Author Archive
Saturday 16th April 2005
Noon position: 23’12.4 N 63′ 37.3W
Course: 24′ T Speed: 10.2 kts Days run: 284 miles (29 hours from departure)
Weather: Overcast & Grey Wind: 22kts 175’T
News
Timoneer is at sea once again departing from the British Virgin Islands for Bermuda Friday morning at 05:30. The weather on Friday morning was overcast and grey with threatening rain which was quite a change from the clear dry weather during the days prior to departure. We rounded up behind Jost Van Dyke and raised the mainsail in 14-16kts of wind from the South East. It was all about fishing during the first four hours of the trip as we crossed the various banks North of the BVI catching 8 fish in the first 4 hours. Three of the fish were Barracudas which we released along with one Mackerel and 4 Tuna, two of which were 18lbs each. As we continued on our Northerly course the breeze filled in from the South East and we turned the engine off at 1100 sailing with the Main, Genoa and Mizzen averaging between 10-11kts. We are still sailing today at noon and have had the engine off for the last 25 hours. The breeze is veering constantly to the South and we have been slowly altering our course slightly to the West. Currently we are about 20′ high of course, this is to keep some pressure on the sails and to stop the boat from rolling in the building swell. As you would imagine we had sashimi and seared tuna for dinner last night along with ceviche for lunch today. Everyone on board is well.
John
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Friday, 17 December 2004
Anchored in St. Maarten Position : 18’02″N 63’05” W
News
Timoneer anchored outside the entrance to Simpson Bay lagoon, St. Maarten at 2130 local time. We completed the journey from the Canary islands in 9 days 16hrs and 10minutes for an average of 11.2kts. Everyone on board is well and looking forward to spending a little time on land. Timoneer will now be in St. Maarten until we pick up guests on the 27th, when we will be cruising to Anguilla, St. Barts, St. Christopher, Nevis and Antigua.
Happy Holidays,
John
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Friday, 17 December 2004
Noon Position : 18’34″N 61’10” W
Course 256 degrees Speed 12.6 knots Days Run : 301 miles
Weather : Sunny Wind : 50 degrees 11 knots
News
At noon today Timoneer is 112 miles from St. Maarten and at our current speed will be anchored outside the Simpson Bay bridge by 2200 this evening. The weather has turned to full Caribbean and is hot and steaming especially motor sailing in this direction as the apparent wind speed is down too 2-4kts. The boys are getting everything ready for our arrival inflating fenders and the crew tender to use to go to customs. On the fishing scene this morning we landed at 27LB Dorado (Mahi Mahi) and then twin Big Eye Tuna’s of 12Lbs. each. That rounds out the freezer nicely for this crossing as we have approximately 35Lbs of fillets and steaks. Everyone on board is well.
John
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Thursday, 16 December 2004
Noon Position : 19’29″N 56’11” W
Course 256 degrees Speed 12.0 knots Days Run : 284 miles
Weather : Sunny with patchy clouds Wind : 80 degrees 16 knots
News
Timoneer motor sailed for the last 24 hours as the breeze and swell continue to moderate. With the wind from behind and with very little green water on deck Mike is playing the odds and has already started scrubbing the teak. Everyone took a turn and we finished too amidships in record time. That was even including a small time out for landing and cleaning a small Wahoo (13LB) that we caught on the same lure that has hooked all three fish this trip.
John
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Wednesday, 15 December 2004
Noon Position : 20’38″N 51’30 W
Course 256 degrees Speed 11.8 knots Days Run : 296 miles
Weather : Overcast and grey Wind : 90 degrees 17 knots
News
The excitement of the day was sighting our first ship since we departed the Canary Islands, 7 days ago. It was a huge container ship doing 22 kts on its way to Africa by the looks of things. The weather continues to be decidedly grey and overcast with more cloud cover than you typically see on this trip. The strong easterly that we have had continues to drop along with the swell which seems to be making for better fishing conditions as we landed a 10Lb Dorado this morning.
John
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Tuesday, 14 December 2004
Noon Position : 21’48″N 46’18 W
Course 260 degrees Speed 12.0 knots Days Run : 284 miles
Weather : Overcast with isolated showers Wind : 90 degrees 19 knots
News
The conditions remain rather unchanged today as Timoneer motor sailed with the Easterly breeze. At noon today we had another 961 miles before we reach our destination of St. Maarten. With the current speed and weather we should arrive on Friday evening where we will anchor out and wait for the bridge opening on Saturday morning. I have been blaming the sea state on our poor showing in the fishing department but our luck finally turned today as we landed a 32lb Wahoo on a yellow and red squid. The majority of which was vacuum packed and stored in the freezer for our next group of guests.
John
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Monday, 13 December 2004
Noon Position : 22’48″N 41’17 W
Course 267 degrees Speed 12.0 knots Days Run : 281 miles
Weather : Warm & Sunny Wind : 70 degrees 18 knots
News
The breeze continued to veer throughout the day and settled out of the East blowing 15-20kts. The wind angle broadened to almost straight behind so we shortened sail and began motor sailing to try and reduce the sail luffing caused by the swell. This worked quite well although we adjusted course too about 10 degrees high of rhumb line, compromising on a relatively smooth ride while still making good distance towards St. Maarten.
John
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Sunday, 12 December 2004
Noon Position : 23’29″N 36’20 W
Course 269 degrees Speed 11.0 knots Days Run : 259 miles
Weather : Clear & Sunny Wind : 40 degrees 20 knots
News
Saturday afternoon the breeze finally decided to cooperate and started to build from the north by 1400. We wanted to take advantage of the nice wind angle the Northerly provided and hoisted the full main followed by the genoa and mizzen. The breeze held out surprisingly well and we sailed for the next 18 hours straight covering 259 miles in the 24hours. In the light spots of 12-14kts our speed would dip to 8.5kts but generally we could average 12.5kts in 18kts of breeze and topped out at our max speed for the day of 13.8kts in one of the gusts.
John
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Saturday, 11 December 2004
Noon Position : 24’29″N 31’37 W
Course 253 degrees Speed 11.9 knots Days Run : 312 miles (25 hours, time change)
Weather : Overcast Wind : 10 degrees 8 knots
News
Timoneer motored in very light wind throughout Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Only one log entry for the entire 24 hours recorded a wind speed above 10kts, that being 14kts in a passing rain shower. The crew is generally busy with projects and cleaning. At 1000 we moved the clock back for the second time during the trip as we work our way Westward. The water temperature has risen to 78’F and we have seen the occasional flying fish so I am hoping we will catch something shortly. Everyone on board is well.
John
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Friday, 10 December 2004
Noon Position : 25’38″N 26’03 W
Course 258 degrees Speed 11.9 knots Days Run : 285 miles
Weather : Overcast Wind : 50 degrees 6 knots
News
Timoneer motored through yesterday afternoon and this morning in very light breeze. The highest recorded wind speed in the log over the 24 hour period was 8.5 knots. The effects of a large low pressure system mid-Atlantic are reaching down just enough to stall any easterly breeze. The sea is almost glassy calm with a large rolling swell coming in from that system to the north. We have taken advantage calm weather to do a major wash down and try and rid the boat of all the black volcanic dust we picked up in Tenerife. After that Mike & Cally were polishing the paint work and I touched up some varnish in the pilot house. Peggy made a big Lasagna for lunch and we are having fish (Cod from Sweden) and chips for dinner.
John
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