S/V NAVIGATOR,
our Island Packet 40 departed Norfolk Virginia at 0930 on May 28, 2021
after two preparation days. The crew members are: Captain Tom Tursi of
Pennsylvania (Skipper), Captain Frank Mummert of Maryland (First Mate), and
student crew members Clifford Latta (Florida), Kevin Sutherland (Georgia), Michael Wade (Washington)
and Owen Stormo (California).
NAVIGATOR will make the passage to Bermuda via a
non-stop ocean route. The cruise has an estimated distance of 670 nautical
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 via SPOT, click HERE.
24 comments:
Hello all! Be sure to click on the spot link above to follow the progress of NAVIGATOR and her crew. One note on the SPOT transmissions… The SPOT is far from infallible and a loss of signal is quite common. There have been times where we had no position update for more than a day. Reasons can range from a weak satellite signal, a sail bag inadvertently shifted and blocking a clear "view" of the sky, or SPOT batteries getting weak. The crew checks in with me electronically at intervals, and we will address such issues. Also, sailboat tracks are affected by wind direction, current, etc. and rarely result in a straight-line course. I’ll post updates here which will include position reports from the crew. ~ Rita
Bradley Mabe, a Maryland School graduate and weather expert is providing weather guidance to the crew. I'll include his reports to the crew here on the blog, beginning with this one relayed prior to departure:
From: Bradley Mabe
Subject: WX 5/28 - 5/30
Date: May 28, 2021 at 5:03:11 AM EDT
To: S/V NAVIGATOR
Friday afternoon winds SE 10-15, then late evening they should shift S 10-15.
Early Saturday winds shift SW 15-20 with an increased chance of rain and t-storms
During the day Saturday and into the evening winds SSW 20-25
Sunday winds are SSW to S 15-20
From: Bradley Mabe
Subject: WX 5/29 - 6/1
Date: May 29, 2021 at 6:59:20 AM EDT
To: S/V Navigator
5/29 -: winds SSW to S 15-20 showers and t-storms likely
5/30 - winds S 15-20 possibility of showers and t-storms continue
5/31 - morning: winds S 15-20 backing N to NE 10-15 in the afternoon and evening as Hi pressure moves off the coast of NC. Chance of rain and t-storms decrease
6/1 - winds NE 10-15 sunny
From: Navigator IP40
Subject: Status 5/29
Date: May 29, 2021 at 10:02:23 AM EDT
To: MD School
At 0750 pos N3624,W7407
All is well except for some mal de mer as to be expected. Beautiful sunny morning; humid; squalls passing to our north according to Sirius XM weather but we have seen none either visually or on radar. Winds 18-25 SSW. Swells 8 to 10 feet rolling in from the south apparently generated from stormy weather south of us.
Last night pleasant overnight except for very rough boat motion due to choppy, bunched up waves generated by local winds. All crew doing well and getting into the groove of hand steering a small boat at sea. We had dinner of Dinty Moore’s beef stew prepared by chef Owen... Well done.
Friday’s departure from Little Creek went smooth including topping the diesel tank and pumping out at Cobb’s marina. We ran into some heavy fog after passing the bridge-tunnel, but it cleared after an hour or so. After rounding C Henry, we had planned to head south and pass close to Diamond shoal and C Hatteras, but 15-20 knot winds from south prevented that, so we opted to head east early directly toward BDA and Thea’s winds permitted that.
Captain Tom aboard S/V Navigator
From: Bradley Mabe
Subject: WX 5/30 - 6/2
Date: May 30, 2021 at 7:42:21 AM EDT
To: Navigator IP40
5/30 - winds S 15-20 rain and t-storms likely winds veering W then N in the late evening/ early morning hours
5/31 - winds N - NE 10-15 change of rain decreases significantly as high pressure moves into the area from the W
6/1 winds NE 10-15 becoming E 15-20 in the afternoon
6/2 winds E 10-15 becoming SE 10-15 in the afternoon
From: Navigator IP40
Subject: Status 5/31
Date: May 30, 2021 at 12:09:03 PM EDT
To: MD School
1130 pos n3625, w7155
It got really nasty overnight with extensive squall areas surrounding us, rain and lightning, and seas to 15 feet which we rode smoothly. We were proceeding under double reefed mainsail and engine power at a low 1800 rpm to maintain steering control over the waves and to position our rig for action should a squall make a direct hit on us.
At 0200, I called it a day and we hove to on starboard tack with reefed mainsail and wheel lashed hard over to starboard. Boat rode nicely with a 40 to 70 degrees apparent angle to the wind and waves and a compass heading of 140 degrees; thus she was forereaching at 1 to 3 knots but sliding off to a course over ground of 80 degrees in a direction not toward Bermuda. But at times like this, you take what you can get. By morning, winds increased to a consistent 30 to 40 knots SW and boat headed up further to 30 to 60 degrees apparent, which is even better thus presenting more of our bow to the wind.
At 0330 a 950 foot cargo ship 17 miles distant appeared on AIS to be headed for a half mile crossing of our bow. Owen called them on VHF radio and received assurance that they saw us and would take necessary avoidance action, which they did and passed ahead by one mile.
We plan to remain hove to until winds moderate, which is expected overnight tonight, at which point we’ll resume sailing.
Crew doing well and mal de mer seems to be abating.
Captain Tom aboard S/V Navigator
You all may find this wind forecast map as fascinating as I do. The center of the map is their current position (very red!). You can play with the zoom in and out and also put in positions as they are reported. The 1130 position today was given as n3625, w7155. That will be entered on the search bar as 36.25, -71.55 and then I zoomed out.
Have fun! https://www.sailflow.com/map#36.25,-71.55,6,18
Rita
From: Navigator IP40
Subject: Status 5/31B
Date: May 30, 2021 at 9:06:38 PM EDT
To: MD School
This has been a very rich learning experience and all crew are in good humor and team players. We continued hove to due to strong prevailing winds and lightning squalls. Weather supposed to clear out tomorrow morning with the cold front arrival, and we plan to return to active sailing at that point. Experimented today with sailing in these 35 knot conditions, but hard to maintain stable control of the boat in the large, confused waves.
Captain Tom aboard S/V Navigator
Only Tom would describe the conditions as providing a "rich learning experience". Nice. About 15 yrs ago had similar conditions just about in the same location. We hove - to for 22 hrs. Every 6 hrs would call Bermuda Radio and give them the current conditions and they would give us the forecast. Watch two DVD movies. Choose not to watch Perfect Storm. As the crew is learning despite the conditions outside the boat motion can be very comfortable. The challenge for them will be the "after", after the wind drops but the seas are still running. They seem to be doing great.
From: Bradley Mabe
Subject: WX 5/31 - 6/3
Date: May 31, 2021 at 6:53:45 AM EDT
To: Navigator IP40
5/31 - winds becoming W 10-15 late morning continuing to shift N-NE 5-10 through the day
6/1 - winds NE 5-10 becoming E 5-10 in the late morning
6/2 - winds E 10-15 becoming ESE 5-10 in the afternoon slight increased chance of showers and t-storms
6/3 winds S-SE 5-10 through the day and evening
From: Navigator IP40
Subject: Hallejulia!
Date: May 31, 2021 at 9:09:12 AM EDT
To: MD School
We are sailing! Everyone is in a celebratory mood now that the gale has passed, sails are up and we are making 6 to 7 knots toward destination Bermuda 388 miles distant as of 0845 this morning. Current position n3619, w7052. Skies clouded with rain about every 30 minutes to keep us on our toes.
Watch assignments are:
12 to 4 am and pm... Cliff and Owen
4 to 8 am and pm... Tom and Kevin
8 to 12 am and pm... Frank and Mike
Last night we had chicken stew prepped by Cliff and Owen, who do dinner prep every evening as part of their regular duties. Cleanup dinner is Frank and Mike. Previous nights we had beef stew a la Dinty Moore, and beans and franks
Cliff has become expert at getting weather reports using a laptop computer and Iridiun Go satellite device, and Mike and Kevin are now practicing the same. No one has yet tried using the SSB HF radio and laptop for these forecasts as the steps are a little more involved as it is much older technology, and less user friendly, but I will press them on it.
Captain Tom aboard S/V Navigator
From: Navigator IP40
Subject: Status 5/31
Date: May 31, 2021 at 8:58:50 PM EDT
To: MD School
830 pm, position 3543n, 7005w
Winds died around 300 am this morning and we have been motoring ever since in 10 knots from NW putting the wind directly behind us with five knot relative wind speed when you subtract boat speed. Seas remained very lumpy into mid afternoon making for very roller boat motions. When it smoothed out we put up the whisker in hopes of being able to sail wing on wing with poled out Genoa, but no luck so we derigged the pole, but it was good practice and allowed us to make a few refinements to the pole procedure.
Right now we are on a course pointing directly at Bermuda and the forecast looks like we will be motoring most of the way.
Dinner tonight was chili and rice with cucumbers, yellow sweet peppers and squash cut up as a cold salad.
We’re hoping for some sunshine tomorrow so we can practice celestial shots.
Captain Tom aboard S/V Navigator
Student crew always want to have the true "ocean experience"! Sounds like this voyage is supplying that in abundance! Enjoy!
From: Bradley Mabe
Subject: WX 6/1 - 4
Date: June 1, 2021 at 4:36:03 AM EDT
To: Navigator IP40
6/1 winds NE 5-10 light and variable through most of the day NE-E 5-10
6/2 winds E 5-10 becoming ESE 5-10 in the afternoon slight increase in the possibility of showers
6/3 winds ESE 5-10 becoming S 10-15 in the afternoon
6/4 winds S-SSW 10-15 chance of showers
Transcribed conversation with Captain Tom Tursi by SAT phone, Tuesday June 1, 2021 at 1215 hours:
Our position right now, at 1215 Tuesday June 1st, is 34.52 N and 64.06 W. Overnight last night it was cloudy and threatening but we didn’t get any rain or squalls. By morning, the winds went around to the northeast and we put the mainsail up at about 5:00 AM and we started sailing. We got on a heading of 160M to try to get further south to enter the western side of Bermuda because as we look at the weather we are supposed to get some southeasterlies which would oppose us if we came in too high.
This morning we had a session on boat safety and the training plan and this afternoon we are going to work on weather communication and also celestial navigation. We will be starting celestial navigation soon because the sun popped out in the past hour or so. It’s a beautiful bright sunny day now. We have about 10-15 knots of wind from the north or northeast and we are making good progress with a full genoa. We still have the mainsail reefed because earlier I was still concerned with the possibility of a lightening squall.
We just finished lunch and the crew are all sitting in the cockpit swapping sea stories with lots of laughs and lots of giggles and everybody is feeling pretty good. There is no seasickness of any kind and everyone got over their mal de mer and are doing well. We had a good cleanup of the boat this morning, as we did yesterday, and it’s bright and sparkly down below.
Cliff is very interested in the weather communications. We have a lot of different equipment on this boat and there are different methods of downloading different information and Cliff is taking a real enthusiastic interest in that. So we are taking each component and I am teaching him. An then he in turn is teaching other crew and in some cases they are teaching others so it is working well as a nice team effort.
Our distance to Bermuda is 265 nautical miles and we are averaging about 120 miles a day. Our estimate is that we will get in by midday on Friday because as we get closer the southeasterlies will slow us down. It is possible that some flights may need to be changed for crew travel, so families should stay tuned for details as we get closer.
Captain Tom aboard S/V Navigator
From: Bradley Mabe
Subject: WX 6/2 - 5
Date: June 2, 2021 at 4:42:21 AM EDT
To: Navigator IP40
6/2 - winds E to SE 5-10, light and variable widely scattered showers
6/3 - winds SE 5-10 becoming S 10-15 in the afternoon & evening
6/4 winds S 10-15 becoming SSW 15-20 with an increased chance of rain and t-storms as the front moves NNE - SW along your projected position
6/5 winds SSW 10-15 winds become variable as weak trough moves off the coast of NC toward BDA
From: Navigator IP40
Subject: Status 6/2
Date: June 2, 2021 at 1:41:15 PM EDT
To: MD School, Bradley Mabe
Brad Thanks for forecast; that’s what we’re getting. 1310 position n3343, w6732. Winds s SE at 5. Skies partly cloudy with cumulus. Opposed current of one knot.
Yesterday beautiful sailing conditions in 12 knots NE on course of 160M starting at 0500 and lasting all day and into early evening. Sun was out and celestial navigators practiced Sun shots working on shot accuracy exercises. Cliff had an excellent shot within 0.7 miles of our GPS position which he plotted on our navigation chart and used to plot an Estimated Position that came within 15 miles of our DR plotted position after four days that included a Gulf Stream crossing, two days of gale force plus winds, and 24 hours hove to. This was an excellent result both from a celestial shot perspective and as a demonstration of the use of DR plotting on a regular and disciplined basis. We used Cliff’s EP position to correct the DR plot for continuation of our navigation plot.
At 1900 last evening, winds died completely and we furled sails, started engine to 1800 rpm, our economy speed, and set course of 128M toward our Bermuda target point; motored overnight until now. From the forecast we expect to motor all the way to Bermuda.
Captain Tom aboard S/V Navigator
You can't always get what you want...
Fantastic that the EP was close enough to use as a DR plotpoint. That 115-degree rhumb line seems like it won't be in play this time.
Not the same situation as yours, but racing in Victoria, BC last night - making 2 knots in the water, 4 knots backwards. After three attempts to catch an eddy, it was "Iron Genny" time.
It happens.
Best wishes for a happy completion!
From: Bradley Mabe
Subject: WX 6/3 - 6
Date: June 3, 2021 at 4:50:01 AM EDT
To: Navigator IP40
6/3 - winds: SE to S 10-12 becoming S 10-15 late evening
6/4 - winds S 10-15 widely scattered showers and t-storms possible
6/5 - winds S 10-15 becoming SSW 10-15 in the evening increased chance of showers and t-storms
6/6 - winds S to SSW 10-15 with showers and t-storms possible
No more news...all okay?
Hello all. ETA is still estimated as sometime Friday.
From: Navigator IP40
Subject: Status 6/3 Late
Date: June 3, 2021 at 8:40:16 PM EDT
To: MD School
Another beautiful sunny day with light winds from SE at 5 to 8 knots. Sailed most of the day and some motor sailing for past few hours. Wind direction will require tacking to windward the last 60 miles to get south to Bermuda, so we furled the Genoa and are motoring directly toward our target waypoint north of Bermuda.
Today Cliff, Owen and Kevin each got two good sun sights separated by four hours and plotted running fixes which were close to our indicated GPS position. This was the successful culmination of all of the theory, study and onboard, hands-on tasks of logbook data collection, celestial shot accuracy practice, sight reduction calculations, chart plotting techniques and effective use of the sextant onboard a small boat at sea.
Also, Our four students ocean sailors completed all of the elements of our electronic communications program using the SSB radio, IridiumGo satellite device, VHF radio, and NAVTEX receiver.
Today we also prepared our navigation plan for entry into Bermuda, and reviewed procedures and assignments for this activity.
ETA... sometime Friday
G’nite
Captain Tom aboard S/V Navigator
From: Bradley Mabe
Subject: WX 6/4-7
Date: June 4, 2021 at 4:46:05 AM EDT
To: Navigator IP40
6/4 - winds SSW 15-20 showers and t-storms possible
6/5 winds become SW 10-15 possibility of showers and t-storms increase
6/6 winds SW to WSW 10-15
6/7 winds WSW 5-10 showers and t-storm chance decreases
From: Navigator IP40
Subject: Status 6/4.
Date: June 5, 2021 at 9:22:10 PM EDT
To: MD School
As you know I’m sure that we arrived Friday about 1600 EDT. Cleared Customs quickly, but the Covid health officials were tardy not arriving to test us until 11am. This did give time for a boat cleanup below deck, none above due to no water supply as is the usual. I asked the Dockmaster to run a hose to refill our tank, and hopefully he will do that tomorrow.
Tomorrow morning I will work on provisioning for the return trip and Frank and Harry will work on some boat projects of which we have relatively little to do. Boat came out of the cruise in good shape except for abrasion of one reefing line and a weak F/W pump both of which we will replace.
G’nite
Captain Tom aboard S/V Navigator
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