09/09/2007, The Race
Yesterday my buddy John and moved Christa from the top of Point Judith Pond to the Harbor of Refuge which basically juts out from PJ and is protected on all sides. We delayed leaving for Long Island Sound by a day due to adverse winds. Right on the nose, 15 to 20kts with higher gusts. So we had al day to assimilate, stow for sea and generally rest.
This morning we arose at 0330 with a favorable forecast and as importantly a favorable tide. On this leg down the LI Sound most everything is timed based on currents in certain bottle necks. The first one, "The Race" is a no joke choke point. In fact about an hour ago Christa was squirted through The Race at nearly 8 kts! Although we are on the iron jenny, we are making tracks toward Port Jefferson on Long Island's north shore. We hope to arrive around 8 or 9pm this evening. Yes a long day, but were trying to make up for a day lost. If all goes well, we will leave Port Jefferson tomorrow bound for Manahasset which will be our staging point to ride through Hell Gate and down the east side of Manhatten.
Capt Chris with Agent Gamble aboard
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Comments [1]
Good Luck!
Debbi
09/07/2007, Williamstown ma
I've been watching the weather very carefully this entire week as it oscillates back and forth. This is the tricky thing with sailing during the changing of the seasons.
I'm still on a mooring at the top of Point Judith Pond RI and will have gathered up my shipmate John who's going to lend a hand down the sound. So the low pressure system is still sitting off the SE coast of the US doing....well no body really has a good idea of its future. But hear is what a forecaster has to say about the bugger today.
"An area of disturbed weather (99L) that formed along an old frontal boundary has grown much better organized over the past six hours, thanks to an decrease in wind shear. Strong upper level winds from the southwest are still creating about 15-20 knots of wind shear over 99L, but satellite loops of 99L show that a more organized circulation has formed, with heavy thunderstorm activity starting to build north of the center. The GFS-based SHIPS model is predicting wind shear will fall to 5 knots on Saturday over 99L, and this should allow the storm to organize into a tropical storm by Saturday. The storm may have time to intensify into a Category 1 hurricane before it makes landfall Sunday night in South Carolina or North Carolina, as predicted by the latest run of the GFDL model. However, the SHIPS intensity model and the HWRF models are calling for a tropical storm and tropical depression, respectively, at landfall. My best guess is that this will be a 60-65 mph tropical storm at landfall, but there is a very high amount of uncertainty with this forecast. The storm is then expected to track northward and then northeastward along the coast, bringing heavy rains and high winds to the mid-Atlantic and New England areas on Monday and Tuesday. The Hurricane Hunters are scheduled to investigate 99L at 5pm EDT today. NHC issued this special advisory at 8:45am today"
With this in mind John and I hope to depart Point Judith tomorrow and head toward Fishers Island. Although the winds are not ideal, the forcast is SW 10 to 15 with gusts to 20kts, however the wind will be close to on the nose. The wind will back off nicely on Sunday, but a delay in leaving would put us closer to the potential tropical storm. At this point I think it may be better to suck it up and bash into a little weather. The leg to Fishers Island is only 16 nm or so. More to follow!
Capt Chris
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09/04/2007, Point Judith Pond RI
A low pressure system developed yesterday afternoon to the east of northern Florida. It is not a named tropical storm so the weather folks designate it "Invest99" for tracking purposes. It is slightly worrisome as the computer models are not in agreement and much uncertainty exists. It could develope and strike the east coast from the Carolina's anywhere north. Could impact my planned departure date.
The good news is that if a storm does threaten my current position, I am well protected and may be hauled out at Silver Springs marina. But since I am Joe Positive I think to myself "it will all work out." More later......later.
Capt Chris
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09/04/2007, Point Judith Pond RI
This morning I awoke prior to sunrise for work. What a drag...work is. But I was delighted to set off in the dingy on such a beautiful morning. I took a picture.
Capt Chris
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09/03/2007, Top of Point Judith Pond RI
Christa and company (Capt, Tracy and Fernie) sailed yesterday, 9/2/2007 at 0940 from Newport Navy Base bound for Point Judith Rhode Island. I would consider this departure the start of the trip around the planet, even though I have not yet been released from my duties with work. Next Saturday (9/08/07) weather depending is the target date to sail from Point Judith and start making the trek to the Chesapeake Bay.
Anyway, we motored the distance to Point Judith on a beautiful day, little wind but a great day anyway. I am happy to report that all of Christa's systems functioned correctly. I will mention the AIS receiver. That little bugger is pretty cool. As long as a ship is transmitting the data my AIS picks up the information and plots it right on the screen and sounds an alarm when the ship comes within the inner ring. It worked well yesterday for multiple contacts.
Once we arrived in Point Judith pond we did some shuffling around. I had arranged to pick up a mooring from the Narragansett Harbor Master, but the assigned mooring had another boat on it. He was supposed to bug out in the afternoon. We lashed onto a temporary mooring in very shallow water with even more shallow water close aboard. The area is chock full of current and sits right in the middle of the fishing fleet with constant boat movements. I quickly became unstoked about the situation. We moved to a fishing pier where the fleet unloads and loads lobster pots and such to wait for the mooring to shuffle. Well that wasn't to be. The Harbor Master assigned us a mooring far up the top of Point Judith Pond near Silver Springs Marina. It really is lovely up here at the top of the pond, but about an hour transit to the mouth of the Rhode Island Sound and can be a navigational challenge as it is shallow everywhere. I was stationed here in Point Judith in the early 90's and have the advantage of knowing the area which is a great comfort. Even stranger is the spot where we are moored is the same spot I road out Hurricane Bob on a Coast Guard Motor Surf Boat, the 30620 in August of 1991.
The plan is to stick up in this area and watch the weather this week and plan on a Saturday departure with my buddy John. One last thing. A grand fiesta was thrown on A-Dock at the Newport Navy Base on Saturday to give me a send off. I am not used to all the fuss. But I wanted to thank them from the bottom of my heart, my neighbors Mike & Cheryl for putting on the shindig, procuring a large lit palm tree and providing me much joy. They gave me and Christa a fine send off! Thank you!
Capt Chris
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