5 June, 2011
Day Six: Lunenburg, NS to Ogdensburg, NY
1200 Pos. 48° 40.3′ N, 068° 14.5′ W
119 NM Run since 1200 on 4 June
Barometer at 1028.5Mb and steady
Breeze at Force 3, ENE, Patchy Fog
Seas: 2′ E
Motorsailing under foretops’l and both courses at dead slow ahead, making 7.5Kts
We have rounded the corner of the St. Lawrence and are headed South once more. Furthest Northerly Latitude was 49° 18′N yesterday evening at 1900. We are also now west of 66° Longitude, which means we have entered the St. Lawrence Waterway Vessel Traffic Services. This is a system under which transiting ships check in with a shore-side control center via radio at predetermined points along the river. Using the information provided by each ship, the center can give advice about when and where a ship might have a meeting or crossing situation with another ship. Lynx will be reporting to a service of this sort until the ship is well into Lake Erie a month from now.
Interesting that they call it Waterway, because aside from the currents we are alternately fighting or riding (and mostly fighting) it is difficult to believe it is a river. At the mouth, according to the 1763 British Survey that is still adhered to, the St. Lawrence is over 70 Miles wide and does not narrow to a width of 24 miles until Pointe des Monte, a good 60 miles up river. It is big, and along the southern shore, high peaked and beautifully forested. When we can see it, that is. Fog has rolled in and out during our passage, but for most of yesterday afternoon we could spot the neat little clusters of homes and shops along the southern shore. But as of noon today, we haven’t even seen the Northern Shore of this massive river. Traveling inland has made the temperatures rise a bit – we experienced 60°F today for the first time since leaving Marblehead. But as a stark reminder that we remain in relatively high latitudes, we saw also saw a brilliant display of Northern Lights last night.
Fortunately for us, the wind has been dead astern since yesterday at 1600, allowing us to carry the square gear and assist our motoring to conserve fuel. With the size of the river, even the 15 knots we’ve seen have generated a decent sea at times, so we are fortunate to be experiencing wind from the East, instead of the more typical Westerlies in this part of the world. There is a forecast for some contrary breezes coming up, but not of tremendous strength. And if we experience them, we should be in the narrower part of the river past the Pilot Station at Escoumins, and at little risk of meeting a heaped up sea.
Speaking of which, we have some work to do to Lynx in order to make her less than 35 meters and so avoid the compulsory Pilotage — and associated fees – from Escoumins to Montreal. All vessels over 35 meters in length are required to take a pilot, and since 1999, length has been determined to include all overhanging rigging for sailing vessels. Lynx is typically just over 37 meters, but if you followed either our inbound or outbound passage last year, you’ll remember that she can be made shorter in one of two ways. On the way inbound to the Lakes last year, we ran in the jibboom. Underway. That was a tricky and consuming ordeal, so we took some careful measurements and determined that unshipping the mainboom and lashing it down on deck would shorten the vessel just enough. So while we motorsail along this afternoon, the crew will be hard at work in an odd but highly beneficial rigging project.
All best,
Jamie Trost and the Schooner-shortening crew of Lynx
5 June, 2011
Day Six: Lunenburg, NS to Ogdensburg, NY
1200 Pos. 48° 40.3′ N, 068° 14.5′ W
119 NM Run since 1200 on 4 June
Barometer at 1028.5Mb and steady
Breeze at Force 3, ENE, Patchy Fog
Seas: 2′ E
Motorsailing under foretops’l and both courses at dead slow ahead, making 7.5Kts
We have rounded the corner of the St. Lawrence and are headed South once more. Furthest Northerly Latitude was 49° 18′N yesterday evening at 1900. We are also now west of 66° Longitude, which means we have entered the St. Lawrence Waterway Vessel Traffic Services. This is a system under which transiting ships check in with a shore-side control center via radio at predetermined points along the river. Using the information provided by each ship, the center can give advice about when and where a ship might have a meeting or crossing situation with another ship. Lynx will be reporting to a service of this sort until the ship is well into Lake Erie a month from now.
Interesting that they call it Waterway, because aside from the currents we are alternately fighting or riding (and mostly fighting) it is difficult to believe it is a river. At the mouth, according to the 1763 British Survey that is still adhered to, the St. Lawrence is over 70 Miles wide and does not narrow to a width of 24 miles until Pointe des Monte, a good 60 miles up river. It is big, and along the southern shore, high peaked and beautifully forested. When we can see it, that is. Fog has rolled in and out during our passage, but for most of yesterday afternoon we could spot the neat little clusters of homes and shops along the southern shore. But as of noon today, we haven’t even seen the Northern Shore of this massive river. Traveling inland has made the temperatures rise a bit – we experienced 60°F today for the first time since leaving Marblehead. But as a stark reminder that we remain in relatively high latitudes, we saw also saw a brilliant display of Northern Lights last night.
Fortunately for us, the wind has been dead astern since yesterday at 1600, allowing us to carry the square gear and assist our motoring to conserve fuel. With the size of the river, even the 15 knots we’ve seen have generated a decent sea at times, so we are fortunate to be experiencing wind from the East, instead of the more typical Westerlies in this part of the world. There is a forecast for some contrary breezes coming up, but not of tremendous strength. And if we experience them, we should be in the narrower part of the river past the Pilot Station at Escoumins, and at little risk of meeting a heaped up sea.
Speaking of which, we have some work to do to Lynx in order to make her less than 35 meters and so avoid the compulsory Pilotage — and associated fees – from Escoumins to Montreal. All vessels over 35 meters in length are required to take a pilot, and since 1999, length has been determined to include all overhanging rigging for sailing vessels. Lynx is typically just over 37 meters, but if you followed either our inbound or outbound passage last year, you’ll remember that she can be made shorter in one of two ways. On the way inbound to the Lakes last year, we ran in the jibboom. Underway. That was a tricky and consuming ordeal, so we took some careful measurements and determined that unshipping the mainboom and lashing it down on deck would shorten the vessel just enough. So while we motorsail along this afternoon, the crew will be hard at work in an odd but highly beneficial rigging project.
All best,
Jamie Trost and the Schooner-shortening crew of Lynx
See the slideshow here:
Fox News WWNY reports on their experience aboard The Privateer Lynx. See the video here:
Fox News WNYF interviews Michael Folsom on Lynx in Clayton, New York.
