Day 51 - mutiny — Captain Father John

Miles cruised 0, fuel purchased $0, dingy fuel purchased $20, slip fee TBD, daily high temperature 84*F

John and Priscilla are jumping ship for 10 days to visit freinds in Florida and fly to Chicago to meet our new grand daughter Eleanor. Dale and Andy will take over writing the blog in our absence.

Remembering the Fitz;

Forty years ago, on Nov. 10, 1975, the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald sank during a ferocious storm on Lake Superior, killing all 29 men aboard.

The shipwreck was soon to be made famous in the haunting song by Canadian songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which was released the year after the sinking.

“When the witch of November angrily stirs her cauldron, no ship, no matter how large, is safe on the Great Lakes,” according to a 1998 article in Weatherwise magazine by meteorologist Steve Horstmeyer and geographer Mace Bentley. The Edmund Fitzgerald remains the largest of all the ships wrecked or sunk by bad weather in the Great Lakes.

Incredibly, in the past 300 years, about 30,000 people have died in 10,000 shipwrecks on the Great Lakes, the Rev. William Fleming told the Detroit News.

The day started out cool and warmed up and was not too humid. Robert spent most of today in the engine room and with the help of two other burly men lifted the old transmission out of the boat. ZF continues to disappoint us and has not shipped the new transmission. Even though they are the manufacturer they do not seem to have all the parts we need. Best guess is a Thursday or Friday deliver.y. Robert estimates it will take two or three days for installation.

Robert crawling around in the engine room.

John and Priscilla have rented a car and will drive from Panama City to Mt Dora, Florida to visit Dick and Candy Smith for a few days. We are getting off the boat and going all the way. Then we will fly from Tampa to Chicago to meet our new granddaughter Eleanor from November 15 – 20. When we return to Florida the boat should be fixed. The original plan was to cruise the boat to Clearwater and fly out of Tampa. We have implemented plan B. Dale and Andy have rented a car and will explore the Florida panhandle.

We will miss the best weather window in months to cross the gulf but there will be another.

Eddy the Weather Wag comments;
Have you wondered what kind of sea state and weather conditions I’m looking for in order to determine a “good” crossing day?

We all have various opinions on, and criteria for, what we consider to be “good”. Our boats handle differently because of keel draft, hull design, overall length, freeboard and wind exposure, to name a few. Our individual tolerance levels for less than perfect sea conditions vary as well.

I really don’t care how the owner of the proverbial 52′ Hatteras defines “good” because I know it’s going to be a lot different than mine.

As a minimum I would have determined that average winds are going to be 13 knots or less and that the average wave heights are forecast to be two feet or less. Other key factors: (a) These conditions must be stable and sustainable during the entire 20 hours it takes Spiritus to cross the open Gulf and (b) Of the several on-line weather sources I check each morning, at least three of them have to match in order for me to declare conditions as “good”.

The forecast is still looking “good” for a daylight-only crossing on Wednesday for fast boats and a Wednesday-night / Thursday crossing for us slow pokes!

Brain clutter: “Life” was the first magazine to make $100 million per year selling ad space in its pages.

Be well, keep safe, and stay happy!
Eddy J. – aboard M/V Spiritus, Grand Banks 36 Classic

Bonus photo – cheap labor is available in Port St. Joe.

Bonus photo #2 – A palm tree arch at the entrance to a bed and breakfast in PSJ.

Carl (Chef) Wooden – quote of the day

Any damn fool can navigate the world sober. It takes a really good sailor to do it drunk.” » Sir Francis Chichester