Ship's Log (and captains supplement) 01/31/00 2350
Position is 13*05'N, 59*37'W Seas are flat! Speed is 0!Sylvia called the "Land Ho!" around 18:48! We are now anchored off of Barbados and preparing for our first complete night's sleep in over two weeks! Sadly, Munday flew off earlier today, around 5:00pm. She stayed with us for the entire crossing and added to the pleasure of the trip. We thank God for bringing us across safely. More news later...time to sleep. Love and God bless you,
Good News crew.Captain's supplement...
I thank God for the completion of our safe ocean crossing. I also thank our wonderful crew, my wife Valerie, and good friends Morris Johnston, Richard Peterson, and Sylvia Ricard. With the Lord's help we sailed Good News over 2800 miles in less than seventeen days, leaving from Santa Cruz de Tenerife on January 15th and arriving in Barbados January 31st. Averaging over 7 knots for the past 16 days, sailing over 200 miles in a 24 hour period, never sailing less than 150 miles in a day, and recording eighteen (18.0) knot boat speeds twice on the final day, the sailing vessel Good News has proven herself. We also caught, cleaned, and (almost) ate 100 pounds of tuna and mahi mahi. I am grateful for, and proud of, our individual and team accomplishments. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gifts. Like cool water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land. We look forward to the journeys and opportunities the Lord has laid out for us to share his GOOD NEWS.
As always, now and forever, Cap't. Mike
Ship's Log 01/31/00 0410
Position is 12*49'N, 56*48'W Seas are 4', wind is 9 knots, speed is 6 knots.It is a beautiful evening, with more stars than I've ever seen, together with a cradle moon. It is a beautiful sight to sit at the helm outside and see the mainsail to port and the genaker to starboard, white and large, flying wing-on-wing, gently full of wind, with the stars shining brightly all around.
Yesterday at 8:30am, on Mike's watch, while the rest of us were sleeping, there was suddenly a great deal of loud noise in the cockpit, like someone jumping up and down excitedly. It turned out that Mike had just pulled in three fish by himself, one right after the other on three different lines, and one fish in particular was flipping around like crazy in the cockpit! Two more mahi and a tuna! We had fresh tuna for lunch. Later on, Morris pulled in another tuna, while I (Val) was pulling in an albacore (albacore have shorter fins than tuna.) So for the day we caught 5! Richard is responsible for our success fishing. He taught us his ingenious system for rigging the lines, and we haven't been short on fresh fish since!
Munday took another spin around the neighborhood today, flying in wide circles around the boat and then eastward for a couple hundred yards before returning to the boat. At dinner hour we had a pod of dolphin come by. They were jumping clear out of the water! Delightful. We listened to a Charles Stanley sermon on giving thanks in all things. Morris has made his fudge twice this trip, but it always disappears in less than 24 hours, and I know Munday doesn't like chocolate! Sylvia made pizza for us and cinnamon rolls for desert...fantastic!
Thank you for your prayers; we have had an excellent trip, remaining safe and healthy.
God bless you. Good News Crew.
Ship's Log 01/30/00 0410
Position is 13*53'N, 54*04'W Seas are 4-6', wind is 8 knots, speed is 6.5 knots.We have been sailing all night with full main and genaker. It is a beautiful night, with a cradle moon. The crew remains well fed and getting along great, anticipating "land ho."
Today in the morning three mahi mahi bit the hooks all at once (we have four hooks out)! The guys were feverishly pulling lines in. It was great! One of the fish broke our record at 46". Then a couple of hours later, Sylvia pulled in the new record breaking 48" mahi! That makes four fish caught today! We are enjoying lots of fresh fish, and our freezer is getting full!
We decided to dine outdoors in the cockpit as it is getting considerably warmer. The entertainment during the meal was another pod of orcas! They were huge, with white undersides. They stayed with the boat for a couple of hours, occasionally surfacing to the delight of the crew.
Munday seems to be gaining weight. Probably all those nuts and no flying. We have all become quite attached to her.
Love and blessings, Good News Crew
Ship's Log 01/29/00 0410
Position is 14*59'N,51*17'W Speed is 8 knots, wind is 17 knotsRight now we are having some pretty good winds, though they are shifting. We are sailing to the wind vane, which means that the autopilot will try to keep the wind at a certain spot relative to the boat. We have it set on 138* to starboard. We are sailing with just short of a full main, as a couple of days ago Richard spotted quite a bit of chafe on the outhaul, which is used to take out and put in the sail.
We remedied it by taking in the sail just a little to move the chafed spot out of harms way.
Today Sylvia saw Munday jump straight up a couple of feet from the table she was standing on, flap her wings, and land in the same spot. Later Morris looked up and noticed a white bird flying around the boat...it was Munday! She flew a couple hundred yards to the east (wrong way to land!) After a few minutes she returned, huffing and puffing. She hasn't had much exercise the past ten days or so. It was sad to think she would be leaving us, but she probably will nearer Barbados. Hope she doesn't try to fly east.
Just before dusk, Sylvia spotted a whale off the side of the boat. It turns out there were several, and they were orcas! We watched for a long time as they surfed the waves, and then would occasionally come up for air with a spout. They were 20-30 feet in length, with white undersides. Pretty neat!
We are looking forward to arriving in Barbados and hanging up the do-not-disturb sign so we can all have 8 straight hours of sleep! Actually, we are excited about picking up Morris' wife, JoLene, at the airport on the 2nd. When we departed the Canaries, we had a secret ballot as to when we would arrive in Barbados. We each wrote down our predictions and put them together in a safe place. I'm not sure what the prize is for that. Also, whoever spots land first gets to choose where we go for dinner the first night.
Well, that's all for now. God bless you. GN Crew
Ship's Log 01/28/00 0405Position is 15*36'N, 48*16'W Seas are down to 4', Wind is variable 5-12 knots, Speed is 6 knots.
We're all still doing great. Yesterday we caught two more mahi mahi. Morris' line scored the biggest to-date:43". Sylvia and Richard have this great method for cooking the fish which comes out perfect every time! Sylvia made some cinnamon rolls that were scrumptious! For those of you in the Munday fan club, she is doing great. Yesterday she posed with Sylvia and I for her promo pictures.
She wishes to thank all of her supporters throughout the world. By the way, during the squalls yesterday evening, a paper-thin white plastic band came off of her leg. It had four numbers on it. Underneath it and still on her leg is a thicker green band, which reads "Spain RCFE." Guess that's all for now.
God bless you. Good News Crew.
Ship's Log 01/27/00 0400
Position is 15*56'N, 45*27'W
Currently seas are 4-7', wind is 10 knots, speed is 6.5 knots.From about 9:00 until 11:00 several squalls buffeted the boat and helmsman. Seas were 12-16', with an occasional 20'. Wind was up to 38 knots shifting from all directions. Mike, and then Richard, had to take the helm outside as the autohelm could not keep the course. At one point, we were heading almost straight north! No rain, though. Thankfully the winds and waves have lessened quite a bit, although we still get an occasional loud slap under the bridgedeck. Other than that, everyone is still smiling!
Also yesterday Morris noticed his fishing line was tight, and Mike started pulling it in by hand. As it came into view, we saw that it was a marlin! But, about 20' from the boat, the marlin broke free. (from Mike: Do you feel exhilarated? Stand on the stern of a boat in the middle of the Atlantic ocean in 4 meter seas and "hand line" a marlin!)
Provisioning is holding up well. Last night we had filet mignon with béarnaise sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole. Tonight we'll finish off the maxi mahi. Time to catch another fish!!
God bless you. GN Crew
Note: The 15' waves are not like the ones that break on the shore, rather they are like big rollers or swells, sometimes with the surface blown around by the wind. The boat just rides over the top of them, pitching and rolling as the water dictates, but remaining relatively flat and definitely stable.
Ship's Log 01/26/00 0400
Position is 16*08'N, 42*14'W
Seas are 6-12', Winds are 15-25 knots, Speed is 7-10 knots
Crew is well and happy. Good News is sturdy and safe.
We ran into a squall during Richard's watch, with winds up to 38 knots. It only lasted a few minutes, but we were flying at 12-14 knots!
The seas are a bit challenging right now but within acceptable limits. A couple of us forgot to close hatches and took some nuisance water in our cabins! Munday is holding on, swaying with the boat. It's fairly noisy with the waves slapping the inside of the hulls as the water is forced between them.
We are all doing great, though, and making some decent time.
God bless you, GN Crew
Journal NoteAll is very good here. Of course, Richard has been a great help, and Sylvia is a really nice person and she cooks great meals. I have picked up some tips from her. We are sort of sharing the duty of cooking, which is nice. I have made mom's bread twice now on my night watches. It's a great thing to do on night watches, and the appreciation from the crew motivates me to want to make more and more! I also made a cake last night.
I have completed (as much as I can) my Creative Memories photo book about the boat and it came out great! It containes everything from construction - to our trip to Lisbon - to the crossing. I also really enjoyed doing it. Now I am focusing on my classwork, which I will finish before we get to Barbados so I can take the final before we leave again in April.
The waves have not been uncomfortable as they are following seas. This morning we had a squall and after reefing got up to 13.1 knots! Right now we are sailing along at about 7 knots.
Every day Sylvia and I take care of Munday. We feed and water her and clean up her many messes. She really likes cashews, which means the crew is a little upset with her. But I told them there were plenty of cashews for them too! Munday is white with a few large black specks and very soft and gentle. I did pick her up yesterday and petted her. She didn't like me picking her up but she may have enjoyed having her neck scratched. During the squall this morning the basket we gave her as a bed flew overboard, but she must not have been in it (I was asleep). We miss everyone. This has been a wonderful experience! I am really loving it.
Love always, Val
Ship's Log 01/25/00, 0405,Position is 16*42'N, 39*16'W Seas are 6-8', wind is 12 knots, Speed is 6 knots, barometer still showing fair weather. Crew is happy and healthy, including Munday.
Not much happened today, except we put the genaker back up. Late in the day yesterday we had to take it down completely as it would not furl properly, so we stowed it in a locker overnight. Every now and then we find a small flying fish on the deck or trampolines. I'm not sure why this happens. Maybe they can't see us. In any case, they make good bait. We are all doing a lot of reading and movie watching. Sylvia and I do most meals. Tonight on my watch I'm making more bread and a cake. I am also doing work for my New Testament Survey class at DBU.
God bless you, Val and GN Crew
Ship's Log 01/24/00, 0400,
Position is 17*08'N, 36*29'W Seas are 8', wind is 15 knots, speed is 7 knots.Crew is well and happy, getting along fine and eating like kings. We are just about in the middle of the Atlantic!! It is a beautiful night with the moon bright and lots of stars! Bird Munday is still with us. Several of us are taking care of her (?), feeding her and cleaning up after her (this last item is a constant challenge). It looks like she has a message attached to one of her leg bands. Wonder what it says. We haven't seen another vessel in several days, since Navyga helped us call dad. We now think we will probably arrive around or before the 5th of Feb. We are about 1380 miles out from our goal of Barbados. As soon as we are within 600 miles, we will have enough fuel to motor in if the wind disappeared.
God bless you, GN Crew
Ship's Log 01/23/00
Position is 17*42'N,33*45'W, Seas are 6-8', Wind is 11 knots, Speed is 5-6 knots. The crew is well and happy. We caught another mahi mahi today on Richard's line. It was 40" long! Everything on the boat is working properly, including the watermaker. Later today we will have church with a Charles Stanley sermon.God bless you, GOOD NEWS crew
Ship's Log 01/22/00
Position is 18*N,30*49'W Speed is 7 knots, wind is 22 knots, Heading is 258 Crew is all well and happy. Sea is churning with 10-12 foot+ waves. Munday is well too! I am making some of mom's homemade bread on my watch!
Val and GOOD NEWS crew
Ship's Log 01/21/00 0800 hours
Position is 18*29'N, 28*09'W, Speed is 8.2 knots, course is 234*magnetic, seas are 8-12'. We will turn west for Barbados in the next 24 hours. The crew is well and happy. Tonight we witnessed the total eclipse of the moon. Munday (our long toed banded pigeon) is still with us.God bless you, GOOD NEWS Crew.
Ship's Log 01/20/00
Position is 20*16'N, 25*35'W, Wind is 16 knots, speed is 7.5 knots under main and jib, seas are 8-10 ft. Everyone is healthy and happy. Today Mike caught a mahi mahi, and it went right into the frying pan; we ate some for lunch and dinner, with more left over! Delicious! It doesn't get any fresher! God bless, GN Crew
Ship's Log 01/19/00
We are currently at 21*35'N, 23*42'W, seas are at 10-12 feet, wind is 11 knots, speed is 5.3 knots. Everyone is healthy and happy.
At 1200 on the 16th the Satelite Company sent us a fax saying we had zero minutes left and promptly cut off our service. We could not call out to order more minutes, and so have been without communication for the past few days. We tried without success to contact someone over the SSB radio. Early this morning on my watch though we had no targets on the radar, I hailed "any ship" and someone responded. I asked them to call Mike's dad so that he could help us reinstate service, which by now they have done if you are reading this.Also on the 16th we picked up a passenger, a beautiful white homing pigeon with black spots. She has been with us for the last few days, not wanting to leave. We have fed and watered her and named her Munday. I think she just needed a rest, but she is still with us, so who knows.
All is well here. God bless you, The GOOD NEWS Crew, Captain Mike, 1st Mate Val, and crew Morris, Richard & Sylvia.
Ship's Log 01/17/00, 0200,
Position Lat 24*40'N, Long 18*38'WSeas are smooth, 4-6 feet, no weather, sailing under power at 7-8 knots.
Everyone is healthy and happy, with the only problem being that we are running seriously low on M&M's.
Today we had at least 20 dolphin swimming and playing at and between the bows of the boat for over 30 minutes! The re were over 50 dolphin swimming all around. They stayed in the area of the boat for 2-3 hours. We listened to a Charles Stanley sermon for church.
Sunday, January 16, 2000 0200
Position 26*52'N, 17*6'W.Currently seas are flat, 1-3 feet, wind is 3 knots, and speed is 7 knots under power. Everyone is healthy and happy. No targets on the radar. No problems. Yesterday we saw a small pod of 4 to 6 small whales!
1/16/00 - 0600 We have traveled 142 miles in 22 hours averaging 6.45 knots the past day. Current speed 8.5 knots - heading 215 degrees magnetic. Barometer is 1023 and steady. Maximum speed was 10.3 knots. Fuel is at 14 3/4 inches plus 200 liters of reserve and 200 liters of emergency. All systems are working.
Thursday, January 13, 2000
All here aboard Good News are well. JoLene Johnston left for Texas two days ago after sailing with us here in the Canaries for two weeks. Her husband, Morris, has stayed aboard and will make the Atlantic crossing. He is already missing JoLene (as are Val and I) and is ready to get to Barbados where JoLene will rejoin us for another two weeks of sailing in the Windward Islands. Richard Peterson and Sylvia Ricard arrived yesterday. Richard is looking very well. He has lost weight and has cut off his ponytail. His stories are fascinating and his presence aboard Good News is very welcome by all! Sylvia is an attractive young lady that Richard has known for nearly a year. She is just a few years older than Val and they are already becoming friends. She is a Christian lady whose mother worksas a missionary to Indian children in Northern Arizona.God's Good News is ready for the crossing! The VHF radio does not "chirp" any more after Pepe' ran a power source directly to thebatteries. The water maker ran yesterday and we have over 1000 liters in the holding tanks. Today, we will receive the final instrument and software from Raytheon. Actually, everything here works except for the magnetic wind display on the Multi instrument at the navigation station. The other two Multi instruments, one at the helm and one in our stateroom, both work correctly. It seams that after four days of wiring and re-wiring, Pepe called the manufacturer, Raytheon, and they knew instantly why our instrument configuration only worked on two out of the three-multi instruments! I like to call it our only Y2K computer problem. The Bosh washer/dryer repairmancame yesterday and took about 15 minutes to diagnose why the machine slowly filled with water when not in use. He has the needed part "at his shop" and will return today to install it.
Tomorrow we set sail for Barbados! The final day here will be used to get the weather off the internet as well as from the marina office, add two more radar reflectors to the top of the mast, fill the third butane bottle, rig and stow the sea anchor, replace the fresh water filters, and take aboard the final provisioning of fruits and vegetables. We will also have a crew meeting tonight assigning initial "watch" schedules and do a last minute walk around the boat. Everyone here is sea worthy and sea tested, I just want to go over the safety and etiquette rules with everyone together and be sure that we are all in agreement. I would hate to have to keel hull one of the crew. JUST KIDDING!
It is about 0400 and everyone is quiet and asleep. It looks like I will be the 0400 to 0600 watch. This would be great for me because I love this time of the day. Sorry, for not writing sooner, but it seems that there is always something else to do around here. There is never a dull moment. I am hoping to have time to read and time to do a bible study on our 18 to 28 day Atlantic crossing.
We have given out more Jesus Films and are refreshing each other with each others faith. It is a wonderful time together.
Please pray for our safety, it is my highest concern. I am confident in our crew, Good News, God's protection and myself.
Love to everyone,
Captain Mike,1st Mate Val, 2nd Mate Morris, 3rd Mate Sylvia, and 4th Mate Richard
This is Val with a little bit on our 2 weeks cruising the Canaries with Morris & JoLene:
We had a wonderful time! We visited the islands of LaGomera, Las Palmas, and Gran Canaria, as well as Tenerife. In Gran Canaria we toured the Columbus Museum, which housed the original Spanish flag Columbus flew as well as his original ship's log! He stayed on Gran Canaria several times and actually departed from La Gomera to discover the New World. Thank God for Queen Isabella and King Fernand, who agreed to finance his voyage when no one else would! We also found and ate at a Domino's Pizza on Gran Canaria, mmmmm. We visited the most fascinating penguin exhibit and a delightful dolphin show at Loro Park on Tenerife. The sailing was wonderful with fair winds and light to medium seas. The only low point was when one of our crew members flew home…we miss JoLene, but look forward to seeing her soon. Adios, y Dios le bendiga.
Monday, January 3, 2000We started in La Rochelle, France, just barely off your chart at Latitude 46 degrees 08 minutes North and Longitude 001 degree 10 minutes West. For your information, there are 60 minutes in one degree; however, the minutes will not make much difference on your chart because each minute represents only one nautical mile. It would be written as:
La Rochelle, France 46*08'N, 001*10'W
After leaving La Rochelle on July ?? We sailed with Mom and Dad Yaw to San Sebastian, Spain.
San Sebastian, Spain 43*20'N, 001*59'W
Then on to Castro Urdiales, Spain, 43*23'N, 003*13'W
Then on to Santander, Spain for some fuel, (where we ran aground in the river!) 43*29'N, 003*45'W
We then sailed to La Cedeira, Spain, where we stayed a week due to gale force winds, 43*39'N, 008*03'W.
Then on to Lisbon, Portugal (where Mom and Dad left Good News and returned to Baltimore and dry land) 38*40'N, 009*16'W
Then to Sines, Portugal 37*57'N, 008*52'W, where we took the boat out of the water to paint the bottom.
Then Westward to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canaries 28*27'N, 016*10'WWe take on our "crossing crew" of Morris Johnston, Richard Peterson and Sylvia Ricard in Santa Cruz. These three adventuresome friends, along with Val and I, intend to set sail for Barbados on or about January 15th. We will keep you updated as we go and appreciate your prayers for the 18 to 28 days that we expect the Atlantic crossing to take us.
Love Mike & Val
Saturday, November 27th, 1999As I write this I am on the watch. It is about 7:00 p.m. and pitch black outside. There are no other ships, "targets," on the radar. The seas are 1-2 meters and the wind is 14 knots. We have been under sail on this same port tack for the last 36 hours. Currently we are at 35* 57.47' North Latitude and 12* 41.42' West Longitude, sailing from the port of Sines, Portugal to the Canary Islands, which are about 60 miles off the coast of Morocco. The islands are owned by Spain.
We met many wonderful people at Sines and gave away all of our JESUS films. We met several commanders of the Portuguese navy and shared The JESUS Film with them all individually. We were invited to dine with the officers aboard a Portuguese Navy Frigate, and the Mayor of the town invited us to an outstanding concert of classical orchestral music. We also shared the film with the hotel staff, the people working on our boat, and several others.
In Sines, we had the boat hauled out of the water to have the bottom painted. They used a huge crane to lift and move the 20-ton boat. It was a strange site to see her on stands in the parking lot next to the dock. It took a week to paint an clean, and then we put her back in the water where she belongs.
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