Saturdays Cruises were great weather on both trips….day trip was flat calm with just a slight residual sea about 1 ft from the east.

Saturdays Cruises were great weather on both trips….day trip was flat calm with just a slight residual sea about 1 ft from the east. The night cruise was the same with an easterly onshore breeze that died out through the evening.

Sunday’s cruises will be a great ride with light summer breezes today from the south….an onshore easterly wind this afternoon and then calm again for the evening cruise.  The ride will be great as the waves will be less than 2 ft all day.

Ship maneuver continued……

With our clean and smooth bottom the “head reach” for the Victory has increased substantially….I have been driving this ship since 1998 when it first came to Florida from New York….and I have had to make some adjustments in the past few days in my docking procedure…For you Skiers or Surfers it is the same as taking and old set of snow skis or an old Surfboard out of the garage and putting a fresh coat of wax on them….

To continue from yesterday…you may say “well you just put the engines in reverse to slow her down as you approach the dock”….I say not so fast…..All boats (scientifically)  maneuver the same from a 30 ft yacht to a 1000 ft tanker…As I said yesterday as the ship gets bigger you just have to plan further ahead….A good Captain learns the “science” of what a vessel will do…you learn this from a book…… A great captain learns the “art” of planning and anticipating what each individual ship will do when the science is applied.  But then of course you have to throw “mother nature” in the mix…and of course she has a sense of humor and loves to apply the “pucker factor”. LOL…

….You have pre-planned and set up the angle and speed of approach to your dock….You realize now that your “head reach” is more than it used to be….yes..you can “back down” on both engines…but this should be your final “bail out” choice because that means you are starting over and can get quite embarrassing…..As you back the engines there are several other things that come in to play that not only can, but will,  ruin your preplanned approach…..All propellers are designed to move a ship in a forward motion….so when you put them in reverse all your planning goes out the port hole (“window”  for you land lubbers). You have to contend with….”transverse thrust”, which is a function of the “pitch” and the “slip” of the propellers…..OMG this lesson is going to take a few blogs…..tune in tomorrow….