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Voyage on the Robert Seamans (a first-timer's perspective)

Mark H. Strobin, Lead Forecaster
Marine Focal Point / Weather Forecast Office, Monterey, CA

The Robert Seamans

The Robert Seamans, a 134.5 ft Brigantine sailing vessel owned by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. Photos by the author.

I had never been on a boat before, not even a sailboat. But, there I was, on the deck of the Robert Seamans, a 134.5 ft Brigantine sailing vessel owned by the Woods Hole Institute in MA, wondering if I was ever going to get my sea legs...trying to get used to that "patch" behind my ear, and nervous as could be. An "Ocean Navigator's" course was being offered for people who own, or who where about to own yachts. This course was taught on the Robert Seamans from August 8, 2003 to August 13, 2003. The vessel was sailing from Pier 27 in San Francisco to San Pedro (Long Beach), CA. The weather was beautiful during the voyage. There was not a trace of fog during the whole journey. The moon was nearly full and the ocean glittering like diamonds in the light. There were 30 "souls" on board, including students, crew and two National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists. The other meteorologist was Lee Chesnau from the Ocean Prediction Center in Camp Springs, MD. Students had come from around the U.S., even from as far away as West Virginia. The many subjects to be covered included using GPS, knots, navigation, radar, dead reckoning using stars (such as Arcturus), off-shore marine meteorology, and coastal marine meteorology. Raising the sails was manual, and definately hard work. Each day during the voyage there were classes in meteorology, in addition to a regular briefing with the Captain. I taught the crew how to take various observations and input the data in to the AMVER/SEAS Voluntary Observing Ship Program.

On August 8th we set sail at 4 pm sharp from Pier 27. We anchored the first night 1/2NM from Sausalito. Music could be heard from shore...the saying so close, yet so far was appropriate for the situation. We sailed passed Alcatrez on a 26 kt wind blowing through the Golden Gate. Remarkedly, I felt fine...no hint of seasickness. I was up to 1:30 a.m. on deck talking to the Captain about marine meteorology. The sleeping arrangements were tight, especially for someone 6'4". However, the food was incredible; I must have gained 10 pounds during the five days. On August 9th, we motored out under the Golden Gate Bridge. We couldn't sail because the tide was flooding in at more than 3 KT. After passing under the Golden Gate we went through the "Potato Patch", a rough patch of water that is part of the convergence zone at the entrance of the Golden Gate. We continued 60NM offshore. It was a bit of a lonely feeling watching the Golden Gate Bridge turning into a speck...and disappearing. Again, no seasickness - so I got brave (or foolish!!) and took off the "patch".

The Robert Seamans Crew

The Robert Seamans Crew

On this day we broke up into watches, I was part of Watch C2. My role, in addition to standing watch and teaching the crew observations, was to teach coastal meteorology and to brief the Captain. A word about the Captain...he was interested in more than the "forecast". He wanted to completely understand the hows and why of everything. Another word about the Captain...if Hollywood was going to script someone to be a Captain in the movies...Captain Steve Tarrant would be it. He was a spitting image of George Clooney from "The Perfect Storm". He was singing old sailing songs...all he was missing was an eye-patch and a parrot (or maybe a deck cannon or two). The voyage itself was pretty uneventful. I saw several whales...most likely grey whales. One Great White shark was circling the boat near Catalina Island. We also sailed to the offshore anchored buoy near Point Conception (buoy 46023). We went through two pods of dolphins...it was amazing how graceful they were. It looked as though they were playing with the ship. The big excitement occurred on the night of August 10th. We were about 100NM west of Point Conception. A low-level jet developed. The winds along Point Sur were 50 KT sustained at 100 feet AGL. The ship recorded 38 KT sustained...Gale Force. The seas were 10-15ft...with some combined seas 20ft. I was standing watch, strapped in, at the bow between 9pm-130a.m. The seas were washing over the deck. We had to change the main sail to a Storm sail....not an easy task to do manually in those winds and seas.

It was an exciting time for all.

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