Rookie Mistake

Latitude 24.70 N Longitude 84.96 W 4/6/13 1:00 AM When I came on watch this morning, my fellow crew member, Tom, let me know that the GPS had quit working. No problem. A quick flick of a switch and the on board navigation system is using our backup GPS unit. But that wasn’t good enough […]


Update: 4/5/13 @ 8:45 PM EDT

Current position 24.4900N, -85.5600W. 155 n/m from the Dry Tortugas. ETA is tomorrow evening, hopefully before dark. We made up for lost time today with favorable winds and current. Winds came from the NW blowing 25-30 knots with 8-12 foot seas. Now currently blowing 20 knots and seas have subsided to 3-6 feet. All is […]


Midnight to 3 AM

Latitude 24 52 N Longitude 88 28 W 4/5/2013 12:18 AM I thought I’d blog daily while crossing the Gulf of Mexico. Things tend to get in the way. I’m not complaining, but this has been the roughest Gulf Crossing I’ve ever had. Poseidon and Zeus have been conspiring to keep us from passing west […]


Update: 4/4/13 @ 5:15 EDT

Current position is 24.60N, -89.29W. Winds have backed to the NW at 25 knots and are finally pushing us straight for the Dry Tortugas. Seas are choppy with 6-8 foot waves, but still comfortable. ETA to Dry Tortugas is late Saturday night. View Larger Map


Update: 4/3/13 @ 5:50 PM CDT

Current location 25.44000N, -91.04000W. Last 24 hours have been rough but everyone is doing ok. High seas, winds from the SE at 45 knots. View Larger Map


Questions people ask us

4/3/12 Question: What about Pirates? Answer: You can see them coming from a mile away — those silly pirate hats and the skull and cross bones flags are a dead give away. Question: What do you do all day? Answer: Something ALWAYS breaks. So far this trip, I’ve had to bypass a fuel filter on […]


Double Wide, You’re in a Pickle

Lat 27 57 North Long 91 43 West 4/3/12 4:00 PM “Sailing Vessel Double Wide, this is guard vessel Bunny Bordelon and you’ve got yourself in a real pickle. The vessels around you are part of a seismic research group and you’ve sailed within the boundary limits…” As the captain of the Bunny Bordelon was […]


Update: 4/2/13 @ 10:30 AM CDT

Current position 27.2000N, -92.0500W. East by North East winds at 15 knots, overcast skies and choppy seas. The wind is forcing us further south than we’d like to, but it’s all good. View Larger Map


Into Nothing

Lat 28.05N Long 92.32W More or less, when you go to sea, you lose site of land within 12-15 miles. But when you go to sea in the northern Gulf of Mexico, you’re really never alone. Oil companies have carpeted the surface of this part of the gulf with oil rigs, production platforms, and who […]