SUNDAY, 10 JANUARY 1999
As of 0800 EST the Training Ship EMPIRE STATE was located at 039 degrees 54.8 minutes north latitude and 068 degrees 57.8 minutes west longitude, or about 360 nautical miles east of Philadelphia, Pa. She is steering a course of 195 degrees true at a speed of 12.5 knots. The weather is overcast and windy (19-24 knots) northeasterly force 5 on the Beau fort Scale, with occasional snow flurries at 38 degrees fahrenheit. The sea is at state four and confused. The seawater injection temperature taken at the main condenser inlet in the engine room, is 46 degrees fahrenheit.
Captain's Log
I have to apologize to all the families and friends who waited for such a long time yesterday in the miserable weather. Fortunately, it was relatively warm. The predicted time of slack water was 1507. But, the very strong, sustained, southwesterly winds pushed substantially more water than normal into Cape Cod Bay and slowed the turn of the tide.
It was a waiting game for everyone. On the bridge, while the helmsman turned the rudder occasionally for over an hour, we were checking the current's velocity by the angle that the tugboats maintained against it. In the engineroom, the engineers patiently waited for nearly fifty minutes before the main engines were needed. Out on deck and below on the pier, each passing minute seemed to bring a new meteorological challenge moving from sunshine to hail to horizontal rain. And so it went; what an afternoon.
The departure went extremely well, considering the wind. I was a little nervous because the Army Corps of Engineers restricts undocking in the Cape Cod Canal when winds exceed 25 knots. At one point, wind gusts were reported at 32. However, when the final decision time arrived, we lucked out. The wind velocity was a mere 23 knots. Maybe the dispatcher at the Canal Control Office read the anemometer at just the right time!
The weather throughout the night was more of the same, overcast with occasional rain. This morning we are sailing through occasional snow squalls- and we are moving further south! The ship is riding pretty well in a confused sea. The wind is northwest at force 5, the swell is northerly at about 15 feet, and the sea is choppy at sea state four (wave height approximately 4-8 feet). We have a surprisingly low number of cadets suffering from sea sickness, which is good.
This first Sunday is dedicated to acclimating everyone to being back at sea, reiterating the training schedules, and putting the finishing touches on our training spaces. Tomorrow we begin the arduous training sequence, comforted by the fact that warmer days and sunshine are just ahead.
I look forward to keeping this log and I will attempt to get more people from all departments involved.
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