tpbrady
New member
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2005
- Messages
- 891
- Reaction score
- 0
- C Dory Year
- 2005
- C Dory Model
- 25 Cruiser
- Vessel Name
- Bidarka II
I left the CD-22 at home this week and flew with Caroline to Seattle. On Wednesday afternoon, we boarded the MV North Star, a rollon-rolloff cargo carrier operated by Totem Ocean Trailer Express between Tacoma and Anchorage. We were in a stateroom just below the bridge, 2 decks above the galley, and had free access to the bridge any time we felt like it. The bridge had slightly more square footage than my house, 3 radars, a half a dozen GPS's and computer running Nobeltec (Yes I need one of those).
We left Seattle about 0230 on Thursday morning and I stayed on the bridge until 0330 watching the Puget Sound pilot navigate the ship out to the open ocean. The next morning we out in the Pacific off Vancouver Island, dodging sport fishermen. It happened to be an almost dead calm day and the boats were thick. This was the most intense seamanship of the trip. Being goog visibility, most navigation was visual with some reference to radar. The Captain mentioned in the fog with any kind of sea, his detection range on small boats is something less than 3 miles. I quickly learned that George (pilot's term for autopilot) does the driving even with the harbor pilot on board. You turn the dial to the heading you want and George goes to that heading. Set the turns on the propellers and it goes so fast. For the next 3 days, we motored (no steam on this ship, it's all electric) pretty much straight to the Kennedy Entrance to Cook Inlet. A four hour watch consisted of log entries every hour, making a few 1 or 2 degree heading changes, and making coffee. But then again seas were 4 feet or less, winds were 15 knots or less, and ship movement was hardly noticeable. You know things are not always like that, when every stateroom, passageway, and even the shower has hand railings on both sides.
After we got north of the Dixon Entrance we didn't see another ship for two days. There's not much traffic on the route between Tacoma and Anchorage. However, I saw whales each day ( I spent a lot of time on the bridge just watching), and one afternoon, I saw what had to be about 200 or more porpoises feeding about 1/2 mile off. About 30 of them broke off and joined with us but didn't stay long (I think 21 knots may be a little fast for them).
We were hoping for sunny skies when we got to the Cook Inlet, but the fog rolled in until it got dark. We did get some shots of the Barren Islands, and we could see Kachemak Bay on the way by. The Captain was on the bridge the whole time (until the Cook Inlet pilot took over) since there was a high probability of a small boat encounter. We only encountered one late evening hailbut fisherman in the fog. We detected him right at 5 miles (the seas were 2 feet or less) and it was a 26 foot aluminum boat when we finally saw it. The North Star was sounding it's fog horn, and the Captain altered course to the west to provide clearance.
Here are some comparisons between my CD-22 and the North Star:
CD-22 North Star
Length: 22 feet 839 feet
Beam 7.7 feet 108 feet
Displacement 1.5 tons 45,000 tons
Propulsion 90HP (9.9 AUX) 60,000HP
Generator 150 watt inverter 50MW
Range 200 miles 3000 miles
Fuel Cap 50 gals 8000 barrels
Economy 4 mpg 2 barrels/mile
I posted some photos in my album.
Tom
We left Seattle about 0230 on Thursday morning and I stayed on the bridge until 0330 watching the Puget Sound pilot navigate the ship out to the open ocean. The next morning we out in the Pacific off Vancouver Island, dodging sport fishermen. It happened to be an almost dead calm day and the boats were thick. This was the most intense seamanship of the trip. Being goog visibility, most navigation was visual with some reference to radar. The Captain mentioned in the fog with any kind of sea, his detection range on small boats is something less than 3 miles. I quickly learned that George (pilot's term for autopilot) does the driving even with the harbor pilot on board. You turn the dial to the heading you want and George goes to that heading. Set the turns on the propellers and it goes so fast. For the next 3 days, we motored (no steam on this ship, it's all electric) pretty much straight to the Kennedy Entrance to Cook Inlet. A four hour watch consisted of log entries every hour, making a few 1 or 2 degree heading changes, and making coffee. But then again seas were 4 feet or less, winds were 15 knots or less, and ship movement was hardly noticeable. You know things are not always like that, when every stateroom, passageway, and even the shower has hand railings on both sides.
After we got north of the Dixon Entrance we didn't see another ship for two days. There's not much traffic on the route between Tacoma and Anchorage. However, I saw whales each day ( I spent a lot of time on the bridge just watching), and one afternoon, I saw what had to be about 200 or more porpoises feeding about 1/2 mile off. About 30 of them broke off and joined with us but didn't stay long (I think 21 knots may be a little fast for them).
We were hoping for sunny skies when we got to the Cook Inlet, but the fog rolled in until it got dark. We did get some shots of the Barren Islands, and we could see Kachemak Bay on the way by. The Captain was on the bridge the whole time (until the Cook Inlet pilot took over) since there was a high probability of a small boat encounter. We only encountered one late evening hailbut fisherman in the fog. We detected him right at 5 miles (the seas were 2 feet or less) and it was a 26 foot aluminum boat when we finally saw it. The North Star was sounding it's fog horn, and the Captain altered course to the west to provide clearance.
Here are some comparisons between my CD-22 and the North Star:
CD-22 North Star
Length: 22 feet 839 feet
Beam 7.7 feet 108 feet
Displacement 1.5 tons 45,000 tons
Propulsion 90HP (9.9 AUX) 60,000HP
Generator 150 watt inverter 50MW
Range 200 miles 3000 miles
Fuel Cap 50 gals 8000 barrels
Economy 4 mpg 2 barrels/mile
I posted some photos in my album.
Tom
