Saturday, September 26, 2009

Our compass must be broken and we are heading for the Devils Teeth

We have now sailed over 1500 NM (2700 km) due South or at least that's the way our compass tells us. So why the crud is it getting COLDER? The Temperature was actually 30 deg C warmer on the Queen Charlotte islands that it is here! Every instrument on board has indicted we have gone south and every thermoreceptor in our bodies is in complete contradiction with that data! Have we seriously done something wrong? Brutal! Still, onward and southwards we go.

We are now going to the Devils Teeth. As a biologist it's a place that I have wanted to visit. The Farallon Islands are about 25 NM West of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and are home to the largest and densest population of Great White Sharks on the North American coast. They are there hunting elephant seals, which grow to over 4000 lbs! A large horse weighs about 1800 lbs. The sharks here kill the seals by routinely biting their heads off in one attack. These sharks are often over 18 feet in length and have been measured up to 25 feet. Our boat is 30 feet. Yowzaa, we will not be getting in the dingy at all! If you're interested there is a great BBC documentary and a book called the Devils Teeth which are both about the shark research at this place.


Farallon Islands
N37 42.1 W123 00.0

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2 comments:

  1. Thanks for doing this interesting and informative log. I am wondering whether you are using your self steering vane and how it is working.
    thanks

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  2. Hey Seventh Son, You pics were great, I hope you enjoyed the rest of the trip around the island. Yes our Hydrovane has done us well so far. Its been fantastic. We have had one trouble with it when we hove to around brooks peninsula, As the boat slid backward down each wave the pressure on the vane would slam the rudder from side to side and we actually twisted the rudder on the shaft. this made the hydrovane inoperable until i could get to harbor and fix it. Not sure what the real fix is, i have been taking to rudder off if we need to motor for a long time or heave to. But as you know taking a rudder off in conditions where you need to heave to is not fun! I should email John at Hydrovane and ask what he says. But over all for steering, Awesome. Its a third crew member that does not eat, sleep or complain!

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