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Rocket Science '08

Vessel Name: Rocket Science
Vessel Make/Model: Custom carbon fiber 55' NA Paul Bieker
Hailing Port: Juneau, Alaska
Crew: Ryan, Naomi & Phil Moritz, Lisa Kirsch, Wade Loofbourow, McKie Campbell, Barbara Campbell, Nguyen Le
Extra:
Rocket Science Description (borrowed from Bill Lee's write-up on the boat) * Model: Riptide 55 * Year: 1996 * Type: Very high performance cruiser * Designer: Paul Bieker * Builder: Shaw Boats * Configuration: Aft cockpit sloop * Decks: Nonskid * [...]
07 November 2008 | 7 26.46'N:81 42.49'W, Crocodile Central
05 November 2008 | 8 14.85'N:79 5.69'W, islas las perlas
02 November 2008 | Panama Canal, Miraflores Locks
28 October 2008 | 11 0.29'N:79 9.07'W, 100 miles W of Panama
25 October 2008 | 12 44.55'N:70 25.92'W, Offshore Colombia
23 October 2008 | 13 30.40'N:67 21.73'W, offshore Venezuela
22 October 2008 | 12 8.48'N:63 1.17'W, True Blue Bay
31 July 2008 | 11 59.90'N:61 45.55'W, Prickly Bay
24 July 2008 | 12 38.12'N:61 21.85'W, Tobago Cays
21 July 2008 | 13 50.53'N:61 3.83'W, Soufriere
30 June 2008
28 June 2008
27 June 2008
26 June 2008 | 12 25.01'N:51 42.57'W,
25 June 2008
24 June 2008
23 June 2008
22 June 2008 | 19 30.46'N:43 7.18'W,
21 June 2008 | 18 16.45'N:39 54.18'W,
20 June 2008 | 19 49.76'N:37 28.62'W,
Recent Blog Posts
07 November 2008 | 7 26.46'N:81 42.49'W, Crocodile Central

Coiba

San Jose's waters were too murky to snorkel so we went for a dinghy ride and a beach stroll. Too many croc's to go for a mangrove walk(worse than bears in Alaska) so we decided to spend our too precious lay days on Coiba. We left San Jose the next morning on the 6th and sailed through the night to arrive in Coiba at 5pm on the 7th of Nov., about 300 miles of actual sailing against almost 4 kts of current at times. No wind for the first twelve hours added to our enjoyment only to be upstaged by having to alter coarse for ten or twelve miles of unattended drift net which left us heading back to Jan Jose Island and two wasted hours. Several more of them made us wonder what we would run into that night. Ship's are bad enough. The trip had significant ship's traffic to the extent that Mark and Alan came about in the middle of the night with seven ships in close proximity, some apparently unaware of our presents.A good exit plan is always nice. The good news is that Mark's fishing has been superb with a large Ahi tuna and a significant dolphin ( a fish, not mammal) in a total fishing time of 8 minutes. The barbeque will be going shortly. We will stay on Coiba for two days before heading to Golfito to go on a several day Volcano hike in Costa Rica. Coiba has reported incredible snorkeling, surfing and nature hiking. A former penal colony, the ECO crowd has moved in after the prisoners were removed (we hope) in the last eight or so years. Four species of monkeys, many fresh water croc,s, and zillions of birds including Crimson McCaws. Pretty cool. Got to go to celebrate Obama's victory again ( tomorrow night also).

05 November 2008 | 8 14.85'N:79 5.69'W, islas las perlas

Panama

Nights are often more of a thrill than you bargain for. We had a squall just before dark with 25 kts of breeze, so put in two reefs to lessen the excitement through the night. Mark and I got some sleep for a few hours with Bob Swangard and Jamie McClelland on watch. I did not know that they were hit by another squall, this time topping at 35 kts. I guess I just assumed that the watch was uneventful since nothing was mentioned during the transition. Within an hour of Mark and my watch at 1 AM, we could see some weather coming at us on radar. I felt comfortable with the 2 reefs but somehow the boat was not responding well. I checked the duel rudder linkage (draglinks) and all seemed to be in order. The winds suddenly built and an intense lightning storm evolved with winds topping at 55 kts. The rudders stalled and we swung to weather (towards the wind) with significant weather helm. We were now on our ears as Mark released some main sheet and I pumped the rudder to redevelop l ift. Rocket Science slowly responded and we settled down wind with speeds of around 18 kts. The wind didn't dissipate for about 45 minutes and left us with minimal breeze with a switch of direction by clocking 100 degrees. This would normally seem to be a cold front if it were in northern latitude, but was probably an intense low pressure caused by the heat over Columbia. The forecast had been for diminished winds. To end the suspense, when we got into Panama, we found that the sail locker had filled with water when a new bilge pump failed. This caused a significant weight shift with consequential heavier weather helm. When sailing in heavy weather, ones hands and mind are filled and little effort is left for worry. Bob and Jamie were off shift so had plenty of time to imagine the effects of such a storm. Sleep was not their priority. The morning brought more rain as we neared the breakwater of Colon and the beginning of the Panama Canal. We doused our sails and started the engine. If the night T-Cell hadn't been enough, the engine faltered at the breakwater with a ship bearing down on our stern. I lowered the RPM and made it to the Panama Canal Yacht Club, a older structure surrounded in razor wire and firm warnings not to leave the complex, except by taxi. A drive through the town showed an area more reflective of poverty and fear, a veritable war zone. Meals in the Colon area were only on the boat or in the marina. Our agent came through with our customs, immigration, and transit schedule. We spent two days preparing the boat for the admeasurement, the transit with 12 covered tires and numerous fenders, 4 heavy 125 ft. lines, food preparation for ourselves, Stan and Nancy Barge from Juneau, our paid line handler, and for the onboard marine advisors. The advisor came onboard during our approach to the canal (at night in the rain) by launch and departed at Lake Gatun' at about 12:30 AM. I was advised that an American boat (actually French Canadian) would be rafting to us for the transit. We tied up just before the canal with Rocket Science the maneuvering vessel. Slowly I centered into the canal with the four canal line handlers throwing us monkey fists and the two boats responsible for two outboard lines each. The canal handlers then placed our lines on bollards and it was then up to us to bring in the lines as the water rose and the reverse as we were dropping on the other side of the canal. We secured to a mooring buoy at about 12:30 AM, drank wine and barbequed until 2:00AM and then motored Gatun' lake to the Pedro Miquel locks to drop into the Pacific. All went without mishaps and we were movie stars to boot, since all is recorded live for the internet. Tying up at Flamenco Marina is all about money, (about $150 per night) but a nice marina and a good drop off for Drs. Bob Swangard and Jamie McClellen and pick up for Alan McPherson. We therefore had a little added incentive to push on about two pm after clearing out of Panama with our exit Zarpe, agriculture clearance( had to keep Mark from gardening), customs inspection, entrance and exit of Panama City, stamped exits on our passports, etc. A pile of official papers is of very little significance, unless of coarse you don't have them. It is mainly about money, but that is of little surprise. The transit costs about $3500 and is worth it for the experience as long as it remains safe and the boat in not damaged. We are presently on San Jose Island in the Las Perlas Islands and will take off on the 7th for Coiba. Had a great sail over in about 18kts of wind. Mark caught a good size dolphin fish with a handline of the stern of the boat. Fish tacos for dinner! We dropped anchor by 1pm and Mark had the dingy inflated, engine within a half hour with the interest of snorkeling. Got to go. Please email us and tell us who our new president is!

02 November 2008 | Panama Canal, Miraflores Locks

Web Cam

We're thinking of you guys!

Landfall...

30 June 2008
Nguyen
We've arrived safe and sound in Martinique! We first spotted land around 2pm yesterday, and we miraculously found 3 more cold beers to celebrate. There was lots of relief and even jubilation, as the more long and difficult a passage, the more rewarding it is to make landfall. While our voyage across the Atlantic has not been terribly difficult, it was the longest stint at sea for all of us. There were also times when the voyage seemed interminable, and situations that made us question whether we would be lucky enough to make a safe passage. But our luck seemed to change on the last night at sea, or perhaps we've always had good luck and just suffered the normal breakages, dealing with them routinely as a well working team.

As darkness fell on Saturday night, we jibed to the South and our new heading seemed to point us straight for the south end of Martinique, about 150 miles away. One squall after another seemed to roll down on us, and though they didn't bring huge increases in wind, they did get us wet and, more importantly, changed the wind direction. Instead of heading 260 degrees, we had to heat it up to 230, then 220, 210, even 190, and then back down again. The wind seemed to shift 30 degrees in seconds, and the seas kept pitching the boat about. It was also pitch black with no moon or stars. One couldn't even distinguish between sea and sky. It was really difficult to helm Rocket Science in these conditions, and I seemed to be driving in circles trying to keep the sails full.

Phil gave me a brief respite at the helm, but the sails often flogged. Wade came on deck just before his, McKie, and Barb's watch started and he suggested a system where he steered to a compass heading while I called the wind and sea conditions with suggested course, each of us behind one of the two helm stations. We had constant communication, such as "steer 245 - tending low - too high - this wave will push low - steady in this gust - coming down to 250 - in the slot - feeling good, etc." As an experienced ship's captain, Wade is excellent at driving to a binnacle compass course, and I was trying to anticipate the conditions for him so he could make the necessary course adjustments. We found that we had to keep the boat within a very narrow slot, plus or minus only 2 degrees, to keep her sailing comfortably, or else she would roll to windward or the sails would collapse and slam to the opposite side. With constant communication, we found that we could guide her reasonably well through the seas. But it was really hard work!

When McKie took over the helm for Wade after I went off watch, they refined the system where they switched off every half hour, with one person constantly monitored the conditions and called the recommended course, and the helmsman could focus exclusively on the steering the boat using the binnacle compass. Oddly enough, the challenging conditions and the solution we developed increased our team camaraderie. On our last night at sea, we really gelled as an effective unit. And we made terrific progress towards our destination despite the fickle winds and tortuous seas.

In the morning, we gibed back to the West under partial jib with the third reef in the main. The winds began to weaken, and we decided to risk raising the full main despite the tear along the luff, reasoning that the damaged area would not be under stress with the full main hoisted. Plus we wanted to ensure that we would arrive before dark. When the main was almost fully hoisted, the halyard jammed tight. We were flogging the sail and boat to windward, so there was still plenty of slack down low. When we looked skyward, however, we could see kinks hear the headboard of the sail. Of course, it also jammed when we tried to drop it. We finally managed to get the sail down to discover that four more track cars had failed. We had to slide the main off the mast yet again, the second time on this trip. Lisa and I were in the back of the boat, and she joked, "You boys couldn't leave well enough along, could you?" I was despondent, wishing for even the small bit of canvass (actually Spectra) that we had up just a few moments before. Phil, McKie and Wade joked about the situation and worked on the sail by the mast, while Lisa made her delicious scones and I steered the boat with just the jib up. Phil borrowed a few cars from the trysail to replace the broken ones on the main, and after an hour or so, we hoisted the main, again to just the third reef point as there were still rain squalls rolling down on us.

Then the miracle happened. We were working out solutions to sail the boat into narrow and twisty Cul-de-Sac du Marin, as we believed our propeller was still fouled. To check, I put the camera back in its housing and shoved it in the rushing water at the back of the boat. Unbelievably, the net had cleared from the prop. Voila, we had feathered and perfectly functioning propeller and transmission! For days, Wade had suggested that it might have cleared because we didn't feel the vibrations, but Phil always countered that it was a pipe dream. Well, the pipe dream came true. Perhaps when we broached it loosened the net, and then over time the struts on the shaft cut it away. Everyone let out a scream of delight when Phil tested the motor and put it in gear.

As Rocket Science sailed down the southeast coast of the island, all her crew were feverishly cleaning and packing to jump ashore at the first possible instant. Wet blankets were hung on the bimini, and it seems our entire wardrobes went into plastic bags to be hauled to the laundry once ashore. When the winds faded as we approached the windward side of the island, we fired up the motor, rolled up the jib, and made beeline for the southern tip of the island marked by the symbol for sunken ships on the charts. Surprisingly, once we rounded the corner, the winds picked up to a steady 20+ knots, and we continued to motor sail doing 11+ knots through the water with our reefed main still up. The entry to the vast Marin harbor was narrow and slow, thanks to a slow moving boat in front of us. With the help of the Port Captain in his skiff, we backed Rocket Science into a "Tahiti Tie" with it's stern to the dock.

Alas, all was safe and sound. After hooking up the power and water (the two essentials for cruisers), we put on some nice clothes, a.k.a. our only remaining clean clothes, and went to a restaurant recommended by the Port Captain where we had a stupendous meal. We drank Pina Coladas, ate like kings, and reminisced about the voyage. Then we walked through town to find a hotel, believing firmly that our days of sleeping in wet bunks with the fish were over. But everything was closed. So now I'm finishing up this blog onboard the boat with 8 sleeping bodies around me. I'm sure McKie will update the blog with pictures and even video once he gets connected to Wi-Fi, but for now this text is all you get. It's perfect time to wrap it all up and conclude that, now that we're finally at the dock, we had a wonderful, event filled, and fortuitous crossing of the Atlantic aboard Rocket Science.

Fair winds, the crew of Rocket Science
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