Florida Sea Base News

It was a glorius day at the Florida Sea Base.  The last Coral Reef Sailing crew and the next to last Scuba Liveaboard crew returned to the Florida Sea base for their luau.  We have one Scuba Liveaboard crew still on the water.  All other programs have ended for the summer 2010 summer program season.  We will almost certainly complete the summer program season without a hurricane!!!

Speaking of hurricanes, the system off the west coast of Africa is becoming better organized and has been officially designated Invest 95L.  The following is from Dr. Jeff Masters’ WunderBlog:

Posted by: JeffMasters, 10:35 AM EST on August 20, 2010

Forecast for 95L
A ridge of high pressure will force 95L to the west or west-northwest for the next five days, and the system should increase its forward speed from its current 5 – 10 mph to 15 – 20 mph by Monday. A series of two powerful troughs of low pressure are predicted to move off the U.S. East Coast next week and cross the Atlantic; these troughs should be able to pull 95L far enough to the northwest so that it will miss the Lesser Antilles Islands. The long term steering current forecast from the GFS model indicates an above-average chance of recurvature of storms approaching the U.S. East Coast through the end of August, followed by a near-average chance of recurvature for the first week of September.

Elsewhere in the tropics
A tropical wave in the western Caribbean approaching Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula is generating disorganized thunderstorms, and the wave does not have enough time over water to develop into a tropical depression before moving ashore tonight or Saturday.

UPDATED AT 13:35

Wow.  We can usually advertise “Come to the Sunny Florida Keys”.  For the folks from the northeastern US, this week we can advertise “Come to the Mild Florida Keys”.  Jerry Reed (of “Smokey and the Bandit” fame) wrote a song, “When You’re Hot You’re Hot”.  I bet they’re playing that on the radio up north.

Invest 95 is dead and Invest 96 is focused on the Texas border so the Florida Sea Base is in good shape for now.  There were no other areas of likely concern posted on the National Hurricane Center website this morning.

It was good to have a post from Capt. Rich yesterday.  We have written on the topic of Key West before, but here’s a quick reminder.  SEA EXPLORING crews, KEYS ADVENTURE crews, and OPEN OCEANS ADVENTURE crews visit Key West as part of their Florida Sea Base itinerary.  NONE of the other programs include Key West in the Florida Sea Base itinerary.  If you want to take your crew to Key West, you will have to arrange that on you own and it will have to be before you arrive at the Florida Sea Base or after you leave the Florida Sea Base.  You CANNOT take a day off in the middle of your Florida Sea Base adventure to go to Key West.  I’m not sure how to make it any clearer.  SEA EXPLORING, KEYS ADVENTURE, and OPEN OCEANS ADVENTURE crews go to Key West.  ALL OTHER PROGRAMS DO NOT INCLUDE TIME IN KEY WEST.  Coral Reef Sailing does NOT go to Key West.  Eco Adventure does NOT go to Key West.  Scuba Certification does NOT go to Key West.  Scuba Adventure does NOT go to Key West.  Scuba Liveaboard does NOT go to Key West.  It doesn’t matter if you have your own transportation.  It doesn’t matter if it’s on your National Tour Permit.  You cannot interrupt your Florida Sea Base program to take a side trip to Key West.  If visiting Key West is the focus of your trip to the Florida Sea Base, please register for Sea Exploring, Keys Adventure or the Open Oceans programs.

Ok.  I’ve got to run.

Sorry for the abrupt ending this morning but I was running later than I realized.  So far this morning everything is running smooth.  I had another adult leader stop in an comment (positively) on the blog.  That’s always nice.  There were no super-issues this morning.  Capt. Rich and I spent some time together working on the 2011 budget.  OUCH!  There is going to be some serious justifications going on for me to sell our current proposal to the General Manager.  There is nothing unreasonable in the first draft of the budget – except the bottom line.  One of my jobs is to provide safe programming.  Another is to provide fun with high adventure elements.  And yet another is to do so at the most reasonable cost possible.  ”Reasonable” is sometimes hard to define.  But I am prepared to defend every line item of the program budget.  There are some things you simply have to have.

I hope your day goes well.

Capt. Steve
Aboard S/V Escape

SPECIAL NOTE: Our world famous author, Capt. Dennis Wyatt, and his always fun bride, Doctor Ellen Stites-Wyatt, send out emails from time to time to their “fan club”.  Click on “comments” on the line under today’s title bar to read their latest news.  I appreciate Dennis and Ellen allowing me to share this with you.

Yesterday was a beautiful day at the Florida Sea Base.  Except for a brief period from about 11:00 – 13:00 when we got a spot of rain

Radar picture courtesy of Weather Underground

The staff did a wonderful job of keeping everyone on track and the program flowing.  We have a great group this year.

Invest 95 made landfall in Louisiana last night.  I hope my parents get a little rain out of this system.  They live in southeast Texas.  The computer models for Invest 96 are showing tracks from Corpus Christi, Texas to Port Arthur, Texas.  There is also disagreement about how much it will intensify.  So models are currently predicting it could build into a major hurricane effecting the northern Texas coast (Galveston to Lake Charles, Louisiana),

Invest 96 - Weather Underground

There is also a system in the Lesser Antilles that bears watching.  So far, so good at the Florida Sea Base.  But statistically our luck will likely fail at some point.  All we need is 48 more days and the participants will be gone.  Hope for the best, prepare for the worse.

Yesterday’s menu included waffles and link sausage (with several milk, cereal and oatmeal options) for breakfast; salad, chicken fingers and fried potato wedges and watermelon for lunch; and salad, barbeque chicken, vegetables and ice-cream for dinner.  The Galley has been doing a GREAT job with meals this year.  Angela runs the morning shift and Katie runs the evening shift.  It will be sad to see them go at the end of August.

I woke up at 03:20 not feeling well.  I’m headed back to bed,  I am supposed to drive a dive boat later this morning.  Hopefully I’ll feel better by 09:00.

Capt. Steve
Aboard S/V Escape

At the Florida Sea Base, we issue “parmalat®” to the sailing vessels to supplement their milk supply.  As I’ve discussed before, refrigeration is a LUXURY aboard sailboats because it requires so much power.  Some of the captains and participants have complained about parmalat so I decided to check it out.

So what is parmalat?  According to the label, it is 100% real cows milk that is Ultra Pasteurized (UHT) and specially packaged so it doesn’t have to be refrigerated until opened.  It has a shelf life of several months.  100% anything doesn’t seem to be 100% anymore so I looked a little closer.  The ingredients lists “Grade A UHT Fat Free Milk, Vitamin A Parmitate and Vitamin D3″.  I know I’m being picky, but if vitamin A and D are added, is it 100% milk?  It’s really beside the point, just a pet-peeve of mine that products are labeled 100% and then include a list of additives.  I guess 100% means something different to the FDA than it does to me.

Having never used it, I bought three boxes to supplement the two gallons of milk I had on board for our Bahamas trip back in April.  (We drink a lot of milk.)  As it turned out, we were only gone two weeks and the two gallons sufficed so we never opened the parmalat.  So last week I opened one box and used it to make pancakes.  I couldn’t tell any difference.  I refrigerated the leftovers per the directions.  I like my milk as cold as possible so I let the parmalat sit for about two days to get thoroughly chilled.  I poured some in a glass and drank it.  I will admit I could tell a tiny bit of difference.  I would describe it as a little more watery than regular milk – but lust barely.  But it was still good and I enjoyed it.  Once opened you have to use it within seven days.  It comes in one quart boxes and I usually go through a quart a day so there was no issue.  I used it to make chocolate milk, used it in some recipes and drank it straight.  Based on my personal experience, I would recommend it.  It’s great for boats, traveling, camping, and is now included in my hurricane supplies.

I know what you’re thinking (if you’ve even read this far), you’re wondering why I’m not writing about something more important.  Well, it’s kind of quiet right now.  The weather is typical for this time of year, there are no scary storms in today’s forecast, the staff members are doing an excellent job, the participants are happy and everyone in Admin is off so they’re not giving me any grief today.  My brain is into the 2011 budget, selling used scuba gear in September and the 2010 Divemaster Academy.  Therefore, parmalat is the topic of the day.

There was a storm cell that came through the base from the south at about 23:00 last night.  I don’t have an official wind report, but I peaked out at the flags and my guess is 25 – 30 knots or more.  I didn’t get on deck quick enough to check the dock before the rain started.  So I stayed up until the cell passed and did a walk about at 23:15  The cell was just wide enough that it probably caught all of our Coral Reef Sailing vessels.  ”High Adventure”.  Getting jolted awake with gale force winds, stinging rain and lightening while sleeping on deck definitely qualifies as “high adventure”.  It only lasted 15 minutes or so, but it certainly gets your attention.  Everything looked fine on the dock.  Capt. Rich ha a son visiting and I saw the lights on on Sienna Belle.  The companionway was open on S/V Lady Nell so Capt. Luke may have gotten a little rain in the salon.

Invest 95 is not well organized and chances are slim that it will become a named storm.

Invest 95 - Weather Underground

There is a new kid in town, Invest 96.  It will not threaten the Florida Sea Base.

Invest 96 - Weather Underground

There is also talk of a system forming in the Atlantic off the South Carolina coast tomorrow or Tuesday but it has not even reached “invest” status yet.

I appreciate you reading this blog.  Some days it is tough (like today) to find something to write about.  Next week I’ll be on the water most days from 09:00 until 15:30 and then working in the office trying to make up what for what I didn’t get done during the day.  But I’ll continue to try to post SOMETHING every day.  Maybe I can get some decent photos of “fender rodeo” and other happenings on the dive boats.  Hopefully the tropics will remain quiet, but I suspect something will pop up before next weekend.

I spent my day off in exile on my boat.  I slept, watched “The Fellowship of the Ring” on DVD and spent some time on-line looking at boats and other things I can’t afford.  I took a few minutes (with my son’s help via telephone) to renew this domain for five years and messed with the starboard side fresh water tank some.

Capt. Steve
Aboard S/V Escape

The weather is benign at the Florida Sea Base but a tropical depression formed yesterday in the Gulf of Mexico almost due south of Apalachicola, Florida and was designated Invest 95.  The system is moving west and will have some impact on the Deepwater Horizon site and will likely push oil further towards Texas and definitely deeper into the Louisiana marsh lands and bayous.

Invest 95 at 02:00 Saturday

I am off today.  This is my last scheduled day off for two weeks.  We have two of the dive boat captains off next week so Capt. Rich and I will have to cover their shifts.  Capt. Dennis Wyatt will probably loose his day off (Sunday) as well.  It’s the nature of the beast this time of year.  There are other assignments that need our attention, but program comes first and Capt. Rich and I have no intent of disappointing our customers.  We work well together and understand that we are both going to do whatever has to be done to make “the magic” work.  We won’t get overtime.  We won’t get a raise.  We won’t get a bonus.  But our customers will get what they paid for.  And if all goes well, “the magic” will appear to happen effortlessly.  There is a lot of blood, sweat and tears that happen beneath the magic.  It wouldn’t happen without Capt. Richard T. Beliveau.  I’ve told you before that he is a Saint.

I haven’t decided what I’m going to do today.  The 4th of July holiday traffic is usually horrendous so I probably won’t go far.  I’m thinking about going to a movie but I’m not too enthused about going alone.  There’s plenty of work to do on the boat (always) so I may just pick a chore or two and work on those.