September 17, 2006

We dropped off our last Pilots this morning around 0930 and have continued on downriver on our own and under power.  Up until just now, the wind has been variable to calm.  There has and continues to be fog since this morning.  Recently we encountered some light rain; the beginnings of a weather forecast promising NE�rlys from 15-25 knots over the next 24 hours, with an increase to 30 knots to follow.  My dilemma is how far to proceed before trying to find a lee to anchor behind or if it would be just as well to sail.  In the first scenario, we save wear and tear on ship and crew.  In the second, we save time IF we can make some headway along our track without using fuel. We need to save fuel for lesser, more advantageous conditions sometime later during the 900 miles we still have left to travel to Boston.  My decisions rest on the weather forecasts.  In Canada they do not provide forecasts beyond 48 hours and only provide details out 24 hours.  By contrast, Americans forecast out 96 hours or more and provide significant detail.  Neither resource is infallible. But I would like to have some clues as to what may be likely to occur several days ahead to help me strategize the next step.

LATER THE SAME DAY

Well, it seems my decision is made, and hopefully soon enough.  The calm and fog of earlier finally gave way (I was hoping it would hang around longer) to the promises of the forecast with wind filling in from the NE-E and bringing light scattered rain with it.  The barograph continues a trace downward.  There is no doubt about it, the low to our west continues to track east as it chases out a high to the west.  A Canadian update to the weather indicates an increase in expected local wind strength to gale winds from NE and veering E.  I see indications from weather maps that moderate to strong southerly winds are likely in the Gulf of St. Lawrence sometime mid-week.  My current plan is to seek a lee behind a breakwater at the Port of Matane on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River and wait out the easterlies.  My hope is that we reach there before significant strengthening of the wind occurs.  Maybe I should have taken a lee somewhere behind us right after we dropped the pilots off.  But the calm was so beguiling it was hard to give it up for making some distance in light winds with the engines.  Now we must make the remaining distance of 24 odd miles while using up fuel at a faster rate than we were without headwinds.  The above are samplings of the considerations of a 21^st Century Captain of an old style sailing vessel on a schedule.

NEXT DAY (Monday September 18)

We made our anchorage at 2100 hours last night without too much trouble and have been comfortably at anchor ever since.  We are hiding behind a substantial manmade breakwater at the town of Matane, Quebec, located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River some 220 nautical miles east of Quebec City.  Overnight the wind has veered a little and this morning it has increased some as promised.  The anchorage is a little rolling, but we are sheltered from the force of the wind-driven sea and there is a substantial building on the breakwater that is partially sheltering PRIDE II from the wind as well.  Considering the alternative, we are more than merely comfortable.  In fact, had this shelter not been available, we probably would have diverted to an out-of-our-way detour to find shelter somewhere, and perhaps would have been a retreat on the mileage we made since dropping the pilots off.  Instead we have managed to preserve the distance we�ve made, as well as find a safe haven for the current conditions.

Today the crew is spending the day working on projects that would otherwise not have been done until we were tied up ashore.  Even then they probably would not have been tended to considering the other priorities that would have cropped up to push these lower priority projects to the back burner.  Choices are all a part of our lives ashore and at sea.  In the case of sailing vessels, I have found some of the nicest experiences being at anchor at unscheduled times due to contrary or significant weather circumstances.  During these moments, the time seems to be �extra� time for either personal goals or vessel goals, or both.  These moments are like unexpected gifts and for me they are much appreciated.  True, it is possible that we will pay the piper later on when we discover the time we spent being prudent has caused us to be late for our schedule;  forcing the master to be tied up with strategies for catching up the time, which could mean trying to get along the remaining distance during contrary conditions and increasing the wear and tear on ship and crew -- possibly causing an exhaustion or damage that otherwise would not have occurred but for being delayed by circumstances that occurred earlier.  I know this description is a vicious circle, but....  For now, we have some relief from what is outside of our sheltered anchorage and an opportunity to get things done that would otherwise not get done for some time, if ever.

BETWEEN LAKE ONTARIO AND THIS LOG

When I last left you we were sailing nicely in Lake Ontario headed for the Thousand Islands.  We finished that sail quite quickly by arriving in the Thousand Island vicinity at 0500 hours last Thursday (September 14).  This gave us an opportunity to stop in Alexandria Bay and get the cook, Mike Ito, ashore for some last shopping before we departed American waters to head around Canada.  It also gave us the chance to tend to the ship's and crew's laundry before heading off.  The day was a rainy day and thus not a great day for a look at Alexandria Bay, except to see what we could see from PRIDE II at anchor in one of the town�s two little harbors.  Since it was mid-September, it was impressive how quiet it was in Alexandria Bay.  This area is hopping during the summer.  However, come September things are so quiet the crew could not even call a taxi.  Fortunately the Alexandria Bay Big M grocery store has a shuttle service that picks up a shopper and brings them back.  Also, one of the local hotels, the Edgewood Resorts, was generous enough to send one of their staff to pick up and drop off the laundry crew, even though they had the place full and were busy with a convention.

While all that was going on, the crew remaining aboard took the opportunity to clean the �other� side of the ship.  They had done the first side, but had been unable to get to the second side before departure from Erie.  This was a good time to do it in the rain.  Meanwhile I made a phone call to the manager of the �Singer Castle� on Dark Island (or Jordstad Island as it is named on the chart) not 8 miles downstream from Alexandria Bay.  My call was to follow up on an invitation for a tour that came our way during the up-bound passage through the Thousand Islands.  Tom Weldon was good for his word and we made a deal for the ship to arrive at 1600 hours.  With the crew back aboard and the anchor hauled back, we made our way in a somewhat dryer day, but still low overcast with mist.  At the island we were able to dock rather than anchor and Tom gave tours of the castle to the crew.  He joined us for supper and we were able to remain at the dock overnight.  Had the weather been different, we may not have been able to stay overnight.  All aboard enjoyed the castle, a fantasy of one of the Singer Sewing Machine Company directors back 100 years ago.  This castle was built to a description in a story, complete with secret passages.  Today it is a tourist attraction and a place for an overnight stay of great luxury and service in the old fashioned sense of the 1930�s.

Friday morning early we took our leave of �our� castle island and motored on down the St. Lawrence River, passing through seven more locks by the time we reached Montreal around midnight.  At the last lock, located right in Montreal, we picked up a couple of pilots for the first part of the trip down the �middle� portion of the St. Lawrence River.  Between Montreal and Escoumins (located in the lower St. Lawrence River Estuary) there are two different Pilot zones. One zone is between Montreal and Quebec City and the other is from Quebec City to Escoumins. In the first zone there are two pilot sections: one section is between Montreal and Three Rivers (Trois Rivi�res); the second is between Three Rivers and Quebec City.  The pilot zone between Quebec City and Escoumins is not divided into sections, so we dropped the first two pilots off at Three Rivers early Friday (they got on just after midnight at the last lock in Montreal).  We took the next single pilot from Three Rivers to Quebec City, arriving there just before sunset on Friday.  In Quebec City we took two more pilots aboard for the run to Escoumins and they remained aboard till 0930 Sunday morning.

Taking a pilot aboard PRIDE II in the St. Lawrence River is an experience that can relieve the master of a great deal of constant observation that would be required if no pilot was aboard.  I know this personally because between 1985 and 1999 I made trips both up or down on the St. Lawrence seven different years without a pilot.  Each trip I spent a great deal of time overseeing the navigation of the ship.  When a pilot is aboard, I am able to give orders to the mates to keep an eye on things while they do as the pilot requests, and I am able to take things a little easier.  This whole process is made even easier as electronic charting has become available and GPS accuracy has improved.  Even with these improvements, things can happen to change all the conveniences of a pilot.  For the first time I had a delay due to the pilots between Montreal and Three Rivers loosing confidence in controlling PRIDE II�s steering when it became foggy on Saturday morning. They insisted they could not trust the steering due to the magnetic compass being slow to respond and so they refused to proceed when the fog set in.  Instead they had PRIDE II mill about a channel marker, all this despite a good radar image and excellent electronic chart detail, with Differential GPS (DGPS) providing very precise accuracy.  We could easily �see� the next pair of buoys with the radar and even place our position from the shore using radar-ranging. With the electronic charts and DGPS we could �watch� our progress as we progressed in the channel, even to the detail of noting if PRIDE II was to one side of center or not.  So there we were with other bigger ships moving on their way through the fog while we sat.  I discussed things with the pilots and found their position to be unrealistic.  They noted my frustration and decided they could follow a passing vessel that would come by in about an hour. We followed it and eventually anchored at Three Rivers because the next pilot would not proceed unless the fog lifted because of what the first two pilots said of PRIDE II�s steering.  I did not leave the two departing pilots with any doubt of what I thought of their caution/fear.  

The next pilot came aboard and I welcomed him in the usual friendly and courteous fashion, not making any reference to my sense of unnecessary delay.  I discuss with him PRIDE II�s equipment in detail and he made adjustments to the radar to suit him.  He also said that when he could see a certain bridge nearby that we would get under way.  That bridge appeared about half an hour after he came aboard and we got under way.  I steered while the crew handled the anchor.  It became evident to both the pilot and me that there was a problem with selecting course to steer because PRIDE II uses magnetic courses and the pilots are used to using true degrees for courses.  On most commercial vessels, a gyro-compass is used and a magnetic compass is only aboard as an emergency back-up.  With gyro-compasses, it is unnecessary to use magnetic degrees.  Converting true to magnetic is easy enough but it can take time.  Also, pilots commit courses to memory.  Since magnetic courses change over time as the magnetic pole drifts over the years, it is unrealistic to commit magnetic courses to memory.  To make things simple aboard PRIDE II, we adjust the radar and the electronic charts to indicate in magnetic to match PRIDE II�s magnetic main compass.  This new pilot was having problems converting true to magnetic and magnetic back to true even while we had good visibility!  I asked if it would be easier for the pilot if I readjusted the radar and the electronic charts to read in true.  He thought for a moment and said if I could do that it would be helpful. Once I made the adjustments, the pilot�s helm orders were firm and unequivocal and the rest of the day went smoothly. The technique was to note what PRIDE II�s heading was on the radar and on the electronic charts, cross reference that with the COG (course over the ground) -- also indicated by DGPS in true degrees -- and decide if that was the desired course.  If it needed changing, it was a simple matter to calculate the new course for how many degrees left or right of the current heading and apply that value to PRIDE II�s current magnetic compass heading.  Very soon after the course alteration, the radar would confirm the change and indicate the new true course being steered and so too would the electronic chart.  Had I been able to note the trouble that the earlier pilots were having during the good visibility times and had I concluded what we could do about it, it is possible we would not have had any fog related delay, although it is tough to be sure of this.  Since 1999 we have had five different pilots aboard for each of the transits up and down the St. Lawrence River in the years 1999, 2001, 2003 and now 2006. At no time has there been an issue about PRIDE II�s magnetic compass and the pilots� memory of courses in true degrees. This is of no matter now.  For the future it may be good practice to offer to future pilots the opportunity to read the radar and the electronic charts in true degrees.  Maybe then we won�t have any pilots loosing confidence in PRIDE II�s crew or themselves to steer her precisely.  

Cheers,|
Captain Miles

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