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November 14th, 2009 – At Sea, 10 34N, 057 45W
by Herb McCormick
On a sweltering weekend as Ocean Watch continues to make progress, of sorts, in fits and starts, to the southeast and beyond, we’ll take this opportunity to update several stories, web sites, and other related matters that have accumulated in the boat’s inbox over the last several months. We’ll do so in two parts, on Saturday and Sunday, but before we get there, here’s the latest on Ocean Watch’s voyage south from skipper Mark Schrader’s personal log:
Ocean Watch Weighing Options by Skipper Mark Schrader
“The wind has dropped a few knots but still insists on coming at us from the southeast. It pushes a short sea along from about the same direction, so we’re once again motorsailing in order to make reasonable headway towards . . . well, that’s the point. We’re now not quite sure what our destination really is. Might be an odd thing for the captain to admit but it’s hard to keep something like the compass course a secret for very long. This issue was the subject of an early morning all-crew meeting in the cockpit. The more eyes and minds on this the better.
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| Light air means Ocean Watch will need to use the engine more than expected, which means a fuel stop will be necessary between the current location and Rio. |
“The explanation for the confusion may only be interesting to the sailors, geographers or future weather forecasters out there but I’m this far into the story so I’ll forge ahead. The weather forecast for the next few days says we’re going to have the same light easterly breeze we’ve enjoyed since St. Lucia for at least the next several days. Ocean Watch can motor directly into wind but, obviously, even though this is a pretty experienced crew, we can’t sail directly into the wind. In these conditions 45° either side of the breeze is what we can efficiently manage. These tacks point us either toward Morocco (not the favorable tack) to the east or French Guiana to the southeast.
“We do have some flexibility with our schedule, that is, when the dates for arrival in Rio were posted I added a few days for weather, or lack thereof. However, light air means we’ll likely need to use the engine more than expected and that means a fuel stop will be necessary somewhere between where we are and Rio. The closest, most direct on our current tack would be an interesting city named Cayenne on the French Guina coast – 480 nautical miles (n.m.) straight ahead. Georgetown on Guyana’s coast (remember Jim Jones and his band of unhappy and unfortunate Kool-Aid drinking followers?) is closer but off the track.
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| The assumption was that Ocean Watch would be able to sail at least half of the 2,000 nautical miles to Fernando. That assumption isn’t working out. |
“All of this is pretty straightforward and makes for easy decision making until you look at the ocean current chart for the coasts of Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and Brazil. Briefly, a 2-3 knot adverse current runs quite close to the coasts, and becomes a 4-5 knot adverse current south of Cayenne. If we go into Cayenne for fuel we’ll then be looking at a very difficult against-the-current 1,000 n.m. coastal passage to Fortelezza – which includes a 250 n.m. stretch across the Amazon River delta. I’d chosen an offshore route from St. Lucia to Fernando de Noronha specifically to avoid the Amazon delta and the strongest adverse currents but I assumed we’d be able to sail at least half of the 2,000 n.m. leg to Fernando. It appears that assumption isn’t working out so well.
“Unless the wind changes this evening or we receive some information waving us off of Cayenne (approach hazards, depth issues, safety, etc.) by this time tomorrow we’ll have a specific destination in mind. All are in agreement that it would be better to make a fuel stop now rather than run out somewhere in the windless doldrums.
“Around the Americas and the journey of Ocean Watch and crew is meant to be a voyage of discovery on many levels. Cayenne may turn out to be an interesting case in point.”
Win Rockefeller and The Billfish Foundation
As one of the driving forces behind the Around the Americas and expedition sponsor Sailors for the Sea, not to mention the Pew Oceans Commission and many other related endeavors, David Rockefeller, Jr. is no stranger to ocean conservation. But as it turns out, as we learned during our recent visit to San Juan, Puerto Rico, David’s cousin, the late Winthrop Paul Rockefeller, the former Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, also left an important legacy for watermen, particularly sport fishermen. Win, as his many friends knew him, was a passionate angler aboard his own boat, Alchemist.
In San Juan, we had the distinct pleasure of meeting Agie Vincente, the commodore of the Club Nautico de San Juan, where the red carpet was laid out for Ocean Watch during the latter days of our stay there. As it turns out, Agie and Win were not only friends, they were compatriots, and together they helped found an important organization called The Billfish Foundation (TBF).
Friend and colleague Carol Bareuther, a yachting and travel writer based in St. Thomas, wrote extensively about Win, Agie and TBF. Carol takes the story from here:
“In the billfishing world Win Rockefeller was known as the Founding Chairman of the TBF, which he established with others in 1986. As an avid angler, he recognized the continuing decline of the great billfish (marlin, sailfish, spearfish and sailfish) and decided to do something about the situation be creating TBF. The government at that time centered on commercial fisheries. Rockefeller’s goal for TBF was to raise awareness with decision makers of the need to reduce the high rate of billfish mortality that came as a result of commercial fishing targeting tunas and swordfish.
“Rockefeller’s vision was to advance billfish research, thus creating a credible basis upon which constructive solutions could be found to improve management and conservation of the species. He established tag-and-release fishing as the conservation standard in big game fishing.
“Under his leadership, TBF’s Tag & Release Program grew to be the world’s largest billfish tagging program. Rockefeller also emphasized the importance of TBF working with young anglers. He recognized the need to educate tomorrow’s leaders in the importance of being responsible for our ocean’s resources. He was mindful of the broad ecological importance billfish serve as indicator species of the health of the ocean ecosystems. ‘We are stewards of the resources we borrow from those yet to be born,’ said Win upon receiving an award in 2005 (before succumbing to cancer), ‘and wherever I can have an impact, I will try to leave the world a little better than I found it.’
“That he did.”
Blue Climate Solutions: Promoting Marine Conservation
Prior to arriving in San Juan, during our stop in Miami Ocean Watch was part of an open house organized by our port host, the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami. Among the folks we met there was Steven Lutz of a group called Blue Climate Solutions, A Project of The Ocean Foundation.
Last week, the crew of Ocean Watch joined our colleagues at Sailors for the Sea and forty-eight other organization as signatories in letters from Blue Climate Solutions to President Obama and the U.S. Senate to garner support for: 1) the option for marine conservation solutions to climate change to be considered in national climate change legislation and international climate change treaties and 2) marine science research that further explores natural ocean carbon solutions.
In a letter to the boat last week, Steven wrote:
“I am pleased to inform you that eminent oceanographer and conservationist, Dr. Silvia Earle, has endorsed this effort as the first scientist to sign on.
“You may be aware that UNEP released its Blue Carbon report last month, which illustrates the carbon capturing potential of coastal and marine ecosystems, such as mangrove swamps, seagrass beds and salt marshes (available at www.grida.no/publications/rr/blue-carbon).
“As carbon offsets are a major feature in climate change legislation pending in Congress, and expected to produce the world’s largest single carbon market (worth an estimated $10 billion per year), the potential to advance marine conservation is fantastic. These offset areas currently targeted for forestry conservation projects. Given the critical role our oceans and coastal ecosystems play in the global carbon cycle, why not some of those $$$ for marine conservation efforts?
“Please note that the word ‘natural’ is highlighted in the letters to differentiate this option from geo-engineering. Additionally, natural solutions which store or sequester carbon in forms other than dissolved will NOT enhance ocean acidification (ocean acidification occurs when carbon remains free in its dissolved forms in the water).”
For more on Blue Climate Solutions, visit their website (http://www.sites.google.com/site/blueclimatesolutions/home) or contact Steven Lutz (steven_lutz@blueclimatesolutions.org).
- Herb McCormick and Mark Schrader with photographs by David Thoreson
This crew log submitted by Iridium OpenPort and Stratos
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