Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Northbound Ocean Crew Departs; St Thomas USVI - Norfolk, VA

CELESTIAL, our IP 440 departed Crown Bay Marina, St Thomas USVI at 0910 on May 7, 2012 after two days of preparation. The crew members are: Captain Jack Morton (Florida), Mate Jim Bortnem (Minnesota), Mate Steve Runals (Virginia) and student crew members John Keane (Virginia), Jacques Dessailly (New Jersey), and Jim Ozenberger (Michigan). CELESTIAL will make the passage to Norfolk via a non-stop ocean route. The cruise has an estimated distance of 1500 miles, and will take 11-13 days, sailing both day and night.

Captain Tursi will be monitoring progress of the cruise and will be in contact with CELESTIAL's crew via a Skymate satellite system. We'll receive reports from the crew approximately every other day and Captain Tursi will supply the crew with detailed weather analysis.  The picture above is of a whale sighting by the crew!

More discussion on this soon, as well as weather updates, communication from the crew, and actual progress (see comments below), so please join us! To follow their actual progress on Google Earth, click here. For more information on The Maryland School, please visit our website.

22 comments:

Rita Hanson said...

Hello sailors and followers!

CELESTIAL departed Monday for St Thomas. Captain Jack Morton is in charge of the vessel for this cruise, and Captain Tom Tursi will be communicating with the crew for the duration of the cruise via Skymate, primarily regarding weather and position.

We can also track their position via the Skymate satellite receiver/transmitter installed on the boat and will post their position on a google map for all to see. Use the red link on the main blog post to see the google map.

The first two position points are posted and I'll post a new position usually once a day. Just keep clicking on the same link and it will bring you to the updated map. Zoom out using the control on the top left of the map to see more of the overall picture.

If anyone has trouble with the google map link in the main post, e-mail me at office@mdschool.com and I will send the full address. I can't post the full address here because it's too long and gets truncated.

Rita Hanson said...

From: Tom Tursi
To: S/V CELESTIAL
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2012 11:43 AM
Subject: Wx 5/8

Cold Front (CF) E-W along 27N. Low on CF at 70W; will dissipate on Tueday. New Low to Carolinas Wed to 40N65W Thu. New CF along E Coast Wed move to 40N65W-30N75W by Thu; HP build over E Coast. Expect E-SE10 Tue-Wed

Rita Hanson said...

From: S/V CELESTIAL
To: Tom Tursi
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2012 1:45 PM
Subject: dheck in

Thanks for weather report. All well.

Capn Jack
S/V CELESTIAL

Rita Hanson said...

From: Tom Tursi
To: S/V CELESTIAL
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2012 8:49 PM
Subject: Wx 5-9

Low 30N70W absorbed Wed. CF offshore Wed night; move to 30N70W/Cuba Fri; to 31N60W/29N70W Sun. Expect SE-S10; SW15 ahead of CF; NE20-25 behind CF. No Tropicals.

Rita Hanson said...

From: S/V CELESTIAL
To: Tom Tursi
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2012 8:48 AM
Subject: Position

All is well.

05/10/2012
12:45:11 GMT
23° 15.17' N
68° 21.74' W

Rita Hanson said...

From: Tom Tursi
To: S/V CELESTIAL
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2012 8:13 PM
Subject: Wx 5/10

CF 27N77W-36N70W weaken Fri dissipate Sat establishing HP E Coast to BDA. Low form 37N55W Mon. Another Low to MD Mon-Tue. Expect E10 Fri-Sat. No tropicals

Rita Hanson said...

----- Original Message -----
From: S/V CELESTIAL
To: Tom Tursi
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2012 9:06 PM
Subject: update

Thanks for Wx.
Brochure sailing first three days - slower today. Spirits high for all crew. Life is good.
05/11/2012
01:04:11 GMT
22° 54.01' N
67° 01.24' W

Rita Hanson said...

From: S/v CELESTIAL
To: Tom Tursi
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2012 7:20 AM
Subject: eddy

Last week big eddy centered 27 x 71 25. Still exist? If so, where now?

All is well. J
05/11/2012
11:04:19 GMT
25° 08.27' N
67° 29.24' W

Rita Hanson said...

From: Tom Tursi
To: S/V CELESTIAL
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2012 9:23 PM
Subject: Eddy

Cold Eddy 35N72.5W- 60 NM on long axis perpendicular to your course

Rita Hanson said...

From: Tom Tursi
To: S/V CELESTIAL
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2012 10:01 PM
Subject: Wx 5/11

CF 31N64W to 26N67W TO 20N74W stationary & weakening. HP build Sat-Wed. Expect E15-20 west of CF Sat; SE15 Sun-Mon. No tropicals

Rita Hanson said...

From: S/V CELESTIAL
To: Tom Tursi
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2012 10:34 AM
Subject: Update

Thnx for wx. Came through CF last night w no fuss, minimal wind & rain. Now sailing in NE 10-12. Crew in good spirits, absorbing lessons from the voyage. J
05/12/2012
14:33:44 GMT
23° 14.22' N
74° 29.14' W

Rita Hanson said...

From: S/V CELESTIAL
To: Tom Tursi
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2012 6:20 PM
Subject: position / update

Current 26 37 x 71 45, making 6 - 7 kts in 20 kt +/- NE breeze. Hove to for dinner. All well.

J

Rita Hanson said...

----- Original Message -----
From: S/V CELESTIAL
To: Tom Tursi
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2012 9:03 PM
Subject: Position

Position 26 51 x 71 54.
Now sailing staysail & deep reef main in 25 +/- kts
J

Rita Hanson said...

From: Tom Tursi
To: S/V CELESTIAL
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2012 9:53 PM
Subject: Wx 5/12

HP persist to Wed with Fresh E winds to Sun night then SE15 to Wed. Another CF move offshore Thu with Low SE of Hatteras Thu-Fri. No tropicals

Rita Hanson said...

From: Tom Tursi
To: S/V CELESTIAL
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2012 9:53 PM
Subject: Wx 5/12

HP persist to Wed with Fresh E winds to Sun night then SE15 to Wed. Another CF move offshore Thu with Low SE of Hatteras Thu-Fri. No tropicals

Rita Hanson said...

From: Tom Tursi
To: S/V CELESTIAL
Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2012 7:59 PM
Subject: Wx 5/13

HP dominate to Wed; Expect E-SE10-15. Weak CF move offshore SE US Wed; reach 35N74W-30N73W Thu. Low develop Fri off SC; Sun SE of Hatteras. GS C Eddy 35N72.5W. No tropical

Rita Hanson said...

From: Capt Jochen Hoffmann
To: S/V CELESTIAL
Sent: 5/14/2012 9:44:33 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Wx 5/14

HP N of 31N shift NE by Wed; Weak CF Wed-nt from weak L 31N75W to FL Straits, move 31N72W to Ctrl Bahms late Fri. Expect SE to S 10-15 Mo Tue; Wed S to SW 10-15. GS EWall Bulgg E to 32N76.2W to 33N76.3W to 34N75W. Jochen

Rita Hanson said...

From: S/V CELESTIAL
To: Tom Tursi
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 8:48 AM
Subject: update & options

all well. 32 07 x 74 41 @ 0830 tue. Hope to be across Gulf Stream before cold front messes it up. If we get on west side, and have north wind to come up VA coast, is Oregon inlet/ICW open to small craft now? (rumors of shoaling) cursory search of chart table did not find chart chips for Raymarine - other suggestions?

Re charging - My impression was that we were charging too much too often. Steve noted charging @ 2 amps w 50 to go reported earlier.
Since, took data. Yesterday, batt charger started bulk charging at 18 amps, w 62 aH to replace, showing 13.08 VDC. By time (hr later) it had 36 aH to replace charge rate was down to 2 - 3 amps, and VDC was 13.01. 30 min later, w 39 aH to replace, still putting out 2 -3 amps, w 12.67 VDC showing.

Rita Hanson said...

----- Original Message -----
From: Tom Tursi
To: S/V CELESTIAL
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 2:28 PM
Subject: Wx 5/15

CF 35N74W to 32N76W Tue; expect you will cross it soon. Forecast S-SW10-15 Wed; N-NE 10-20 Thu; NE15-25 Fri. No safe ports N of Hatteras before Norfolk. Oregon not an option; significant unmarked shoaling

Rita Hanson said...

From: Capt Jochen Hoffmann
To: S/V CELESTIAL
Sent: 5/16/2012 10:24:26 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Wx 5/16

Low pressure trough just off coast move E. CF move off coast Tues night. HP follows. L 32N75W move NE. Expect SSW 10-15 Today; N 10-15 Thu; NE 15-20 late & Fri. No Tropicals. Jochen

Rita Hanson said...

From: S/V CELESTIAL
Subject: update & arrival
Date: May 16, 2012 2:57:57 PM EDT
To: Tom Tursi

Just finishing up benign crossing of GS, w ETA Vinings sometime daylight hours Thursday. pos 35 08 x 75 06 @ 1450 hrs Wed

Rita Hanson said...

The intrepid CELESTIAL crew arrived at Vinings Landing Marina at 1500 hours on Thursday, May 17, 2012. By all accounts it was an excellent passage which covered the 1500 miles from St Thomas to Norfolk, Virginia in 10 days. Congratulations crew!