It is Monday morning October 27 and we are still here in Newport waiting for the weather to clear. As we have a lot of new gear on board we are unwilling at the moment to push it too much untill everything is tested. I thought that this might be an appropriate time to give a rundown on what we did to the boat to get it ready for extended cruising.
One of the most important things for us is renewable energy. We are going to be in places where we can't find good diesel, wont have access to a dock and will not be able to find high end mechanics to help if things get too complicated. The only two steady sources for renewable energy come from solar and wind power so we installed one wind generator and two solar panels on the Sandwitch's stern. Sandwitch did not readily have a place to install this items so we bolted in a large stainless steel frame that doubles as a lift for our dingy. The top portion of the frame, or arch, houses, from port to starboard, a wind gernerator, a solar panel, two GPS antenas, another solar panel, and a KVH Satelite phone dome. The dingy hangs bellow on two block and tackle pulleys.
Now that we have a convenient way to make energy from nature we need a good way to store it. We expanded our battery bank so that it now has 1150 amp hours of capacity. While we are underway using a normal amount of electricity we can last over 48 hours without charging. Last Friday we went sailing in 15kts of breeze with all the electronics on and the autopilot driving and we were able to actually produce more energy than we were using.
Batteries are very reliable, especially if they are well monitored, so we installed a Mastervolt 2000 watt inverter/charger/monitor. This allows us to see how much charge is being produced, how much energy is being consumed and how much power we have left. It also changes 12 volt DC into 120 volt AC so we can run our microwave, blender, and other normal household appliances.
We opted against a gernerator because it's only use would be to run our Air Conditioning and we knew that if we had it we would use it thereby consuming a ton more fuel.
In the same vain of trying to consume less electrcity we installed LED lights inside Sandwitch and also for all the running and navigation lights. Regular halogens use ten times as much electricity as LEDs therefore we now can enjoy our lights much longer without worrying about too much consumption.
As we are planning on travelling to very remote places where there may not be reliable sources of water we also installed a Spectra watermaker. This amazing device uses reverse osmosis to create perfectly drinkable water from normal seawater. Also, it runs on 12 volt dc which means that we can run it off of either our battery bank or our alternator.
Stand by for another blog about all the safety equipment we have on board and how we navigate from place to place...
Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Newport to Bermuda
Hi All,
We are departing tomorrow... below you will find what the weather forcasters say...
To: Walid Abuhaidar on SY "Sandwitch"
From: Commanders' Weather Corporation, 603-882-6789
Route: Newport, RI to Bermuda
Depart: approx 2000edt Sun, October 19, 2008
Prepared: 1030edt Sat, October 18, 2008
Summary…
1) The current weather map features large and strong high pressure ridging from southeast Canada southwestward to the southern Plain States.
2) Low pressure is organizing just east of Cape Hatteras heading ENE.
3) A weak and broad high pressure ridge is located to the south of the developing low covering much of the western Atlantic.
4) The low offshore will continue to intensify into Sunday, but it will not become a particularly strong system.
5) The main factor for the developing rough conditions will be the strong high to the west which will continue pushing eastward while the offshore low does not move very fast and this will set up a strong pressure gradient.
a) Already right now winds are NE at 20-30 knots not too far off the coast of southern New England.
6) By Sunday morning, 30-40 knot NE gales will not be too far offshore.
7) By late Sunday when you depart, the low will be centered about 300 miles SE of Newport and pulling away with the high pressure ridge just inland of the coast.
8) Winds will be NE building to 15-25 knots as you head out Sunday evening.
9) These wind speeds will continue for all of Sunday night and into the predawn hours on Monday while winds back from the NE to the N as the low pulls further away to the east.
10) Conditions will continue to settle down on Monday as the low continues to move away and high pressure builds off the New England coast by late in the day.
a) Look for winds to back into the NNW and decrease into the teens Monday PM.
11) The ridge of high pressure will rotate over you Monday night with winds backing to the W and WSW and becoming fairly light for a time.
12) By Tuesday morning the ridge will be to the south near 35n oriented more west to east and this will bring you westerly winds for much of Tuesday.
a) Speeds look to be mainly in the 10-20 knot range.
b) So this looks like good wind directions for crossing the Gulf Stream.
13) Meanwhile, another strong cold front will be coming through New England on Tuesday and this will approach you on Wednesday with winds clocking from the W into the NW and freshening behind the front.
a) Speeds look to be around 15-25 knots behind it.
14) Another big and cold high pressure system will be building across southeast Canada and looks to ridge SE toward Bermuda into Thursday so winds should clock your winds into the N and then NE.
15) Seas are going to be quite large to start your trip building to 9-13 feet Sunday night, then up to 10-15 feet on Monday with large NE swell and some wind wave chop, then by Tuesday it will be mainly just leftover swell around 8-12 feet on the Gulf Stream and this swell will continue to gradually decrease into Wednesday and Thursday.
16) General weather will be mostly cloudy Sunday night with a chance of showers then decreasing clouds on Monday with fair weather early Tuesday, then a chance of showers later Tuesday into early Wednesday ahead of the approaching cold front.
17) Please keep us advised of your progress and recommend giving us a call sometime tomorrow before you leave to make sure there are no big changes to the forecast.
Routing:
1) You will not want to take a rhumb line to Bermuda as this would take you through a large meander with current coming from the S to SE.
2) Recommend aiming for 37 20n/70w coming out of Newport which is about where you can expect to enter the Gulf Stream, then once at that point aim directly for Bermuda which will have you coming out of the Gulf Stream around 36 40n/69 15w.
3) Estimated positions listed below.
Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, and time is EDT
Sun, October 19
08: 020-040/15-25
14: 030-050/15-25
20: 020-040/15-25 approx departure
Weather: Mostly cloudy, chance of a few showers offshore in the evening
Seas building to 9-13 feet, large NE swell and wind wave chop
Mon, October 20 – winds stronger to the E and lighter to the W
02: 360-020/18-25
08: 350-010/15-22 near 40n/70 50w
14: 340-360/12-20
20: 340-360/10-18
Weather: Decreasing cloudiness
Seas 10-15 feet, large NE swell and choppy early, but chop will decrease PM
Tue, October 21
02: 300-320/ 7-14
08: 260-280/10-16 near 37 20n/70w, entering Gulf Stream
14: 240-260/12-20 near 36 40n/69 15w, exiting Gulf Stream
20: 250-270/12-20
Weather: Fair early, then partly to variably cloudy with a chance of PM showers and possibly a brief squall
Seas 8-12 feet, highest on the Gulf Stream with NE to N swell
Wed, October 22
08: 270-290/15-22 near 35n/67 35w
20: 320-340/15-25
Weather: Mostly to variably cloudy with scattered showers and possibly a squall earlySeas 6-10 feet, continued N swell and some wind wave chop especially late
Thu, October 23
08: 340-360/15-22 approaching Bermuda
20: 010-030/12-20 Bermuda
Weather: Variably to partly cloudy
Seas 6-9 feet, N swell
From: Commanders' Weather Corporation, 603-882-6789
Route: Newport, RI to Bermuda
Depart: approx 2000edt Sun, October 19, 2008
Prepared: 1030edt Sat, October 18, 2008
Summary…
1) The current weather map features large and strong high pressure ridging from southeast Canada southwestward to the southern Plain States.
2) Low pressure is organizing just east of Cape Hatteras heading ENE.
3) A weak and broad high pressure ridge is located to the south of the developing low covering much of the western Atlantic.
4) The low offshore will continue to intensify into Sunday, but it will not become a particularly strong system.
5) The main factor for the developing rough conditions will be the strong high to the west which will continue pushing eastward while the offshore low does not move very fast and this will set up a strong pressure gradient.
a) Already right now winds are NE at 20-30 knots not too far off the coast of southern New England.
6) By Sunday morning, 30-40 knot NE gales will not be too far offshore.
7) By late Sunday when you depart, the low will be centered about 300 miles SE of Newport and pulling away with the high pressure ridge just inland of the coast.
8) Winds will be NE building to 15-25 knots as you head out Sunday evening.
9) These wind speeds will continue for all of Sunday night and into the predawn hours on Monday while winds back from the NE to the N as the low pulls further away to the east.
10) Conditions will continue to settle down on Monday as the low continues to move away and high pressure builds off the New England coast by late in the day.
a) Look for winds to back into the NNW and decrease into the teens Monday PM.
11) The ridge of high pressure will rotate over you Monday night with winds backing to the W and WSW and becoming fairly light for a time.
12) By Tuesday morning the ridge will be to the south near 35n oriented more west to east and this will bring you westerly winds for much of Tuesday.
a) Speeds look to be mainly in the 10-20 knot range.
b) So this looks like good wind directions for crossing the Gulf Stream.
13) Meanwhile, another strong cold front will be coming through New England on Tuesday and this will approach you on Wednesday with winds clocking from the W into the NW and freshening behind the front.
a) Speeds look to be around 15-25 knots behind it.
14) Another big and cold high pressure system will be building across southeast Canada and looks to ridge SE toward Bermuda into Thursday so winds should clock your winds into the N and then NE.
15) Seas are going to be quite large to start your trip building to 9-13 feet Sunday night, then up to 10-15 feet on Monday with large NE swell and some wind wave chop, then by Tuesday it will be mainly just leftover swell around 8-12 feet on the Gulf Stream and this swell will continue to gradually decrease into Wednesday and Thursday.
16) General weather will be mostly cloudy Sunday night with a chance of showers then decreasing clouds on Monday with fair weather early Tuesday, then a chance of showers later Tuesday into early Wednesday ahead of the approaching cold front.
17) Please keep us advised of your progress and recommend giving us a call sometime tomorrow before you leave to make sure there are no big changes to the forecast.
Routing:
1) You will not want to take a rhumb line to Bermuda as this would take you through a large meander with current coming from the S to SE.
2) Recommend aiming for 37 20n/70w coming out of Newport which is about where you can expect to enter the Gulf Stream, then once at that point aim directly for Bermuda which will have you coming out of the Gulf Stream around 36 40n/69 15w.
3) Estimated positions listed below.
Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, and time is EDT
Sun, October 19
08: 020-040/15-25
14: 030-050/15-25
20: 020-040/15-25 approx departure
Weather: Mostly cloudy, chance of a few showers offshore in the evening
Seas building to 9-13 feet, large NE swell and wind wave chop
Mon, October 20 – winds stronger to the E and lighter to the W
02: 360-020/18-25
08: 350-010/15-22 near 40n/70 50w
14: 340-360/12-20
20: 340-360/10-18
Weather: Decreasing cloudiness
Seas 10-15 feet, large NE swell and choppy early, but chop will decrease PM
Tue, October 21
02: 300-320/ 7-14
08: 260-280/10-16 near 37 20n/70w, entering Gulf Stream
14: 240-260/12-20 near 36 40n/69 15w, exiting Gulf Stream
20: 250-270/12-20
Weather: Fair early, then partly to variably cloudy with a chance of PM showers and possibly a brief squall
Seas 8-12 feet, highest on the Gulf Stream with NE to N swell
Wed, October 22
08: 270-290/15-22 near 35n/67 35w
20: 320-340/15-25
Weather: Mostly to variably cloudy with scattered showers and possibly a squall earlySeas 6-10 feet, continued N swell and some wind wave chop especially late
Thu, October 23
08: 340-360/15-22 approaching Bermuda
20: 010-030/12-20 Bermuda
Weather: Variably to partly cloudy
Seas 6-9 feet, N swell
Friday, October 17, 2008
As we watch the weather we have decided to push our departure to Sunday afternoon as the low front in the gulf stream is moving slower than we initially had anticipated.
This afternoon we are picking up our foldable bicycles (which we had serviced), filling our prescriptions (an entire years worth!), and filling up our propane tanks at Agway (so we can have enough to cook our way to Bermuda).
Tomorrow we are doing a final stop at Clements (our new favorite grocery store) and then are off to sell our car back to the dealership.
As we have been preparing and getting ready to take off the past few days in the boat yard we realized how much we are going to miss everyone from NEB! We are going to miss Bob Sharkeys reports on how fast he runs, Young Bobs reports on his engagement, Tony's morning wake up visits (when he isn't dropping our pumpkins in the water), Sue from the office, the visits from Buzz and Phip, our visits to Andrew, Bill and Nathan at the Ship Store, and Matt, Scott, Jackie, and everyone else from the Melville Grille. After some careful consideration of all the great things NEB has to offer (people, services, etc.) we have decided that we will miss the spinach and artichoke dip most of all.
This afternoon we are picking up our foldable bicycles (which we had serviced), filling our prescriptions (an entire years worth!), and filling up our propane tanks at Agway (so we can have enough to cook our way to Bermuda).
Tomorrow we are doing a final stop at Clements (our new favorite grocery store) and then are off to sell our car back to the dealership.
As we have been preparing and getting ready to take off the past few days in the boat yard we realized how much we are going to miss everyone from NEB! We are going to miss Bob Sharkeys reports on how fast he runs, Young Bobs reports on his engagement, Tony's morning wake up visits (when he isn't dropping our pumpkins in the water), Sue from the office, the visits from Buzz and Phip, our visits to Andrew, Bill and Nathan at the Ship Store, and Matt, Scott, Jackie, and everyone else from the Melville Grille. After some careful consideration of all the great things NEB has to offer (people, services, etc.) we have decided that we will miss the spinach and artichoke dip most of all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
