Post by Skipper on Jun 29, 2007 7:17:39 GMT -5
things are great here. day 11. less wind than expected but we are making headway. should be in the azores in no more than 10 days. our current position is 34 deg 25 min north, 54 deg 23 min north. the crew has fallen into an easy routine rotating watches, sleeping, cooking etc. the skipper is a good guitar player so we have been jamming.
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fr: annie b
da: june 28, 2007
position: 34 deg, 36 min north, 53 deg 36 min west
12 days at sea and the crew is settled into a steady routine. we have a good crew and everyone easily pulls their weight. although there is a nasty rumor going around that you can tell when my watch starts when you see me heading below decks - whatev.
each crew stands 3 two hour watches per day and we rotate cooking duties. so it works out to two on, six off. i sit 10am-12pm, 6pm-8pm and 2am-4am. yesterday major tom pulled his back, so we covered his overnight but generally it works out that everyone has a short bit at the wheel and plenty of rack time. during the day watches are casual as everyone is active on deck, so the night watch is the only one where you are alone on deck. harnesses, jack lines and preservers employed on deck after dark. whenever tacking or sail changes are necessary, everyone is available and no one is cross if they are awoken for assistance. tom is good about checking in throughout the night and we cover him when he needs to catch up on sleep during the day. and he does like to catch up during the day.
cooking has been fun. it took us awhile to adjust to toms british meal schedule but we just about have it. evidently brunch comes after breakfast, then dinner is at lunchtime, then we sit down to an evening meal at 8pm called tea. supper comes later but that doesnt seem to be on the menu. provisioning was fun before casting off. price was no object, but neither was organization. we had plenty of meats and vegetables for the first week but have had to get used to canned veggies, pasta and rice lately. we have been keeping ourselves in bread and rolls baking fresh every other day or so. we are getting the fishing lines out early because tom is threatening us with spam if we cant get some fish on the table.
weather has been flukey but we are making our way now. on a bluewater vessel, the lifeline to civilization is the single sideband radio. fancier yachts may do satellite modems and internet but we download email and weather faxes through more of a fax system on the ssb radio. the ssb transmits in a high frequency band that bounces off the ionosphere permitting long distance communication, as opposed to vhf, which is line of sight and has a range of only 25 miles. on the ssb, a vessel can speak to landbased operators and participate in radionets with other vessels. in addition to noaa weather faxes, we get weather advice from southbound II, a retired weather forecaster and sailor named herb who broadcasts everyday out of his home in canada. at 330pm, any vessel in the atlantic is welcome to check in with southbound II and receive up to the minute advice on weather and course plotting. since we are bouncing signal off the atmosphere, there is always interference and possibility of a 'no copy.' its a daily adventure seeing whether we are going to be able to talk to herb. then competing with all the other boats on channel. then the comic relief comes when herb, who fields calls from dozens of boats each day gets testy with a skipper. think of you junior high math teacher that everybody could imitate saying the same phrase every day - 'im getting a light copy, are you speaking into your mike? how far is your mike away from your mouth? maybe try holding you mike closer to your mouth.' you can picture the crews of fifty boats, all out in the middle of the ocean, huddling around the ssb at 1530 to see if herb is going to be able to read them - like families around radios in the twenties and thirties.
so herb says we are going to get nice winds today and tomorrow. we finally got up above the azores high pressure area and some lows are coming across from new york. tom says the weather fax confirms it, which is good because annie b likes a stiff breeze. and we are ready to feel some speed again. fair winds. out.
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===============================================
fr: annie b
da: june 28, 2007
position: 34 deg, 36 min north, 53 deg 36 min west
12 days at sea and the crew is settled into a steady routine. we have a good crew and everyone easily pulls their weight. although there is a nasty rumor going around that you can tell when my watch starts when you see me heading below decks - whatev.
each crew stands 3 two hour watches per day and we rotate cooking duties. so it works out to two on, six off. i sit 10am-12pm, 6pm-8pm and 2am-4am. yesterday major tom pulled his back, so we covered his overnight but generally it works out that everyone has a short bit at the wheel and plenty of rack time. during the day watches are casual as everyone is active on deck, so the night watch is the only one where you are alone on deck. harnesses, jack lines and preservers employed on deck after dark. whenever tacking or sail changes are necessary, everyone is available and no one is cross if they are awoken for assistance. tom is good about checking in throughout the night and we cover him when he needs to catch up on sleep during the day. and he does like to catch up during the day.
cooking has been fun. it took us awhile to adjust to toms british meal schedule but we just about have it. evidently brunch comes after breakfast, then dinner is at lunchtime, then we sit down to an evening meal at 8pm called tea. supper comes later but that doesnt seem to be on the menu. provisioning was fun before casting off. price was no object, but neither was organization. we had plenty of meats and vegetables for the first week but have had to get used to canned veggies, pasta and rice lately. we have been keeping ourselves in bread and rolls baking fresh every other day or so. we are getting the fishing lines out early because tom is threatening us with spam if we cant get some fish on the table.
weather has been flukey but we are making our way now. on a bluewater vessel, the lifeline to civilization is the single sideband radio. fancier yachts may do satellite modems and internet but we download email and weather faxes through more of a fax system on the ssb radio. the ssb transmits in a high frequency band that bounces off the ionosphere permitting long distance communication, as opposed to vhf, which is line of sight and has a range of only 25 miles. on the ssb, a vessel can speak to landbased operators and participate in radionets with other vessels. in addition to noaa weather faxes, we get weather advice from southbound II, a retired weather forecaster and sailor named herb who broadcasts everyday out of his home in canada. at 330pm, any vessel in the atlantic is welcome to check in with southbound II and receive up to the minute advice on weather and course plotting. since we are bouncing signal off the atmosphere, there is always interference and possibility of a 'no copy.' its a daily adventure seeing whether we are going to be able to talk to herb. then competing with all the other boats on channel. then the comic relief comes when herb, who fields calls from dozens of boats each day gets testy with a skipper. think of you junior high math teacher that everybody could imitate saying the same phrase every day - 'im getting a light copy, are you speaking into your mike? how far is your mike away from your mouth? maybe try holding you mike closer to your mouth.' you can picture the crews of fifty boats, all out in the middle of the ocean, huddling around the ssb at 1530 to see if herb is going to be able to read them - like families around radios in the twenties and thirties.
so herb says we are going to get nice winds today and tomorrow. we finally got up above the azores high pressure area and some lows are coming across from new york. tom says the weather fax confirms it, which is good because annie b likes a stiff breeze. and we are ready to feel some speed again. fair winds. out.
-------------------------------------------------
Do not push the "reply" button to respond to this message if that includes the text of this original message in your response. Messages are sent over a very low-speed radio link.
The most concise way to reply is to send a NEW message
to: wai6209@sailmail.com
If you DO use your reply button, be sure to delete the original message text and these instructions from your reply.
Replies should not contain attachments and should be less than 5 kBytes (2 text pages) in length.
This email was delivered by an HF private coast station in the Maritime Mobile Radio Service, operated by the SailMail Association, a non-profit association of yacht owners. For more information on this service or on the SailMail Association, please see the web site at:
www.sailmail.com
