Day 11

Although our watch schedule has been quite loose this passage, we do keep a log with entries at least every hour. The log is a bound book with numbered pages that can be used in a court of law (ie collision with another vessel).

It also records our last known position in the event of loss of navigation instruments (GPS system goes down, power failure, etc.) We would be transported back to before 1980 and resort to using dead reckoning, celestial navigation and paper charts. When Kurt and Harry sailed to Mexico, Marquesas, Hawaii and back to San Francisco in 1982, GPS was not available to the public. Positions were determined using a sextant, sight reduction tables and a chronometer. A noon sight is the easiest but sometimes (as in the first few days of this trip) the sun is obscured by clouds and its angle to the horizon cannot be determined. There are methods to get fixes at other times and using other celestial bodies (moon, stars, planets).

 

Entries include:

CTS      Magnetic Course To Steer to reach our next waypoint

COG    Magnetic Course Over Ground (the direction the vessel is actually traveling accounting for leeway             and current as read on the GPS)

BSP      Boat Speed (using two underwater sensors on the hull and keel measuring the Doppler effect)

SOG     Speed Over Ground

TWD     Magnetic actual wind direction

WSP     Wind Speed (a calculated value based on BSP and apparent wind speed)

BAR      Barometric pressure in mb

SEA T.  Sea Temperature (Interlude has a thru hull thermometer)

LOG     Miles recorded using BSP

AWA     Apparent Wind Angle (useful for setting sails or steering while sailing)

OIL       Main engine oil pressure (it is a good idea to look at the gages to check for anomalies at least                     every hour when the engine is running)

HRS      Main engine hours

Te          Main engine coolant temperature (to make sure raw water is flowing and other cooling                             components are working properly)

Tx          Main engine exhaust temperature (to make sure the engine is not lugging)

On May 25, 2024, our position at

1200 local

1200 PDT

0700 NZST (May 26)

was:

9d20.1m N, 143d12.7m W

24 hr noon to noon:  218 nm

It is now 95 F in the pilothouse and sea temperature is 85 F. The tropics “makes her clothes fall off”