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Boat Forum / Cruising / September 2008Skip on the move
Just looked at Skip's spot log. He's left the anchorage inside Coecles Harbor on Shelter Island and appears to be headed back towards the LIS. Via Email, he had mentioned going to Three Mile harbor while out between the forks, but apparently he has changed his plans. I advised him earlier via email that he needs to find a well protected anchorage with good holding before Saturday, when Hanna's remnants will be passing through. Where he just left would have been ideal. Three Mile Harbor would have been good as well. His immediate problem may be that he is about to try transiting Plum Gut against an outgoing tide. He'll be up against as much as 5 knots of opposing current and depending on wind, he may encounter an 8 foot standing wave that he will have to sail through. Plum Gut can be pretty easy if you do it during slack tide. Second best would be having the tide pushing you through. He picked the worst option. Hopefully there is almost no wind there when he arrives and he can motor through (slowly) without issues. It will also be quite a "washing machine". Moreso if the wind is opposing. Wonder where he's headed? >Just looked at Skip's spot log. He's left the anchorage inside Coecles >Harbor on Shelter Island and appears to be headed back towards the [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > >Wonder where he's headed? Well, Skip is sailing a weird course. It's beginning to look like the diagram of a complex math problem. Sort of like he's hunting around for something that he can't find. Does anyone know if Skip has good local charts for the area between the forks of Long Island? I'm beginning to wonder, as he also mentioned to me that he was unable to find Greenport a few days ago. He also calls things by strange names that are not on the charts. If he lacks charts for the area, that would explain a lot. Maybe he's trying to fond Greenport again. If he is trying to find Three Mile Harbor, he's gone in the wrong direction, completely. Or, maybe he's just sailing around seeing the sights and will head back to Coecles Harbor for the night. It's interesting following the spot track as he zigs and zags. >>Just looked at Skip's spot log. He's left the anchorage inside Coecles >>Harbor on Shelter Island and appears to be headed back towards the [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > Coecles Harbor for the night. It's interesting following the spot > track as he zigs and zags. He's probably hooked up his GameBoy to his autopilot by mistake . . . Wilbur Hubbard >>>Just looked at Skip's spot log. He's left the anchorage inside Coecles >>>Harbor on Shelter Island and appears to be headed back towards the [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > >Wilbur Hubbard funny. On Sep 4, 11:09 am, sa...@dog.com wrote: ... > Well, Skip is sailing a weird course. It's beginning to look like the > diagram of a complex math problem.... If the weather is nice maybe he's just gone out for a day sail... In any case given Skip's propensity for reporting we're unlikely to be left guessing for long :) -- Tom. >On Sep 4, 11:09 am, sa...@dog.com wrote: >... [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >-- Tom. It now looks like he is headed over towards Greenport or Dering Harbor. Greenport would be an interesting stop for them. Nice place to walk around. I'm sure we'll get a F- U - L- L report. <G> ... I just checked and the new position shows him entering Sterling Basin, which is next to Greenport. I hope he hasn't mistaken Greenport Dock Marine for the Greeport Town Dock, which I mentioned to him. Greenport Dock Marine builds docks. The Town Dock is way over on the other side of Greenport from Sterling Basin. There aren't any "inexpensive" options in Sterling Basin. I'll hold off hitting send on this post for a few minutes to see if the track updates again. 3:03 PM - He's headed back out of Sterling. Round and round and round he goes... where he stops, nobody knows! Kind of fun these SPOT's, are they not? I was kind of surprised to return from my last cruise and not find any comments about my track although friends and family enjoyed being able to follow along immensely. I sent an OK just after anchoring each night to fix the position and then shut the unit down until morning, turning it on again just before leaving. Skip often seems to leave his on all night. They are pretty good on batteries. Mine's still on the first set I put in just after I bought it.  SignatureRoger Long > Well, Skip is sailing a weird course. It's beginning to look like the > diagram of a complex math problem. Maybe he's just out for a daysail to nowhere. Stranger things have happened! How can we join the fun and track Skip? >> Well, Skip is sailing a weird course. It's beginning to look like the >> diagram of a complex math problem. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >How can we join the fun and track Skip? http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?&glId=0sKGa9AJRCF45FaX5L5 g6PLcZGvSb3nMe It's sometimes a little unsettling. The track goes point-to-point, and occasionally it appears he has sailed across land where it juts out. He was at his last anchorage for a few days, so I think he's looking for somewhere new to anchor. I'm headed for MY boat now, so I'll have to check later when I get home to see where he ends up. >Wonder where he's headed? Looks to me like he tacked into Greenport Harbor against a shifty westerly. > Wonder where he's headed? The last fix I see is 4 hours old #49. #48 was headed into Stirling Basin but #49 looks like he's coming back out. No fixes after 49 to see where he is now.....?? >> Wonder where he's headed? > > The last fix I see is 4 hours old #49. #48 was headed into Stirling Basin > but #49 looks like he's coming back out. No fixes after 49 to see where > he > is now.....?? It's obvious that he anchored behind the breakwater. Duh! Wilbur Hubbard >>> Wonder where he's headed? >> [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >Wilbur Hubbard No, it's not. If you had ever been there, you'd know why. If Skip has anchored there, he'll probably spend the night wishing he hadn't. > No, it's not. If you had ever been there, you'd know why. If Skip has > anchored there, he'll probably spend the night wishing he hadn't. I don't think they anchored. Usually Skip leaves his SPOT on and there would be a few fixes in nearly the same place. It looks to me like it stopped transmitting for some reason. -- Roger Long "Roger Long" <Strider@maine.rr.com> wrote in news:g9rajs$c8v$1 @registered.motzarella.org: > It looks to me like it > stopped transmitting for some reason. What I can't figure out is why the Spot box doesn't have a 12V input. Skip told me in an email it takes some kind of expensive battery pack. Ooops....answered my own question...(c; "Larry" <noone@home.com> wrote>> > What I can't figure out is why the Spot box doesn't have a 12V input. > Skip > told me in an email it takes some kind of expensive battery pack. The SPOT just used two AA batteries but they recommend Litihum. Alkaline can be used in a pinch but they say transmisson power will be reduced. It really should have a 12 V jack but it was primarily designed for back packing and other carried on the person applications. -- Roger Long > "Larry" <noone@home.com> wrote>> >> [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > -- > Roger Long What it needs more than that is a website that works. It's down again. -- Gregory Hall >> No, it's not. If you had ever been there, you'd know why. If Skip has >> anchored there, he'll probably spend the night wishing he hadn't. > >I don't think they anchored. Usually Skip leaves his SPOT on and there >would be a few fixes in nearly the same place. It looks to me like it >stopped transmitting for some reason. The page has been down for maintenance. Maybe it stopped updating on their end. It's been down all day, and now they have a temp page up saying that the "sharing" pages are BETA and there will be frequent outages for just that feature. >>> No, it's not. If you had ever been there, you'd know why. If Skip has >>> anchored there, he'll probably spend the night wishing he hadn't. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > saying that the "sharing" pages are BETA and there will be frequent > outages for just that feature. hmmm.... not enough profit in the product to afford the hardware and bandwidth needed when family and friends of their customers want to use the exact service they're selling? Justin. SignatureJustin C, by the sea. > hmmm.... not enough profit in the product to afford the hardware and > bandwidth needed when family and friends of their customers want to use > the exact service they're selling? No, it's a large company with a lot of resources. The tracking is a non-critical service to let a larger group of people follow your route. Email OK, Help, and 911 messages, which also have position information, are still active. I'm not aware of any outages all summer. It was down Memorial Day weekend, probably for last minute tuning. They then seemed to wait until the main part of the boating and hiking season was over before doing more maintenance. The page is up again and seems to show S&L anchored off the breakwater but I don't think it's updating yet because my page does not show the sail I took yesterday. -- Roger Long >> hmmm.... not enough profit in the product to afford the hardware and >> bandwidth needed when family and friends of their customers want to use [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > don't think it's updating yet because my page does not show the sail I took > yesterday. Fair enough, it was just a guess. I do like the look of the product though. Saving one the necessity of telephoning a whole bunch of concerned people each time you touch land. I'm pretty sure I'll get one... when I get a boat. For now I'll just enjoy the cruising life through the likes of Skip, Lydia, Zac, and anyone else who's out there. Justin. SignatureJustin C, by the sea. >>> hmmm.... not enough profit in the product to afford the hardware and >>> bandwidth needed when family and friends of their customers want to use [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > one... when I get a boat. For now I'll just enjoy the cruising life > through the likes of Skip, Lydia, Zac, and anyone else who's out there. Thank you. Wilbur Hubbard I think Justin meant vicariously enjoying real cruises. We all know you are "out there" but I think he meant it in the nautical sense. -- Roger Long > I think Justin meant vicariously enjoying real cruises. We all know > you are "out there" but I think he meant it in the nautical sense. Correctly spotted, Roger. I must try and re-read what I type before I send it, to ensure I am expressing what I am meaning. Damn, I wish they taught English better in this damn country[1]. ... I wish they better taught English in this damned country... maybe, I dunno.... I wish they taught better English? Aaaarggghh!!!! Justin. 1. England. SignatureJustin C, by the sea. >I think Justin meant vicariously enjoying real cruises. We all know you are >"out there" but I think he meant it in the nautical sense. good one. >>I think Justin meant vicariously enjoying real cruises. We all know you >>are >>"out there" but I think he meant it in the nautical sense. > > good one. Neal is definitely out to sea. Signature"j" ganz @@ www.sailnow.com >Fair enough, it was just a guess. I do like the look of the product >though. Saving one the necessity of telephoning a whole bunch of >concerned people each time you touch land. I'm pretty sure I'll get >one... when I get a boat. For now I'll just enjoy the cruising life >through the likes of Skip, Lydia, Zac, and anyone else who's out there. If you have a SSB radio and Pactor modem you can do the same thing via Sailmail or Winlink. Winlink requires a ham radio license, Sailmail does not. http://tinyurl.com/6jp5qd Zoom in and point to a red dot for the log entry. I prefer the satellite view. "Wayne.B" <waynebatrecdotboats@hotmail.com> wrote> > If you have a SSB radio and Pactor modem you can do the same thing via > Sailmail or Winlink. Winlink requires a ham radio license, Sailmail [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Zoom in and point to a red dot for the log entry. I prefer the > satellite view. Wayne, is the map in this implementation always so squirrelly? I had to give up trying to get it to settle down because I was getting a headache watching it jitter around. The panning doesn't seem to work properly. The SPOT maps work much better. No SSB in my plans. I cruise to get away and be out of touch. The thing I like about the SPOT is that it lets friends and family ashore share in the adventure somewhat and remain reassured and gives me emergency communications without the expense, cost, and space of a radio rig which is more of an issue on my small 32 footer than most cruising craft. Living aboard, I probably would feel differently but I cruise for short enough periods that I don't want anyone to be able to contact me. -- Roger Long > "Wayne.B" <waynebatrecdotbo...@hotmail.com> wrote> > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > it jitter around. The panning doesn't seem to work properly. The SPOT maps > work much better. ... There are a couple of trackers out there for people who are checking into YOTREPS. You can check in via SSB voice or digital or any kind of email (a digital sat phone would work). You can see a bit of our track using AH6QR. Some of the more tech savy folks in my clan follow us along. But, YOTREPS isn't really a tracking service. Historically it is a weather reporting service that has developed 'net tracking as the technology has become available and as volunteers have developed the apps. Reporting into a net or directly to YOTREPS via email has some benefits when you are offshore. Apparently Wayne is using it near shore, too. I can't see any reason not to use it that way, too. My only concern is that the guy who provides the bandwidth does it for the wx reporting and I don't know how concerned he is with reports from places that have fixed wx stations. The way the map plots the reports is a little goofy with 300 plus points but once it has finished placing them it seems to work fine for me even on a slow computer. -- Tom. >Wayne, is the map in this implementation always so squirrelly? Wait for it to finish loading, takes a minute or so. Once it stops loading dots from the database it is quite stable. >>Fair enough, it was just a guess. I do like the look of the product >>though. Saving one the necessity of telephoning a whole bunch of [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > Zoom in and point to a red dot for the log entry. I prefer the > satellite view. Like Roger said, that map is enough to give you a headache... until it's downloaded all the dots (why does it take so long?!). I looked at Sailmail, looks complicated, and what sort of range do you get? Major down-side for both Winlink and Sailmail for me are: Windows. Been using it since version 3, and I will not have it installed on anything I own. Any software has to be either OS X or Linux/BSD compatible or I'm not interested. Justin. SignatureJustin C, by the sea. ... > I looked at Sailmail, looks complicated, and what sort of range do you > get? ... From time to time HF radio signals travel right around the world. In practice sailmail and winlink have worldwide coverage and with voice nets with relays it is unusual to drop a boat with working gear during a scheduled net. I would be nice if the guy who gives us the airmail software would port it to *nix but since he does the work for free in his spare time it is hard to complain. -- Tom. >I looked at Sailmail, looks complicated, and what sort of range do you >get? Major down-side for both Winlink and Sailmail for me are: Windows. Like all HF radio it depends on the sun spot cycle, conditions in the ionosphere and time of day. Typically 1,000 to 2,000 miles is quite doable with a little patience, sometimes a great deal more. AFAIK the Winlink and Sailmail clients are Windows only, not that bad in my experience. I use Win2K on all my boat laptops and they never crash. On Sep 4, 9:31 am, sa...@dog.com wrote: > Just looked at Skip's spot log. > His immediate problem may be that he is about to try transiting Plum > Gut against an outgoing tide. > Wonder where he's headed? Not to worry my concerned friend................ Skip should be very aware of that area since he is now a licensed Captain. Many of the navigation/plotting questions are most likly from that chart and he would have had to determine tides, plot course and drift and all that good stuff from interesting places that included: Plum Gutt The Race Little Gull Island Lake Montauk Great Salt Pond Pt. Judith harbor With his documented Captainish knowledge of Chart 13205 TR he'll be fine........ Bob Now.... time to go back to sailing Later and all that other cute huggy kissy crap that some people use in their Signature. |
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