--Thu/18: SE-S 14-20kt gusty/25kt during the morning. Slow 

  --Fri/19: Mostly cloudy, chance of showers/thunderstorms passing 

At sea 635 miles south of Bermuda. Date and time: Thursday, May 18, Noon AST Position: 19-05.5 N 64-26.8 W Course: 016 deg. M Present speed: 7.5 kts. Distance made good since departure: 180 NM Distance made good noon to noon: 154 NM ETA St. Georges, Bermuda: 0900 Monday, May 22 Conditions: Wind SSE 10 kts, seas SSE 3-4 ft., mostly clear, air temp. 82 deg. F, sea temp. 82 deg. F, barometer 1029.5 mb falling slowly You may have noticed that in yesterday's report I got the day wrong: we are now cognizant that today (not yesterday) is Thursday! As usual, it takes about 24 hours offshore for us to settle into a comfortable routine, and the crew Bluewater seems to be there now-our bodies are adjusted to the motion, we're well fed (thanks, Judy!) and well rested. All systems aboard are functioning normally and our regular visits to the engine room (which Dean calls the Bat Cave) lazarette confirm that the machinery seems happy. Is there something about this boat that seeks and finds current on the nose? Starting about sunset last night our boat speed dropped from our usual 7+ knots to an average of 6+ knots and that continued through daybreak this morning. Our knotmeter indicated that we were averaging the same 7+ knots through the water, but the GPS showed the speed over the bottom was lower. Pilot charts suggest that, if anything, we should have about .4 knot on our starboard quarter pushing us along. At any rate, the contrary current seems to have disappeared and we are back to 7+ knots. Go figure! Weather and progress to Bermuda seem to dominate our thoughts out here where the closest "land"--the bottom-- is 3.4 miles away, which 18,000 feet down. Bob, we're grateful for your daily reports and they jibe nicely with the reality we're experiencing, though the reality is a little lighter than the forecast--much better than the other way around. We note that you are continuing to call for wind and seas almost entirely aft of the beam, which makes for a comfortable ride aboard Bluewater. Since others on this e-mail are not getting Bob's reports directly, here's what he calls for for the next couple of days: --Thu/18: SE-S 14-20kt gusty/25kt during the morning. Slow veering SSE-SSW 14-20kts, 25kts nearing the front thru late Thu/night. ESE-SE 5-8ft, Increasing clouds, chance of showers/thunderstorms nearing the front late Thur. --Fri/19: Mostly cloudy, chance of showers/thunderstorms passing the front through midday into the early afternoon. Winds SSE-SSW 15-21kt, gusty 25kt through midday, Becoming S-Var 10-18kt, gusty 20kt (winds of 25kt+ in/near moderate thunderstorms are still possible/expected along the front) during the pm/hrs. Winds may become more ENE-NE near/north of the front Fri/night-overnight with more mixed sea/swell pattern; ESE-SE and WNW 5-7ft. There's a question sometimes debated by offshore passagemakers: What do you do about checking the oil? My rule is to never shut down a well running main engine at sea just to check oil. As far as I am concerned, the downside of interrupting the heartbeat of a running engine at sea and not being able to re-start it is far outweighs the upside of making sure the oil is right up to the top mark on the dipstick. If the engine loses enough oil to pose a danger to itself, the oil pressure will drop, the alarm will sound, and THEN we'll shut down. In nearly 800 hours of engine time, our Lugger main engine has never consumed as much as a quart of oil so I am comfortable with the risk of not checking oil for days at a time. Bruce Kessler says the better choice is to have a Murphy Gauge which shows the oil level at all times, but my own take is that a Murphy Gauge adds plumbing and complexity, with the risk that entails. Perhaps we're too decadent aboard this power boat, but we're still in the tropics and are running with air conditioning 24/7 because it makes for a comfortable, happy crew--after all, this is supposed to be a pleasure boat! We're using the 12 kW genset to keep things cool in the daytime, and transition to the 6 kW which can carry the reduced electrical load overnight. At a cost of 12 to 20 gallons of fuel per day, this is a terrific investment in crew comfort. It reminds me that last time Dean was aboard we were fighting an overheated engine room, and-thankfully-that problem is in our past; the big 24-volt fan added to the engine room moves about 1850 cubic feet per minute of cool outside air in to displace the hot air. The engine room is now running about 125 degrees, MUCH better than then 140 to 155 we had before. Jim Fuller, owner and skipper of Summer Skis, telephoned early this morning to report that he hopes to depart Florida today, which should put them in Bermuda a day or two after us. He was still waiting for a final weather clearance from Chris Parker, his weather router. We look forward to seeing you in Bermuda, Jim! --Milt, Judy, Dean and Schipperke Katy -- Milt Baker Bluewater Nordhavn 47 #32 http://www.bluewaternav.com