Aboard Virginia: Roll and Go

Ocean Navigator editor Tim Queeney is aboard the schooner Virginia, en route to Bermuda on an offshore celestial navigation seminar. The following are his comments from Tuesday, November 17th. We will post Tim’s latest reports as he sends them in, so be sure to check back frequently.

As we close on Bermuda the schooner Virginia has been the beneficiary of a northerly wind that has allowed us to stay on the same port tack for more than 500 miles out into the North Atlantic. As low and high pressure zones have moved all over the map, we have been able to make steady easting toward Bermuda. The folks with berths on the port side of the boat have had to use their lee cloths while those on the starboard side can use the curve of the hull as they bundling board. Schooner Virginia has portholes that let light into the main salon. As the boat rolls, the portholes on the leeward side are momentarily pushed under water and they swirl with water like little washing machines. At night the effect is more pronounced by the presence of bioluminescence. Green light spins in multiple circles until the boat rolls back again and the water drains away.

We’ve worked our way through the bulk of the celestial navigation course and now are hoping for clear skies to get in as much practice as we can before landfall in Bermuda.

By Ocean Navigator