Log of SV Free Spirit and ships company

The chronicles of the schooner Free Spirit and her crew, embarking on an open ended journey upon the great rolling heap. Free Spirit is currently pursuing humanitarian and commercial goals in the Dominican Republic, on the island of Hispaniola. Working under the Ocean Reach USA and Paradigm Research banners, she is serving as logistics headquarters, workshop, and development laboratory for many ongoing projects. This is the log of her journey.....

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Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Titusville, FL To Cumberland Island, GA 6-8/6-10

P'tit Louis and Free Spirit were joined in our travels by another french couple on another steel boat named Ahora. This is their son Rupert, and he was a very smart and fun 2 1/2 year old who spoke about 97% French. It was very entertaining for the boys to sit with him and their English/French picture dictionary. They would point a picture of something common, say the French word for it, and Rupert would immediately say, "No!", and correct our pronunciation. He completely understood that we were learning his language, and was also open to learning a little of ours. He was a breath of fresh air and a joy to be around :-)



Getting ready to head out of the waterway and into the Atlantic. Ahora went first, then us, then P'tit Louis. We 'rubbed aground' about 5 times in this channel, and would highly recommend that it be up next for dredging!



A massive school of jellyfish that we encountered just after leaving the inlet into the Atlantic and turning North. There were probably hundreds of them, but if I zoomed the camera out, then they would blend into the surf. It was cool!!



Up close and personal.... I would not want to meet one of these in a cold, dark, waterway :-)



Sunrise the next day over the Atlantic while on my morning watch. It is kind of cool that over the ocean, sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between sunrise and sunset.



A HUGE manta ray followed us into the St. Mary's River from the Atlantic just south of Cumberland Island. The St. Mary's River is the border between Florida and Georgia. Finally!!!! We are into another state!!!



The 3 boats, safe and sound, moored together for a few days of fun and relaxation.

Ahora / P'tit Louis / Free Spirit

posted by CT | 6:11 PM

1 Comments:

Blogger Gayle said...

I know how terribly hard you work each day to live this life...Laura you are so lucky to have children and a husband so willing to do so and be adventurous. I love the shot of the three boats moored together. Have some fun! :)

7:09 AM  

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Introducing Propcalc 4.0

Use Propcalc to easily match your hull with your engine, transmission, and propeller
Put the known data in the top fields, then hit the Update button to get the answers.
Results, of course, should be verified by a Naval Architect or qualified surveyor.
Data is provided for three bladed propellers of average type
For two or four bladed props, use the modifiers shown below.

Fill out the fields as follows:

Vessel LWL (ft) = Waterline length
Vessel Disp (lbs) = Vessel displacement
(max) HP = Rated Engine Max HP
Engine RPM max = Engine RPM at Max HP
Engine RPM cruise = Desired or estimated cruise rpm
(Cruise or Max) Kts = Speed to work the calculations for
Slip = Propeller efficience. 45% is average for a displacement cruiser.
Gear ratio = 1: Gear ratio of transmission
SL Ratio Adj. = This value will be added (or subtracted, if a negative value) to the calculated S/L ratio.

Key information:

If the "hp required" is greater than the "cruse HP", you have your cruise RPM set too low for your engine parameters.
If the "hp required" is significantly less than the "cruse HP", you have your cruise RPM set too high for your engine parameters.
If the "hp required" is greater than the "Max HP", then your target speed is too high for your engine/hull parameters.
The S/L ratio is calculated automaticaly based on your input. It can be adjusted if necessary, but normally it should be left alone.
If the calculated S/L ratio exceeds S/L MAX, then the results are likely to be non-predictive. Try a lower speed requirement.
SL Ratios of 1.1 - 1.4 are typical of displacement hulls. Semiplaning or planing hulls can go higher.

Typical propeller slip values:

Sailing auxiliary, barges, etc less than 9 Kts............45%
Heavy powerboats, workboats 9 - 15 Kts....................26%
Powerboats, Lightweight Cruisers 15 - 30 Kts..............24%
High speed planing boats 30 - 45 Kts......................20%
V bottom race boats 45 - 90 Kts...........................10%


Note:

it is possible to get irrational answers by irrational input , I.E specifying excessive speed for hull type and length
Any attempt to exceed hull speed (1.34 times the square root of the waterline length in feet) with a displacement hull are likely
to fail unless the hull is extremely fine (multihull) or otherwise exceptional. In such cases, an S/L adjustment would be in order.

2 and 4 bladed props:


For two bladed propellers, multiply the diameter by 1.05, and the pitch by 1.01
For four bladed propellers, multiply the diameter by .94, and the pitch by .98
PROPCALC
  Inputs:
Vessel LWL (ft) =
Vessel Disp (lbs) =
  (max) HP =
  Engine RPM max =
  Engine RPM cruise =
  (Cruise or Max) Kts =
  Slip =
  Gear ratio = 1:
  SL Ratio Adj. =
   
    Solutions:
  Prop rpm max =
  Prop rpm cruise =
  Pitch =
  Diameter =
  Static Thrust =
  Cruise HP =
  Cruise HP% =
  SL Ratio =
  DL Ratio =
  SL Max =
  HP Required =