(Monday, March 21st, 2016)
Below are our coordinates a little after breakfast each day, and snapshots (not running averages or anything like that) of engine RPM and observed speed. Thought I’d track across the Pacific. I call our track the “weather modified great circle route”, as we try to stay away from bad weather while still making progress.
The first entry is Shanghai, and is my estimate of Shanghai’s coordinates, not a bridge reading. Thus also the zero speed at the dock. The last entry is while at anchor awaiting to transit the Panama Canal.
There are two March 20ths in this list, not a typo. Our Captain is considerate of the workers. When we reach a new time zone, we move the clocks ahead one hour during the day, so that we lose work time (we – okay, they – work enough extra as it is) instead of sleep time. And when we moved the day back (we are approaching the International Date Line), we did it so that we repeated a weekend day (Sunday) rather than a work-week day. Ah, the power of the Captain! Our “Time Lord”, with apologies to the Doctor. This is a good case of “benevolent dictatorship” in the small.
The speed at RPM is not constant due to wind and current conditions, in case you were about to ask. And, from what I understand from the Chief Engineer, even with no wind and no current, RPM does not predict speed linearly.
Leaving Shanghai, a chilly hazy day. Many ships moving about, but no real vision into the distance.
03-13 31.00 n lat, 122.00 e long, 00 RPM, 00.0 knots
03-14 31.00 n lat, 126.50 e long, 90 RPM, 17.0 knots
03-15 33.00 n lat, 133.10 e long, 90 RPM, 17.0 knots
03-16 34.50 n lat, 140.50 e long, 90 RPM, 17.0 knots
03-17 34.27 n lat, 149.00 e long, 90 RPM, 17.0 knots
03-18 33.50 n lat, 154.51 e long, 70 RPM, 10.5 knots
03-19 34.15 n lat, 158.38 e long, 55 RPM, 05.0 knots
03-20 32.00 n lat, 162.01 e long, 75 RPM, 13.0 knots
03-20 34.25 n lat, 166.00 e long, 70 RPM, 11.0 knots
03-21 34.39 n lat, 171.19 e long, 70 RPM, 11.0 knots
03-22 34.25 n lat, 177.47 e long, 75 RPM, 13.0 knots
(we crossed from east to west longitude, 180, at ~5pm!)
03-23 33.30 n lat, 174.43 w long, 90 RPM, 16.2 knots
03-24 32.30 n lat, 167.55 w long, 90 RPM, 16.2 knots
03-25 31.52 n lat, 160.42 w long, 87 RPM, 15.6 knots
03-26 31.23 n lat, 153.57 w long, 87 RPM, 15.6 knots
03-27 30.51 n lat, 146.18 w long, 89 RPM, 17.1 knots
03-28 29.55 n lat, 139.11 w long, 90 RPM, 17.2 knots
03-29 28.20 n lat, 131.58 w long, 90 RPM, 16.3 knots
03-30 26.13 n lat, 125.17 w long, 90 RPM, 16.6 knots
03-31 23.28 n lat, 118.45 w long, 90 RPM, 17.0 knots
04-01 21.02 n lat, 112.36 w long, 90 RPM, 17.9 knots
04-02 18.14 n lat, 106.01 w long, 90 RPM, 17.3 knots
04-03 15.44 n lat, 099.34 w long, 90 RPM, 17.6 knots
04-04 14.01 n lat, 094.28 w long, 80 RPM, 15.0 knots
04-05 10.55 n lat, 089.06 w long, 90 RPM, 15.6 knots
04-06 07.44 n lat, 083.41 w long, 90 RPM, 17.7 knots
04-07 08.50 n lat, 079.50 w long, 00 RPM, 00.0 knots
27th day. Almost a month on the Pacific, with all sorts of weather. Hills, ships, and the skyline of downtown Panama City are in view as we anchor in the harbor at around 7:30am local time. It is already warm outside. Far below me, birds are flying in V-formation, maybe 50 in a group, maybe a foot above the water. “Welcome to Panama” says Verizon in a text. And that does it for the tracking. Tomorrow, Canal transit!
Was there a ceremony for the passengers when you crossed the Equator?
I am the only passenger so far, and they threatened me with a ceremony, ha! But we had some tough weather right when we were crossing the line so the threat never came to fruition. Fine with me – I mostly avoid that kind of attention.