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Total Run This Leg:
The
Sea Victory's logged mileage at the point of detention was 819.6 Nautical Miles from
Cristobal, Panama waypoint.
Hours / Days This Leg: 212.3 Hours / 8.84 Days
Distance To Go This Leg: From the point of detention, 1,276.9 Nautical
Miles.
Estimated Time Of Arrival: The new, and still tentative, ETA for the Cape
Henlopen Sea Buoy, depends upon the progress of events in the next few days. A
regular assessment of this ETA will be reported as it becomes available from the Captain.
Present Course: Various, on an Easterly track to Isla de la Juventud,
Cuba.
Winds: East-Northeast at 25 Knots
Seas & Swells: Combined at 12 Feet
Barometric Pressure: 1014.5 Millibars
Air Temperature: 78 Degrees
Sea Temperature: 81 Degrees
Visibility: 10 Miles
Skies: Overcast and Squalls
Sea Floor: Ocean depths beneath the USS New Jersey at this point
are 3,040 Meters, or 9,206 Feet. Panama
Canal Transit: October 16 - 21 / Balboa Pier 14 - 15, Miraflores and Pedro
Miguel Locks, the Gaillard Cut, Gamboa, Lake Gatun, and the Gatun Locks, and
Cristobal. USS New Jersey's clearance into the Caribbean Sea / Atlantic Ocean was
completed at 11:34 a.m., and her mark for the commencement of the Cristobal, Panama -
Philadelphia, PA Third Leg was passed at 11:42 a.m., Thursday, October 21.
Distance Of Second Leg:
September 21 -
October 15 / Long Beach, CA to Balboa Anchorage, Panama: 2,948.7 Nautical Miles, the
longest leg of New Jersey's homecoming voyage.
Total Average Speed Second Leg: 5.18 Knots
Distance Of First Leg: September 12 - 21 / Bremerton, WA to Long Beach,
CA: 1,193.6 Nautical Miles from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to Long Beach, CA
anchorage.
Total Average Speed First Leg: 5.54 Knots
Position: The USS New Jersey this Saturday
morning is 14 Miles off-shore of Cabo Corrientes, Cuba. Captain Kaare Ogaard now has
the Sea Victory and New Jersey jogging on an Easterly heading toward Isla de la Juventud,
or Isla de Pinos (Isle of Pines).
He wants to seek protection from the current
deteriorating weather conditions, and to distance the USS New Jersey from the Yucatan
Channel, and any possible emergence there of Tropical Storm Katrina from the South.
Sea Victory and the New Jersey began their
cessation of forward progress, or detention, at 8:00 p.m., Friday, October 29, at 21
Degrees, 35 Minutes North / 85 Degrees, 07 Minutes West, 18.5 Miles off-shore of Cabo San
Antonio, Cuba, in the Yucatan Channel.
At this point, they began jogging, or slowly transiting,
into the weather, to maintain the best possible towing conditions for the USS New Jersey,
while awaiting arrival of the tug Mariner.
Tracking South Of Cuba, Awaiting The Tug Mariner
Captain Kaare Ogaard spent this morning analyzing weather
conditions, which were fairly miserable as far as tugboats and Battleships were concerned,
and shelter points where he can establish a suitable transfer point for the expected
arrival of the tug Mariner.
The Captain continued the Easterly jogging along a track
South of Cuba, as he and all the crew anticipated the quick departure of high winds and
seas which have made the past 24 to 36 hours less than comfortable.
Meanwhile, the tug Mariner continues her run toward a
rendezvous with the Sea Victory. When the two tugs finally come together, Captain
Ogaard will determine where the transfer of the New Jersey will take place, and when.
He will not execute the transfer after nightfall, and he prefers calmer seas than
the Battleship has been passing through this morning.
It's an hour-by-hour process. He has spent time
studying shelter points in this part of the Caribbean Sea South of Cuba, and will make a
final determination when the Mariner arrives. He has briefed the Sea Victory crew on
the process they will employ to make the transfer to the Mariner, and the crew knows what
to expect. No problems are anticipated.
There are indications that the weather could turn more
acceptable, and the Captain's decision to move New Jersey Easterly, within the calmer
leeward influence of the Cuban land mass, will pay off in making for less volatile seas.
If and when that happens, the Battleship can be handed
over to the Mariner with a minimum of difficulty. The Sea Victory can then return to
the Yucatan Channel, enter the Gulf of Mexico, pick up the Gulf Stream, and head full out
to Miami. She will be accompanied on the trip by an engineering specialist who will
begin to analyze the engine malfunction that needs to be fixed in Miami.
At the same time, the Mariner will then take the New
Jersey under tow back along the same track as Sea Victory will be on, but she will not
make the speed Sea Victory will, so she will not cover the same distance as fast.
When the Sea Victory reaches Miami, and her main port
engine is examined and repaired, she will then be expected to leave Florida, and return to
the New Jersey.
There, she will once again take over the tow, at whatever
point they have transited, and re-connect the Battleship to the Sea Victory's tow wire,
and then resume the New Jersey's Final Voyage to Philadelphia.
Exactly how long this will take is speculative at this
writing. There are too many variables at work to make an accurate prediction.
But this is certain - everyone involved in this project
wants the transfer to be conducted safely, securely, and certainly. Then, they want
the Sea Victory to reach Miami expeditiously, and to undergo repairs satisfactorily.
After that, they want her to re-establish the connection with the Battleship, and
take her home to New Jersey, safely and securely.
Until a little more time passes, it will be impossible to
ascertain exactly the schedule of events, but we will continue to report as much
information as is reliable and possible to let everyone know exactly what the
circumstances are and how the New Jersey is faring.
So far, everything is going as well as can be expected.
Captain Ogaard is very confident that everything will proceed smoothly from here.
A Halloween Side Note
Just in time for Sunday, October 31, the crew of the Sea
Victory has received a Happy Halloween E-mail Greeting Card from the Grade-4 kids of Room
24, at the Harriet Bishop Elementary School in Rochester, Minnesota.
The Captain and crew are very appreciative and extend
their thanks to "The Kids of Room 24." Their digital, email Greeting, via
the Blue Mountain Arts Animated Greeting Card Website, reads as follows, accompanied by
five flying animated bats at the top of the card:
Happy Halloween: Happy Halloween: To Sea Victory and Crew
You batter not shout
you batter not cry
you batter not pout
I'm telling you why . . .
Oops (imagine the sound of a tape squealing) - Wrong holiday.
Happy Halloween: You batter enjoy it.
"We hope that this Greeting can get to the
Sea Victory and her crew. Wishing them good sailing on Halloween Night. From the
students of Room 24."
Thanks, Kids of Room 24, from the Sea Victory. Happy
Halloween to You!
Submitted by Bob Wernet onboard the Sea Victory.
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