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Virtual Cruise II
United States Training Ship Golden Bear
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Status July 22, 2002
En-route to Papeete, Tahiti from Auckland, New Zealand
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Total Distance:
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2221.8 nm
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Projected Time:
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7 Days 20 Hours 17 Min. at 11.9 kts.
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Comments:
Our voyage to Papeete has begun, and as of noon today our 'day' is 4 hours 18
minutes long. To many, this may sound strange, since most days are twenty-four hours long. But in the seafaring tradition, we measure each day at sea from our
departure from port to noon, then noon to noon during each day at sea, and finally from noon to our arrival. Since we officially departed Auckland at 0742 this morning,
our day at sea is only 4.3 hours in length. This tradition of measuring days from noon stems from the fact that the most accurate, easy and available celestial navigation
observations occurred during the Local Apparent Noon observations, and thus began our practice of measuring days from noon to noon.
For the next several days we will be transiting a good stretch of the South
Pacific Ocean, and in the process we will loose two hours and have two Tuesdays since we will cross the dateline again. For the first several days of this leg we will be
vulnerable to winter storms that blow up from the Antarctic, but by the end of the week we will soon be back in the Tropics, which is also called the Torrid Zone.
Opportunities for celestial observations will be limited such as it was today, when a thick layer of stratus clouds obscured our view.
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Vessel Data
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Ti me Zo ne:
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-12 (12 hours ahead of Greenwi ch Mean Time)
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Le ngt h of Da y:
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4 hours 18 minutes
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Loc al Ti me of Po siti on:
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1200
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Lat itu de:
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36°-18. 2'S
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Lo ngi tud e:
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175°-50 .5'E
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Tot al Dis tan ce Go ne:
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63.1 nm
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Dis tan ce Go ne To da y:
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63.1 nm
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Dis tan ce to Go:
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2159.8 nm
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Cur ren t Sp ee d:
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14.8 kts
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En gin e Sp ee d:
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Both engines - 90 rpm.
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Weather Data
Observations:
Forecast:
This morning Metservice Wellington, N.Z. issued a gale warning for our area
that lasts ‘til mid-day tomorrow, possibly longer. An intensifying low and associated frontal activity will bring rain, thunderstorms, gale force
winds and rougher seas. This system is moving to the east and is expected to intensify over the next 36 hrs. The wind and seas will be out of the north with
winds to 35 kts and possibly higher over the period. The worst of the seas will be tomorrow night when we could see up to 17 ft. 72 hour projection shows the
low well to the SE as we enter a high pressure system.
Meteorologist McGuire
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Air Tem per atur e:
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62° F
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Hu midi ty:
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77%
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Win d:
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NE 10 kts.
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Clou ds:
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Cumulu s/Strat ocumul us
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Sea s:
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NE 3 ft.
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Sea Tem per atur e:
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59° F
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Wat er Dep th:
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680 M
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Sun rise:
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0728
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Sun set:
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1701
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Auckland New Zealand: Days 29 - 32 ( July 19 - 22)
 
Arrival Auckland - and we couldn't
have asked for better weather! Although the day dawned cool and crisp, the morning sun cast a warm glow on the skyline of downtown Auckland. If you've
ever been Seattle, you could appreciate the beauty of Auckland, which reminded many of us of the Puget Sound area of Washington state. After we
arrived from sea, we sailed for another 12 miles around small, islands and secluded bays. As seen in the above picture, several small
volcanic mounds (not all extinct!) are scattered throughout Auckland and environs.
Tug Waipapa awaits our arrival.
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The city of Auckland maintains an active waterfront, right alongside a
busy shopping and tourist district. We were fortunate to be docked right downtown, at the foot of Queen Street at the passenger ship terminal.
Cadets wore their dress blue uniform for arrival, as you can see division 2-E in the photo above.
 
 If you look carefully in the photo above, you can see the TSGB
docked just to the right of the two white rectangular buildings in the center of the photo.
 To our left was the America's Cup Harbor, where numerous 'syndicates' from all over the
world have set up 'top secret' shop with their finest racing sloops to prepare for the America's Cup race early next year.
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The Sky Tower, which is the tallest structure in the southern
hemisphere, was centrally located in Auckland. Leave it to the Kiwis to turn just about anything into an adventure! For a small fee, people
could jump from the observation platform on the tower and glide down to street level (pictured above). The view of the city, the harbor and the ship were spectacular.
 
Sunday night, before a Monday morning departure, the engine
department had it's annual dinner to show appreciation for the hard work of the engineering corps officers during the cruise. Chief Engineer
Paul Jackson and his department hosted the cadets at a very well attended and appreciated event.
This morning, the ship set sail, finally headed north, with weather
reports indicating a full gale building at sea.
Tahiti awaits and then home.
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