I know I’m not the only one interested in the legal adventures of skipper Rick Smith, recently acquitted in federal district court in St. Thomas on a manslaughter charge in the death of David Pontious (see image above), one of his crew members. This truly was a horrible situation. Smith, who sails a 43-foot vintage yawl Cimarron back and forth between Maine and the Virgin Islands each year, took on Pontious as pick-up crew, and within three days of heading offshore Pontious was hallucinating madly and was effectively psychotic. After brutally assaulting Smith–both punching him in the face and strangling ...

A Klatch of Albatross

March 23, 2019/Day 170

Noon Position: 53 30S  61 04W

Course(t)/Speed(kts): NNE 4.5/Wind(t/tws): E 10

Miles since departure: 23,242

Avg. Miles/Day: 137

What a strange turn of days. To come from the windiest place in the world to a place where the breeze’s only commitment is to a light contrariness! I feel like Scott and his polar party, trapped under an inversion layer that never lets them go.

Mo is close hauled in winds 6 – 10 on the nose and is averaging, at best, 4 knots. Even with the big sails up, there is just ...

Coppercoating Totem’s hull was a thrilling prospect, but pressure to do the application correctly gave me more anxiety than any boat project in memory. The product features are substantial: a strong environmental case (nothing toxic ends up in the water, as with conventional antifouling paints), and solid financial value (the epoxy bottom should last for many years, a significant savings). But long term success relies on nailing the application. We did NOT want to screw this up.

Totem started from bare fiberglass bottom (no gelcoat) because a prior owner peeled it, presumably to resolve a blister problem. A clean gelcoat ...

March 22, 2019/Day 169

Noon Position: 54 41S  62 23W

Course(t)/Speed(kts): ENE 1

Wind(t/tws): SWxS 5

Miles since departure: 23,168

Avg. Miles/Day: 137

The wind has abandoned the field these last two days. For a time yesterday when it wafted almost due west, I ran with all plain sail flying, main and #1 genoa out to port, #2 jib poled to starboard. On this plan we made what felt like a handy three and four knots. Today, wind is so light, all those same sails do is thrash. I put them out of their misery at noon and we ...

March 20, 2019/Day 167

Noon Position: 56 03S  67 58W

Course(t)/Speed(kts): E 7

Miles since departure: 22,959

Avg. Miles/Day: 138

Hour after hour we run in towards the shallows below Tierra del Fuego and hour after hour the barometer remains fixed at 1008mb and wind at 30 knots. I know this is how the low will come on: isobars will trend east/west until the slanting wave of more powerful winds arrive. But those more powerful winds have been due for some time.

I train the flashlight on the barometer: it reads 1008. Count to three hundred. Click the light ...

March 19, 2019/Day 166

Noon Position: 56 11S  72 34W

Miles since departure: 22,805

Avg. Miles/Day: 137

We rode the twins for almost twenty-four hours in fast following winds and on which Mo has turned in her best mileage in a couple weeks. I’m pleased that it appears the approach to the Horn will go out with a bang, not a whimper.

The low is close now; winds are intensifying and pulling north. Just after the noon post, the anemometer struck 30 knots at almost NW. So, down came the poles, and we race onward under the working jib ...

Aqua Map has added a premium tier called Aqua Map Master that adds AIS overlays, data via NMEA-0183 and SignalK over WiFi, US Army Corp of Engineers survey data overlayed over charts and a new route explorer.   With Master, Aqua Map adds several features I haven’t seen on any other mobile app that I’m excited to try out.

Aqua Map Master is a $10 per year subscription that Aqua Map says will get all their new premium features.  Aqua Map already has a nice suite of features including support for both Waterway Guide and Active Captain Community crowdsourced data, a ...