At Sea - 468 NM SE of Beaufort, NC Report as of 12:00 EST Nov. 6, 2005 - Next report in 24 hours PART ONE FOR ALL As I write this just before noon, Bluewater is on the roughly the same latitude as Cape Canaveral but about 450 miles seaward of the cape. Other "nearby" points are Bermuda, some 450 miles to our northeast, and the closest land: Abaco, Bahamas, only 275 NM away. Bluewater continues on course for Fajardo, and her contented crew is taking it easy today-it is the weekend, after all. We have not yet reached the tropics, but you couldn't tell that by the weather. Although we are well clear of the Gulf Stream, over the past 24 hours the sea temperature has risen from 78 to 83 degrees, with daytime air temps a few degrees higher. The weather has been terrific, mostly with unlimited visibility and partly cloudy skies, but overnight we traversed a squally patch of ocean. At the end of her watch, Judy commented that the squalls had been parting for us like the Red Sea for Moses, but on my morning watch we got a couple of gully-washer fresh water washdowns from the skies. Since the boat was buttoned up to keep dry, we treated ourselves to air conditioning and made about 100 gallons of water. Being out here makes us appreciate, all over again, how big and remote the ocean can seem. We're definitely out of the shipping lanes now! We have not seen nor heard another vessel for close to 48 hours now, if you don't count the phone call we had yesterday from Seabird. Steve Argosy called on the sat phone to tell us he was abandoning plans for our rendezvous so he could give his crew an easier slant on the seas and take advantage of his higher speed to get to Fajardo sooner. We're sorry there'll be no rendezvous, but we wish Steve and his crew we'll and look forward to seeing them Puerto Rico. Bluewater's very hot engine room notwithstanding, the machinery down there is pulling together just like a championship team, and we verify that with an engine room and lazarette (steering gear) check every three hours or less. In addition, as chief engineer I do a more thorough systems check and a deck walk-around each day around noon. Dean and I changed a main engine Racor fuel filter this morning after 70 hours of use and it was dark with residue. I've noted (from the vacuum gauge) that this boat requires more filter changes than I would've expected, and I expect we're still cleaning out "stuff" from the building process. Having a nice duplex Racor filter means we can change one filter while running on the other-very nice! The paravanes continue to do yeoman service for us. Winds and seas continue light, so we're not giving the vanes much of a workout. What we are doing, however, is building our confidence in them. Jim Leishman showed Judy and me on a sea trial back in August how easy they are to set and retrieve, and-as usual-Jim was right on the money. I wish everyone reading this could experience the ease of setting and retrieving the paravanes-no strength required, just a little finesse and coordination! We're running the Naiads from time to time-to give Judy the most stable galley at meal prep time, for example-but by and large we're very satisfied with what the paravanes contribute to stabilization over 90% of the time so far. DirectTV has abandoned us as we departed its "footprint" but, to my surprise, we're still receiving XM Radio loud and clear, and we really appeciate having both CNN news and music of all sorts on XM. We always have music going in the wheel house, either from XM or Dean's Ipod. We're all into books now too. For all her friends, let me report that Katy is enjoying the passage as much as any of us. She spends a lot of her time snoozing on the pilot berth, but anytime anyone is doing anything in the galley Katy is there to lend a hand, er, paw. Her appetite is voracious! Still no birds, other than a lone seagull who hitched a ride on the foredeck for an hour or so, and now we're seeing very few flying fish. We're debating whether to set a fishing line or two this afternoon. PART TWO FOR OMNI WEATHER I don't know how you do it, Bob, but you're sending us ideal cruising conditions. All we can say is: keep 'em coming! PART THREE FOR ALL Position 28-10.3 N / 72-00.0 W as of 12:00 EST Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005 Course 166 deg M Speed 6.2 kts @ 1900 RPM 691 NM to go to Fajardo Distance made good last 24 hours 155 NM, average speed 6.45 kts @ 1900 RPMs, distance from Beaufort 468 NM, average speed from Beaufort 6.5 kts. Total fuel consumed 370 gals , fuel remaining 1,100 gals, avg 1.26 NMPG and 5.13 GPH. Conditions: Wind 140 deg M @12-15 kts., swells 3-4 ft from 120 deg. M, partly cloudly, Visibility excellent. Barometer 1022.8 mb and falling slowly. Sea water temp 83, air temp 85. ETA Fajardo: 13:15 Thursday, Nov. 10. All is well. --Milt, Judy, Dean and Schipperke Katy -- Milt Baker Bluewater Nordhavn 47 #32 Bound for Venezuela, via Puerto Rico, from Beaufort, North Carolina http://www.bluewaternav.com/index.html