At Sea - 20 NM NW of Fajardo, PR
Report as of 12:00 AST Nov. 10 2005 -  Final Report

PART ONE FOR ALL

Land ho!  Puerto Rico's hills are rising in the mist nine miles off
our starboard bow, and the radar shows choppy trade wind seas to port
as Bluewater comes up on soundings after just crossing the Puerto
Rico Trench, one of the world's deepest at more than 21,000
feet-roughly four mile--deep.  Trade winds are a brisk 19 knots
across the deck, now  dropping as we get close to Puerto Rico.

We've been blessed with wonderful passagemaking weather for the past
seven days.  Although not all that uncomfortable, last night was one
of the bumpiest of this passage, with 20-knot winds and 4-7 ft. seas
roughly 45 degrees off the port bow.  We did so much up-and-down that
one of the overhead panels in the master stateroom worked loose fell
on sleeping Judy and Katy about 1 a.m., startling both.  Judy
received a little knot on her head, and Katy didn't want to go near
the bed for the rest of the night.  Judy's knot was gone by breakfast
time, and Katy forgot about the gremlins when the maple bacon made
its reappearance.

The local weather calls for a tropical wave to move in, so we're
expecting damp and soggy weather for the next few days.  No matter,
it'll be nice to be in port after a week at sea.  Steve Argosy on the
Nordhavn 62 Seabird arrived yesterday and  called to report that
Puerto Del Rey Marina is first class, even nicer than the
pictures-backing up what Captain Jerry and Wendy Taylor have reported
to us.  As I write this, we're about three hours out.

We're finding that, as a rule, we need to change the 10 micron Racor
primary filter for the main engine about every 48 hours of running,
when the gauge shows 10 inches of vacuum.  The duplex Racor filter
Nordhavn uses makes filter changes easy, with the main engine running
throughout the filter change evolution.  We're not sure whether we're
cleaning out residue from the building of the boat, from dirty fuel,
or a combination.  We'll polish the remaining fuel while we're in
Puerto Rico just to try to reduce that.

This will be the last report from Bluewater until we commence another
offshore passage.  At the moment we are expecting that may be right
after Thanksgiving when we head across the Caribbean to Puerto la
Cruz, Venezuela.  Our good friends Tut and Eddie are down there, and
they are recommending a stop at Blanquilla island, about 100 miles
offshore, enroute.

For the next couple of weeks, we expect to spend time getting to know
a little about Puerto Rico, practicing our very rudimentary Spanish,
and re-visiting some of our favorite Virgin Island anchorages from
our trip down in Solution 22 years ago.

For Rear Commodore Jim Chambers: Please give our best wishes to all
the CCA folks at the Florida Station annual meeting tomorrow evening.
Wish we could be there--the first one we've missed since joining CCA!

Thanks to everyone who has e-mailed and telephoned us.

PART TWO FOR OMNI WEATHER

Let us say once more, Bob, we are most appreciative of your
excellence and accuracy in forecasting and your patience in dealing
with us.  You're a true professional, and we're delighted to have you
on our team.

PART THREE FOR ALL

Position 8-35.6 N / 65-43.9 W as of 12:00 AST Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2005
Course 1586 deg M
Speed 7.3 kts @ 1900 RPM
20 NM to go to Fajardo
Distance made good last 24 hours 175 NM, average speed 7.3 kts,
distance from Beaufort 1141 NM, average speed from Beaufort 6.8 kts.
Total fuel consumed 975 gals, fuel remaining 495 gals, trip avg 1.2
NMPG and 5.8 GPH.
Conditions: Wind 100 deg M @ 19-23 kts., swells 5-7 ft from 090 deg.
M, mostly cloudly, Visibility excellent.
Barometer 1015.6 mb and falling slowly.
Sea water temp 86 deg F, air temp 86 deg F.
ETA Fajardo: 1500 today.

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

Milt,

It certainly seems that you received some very dirt fuel if you are changing
10 micron filters every 48 hours. I would expect to change them every 48
days more or less with clean fuel. I suggest a glass bottle sample may be
worth while in the future - if you have supply alternatives, otherwise I
guess buying lots of filters is the only alternative.

With that much grit going through the system it is probably time to change
the secondary filter also.

We are enjoying you boat logs and progress.  Thank you,  John Harris

NOTE: Georgs - please forward as needed, Thanks