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    Around-n-Over

    Question - "What does having a dream mean to you?"
    Answer - "A dream is a goal glimmering in the distance; it is an inner calling which, when accomplished,
    serves as the rite of passage into wisdom." Erden Eruç - Sep 17, 2004
     

    Inside the Gulf...
    March 7, 2012 - Day 150    10.1427N,61.9948W
    I hope you do remember to click on the [ORS MAP] and [MAP] links on the top right to track my proggress.

    After I pulled anchor at 7 am yesterday, I hugged the shore to avoid the chop from squalls that rain, which came along the length of Trinidad landmass, produced. I was receiving fair winds from ENE, which at times felt like NE, and I worried about what I would find when exposed in the gulf. The beam on winds made for slower rowing. Fishermen were launching from a settlement near Icacos Point and without exception coming to say hello and asking if everything was alright. A good number of them had woven hair or dreadlocks tied in the back of their heads if not stuffed on top in a big colorful woven hat. They had puzzled looks on their faces when I told them I had come from Africa.

    The current began moving at 2.5-3.0 knots once at the tip. Just 100 meters offshore, I could see the palm trees rush by and smell wood smoke. A rocky shallow was on the chart just off shore; perhaps because of my timing, its rip tides were absent. I had considered going along the shore then thought I could not do it. Those shallows had made me nervous. Then NW of the point was the Soldado SW oilfield with its numerous wellheads and a platform. I had feared the current and the wind would drive me toward these obstructions. So my plan had dismissed this tight turn, instead opting for a turn 5-10 nm further west on the far side of the oilfield, hence all my plans were for the worst.

    Yet arriving on site at Icacos Point, and feeling the current, I took advantage. I turned the point at 11:30 am at the tail end of the strong ebb tide. Soon afterwards the incoming tide caught up with me. The advancing tide boundary created choppy seas when it collided with the ENE wind waves. For perhaps 2-3 hours, I could neither get ahead of this chop nor fall behind it... It extended east and west with a darker blue water on the south side. I was hit by a few heavy afternoon showers which allowed me to lather myself, rinse my t-shirt and collect two buckets of rain water.

    When around 3 pm the wind got too strong, I dropped anchor. Later the anchor dragged and I was 2 nm further NW by 1 am. That's when I dropped a more substantial danforth anchor with a 30 m rode line without chain. My default anchor is a four pronged wire anchor to avoid snagging. I had dropped this with some chain and a 50 meter line earlier. With two anchors resting at 17 meters, the boat thankfully stopped drifting and I could go back to sleep. The wellheads were only half a mile to my west now... The bottom is mud, so I should swap anchors to favor the danforth before anchoring the next time.

    I am inside the Gulf of Paria on the west side of Trinidad. To exit the gulf, I need to work my way 35-40 nm further NNE. The forecast is for 16-22 knot winds from 70 degrees through Friday. Then the wind will ease in strength to 10-15 and turn to 90-100 degrees on Saturday. That's 30-40 degrees further to starboard that I can take this boat, which could make all the difference. I am glad I did not go further west around the oilfields; digging myself out of this corner is already going to be hard enough...

    This body of water between Trinidad and Venezuela was originally named Golfo de la Ballena (Gulf of the Whale) by Christopher Columbus. Later the whaling industry proved very efficient and the whales were completely slaughtered; they have not returned since. I find it appalling that some nations like Japan still hunt whales under the cloak of "research."

    Actively exploited oil and gas fields are to my east and west. Platforms and wellheads are indicated on my electronic charts. The wellheads appear like short cellular towers. Maybe we can now call this the Gulf of the Well!

    I completed my Atlantic passage yesterday around 15:18UTC at the W061.9267 longitude, same as that of the Icacos Point light, located at the SW corner of Trinidad. That light with the coordinates (N10.0486,W061.9267) is the only precise landmark in those narrows. The total distance that I had traveled at sea until that longitude since my launch from the Lüderitz Bay Harbor Public Jetty in the morning of 10 October 2011, was over 5317 nautical miles. The total duration for my passage came to 148.35 days, resulting in an overall average speed of about 1.49 knots and an average pace of 35.8 nautical miles per day. The leisurely walking pace of 30 nm/day or 1000 nm/month are the estimates that I use when I design a route before the launch.

    I have obtained this total distance by adding all the straight line distances between my morning and evening positions since Lüderitz. Because my GPS chartplotter is shot, I won't be able to calculate a more precise odometer reading until I can stitch all the available GPS tracks after landfall.

    Erden.

    ---- oOo ----

    CHARITY:

    The 2011 tax year concluded at the end of December. Thank you for participating in our efforts to raise funds to build additional classrooms at the Mateves Secondary School in Arusha, Tanzania on the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro. If you pay taxes in the United States, your contribution can be claimed as a tax-deduction. We will provide an accounting of all funds received and applied toward the Mateves cause, effective the end of 2011, sometime after my landfall.

    Around-n-Over has already transferred 6,000 USD toward the Mateves cause. The team will report separately on the foundations laid, walls built... More information is available on our Projects and Score Card pages. Our Board of Directors will continue to monitor progress well into 2012.

    Please remember to promote our charitable and educational projects. Your friends can contribute using the Support Us link in the left margin. If Charitable, Educational or Expedition is specified on contributions during 2012, we will allocate them according to your wishes.
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    Previous Dispatches
    image

    Deep in the serpent's throat...    March 5, 2012 - Day 148
    Today I was able bring my boat almost the length of Trinidad into the Serpent's Mouth before dropping anchor at 8 pm at 15 meters depth just 3 nm south of its shores. All day, as the rain squalls

    image

    Going into the Serpent's Mouth...    March 4, 2012 - Day 147
    The winds and the swells, generally from the NE as expected for February until now have pressed my course and I have not been able to gain sufficient northing early enough to go counter clockwise arou

    image

    Equipment failure...    March 2, 2012 - Day 145
    On Tuesday, the day after my last dispatch in which I mentioned the forecast that swells would turn northeastly, the frustrating northerly swells subsided. As I rowed NNW with beam on starboard winds

    Later dispatches - Previous dispatches


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