sy Timoneer

25th APRIL 2007 – GIBRALTAR ARRIVAL REPORT

Timoneer arrived all safe and sound in Gibraltar where we anchored at 2300 local time last night, 24th April. We travelled a total of 3,255 miles in 12day and 20minutes giving us an average speed of 11.3 knots. At 0830 this morning we moved into the Queensway Marina and are waiting for the new batteries to be delivered. They are arriving late and only cross the border from Spain this afternoon so we are hoping not to be delayed for our departure tomorrow morning.
Yesterday afternoon was pretty hectic coming into the Straits, which are less than 8 miles wide at the narrowest part. At one time we had 157 targets on the AIS and this does not include the fishing boats and smaller craft who are not required to fit the AIS tracking device. All of this was with a 20 knot head wind and about 4 miles visability due to the haze.
Tomorrow at first light we will take on fuel and set off on the trip to Palma by lunchtime at the latest we hope. I should take two days to get there. Everyone is very happy to be in Gib.
Regards = PHil

24th APRIL 2007. – NOON REPORT FOR TUESDAY.
POSITION: 36 00N. 006 53W
DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 272 in last 24 hours – course 090 degrees
WIND: East at 17 knots
WEATHER: Very Hazy but generally fine and sunny with clouds
NEWS:
We are now in the thick of the ships as we all funnel in to the ship separation lanes leading into the Straits of Gibraltar. We have 81 miles to go from Noon our time but Gib is three hours ahead of us so we will change our clocks on arrival making it about 11pm arrival time. Unfortunately the marina will be closed so we will have to anchor out for the night but it is still going to be nice to stop and get some rest. We will enter the Queensway Marina in the morning so the girls can go shopping in the local supermarket and the guys will be loading a ton and a half of new batteries which have been trucked down from Holland. We will bunker on Wednesday morning and then head straight from there to Palma, hopefully to arrive in Palma on Saturday ( the final of the World Cricket is on Saturday so everyone wants to get in on time!)
We have had the lines out but no fish seem interested. We have seen some more dolphins again and this morning a couple of whales heading in towards the Med. We have also had a visit from a little lost dove which has been flying around and keeps landing on the deck for a rest. He has now gone so hopefully he can leap frog from one ship to the next until he gets safely to land.
Rgrds = PHil

NOON. MONDAY 23RD APRIL 2007.
POSITION: 36 01N. 012 29W
DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 283 miles – 24hrs
WIND: North at 10 knots
WEATHER: Cloudy, fine and mainly clear, about 8 miles vis.
NEWS:
We are now right in the shipping lane of ships coming down the Portuguese coast from UK and northern Europe to the South and vice versa. We have 24 targets showing up on the AIS (Automatic Identification System) which displays any vessel within VHF range giving their name, size, destination and various other details. The ship is shown on our chart plotter which at the moment looks like we are crossing a marine highway like a scared rabbit trying to get to the other side of a busy road. The AIS works similar to the system used by air traffic control at airports and has recently become compulsory for the likes of us. We would normally not even know we were surrounded by all these vessels as we have only seen 3 of them all morning! One Japanese refridgeration ship was on collision course and altered to starboard passing about half a mile behind us. We spoke on VHF to another ship heading from Portugal to Puerto Rico. He normally runs between PR and Texas with cargo but had come to Portugal for the dry dock – a long way from home!
We have seen more porpoises but guess they must have eaten all the tuna as we have not caught anymore.
We are now just over 300 miles from Gib and expect to anchor there tomorrow evening, much to the excitement of all on board. = PHil

Noon Report for SUNDAY 22ND APRIL 2007.
POSITION: 35 17N. 018 14W
DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 245 miles in 23 hours
WIND: NNE at 6 knots
WEATHER: Overcast and quite cold
NEWS:
At Last! We are now in Tuna Town, landed 3 nice big eye tuna ( all about 20lb each) this morning and have also seen dolphin zooming about. They looked like they were feeding and showed no interest in coming across to visit us and play off the bow wave. They are obviously happy to see the tuna as well!
We filleted down the tuna and now Penny is in the galley cutting it up and vacuum bagging it all for the freezer. We are having sushi for lunch and grilled tuna for dinner.
A short low swell has developed out of the NE, just off our port bow and it seems to be just the right length to make Timoneer pitch quite badly although it is relatively small. We are seeing a few more ships as well now as we close in towards the Straits of Gibraltar. We are currently north of Madeira and expect to arrive in Gib on tuesday evening.
Everything continues well on board = PHil

Noon Report – SATURDAY 21ST APRIL 2007.
POSITION: 34 26N. 23 07W
DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 274 miles in 24hours on course of 073 degrees
WIND: NNEly at 5knots
WEATHER: Sunny, fine and clear with low seas and swell.
NEWS:
Today it is really hard to find something to write about! Nothing much has happened, we continue on our course, the weather is much the same and we have caught no fish. We still see flotsam and jetsam and Portuguese men of war but no other wild life except the occasional petrel flying frantically around. Long may it last we are all saying, except for the fishing situation that is.
Maybe we will have more to report tomorrow but meantime we continue to do chores and projects on board taking advantage of the calm weather. Everyone is happy and healthy.
Regards=PHil

FRIDAY 20TH APRIL 2007.
POSITION: 33 06N. 28 21W
DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 264 in 24 hours on course of 074 degrees true.
WIND: Absolutely none!
WEATHER: Fine, clear and sunny with an ideal temperature.
NEWS:
The sea is like a liquid desert, miles and miles of glassy calm undulating with a small confused swell that comes from nowhere. A few ships, a few bits of flotsam and not much else.
We had our first visit from a school of dolphins yesterday afternoon which was fun as they played off our bow for a while in the calm water, but no more turtles. We are also seeing a lot of Portuguese Men of War ( we call them Blue Bottles in South Africa) with their little bluish/purple bubble floating along the surface acting as a sail, going who knows where. They have long blue tentacles hanging down underneath them that can sting the unsuspecting swimmer quite badly.
We have the lines out but no more fish. Penny is threatening us with left overs for dinner if we do not catch a tuna before then, as all the dorado has been frozen for the future. Bevan promptly changed the lures!
Everything continues well on board. = PHil

THURS. 19TH APRIL 2007. 
POSITION:   31   54N.   33   22W
DISTANCE TRAVELLED:  268 on course of 074 degrees
WIND: Flat calm
WEATHER: Warm and sunny
NEWS:
The wind has now deserted us altogether and the sea is an oily, undulating calm. There is a small confused swell still running, mainly from the north. With the calm weather we are also seeing more junk floating past, two big fishing bouys, a milk crate and other unidentified objects. However we have also seen a couple of turtles this morning but no other sea life except for the storm petrels fluttering across the surface from time to time.
We have a small fuel leak from the fuel filters so when we hooked a small dorado (released) we took the opportunity to shut down the main engine to cure the problem. Timoneer sat dead still in the middle of nowhere so 4 of us hopped over the side for a quick swim. The water was surprisingly cool but it was nice a refreshing, we swam once around the boat and then took off again. We were not going more than 10 minutes and we hooked another dorado, much bigger this time and he did a spectacular tail walk and succeeded in throwing the hook. Good for him and good for us as Penny is refusing to accept any more dorado in the freezer.
Last evening we passed the half way mark and the forecast still looks reasonable. We reckon to arrive on 24th in Gib.
Regards = PHil

WEDNESDAY 18TH APRIL 2007. 
POSITION:   30   42N.   38   22W
DISTANCE TRAVELLED:  260 in 23 Hours
WIND: Not much!
WEATHER: Sunny and warm with few clouds.
NEWS:
The weather has improved a bit and the big NWly swell has gone down considerably. We continue under motor with the main and mizzen up, sheeted in flat to help stop the rolling.
There is very little to report today as it is much the same as yesterday! We even do not have the lines out today but will probably start fishing again after lunch. Our position is SW of the Azores so hopefully we are approaching tuna territory. We have about 1,700 miles to go so we will be at the half way mark this evening and all is well on board.
Regards = PHil

17 APRIL 2007.
POSITION: 29 15N. 043 03W
DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 267 miles – 24hrs
WIND: Very light WSEly
WEATHER: Cloudy and mainly fine.
NEWS:
Just when we thought the fish had all gone we caught 3 more dorado, releasing one of the smaller ones and filleting the rest for the freezer. The bigger of the two fish that we kept weighed 26lbs so we are well stocked now. Penny is starting to complain so we now have the lines in until we suspect that we are in “Tuna Territory” (from past experience this usually just south of the Azores).
There has been a huge swell running and with this very light breeze from almost dead astern we are rolling quite a bit which is uncomfortable and makes sleeping difficult. We have seen 4 ships in the last 24 hours and also a couple of birds – petrels we believe.
The area between the trade winds and the roaring forties up north is the Azores high pressure system and there is usually very little wind. In the old days the sailing ships would get becalmed, sometimes for weeks, which gave this area the name of “horse latitudes”, as they would have to kill the horses on board due to lack of food. The high pressure in mid ocean is surrounded by a clockwise current (Gulf Steam to the West and North and Canary Current to the East) so it is like a gigantic whirlpool and 20 years ago all the floating garbage would end up here in the middle. We would see a lot of plastic, old ropes and anything else that floated and had been thrown overboard from both ships and yachts. These days I am happy to report that there is a marked difference and we are now seeing just the occassional bit of flotsam. Yesterday we passed a 50 gallon drum and a bright red milk crate, as well as various bits of polystyrene, but generally not much. We have also seen quite a few derelict fishing floats over the past few days, several with radar reflectors on them and suspect that these have broken free in some distant waters.

All is well on board as we make good progress towards Gibraltar.
PHil Wade

NOON MONDAY 16TH APRIL 2007.
POSITION: 27 32N. 47 43W
DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 262 in 23 hours on course of 066 degrees
WIND: Mainly light NWly
WEATHER: Overcast and cool
NEWS:
The sun has deserted us and a huge swell has filled in from the NW. We see on the weather chart a big low off Cape Hatterras which will be the cause of the swell but luckily it is predicted to move NE and will not affect our wind too seriously. With the light winds way abaft the beam it is difficult to sail but we have managed to shut down the engine on a couple of occassions but shortlived.
It was when we had the engine off and the prop feathered that we hooked into another fish yesterday afternoon. By the time we got the genoa furled and the boat stopped we had lost it and have not had any more hits. This is pretty much as expected from previous trip in this area. Once we get south of the Azores we should hook up with a tuna or two.
We have seen several ships recently all on reciprical courses to us, presumably from the Med to Panama or there abouts. Still no sea life.
All is well on board. PHil.