To go or Not

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

Droopy

Droopy, i hope u are not serious. I cant believe you said that. We are supposed to encourage each other. Yes it does get rough out there and yes it is harder by your self. But actually not much harder except for the sleeping or lack there of . My biggest problems when single handing was usually near shore when it cam e time to anchor and pull anchor. Start out at daylight about 7AM, pull in several hundred feet of wet rope and chain at 28 degrees fahrenheit and move quickly so u dont drift enough to run aground. But, u wont have those problems since u will be offshore most of the time.  Fair Winds  Tony B

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

My Current Position Is....

My Current position is N 29 21.868 and W 92 55.059Temp = 50 RH=68% Wind= 12-15/ SE Seas=3-4/ SPick me up along the way, LOLHave a great trip.

 

[tom]

TonyB look out for Whales

There are supposed to be a large Pod of sperm whales that hang out at the edge of the DEEP water south of New Orleans. I think that they are mostly females and calves. I talked to someone who was coming into Mobile from Mexico that saw a couple when they were about 150 miles south of Mobile. It would be cool to see a whale larger than your boat!!!!

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

Tom ,,,,,Dont scare me like that.

Thanks for the info. You scared me at first. When you said "look out for whales" i got this vision of my 2 "X" wives heading this way.Unfortunately, now im off the La - Tx border.If FRANKLIN is reading: sky is crystal clear, winds about 15-17 /NE and seas 2 - 3 feet. Beautiful day for a sail. Dont get any better than this , except maybe for a tad warmer.

 

[Droop]

Not really kidding but

Off shore is not for everyone. You have to know your limits before the sea test them for you. My only advice is to make sure you have a good off shore sailor with you.We were pushing the boat up the Gulf Stream against a northeastern. There was a thunder storm every evening and the owner did not bring enough food to top it off. I was ok in the day light but at night I was worthless. I know I wouldn't count on me if we where in trouble at night, which we did!

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

Droop

I have met Franklin on a few brief ocasions. I dont know anything about his sailing skills and ability, but he seemed like a pretty sharp, level headed, confident individual in fairly good physical shape. I would have complete confidence in his ability, just knowing him as a man. Doesnt make sense, does itespecially simce we didnt talk much about sailing. Im sure his boat is also in tip top shape. Cant ask for anything more than that, except for good weather.FRANKLIN: The wind died almost instantly over the last hour. It is now about 10-12/ NE and the seas dropped to 2'. Getttin better by the minute. All it needs to do now is just NOT change

 

[Droop]

sailortonyb Allied

I workout every week and am in the best shape of my life and have been sailing 35 years. If you get sea sick at night pounding into 10 feet waves being in shape is not going to do a thing for you. You better have someone on board who can handle the situation. I am not saying Franklin can't, all I am saying is you don't want to find out the hard way!I don't like it out there! Sure, it is great when things are good, but when it gets crappy I want to be in protected water!

 

[tom]

Allied Mistress is the Boat

By the numbers you are in a great boat to be out when it's rough. I don't know about Franklin's Hunter. Allied has such a good reputation. I wish I was out sailing in the gulf instead of here at work. TonyB are you trolling a line??? Caught any tuna??? I love fresh tuna. We caught a couple that were on the grill before they stopped moving!!! Can't get any fresher than 15 minutes from sea to plate!!! Well... maybe if you like sashimi it could be a little fresher.

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

Tom Bham

Nothing would be as romantic as sailing today. The weather is perfect. Being the romantic clod that i am, im not sailing. Im at work on a platform, but its still a beautiful view. The air is so refreshing. First time i saw the sun in what seems like weeks. Sunrise was spectacular....sky is crystal clear. Im betting the sunset will also be spectacular. Not a cloud to be seen. The only semblence of a cloud is a few contrails from jets.Sky and water are such a beautiful blue. Wind is now running about 10-12 from the north. seas have been reduced to 1-2' wavelets. Why cant I pick such great departure dates?AS for Franklin, if he can manage to get the Gulf Loop to be where he needs it , he can make Key West in probably 5 days with luck or 7 days without too much trouble. Key West is only about 80 miles or so further than St.Pete. the way the crow flies. S.ince he is not flying crows, that equates to maybe 1/2 to 1 full day more depending on weaather. Im a terrible meteorologist, but my guess is as good as any. If i were making this trip, i would be thinking...the next 3 days here will be great. Therefore , moving with the weather, i should have probably 5 good days before the weather shifts. I may almost be there by then. I tend to ignore most forecasts about lows and highs because they are so wrong anyway. Only pay attention to the really major fronts or storms. When it comes to fronts, The NWS seems to be ok on predicting the 'what' but miss the 'when' with an unbelievably mind blowing inaccuracy. They beat all odds. But thats another story. LOL

 

[Rick Webb]

Did He Go or Not?

Hope it is warmer where he is than up here.

 

[Rick Webb]

This Morning It Was 33 Here

I can't find a cloud wherever I look

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

UPDATE !!!!

I just spoke to Franklin (0745 CST) on his cell phone. He is in Galveston Bay and heading out. He delayed his start early this morn by a few hours due to LACK OF WIND. Se should hear from him in about 5 or 6 days in St.Pete, Fl.We briefly talked about him getting a cruising spinnaker and a HAM radio, which I consider essential to cruising. He told me there was no place to go shopping in the middle of the Gulf, go figure.Anyway, he is off and running....

 

[Robert G]

Boat Type?

Sailortonyb, I have been following this thread from the begining and am courious as to the type of boat that he is sailing to the KEYS. Got to love it when one of us makes the disicion to get off our ass and go.Robert G

 

[Stu Jackson]

Suggest reading the intial post

the boat type is mentioned.

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

Robert G

its a hunter 376.He left this morning, its a beautiful day out here today, but could use a tad more wind

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

Great day for sailing.....wrong direction

Incredibly great day for the Gulf. Sun is shining, temp is 55, wind is 18-22Kts, and seas are 3-4'. So what's the problem? Franklin has the wind right on his nose. Looks like it will be that way for another couple of days.I always thought about hiring myself out , just for occasions like this. If you want to sail east, pay me to sail west because I will always have the wind on my nose.The weather will make for great sailing though, but it will take some extra days to get there.

 

[tom]

SPLL1 buoy

TonyB the buoy SPLL1 is giving some less than ideal conditions. Wind gusts to 29 knots!!! But 60 degrees shouldn't be a bad direction for heading to Key West from Texas. Actually it would seem like a good direction about a beam reach depending on exactly where you are at the time. I tried to check some other buoys but they were not reporting and SPLL1 is kinda close to the coast south of New Orleans. On my boat I'd probably drop the main and go with the jib alone. Then I'd pick a heading for comfort heading in the general direction of Key West. As long as the wind doesn't get stronger or swing to the southeast it should be a fast passage!!!!  Several friends sailed to Key West from Panama City. They all had wind on the nose or no wind at all. This was in May and June so a different situation. One boat got caught between to storms for a day or so and were bounced around pretty well.

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

His Heading / Bearing would be.....

If we draw a Rhumb line from Galveston Bay to St. Pete, we get approx. 95 Degrees.If we draw a Rhumb line from Galveston Bay to Key West, we get approx. 108 degrees. The wind right now is comming from pretty much due east. The wind speed is Avgapprox 22-25 Kts. With a little reefing, that shouldn't be a challenge for a 37 foot Hunter. The gusts are somewhat irrelevant, since you head-up and drop off, and they are not much higher than the avg. speed. I think Franklin was initially going o take a more southerly direction so as to avoid the more cluttered areas of the oil patch. If this be the case, then the wind is OK for now, but sometime today, he will need to head due east to get to his target, tack for several days or change plans and head for the Al. or Fl. panhandle for a layover. Some of the wind forecasts are for winds to slowly shift to the SW which makes Pennsacola area a good stopover. From there he could shoot straight to Tampa bay or Key west depending on wind direction and strength.I have made winter trips on the Gulf before, and all i can say is that the weather is extremely unpredictable and unforecastable this time of year.Either way, this is great sailing weather. Remember, i think Franklin is an adrenolin junkie, since he was a 'jumper' in the military. This weather is safe, but a rush at the same time.

 

[tom]

Hi TonyB

I don't know where Franklin is at this time but if he left yesterday he might be 150 miles from where he started. I looked at buoy 42040 which is south of Mobile. The conditions aren't bad. 19.4 knots from 50 degrees(true) with gusts in the mid 20's. The waves are a little high at 6.2' average meaning that there are some 12 footers out there. But in the open ocean that shouldn't matter much as long as they aren't breaking. I am too big of a chicken tohead out across the gulf in my Pearson 323 but would probably do it in your Mistress. The pearson is a good boat but your boat is better and bigger.

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

If I were Franklin....

Hey Tom......If i were Franklin, the Yucatan Penninsula would be looking mighty fine about now. he could be there in 3 days from now if the weather dont change dramatically and the loop current doesnt pick up speed. The longest passages i made in my Catalina 30 were from Appalachacola to Tampa Bay area ....anywhere from 30 to 50 hours, depending on weather. Most times, it was not fun. I probably would have taken it across the Gulf if the timing were ever right(work/vacation wise, that is). The vessel can take much more of a beating than the crew can. I'm getttin to the age where I no longer enjoy beating myself up. I wish I had gotten into sailing long ago. We have only been sailing about 8-10 years.On the Allied, in rough weather, sleeping in the cockpit is a very smoothe ride, however, anywhere down below in 10-12 ft chops will be a ride from hell for me. I'm prone to seasickness except when i solo. I told someone one time and they thought i was joking that i get too scared to get sick. But, its true.Or partly true anyway. Also has something to do being real busy too.. I get to feeling bad when all starts calming down and i could relax enough to think about being sick. Go figure. Tony B