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October 31st, 2009 – At Sea, 19 49N, 067 33W
by Herb McCormick
Growing up, one of my favorite TV shows was Dragnet. My favorite character, of course, was Sergeant Joe Friday, played with surprising success by Jack Webb, a range-less, wooden actor who was somehow perfect for the role. The best part of a Dragnet episode was when Joe was sent to investigate a nettlesome misdemeanor of some sort – a lost cat, a neighborly dispute – and was forced to endure a long-winded and oblique explanation by a well-meaning but clueless witness.
The “victim,” often a suburban housewife, would invariably become instantly sidetracked: “Well, the Johnson’s are nice people, but Ralph, he’s the husband, he’s been out of work for a while, and he likes a drink in the afternoon – well, maybe two or three – and that’s fine, though that’s not our style, but the other night we were having friends over – the Percy’s, they just moved here from Illinois…”
Friday would put up with this for a few moments, but he was a busy man, and real criminals were at large in Los Angeles. So as gently as he could, he’d look “the citizen” in the eye and deliver his signature line:
“Just the facts, ma’am.”
Somewhere, since it’s Halloween Day, we’re hoping someone with a jet-black crew cut and a skinny tie is heading out dressed as Joe Friday. In honor of Joe, Trick & Treat, and fictional lawmen everywhere, the theme of today’s crew log is: Just the Facts.
- Skipper Mark Schrader recently received an email from an old solo sailing pal who congratulated the crew of “nautical geezers” for negotiating the Northwest Passage. I was going to take umbrage with this, until I remembered I grew up watching “Dragnet.” For the record, the average age of the current 6-man contingent onboard Ocean Watch is 59. (Thank heavens 49-year-old David Thoreson is aboard!) If anyone knows the editor of AARP Magazine, please send it along. I have a story I need to pitch.
- Yesterday’s swim call, in which we elderly gents frolicked in the blue Atlantic, was conducted in 18,000 feet
Yesterday’s swim was conducted in 18,000 feet of water. No one touched bottom. of water. No one touched bottom.
- Sometime later today, Ocean Watch will sail its 11,000th nautical mile since leaving Seattle. Only 13,217 to go!
- Halfway through this voyage from Miami to Puerto Rico, Ocean Watch crossed the Tropic of Cancer (at latitude 23 26N, it’s the position where the sun is directly overhead on the Summer Solstice) to officially enter the tropical portion of the voyage south.
- Earlier this week, I wrote a log called “Starry Night” about a memorable evening watching shooting stars. Checking in from Seattle, scientist Harry Stern, who played a prominent role as a crewman above the Arctic Circle, was kind enough to explain to me exactly what I was seeing: “The Orionids Meteor Shower is caused by the dust particles of Halley’s Comet. Halley’s Comet last visited us in 1986 and has a 75-76 year orbit. The trail of debris that follows this comet consistently produces the Orionids Meteor Shower each October. Halley’s Comet is also accountable for an additional shower in May called the Eta Aquarids. The Orionids Meteor Shower started October 2 and will be active until November 7. Meteors are the occurrence of light created from meteoroids entering the Earth’s atmosphere at 90,000+ mph. Orionids seem to originate from the constellation Orion near the red/orange star named Betelgeuse.”
- I watched Halley’s Comet from a sailboat in the Whitsunday Islands of Australia with my sister, Nina, in 1986. Considering the amount of attendant hubbub, it was rather uninspiring. I was not eligible for AARP membership at the time.
- Also from Harry: “Yesterday in Cambridge Bay (which we visited last August) it was +2F and snowing.” Today on Ocean Watch it was 88F and not snowing. When asked where he’d prefer to be this afternoon, a sweaty, red, miserable David Thoreson, an Iowan through and through, did not hesitate for an instant. “Cambridge Bay,” he said.
- Speaking of the Northwest Passage, teacher Zeta Strickland, herself now a veteran of the distant northern
The average age of the current 6-man contingent onboard Ocean Watch is 59. Thank heavens 49-year-old David Thoreson is aboard! waterway, sent news about the crews of several other boats who comprised the successful Class of 2009. The Nordhavn 56 powerboat, Bagan, skippered by Sprague Theobold, is nearing Seattle. Silent Sound, the Canadian 40-footer skippered by Cameron Dueck, made it to Halifax on October 10th and is for sale. Precipice, a 28-foot Bristol Channel Cutter with a family of four from Michigan, is now wintering in Nome after losing their dinghy and suffering terminal engine problems. Fiona, Eric Forsyth’s Westsail 42, has arrived in San Francisco after numerous crew and boat calamities. The two British Marines aboard the 17-foot open boat, Arctic Mariner, made it to Gjoa Haven and put the boat in a shipping container before returning to active duty. We’re unsure of the precise whereabouts of our friends on the French boat Baloum Gwen, but presume they are somewhere in Greenland.
- We drink a lot of coffee on Ocean Watch. Several crewmembers are from Seattle, which means they have strong opinions about java. The new instant from Starbucks, called Via, which comes in individual one-serving packets, has been a complete success. The coffee pot has remained unplugged since Via came aboard.
- We got some exercise this morning. A squall came through and we rapidly furled the genoa, sheeted home the staysail, then put a quick reef in the main, at which time it really started to hoot, necessitating a second reef. Now the wind has vanished again, and the engine is back on. We’ll be motor sailing through the night, our last at sea on this leg from Miami.
- We have been practicing our Spanish in advance of our arrival in Puerto Rico tomorrow morning. So: adios amigos! And a Happy Halloween to one and all from the crew of Ocean Watch.
- Herb McCormick with photographs by David Thoreson
This crew log submitted by Iridium OpenPort and Stratos
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