July 15th - Oops - we missed Ft. Lauderdale
Erkki and I had the dawn patrol today. Our shift included looking at
lots of
shipping, as well as distant thunderstorms, on our radar, as we
tracked the
Gulf Stream in search of a lift north. All the light shows resulted in
nothing, however, as they were too far away to affect us. One
(additional -
after all the rest so far) problem which surfaced early on, however,
was
that apparently our mast-top navigation light has no red light. That
means
vessels approaching us from our port side can't see us. That's meant
that we
have to run our deck level navigation lights, as well as our masthead,
or
steaming, lights. As those lights are of the heat-generating type,
they use
a lot of electricity. So, we'll have to attend to that rather quickly,
as we
won't want to run our deck level lights any more than necessary - not
to
mention that the mast-top light is new, and high-tech, so we want to
get it
replaced immediately.
Fortunately for this set of circumstances, however, the wind continues
to be
nonexistent - or so low as to require running the engine. Running the
engine
generates more electricity than we use, so it's been ok about the
lights. As
I write this, we're again under motor, with sails furled other than
the
main, which is up to minimize rolling in the light waves which are
present
tonight.
Earlier today, the wind was entirely dead, starting shortly after
first
light. As sunlight is the biggest age component of sails, we stowed
them
all, and motored on. Fortunately, the Gulf Stream added speed to our
travels, as expected, and we continued to make good time with light
use of
the "Iron Genny" - so nicknamed for replacing the genoa (the big sail
up
front) - similar to the "Iron Horse" of pioneer times.
However, it was so hot that we also took a swim and bath break around
noon.
It was very refreshing, and lowered our body temperatures, despite the
Gulf
Stream being in the upper 80s. We renewed our vigor and continued to
motor.
As I was off shift, I went down to nap, again, and when I came up, the
wind
had picked up to a wonderful 4 knots, in a direction suitable for
putting
out the spinnaker. So, of course, we did.
Another phantasmagorical sail under that marvelous piece of rainbow
cloth.
We were making 5 and 6 knots in the water, but with the Gulf Stream
lift, we
were making 9 or more knots over ground. We'd been making such good
time
since we entered the stream that we took a meeting and the crew
decided we'd
go to Daytona Beach, instead. There, it will take less time to drive
home,
and, as a bonus, there may be a ride available from one of Erkki's
friends.
As I write, we're off North Palm Beach, making over 8 knots with a 4
knot
lift from the Gulf Stream. As it's such a boost, even though it goes
offshore rather much by the time we get to Daytona Beach, we'll ride
it
until nearly 30 miles to go, then triangulate into the entry. This
will
duplicate the entry I made all these years ago, on our proving cruise
with
my second ex-wife's father. He'd been taking on crew as he did a
single-handed circumnavigation, and we were one of the last legs; it's
what
convinced Lydia that it's what she wanted to do for the rest of our
lives.
Tonight on the SSB was better, in that I could hear the traffic, and,
while
the control in mid-Florida couldn't hear me, a guy in Texas could, and
relayed our information for us. We're now in the winlink.com tracking
section, so those interested could go to the web site and look for our
call
sign, seen in the sig line, but KI4MPC (Kilo India Four Mike Poppa
Charlie).
However, this time around also exposed a weakness, said to be a well
known
difficulty in our particular radio. At high power, we get voice
clipping.
Practically speaking, that means people can hear us but not understand
us.
The good news is that it amounts to a product defect, and should be
remedied
at no cost - albeit not only a delay, and probably at least the
shipping
costs to return it to the factory or some authorized service center.
So, there are some things we'd like to get repaired or corrected, as
soon as
possible. If there's a service center in Daytona Beach, it's worth
spending
some time there to have that defect remedied. Of course, if there are
service centers, likely NYC would have one, which would be OK, too, as
we at
least are able to check in with the Mobile Maritime Net. Likewise, if
my
supplier can send me a replacement mast light overnight, I could get
that
installed while we're in Daytona. Given the level of security that
represents in shipping lanes, that's a high priority. Fortunately for
the
nuisance factor, there are also several other things I need to do up
the
mast, so I can attend to them at the same time.
Overall, we're doing much better than hoped, and the breakages and
difficulties are part and parcel of cruising. The saying goes that
"Cruising
is boat repair in exotic locations!" I'm not certain how exotic
Daytona
Beach, and New York City environs is, but at least it fits with the
usual
epectations of having to fix something after every voyage. Fortunately
for
us, those things so far are minimal.
Erkki and I have the midnight shift tonight (ends at midnight) so I
should
get another full night's sleep, and be ready to go at it again. So
far, so
good, and we're thrilled to find that it's meeting our expectations.
L8R
Skip
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
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