+7 Sailing Trip

An adventure can not be an adventure if you know what is going to happen along the way. Today's adventure involves no wind. Position virtually unchanged from yesterday. A little "no wind" vortex. There are more lined up. They are in a "no wind vortex" corridor.
Position report is
SF5 5/13/07 594 mi 135 mi 96:00:00 256° true N34 16.590 W132 02.711
SF6 5/14/07 658 mi 63.7 mi 120:00:00 254° true N34 01.396 W133 06.903
SF7 5/15/07 704 mi 46.3 mi 144:00:00 265° mag N34 08.251 W133 54.650

They seem to be doing pretty well. Sounded good. But no wind makes it hard. 10kts barely moves the boat. 25kts is best. But the wind they do have is right out of the south west so they can not make much headway. They thought about a tack but that would take them backwards and a full day of sailing would not get them out of the weather pattern they are in. There is a difference between what the forecasts report and what they are seeing. Mostly the forecasts say some wind. They see none.

So the plan is to hold to a course of about 225 which is the most southern heading they can hold, bob around in the middle of the Pacific for a while and see what the next 12 hours bring.

There are two fronts with wind moving to the area and they should feel them by Sunday or Monday. Hope they got their snack packs at Costco. Fishing 24/7 and nothing. No close encounters with any other beings. Occassionally a ship is visible on the horizon and a few planes.
Pray for good winds and following seas.

Comments

Paco said…
Hope the light winds get them out of there and that they are watching their diets, we're sure they will be a little lighter upon their return to Hawaii. I know they keeping and eagle eye for any signs of winds nearby! 225 sounds good as long it does not move back into the stationary area. Hope they have some paddles to! Mahalo!
May 16, 2007 at 1:28 AM
super_sloth_mode said…
temipuofermareThanks Makia, I've wanted to read about their crazy adventure.

Their blog says they are trapped in a wind lull, and using the weather fax to determine they need to get a couple of hundred miles north or south to catch the wind.

I probably should have explained to them a little more about NOAA's weather reporting system. Most incorrectly believe that the weather satellite images are the primary data sources for weather prediction.  In fact, orbital satellites produce a very limited range of data.

The weather fax, or map of the weather is actually based on information gathered on ships and submitted by radio.  The data on ocean currents, wind strength, barometric pressure and the like are generated not with satellite imagery, but with local observation.  A limited number of commercial ships submit data daily, and their information is broadly applied to the whole region.

The Botzes should know that their data information is probably the combination of satellite imagery and container ship observations from vessels on the major trade routes.

If you read a weather fax each little wind flag also represents the location of the ship reporting  that wind current. You can also see how the presence of a single flag can distort shapes of their hyperbolic weather fronts. 

http://www.vos.noaa.gov/vos_scheme.shtml


Geoff
May 16, 2007 at 1:31 PM
super_sloth_mode said…
Hello Mr. and Mrs. Boltz,

I'll come over sometime this week with Geoff, who was a merchant marine for 4 years. He knows a lot about the ocean and maritime jargon and practice and is happy to talk story if you are interested in picking his brain.

Warm regards,
Makia
May 16, 2007 at 1:35 PM
Dave said…
I crewed from San Francisco to Honolulu, Hawaii last June on a 42' Hunter (24 days). We had some light wind days, and always headwinds in the optimal (rhumb line) direction. We finally had to work our way south to 19 degrees North latitude to catch consistent trades that moved us well toward Hawaii. I suspect you need to get south of the North Pacific high pressure system to make progress. You are going to get a lot of Mexican AM radio reception at the lower latitudes that will carry nearly to Hawaii. Dave
May 17, 2007 at 3:33 AM
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