Visit by USCG Cutter MUNRO
Written on Oct 14th
Day: 7 — Position: N21 20.2’ W163 18.7’
Distance from Waikiki Yacht Club: 307M
Distance to Northern Marianas: 2901M
Water temperature: 81.3F - 27.4C
Records as Running Totals
Solo ocean rowing career total in days at launch: 925, now 932
Overall career total in days at launch: 1009, now 1016
—-oOo—-
I had a visit yesterday by the USCG Cutter MUNRO near N21 20’ W162 48’ at around 14:10 local time. This was 278M west of Waikiki Yacht Club, my point of launch a week ago. I was inside, having just completed transferring files from the SoundTrap hydrophone to an external drive. I heard what sounded like a horn and wondered if my laptop was telling me something I didn’t recognize. Then I heard it again. I stepped outside and looked astern to spot the cutter. I turned on my VHF radio to communicate on Channel 16. Technically I should have it on all the time.
They were kind to ask how I was doing and whether everything was in order. I told them that the only problem I had was that the seas were swift, that my pace was too fast and that I would reach the longitude of Guam too early. I put my oars out and rowed a bit to the tempo of “row, row, row” by the crew on their helicopter deck and the waves of everyone on the bridge.
They did not stay long but their gesture of visiting me on open sea was enough to make me emotional. They made my day, gave me a nice memory to carry across the ocean. Just like the USCG helicopter that checked on me a couple days after I launched from Crescent City, such gestures mean a lot!
I‘ve had a good run since my launch last Thursday the 7th. I covered a lot of ground with 25 knot gusting winds the first few days. The seas were cross in the lee of Oahu and Kauai Channel. Driving waves would catch up with my rowboat then slam, splashing me in the process. When I could, I rinsed and hid in the cabin to read.
Fortunately everything was in my favor so by adjusting the rudder, I could meander along my desired course. Rowing would have helped steady my course but added more speed. Without much rowing, with only a few hours per day to get some exercise, I was registering 50-60 nautical mile days. I wanted to average about 35M/day in order to reach the longitude of Guam during the first week of January. I expect that January will bring strong northerly winds west of the Marianas due to winter storms south of Japan, which I would like to avoid.
To slow my pace a bit, I decided to deploy the SoundTrap hydrophone on Monday morning. This dropped my pace by a half knot. By then the winds had also eased some. Even with the weak drogue effect that the hydrophone offered, I still had enough speed to use the rudder to choose which side to receive the seas. So my meandering continued without rowing for another 48 hours until this morning. I gathered the hydrophone from the water, then I made extra water. Time in the sweltering cabin over the last few days had me itching with salt.
After that I got busy with the sound data. I had just finished copying over 1400 sound files to the external drive when MUNRO arrived. I had the cabin strewn with clutter; my laptop was out, plugged into a 12V power adapter which itself was plugged into a cigarette lighter jack on the instrument panel. SoundTrap and external drive were connected to the laptop and all their respective dry bags covered the mattress leaving me with little room to sit. I had to maneuver over all this to step outside. I was talking into my portable VHF radio in one hand and trying to record a video with the GoPro in the other while balancing on a rowboat which never stops moving. No wonder I felt out of sorts with the recording!
By now, the SoundTrap is recharged, its internal storage cleared to capture new data further down my course and the laptop is put away along with its accessories. My speed is back up so I may soon deploy it once more. The system consists of a towbody to contain the hydrophone, a 15 meter Kevlar cord from that to a 3 pound lead ball, and a 10 meter Kevlar drop line from that to my Dyneema strop which I attached to my rowboat on the skeg ahead of the rudder. My strop is just long enough to reach the deck so I can gather the system. By adjusting the length of the drop line, I can vary the drag that it creates. On this 48-hour run, I had only 2.5 meters of it out. I will see how a longer drop line affects my speed the next time.
So far, I feel good that I will have the opportunity to collect more sound data during this phase of my crossing than I was able to between Crescent City and Waikiki. The sound data that I collect as a vessel of opportunity will be used by NOAA scientist Dr. Jay Barlow in his survey of Beaked Whales. He had stated that data existed around California, Hawaii and the Marianas, but nothing in between. He himself was on a vessel over the last few weeks, conducting a survey around the Pacific Gyre west of California.
The fact that I am contributing to a scientific study, was justification by the Flags and Honors Committee of the prestigious Explorers Club to designate my crossing as a “Flag Expedition.” I was assigned Flag #97 which had already been on numerous expeditions before mine. Once I complete my mission and return the flag back to the club, Dr. Barlow and I will submit a report on the scientific outcomes of our efforts. That will become a part of this unique flag’s documented history.
In short, it is a privilege to help a scientist, an honor to be trusted with a club flag and a joy to have the encouragement of Coast Guard professionals. I am grateful.
Erden.
NOTE: History of Explorers Club Flag #97
(Many thanks to fellow explorer Ron Zuber for tracking this down at the club headquarters)
Award of Flag 97
Issac B. Stoner, MN '17
Eastern 980 Investigation 3
September 27, 2019 to October 11, 2019
The Explorers Club Flag is a symbol of courage and fidelity. The award of the flag is a significant accomplishment. Since 1918, the flag has been carried to all of the Earth’s continents, as well as under the sea and into the stars. To date, 850 explorers have carried the flag on over 1450 expeditions. A select handful of the 222 Explorers Club flags have been framed and now decorate the Club house in New York. These include flags carried by Roy Chapman Andrews, Bob Bartlett, Thor Heyerdahl, Naomi Uemura, and miniature flags carried aboard the Apollo 8 and Apollo 15.
Your expedition will now become part of the rich history attached to this flag. Earlier expeditions include:
John E. Williamson 1939 Bahamas-Williamson Expedition
Steve Brimmer 1990 Annapurna II Expedition
Catherine Nixon Cooke 1991 Belize Expedition
Louise D. Hose, Ph.D. 1991 Papalo 1991 Resurgence Expedition
Jens Munthe 1992 Rub al Khali Expedition
Robert Hahn 1997 Baja Nat. History Exp. to Sierra de San Francisco
Wickliffe W. Walker 1997 Riddles of the Zangbo Expedition
Wickliffe W. Walker 1998 Riddle of Tsangpo/Brahmaputra Gorge
D. Clark Wernecke 1998 Belize River Archaeological Settlement Survey
Louise D. Hose 1999 Environmental Parameters of Cueva de Villa Luz
William T. Everett 2000 Isle of Guadalupe BI-National Expedition 2000
Craig Mullen & Ian Koblick 2007 The Xlendi Project
Robert J. Atwater 2007 2009 Cahal Pech Archaeological Expedition
Ian Koblick & Craig Mullen 2011 Ancient Shipwrecks of Croatia
John C. Holder 2013 Oceanic Whitetips, Photo Survey ID Exuma Sound
Mark O’Shea 2014 Reptile and Amphibian Survey of Timor-Leste
Charles Rawlings 2016 Living Mollusks in the Maluku Islands
Grant Rogers 2017 Peruvian Anaconda Research Expedition
Peter Rowe 2017 Red Planet – Cano Cristales River
Peter Lenahan 2017 Intl. Speleological Expedition PHA SOUNG PROJECT
Brett Howell 2019 Henderson Island Plastic Pollution Expedition 2019