Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Gulf Stream Crossing

The Sea Angel is sailing!


After speaking with crew member Weston Williams, we learned that the Sea Angel has done a good bit of provisioning in South Florida while awaiting favorable weather. In the week spent in Ft. Lauderdale, the Sea Angel crew: installed a new cockpit door lock, repaired a refrigeration system, upfited the wind turbine with a new system and new blades, re-stitched the lazy jack that was ripped along the way, and "cleaned up way too much iguana poo off the deck". Nobody said ship life was as laid back as it sounds! They also had some fun riding around the area in the dingy and visiting beautiful South Beach. And on Monday morning they put all of their hard work into action and set sail from Ft. Lauderdale on a revised course. A Monday evening course update was provided by Captain Dave:

"Ft. Lauderdale to Great Harbor Cay, Berry Islands. After speaking with Chris Parker on the morning SSB call, I have decided to continue on past Bimini (Moselle Bank waypoint) with a final destination of Great Harbor Cay and the marina there. Reasoning is the winds build overnight and into Tuesday from the SSE sustained at 20, seas SW 5-6 off the nose making the run over to Nassua across the Tounge of the ocean a bit sloppy. I think the Berry Islands will be a good place to hang out until conditions lighten sometime soon! There was also no good opening between now and December 2nd to get from Bimini to Nassau. I'll have a better chance from Great Harbor Cay. All well as we are now on the back side of the Gulf Stream with reasonably nice conditions. Feels good to be underway again. I'll update later. - DL"

As much as the Captain and crew have prepared for their crossing of the Gulf Stream, weather has the ultimate say. Chris Parker, Chief Forecaster for the Marine Weather Center, was mentioned in Dave's update. Read Chris's bio and forecasting philosophy here.  The Sea Angel is grateful for the Marine Forecasting provided by Mr. Parker.

You can view the original/projected Sea Angel charter here.  We will provide updates right here on the blog as the Sea Angel navigates the realities of weather along their path. You can also track the boat as coordinates are shared. Leg #2 is in progress and it looks like the Sea Angel will be spending Thanksgiving in Great Cay Harbor before heading on to Nassua. There are still opportunities to sail with Sea Angel and if you are interested in traveling a leg with the boat feel free to get in touch by emailing info@seamercy.org or commenting your interest below!

On behalf of the Sea Angel and with Thanksgiving just a few days away, we'd like to extend our thanks for keeping up with the journey. Your support means so much. That's all for now! We'll share more photos and updates soon!

The Crew waits out the weather in Fort Lauderdale, FL 11-19-2014

The Sea Angel is sailing to the South Pacific to be a part of Sea Mercy. Sea Mercy is a benevolent program developed for disaster and critical care needs for remote islanders. Sea Mercy is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) charity with a simple vision and mission to "stand in the gap" with a service delivery vessel, trained health care volunteers, support equipment, and critical care services as island nations develop their "outer island" health care infrastructure, when critical health care need opportunities are present, or when disasters occur. If our journey with the Sea Angel moves you, we welcome you to consider donating on our behalf to Sea Mercy - they have several ways to get involved and are so grateful for your support. For more information on how you can help, click HERE. 


Sea Mercy's Corporate "We Care" Program is designed to help organizations to attract and engage clients, vendors, and employees naturally in the spirit of social responsibility and providing a wonderfully enriching partnership. There are several ways to participate with "We Care". Visit Sea Mercy's website for additional information. If you know of an organization or would like to involve yours, please share this information forward. Thank you and God Bless!  




No comments:

Post a Comment