
75° 53.18' W"

Rita Hanson said...

From: S/V CELESTIAL
To: Tom Tursi
Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2011 2:50 AM
Subject: Sun 5-29-11

"All OK
no wind motor 2 N of Hatteras then out
Ken had very good sun shot
good spaghetti last nite
BK"

Rita Hanson said...

From: Tom Tursi
To: S/V CELESTIAL
Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2011 7:24 AM
Subject: Wx 5/29

High pressure between Hatteras & BDA. Stationary Low SE of BDA will dissipate Wed. Expect E-NE10 winds Sun-Tue; E-SE10 Wed; S-SW10 Thu. No TS. Rec’d your emails"

Note: We'll be seeing these abbreviations a lot:

wx= weather
BDA = Bermuda
TS = thunderstorms

Rita Hanson said...

From: Tom Tursi
To: S/V CELESTIAL
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2011 8:36 AM
Subject: Wx 5/30

"HP dominates. Expect light E-SE to Wed; SW Thu. No TS"

Note: HP = High Pressure System

Rita Hanson said...

From: S/V CELESTIAL
To: Tom Tursi
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2011 8:38 AM
Subject: Mon 30 May 2011

"off soundngs wimble #10
dolphins sargasso turtle
cornish hen sweet potato
motoring
all OK
BK"

Rita Hanson said...

From: S/V CELESTIAL
To: Tom Tursi
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 7:19 AM
Subject: Tue 31 May

All OK
Buoy 41001 15:00 30 may
RG bow lite out
got wind tue AM VMG 6+ kts
Greg & crew wish Nicole Happy 11th!
bioluminescence, no fish, few birds, overcast today.
Frijoles Negros y Arroz Amarillo con Carne
BK

Kathleen said...

It's Greg's daughter Nicole's birthday today - she's thinking of her dad, hoping he's learning a lot and having fun:)

Rita Hanson said...

From: S/V CELESTIAL
To: Tom Tursi
Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2011 6:56 AM
Subject: Wed 06-01-2011

"All OK
Fuel 10/16, oil OK
Bow Lt fixed
saw spottd dolphns; flyng fish, birds
1/2 way 2200 5-31
BP's muffins
SC's Sea Chkn
Bone in her teeth this AM
BK"

Translation:
All is good aboard CELESTIAL. They have more than a half a tank of fuel, the oil is okay and they've fixed a bow light that had gone out. Lots of locals keeping them company. At 10:00 PM on May 31, they were half way to Bermuda. For supper, First Mate Billy Psimas baked muffins and Spencer Cowell made Sea Chicken (whatever that is). This morning, they must have some wind as the expression "bone in her teeth" means that they are moving at speed and creating a prominent bow wave. The image comes to mind of a dog, merrily running with a bone.

Shirley Cowles said...

Happy Anniversary, Spencer. See you in Bermuda!

Rita Hanson said...

From: CELESTIAL
To: Tom Tursi
Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2011 6:07 AM

"All OK
wed noon squall radar plot
SSB with Jamaica, Carib
crossed time zone
lost good wind, mtr sail
mexican beans w/ rice
Thanks for weather info
BK
06/02/2011"
12:58:38 GMT
33° 07.90' N
66° 22.20' W

Rita Hanson said...

From: Tom Tursi
To: S/V CELESTIAL
Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2011 9:12 AM
Subject: Wx 6/2

"Weak Cold Front Fri. Expect variable <10 to Fri. Low NW of BDA Sun-Mon. No TS but unstable areas in G Mex & W Carib"

Rita Hanson said...

CELESTIAL arrived at Hunter's Wharf Marina at 0600, this morning, Friday June 3, 2010.

Tony and Cheri Ogden said...

Congrats to Captain and crew of CELESTIAL on your successful and surely fun voyage. Enjoy a super weekend in Bermuda.