Agreed. At night, you can't see a darn thing anyway, so you rely on electronic eyes that can awake you with an alarm. We hit a whale in the Pacific at night and at the time I was staring out into the waves and saw absolutely nothing so I might as well have been taking a nap. During the day, depending on wave conditions, you will see some things with a diligent watch, but it always seemed to me that the main purpose of a watch was to respond to electronic sightings, which are few and far between on many routes.I do not have a problem with two people onboard, sharing the duties.
In open water at 7 knots I also have no problem with leaving the helm and getting a drink, or something from the fridge, or a pee break.
Not much happens all that quickly at 7 knots. And in the dark you cant see anyway.
On long passages, you need to do something to pass the time. Reading a book, watching a movie, or even surfing TF is just fine as long as you're maintaining a good level of situational awareness
Ian, I'm like you, coming from a sailing background and it seems the idea of heaving to is pretty alien to most trawler folks. Plus the hull forms and windage distribution means most trawlers couldn't heave to even if they wanted to, so a para anchor on a bridle would be needed to hold position. That said, without any question, we'll carry a para anchor on Delfin when we head out simply because the luxury of just 'pulling off the highway' and taking 24 hours to rest and recharge is worth the effort of learning how to manage the process.I have been following this thread with interest. My wife and I did a similar trip across the Pacific. True, it was on a sailboat but still some things do translate. I wonder why they can't just heave-to under A/P and head into the wind and waves until the weather ameliorates, thus holding position and not running the risk of missing their destination. They might get a little respite from the watch and watch they must be keeping. There's nothing magical about the schedule of 13 days, other than a self-imposed goal. I also wonder if they have the fuel for an alternative destination.
Ian
What equipment would Richard need to have access to above links or same data via shortwave?
Back to the weather forecast. To those who can read wx charts & understand forecasts....how does the rest of the trip look?
You can eat tuna out of the can, sans mayo, trust me in that.
Spices help though, like Texas Pete or pepper sauce.
Ian, I'm like you, coming from a sailing background and it seems the idea of heaving to is pretty alien to most trawler folks. Plus the hull forms and windage distribution means most trawlers couldn't heave to even if they wanted to, so a para anchor on a bridle would be needed to hold position. That said, without any question, we'll carry a para anchor on Delfin when we head out simply because the luxury of just 'pulling off the highway' and taking 24 hours to rest and recharge is worth the effort of learning how to manage the process.
With a paravane on a 'Pardey' bridal, you could bring a barge into a hove to state if there is a bit of wind, or so I believe. Just has to be sized for the boat.I don't know if the trawler we want can heave too but I suspect it can depending on the sail plan. I need to ask some of the owners to see if they have tried...
I have no idea if a KK42 can heave too but right now Richard would have issues if he could stop. He has two lows arriving in Ireland this week and another one pushing up behind him. If he stops, the low behind him will catch him. He needs to move SLOW enough to avoid the first low to hit Ireland but fast enough to avoid the low moving up behind him AND fast enough to get to port before the second low hits Ireland.
On the 48 & 96 hour wave forecasts the low moving behind Richard is going to have 3 to 4 meter waves moving from the SSW to Ireland. He needs to get to port, not to fast, not to slow, but Goldilock Speed.
Later,
Dan
It's bad enough that I finished my last pecan pie AND I have 20 cans of tuna fish, but NO mayonnaise.
Is there a reason he doesn't want to see more than 24hrs out?
With apologies for the food diversion...
I've made tuna-fish with ranch dressing instead of mayo. And on a long spell away from a store used some hot and sweet mustard. Definitely the ranch was preferred, but every condiment is an option.
For the past year or so I've added lentil sprouts to my tuna too. The sprouts offer a bit of texture. Ditto boat-grown scallions.
P.S. - Foil packages are the best for tuna. The StarKist brand has some with seasoning that are amazing. Lemon Pepper is my favorite.
Blubyu, Dannc or anyone talking to Dauntless,
Have you noticed that his battery on the Delorme is indicating low? Has he mentioned anything about this?
I saw that low battery on his last two position updates. I messaged this to him.
I noticed that in his last update that his speed had dropped to 3.11 mph. Hope he is not having alternator problems.
I noticed that in his last update that his speed had dropped to 3.11 mph. Hope he is not having alternator problem
Edit: Speed back up to 6.9. Maybe his readings are going up and down the swells. Battery in Delorme unit showing low.
Is there a reason he doesn't want to see more than 24hrs out?
Is there a reason he doesn't want to see more than 24hrs out?
Absolutely correct. That is what we did as well. I calculated how long it would take a vessel to appear on the horizon and mow me down and it was right around 20 minutes. I didn't find that sleep to be particularly restful, but it kept me going with an alert eye often enough to likely do a better watch than was being kept on the very few ships we saw. Ships, by the way that rarely answered a VHF hail. I assumed it was because they didn't speak English or were asleep in their bunks.Single hand or double hand I do watches with a 20 minute timer on my harness.. and catnap between alarms. A body has to sleep, just watch the skippers on Deadliest Catch wear down on a 24hr sit at the helm.. and all the Red Bull doesn't help. Blue water cruising while doing the above is relatively safe.. it's close to land/shipping where most trouble happens.
Most people that worry too much about this kind of thing never leave the beach.
I applaud Richard for living his dream and not be afraid to step out of the comfort zone to make it come true.
Modern equipment and Nav systems make this much safer and more doable
HOLLYWOOD
Reply from Richard concerning the low battery and if he was aware....
I am now.
Thanks for watching over me
Richard Bost sent this message from:
Lat 46.231263 Lon -14.416337
Thank you for telling him. I was just checking weather to see if there were any surprises. None that I can see so far on 24 hours...
Later,
Dan