Monthly Archives: October 2013

30 Oct 2013 22 deg 57 min N, 26 deg 35 min W

We crossed the Tropic of Cancer at 1 am this morning – we are now officially in the tropics. 4600 m depth. 540 nm to African coast, Mauritania. 700 nm since Cadiz, 1500 to Barbados 700 to eclipse.

Under sails only – 7 to 7.5 knots. 165 nm in last 24 hours. Air temp 25 deg C, water 28 deg. Wind 5/4 E, swells 1.5 m.

Talks today: Alan Dyer – The night sky; Bob Rowland – Law of the Sea especially extensions of coastal shelf.

Yesterday: Climbing rigging (John); Tyler Nordgren – The sun; Mike Guler – Navigation; Small seabird (storm petral?) dropped in for dinner; Peter Kissner – Clipper ships

From Peter Kissner’s morning briefing: we are currently completely under sail but are only doing 5.5 knots roughly south-westerly and will shift to engine later today to ensure our intersection with the path of the eclipse. We have done 511 nms since Las Palmas, 1894 remaining. Depth is 4880 m. 319 miles from Mauritania (African coast) off Cape Bojodor. Directly north of Cape Verde Islands which are 430 nautical miles south.

In the morning the crew had an emergency drill with full fire gear and stationing at evacuation stations.  That afternoon the passengers, including John, were allowed to climb the rigging to the crows nest.

At night we gathered on the stern deck with the deck lights extinguished for our first astronomical viewing without city light pollution. The Milky Way was clearly apparent!

It’s feels good to be at sea again! We are getting used to the gentle pitch and roll of the ship, providing a very restful sleep. This could also be attributed to the total lack of responsibility beyond getting to the dining room for more delicious food.
Soon after clearing the port of Las Palmas most of the sails were set and the engines turned off. We have been making between 7 and 10 knots since then, in a mostly southernly direction to take advantage of the trade winds and to better position us for the viewing of the eclipse. The peaks of the Canary Islands were visible off the stern through the first part of the day but disappeared over the horizon by the afternoon.

Talks today:

0930 Peter  Kissner, cruise director. Ship’s position, weather conditions, etc.

1015 Dr. Tyler Nordgren “A power of 10 walk through the night sky”