Weather Data
Observations:
Comments:
Just about everybody has switched to khaki longs and coats as we
approach the coast. Gone are the tropics! Temperatures have cooled to the mid 60's as a persistent marine overcast has formed overhead.
Forecast:
One day and a wake-up to Long Beach!!! With that in mind, the
weather for the LBC looks like it may turn out to be partly sunny with a light breeze out of the NW. The outlook for our near future also looks
to be rather fair with continuing overcast skies as we move north. The seas should remain about the same with about 4 to 6 foot swells out
of the NNE and shifting over to the NNW. The wind should also shift from the NNE to the NNW with speeds ranging from 10 to 15 knots.
~Potential Meteorologist Ellis
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Air Temperature:
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67° F
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Barometer:
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1015.0 mb
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Humidity:
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78%
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Wind:
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N 15 kts.
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Clouds:
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Stratocumulus
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Seas:
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N 4ft.
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Sea Temperature:
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67° F
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Water Depth:
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4012 M
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Sunrise:
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0629
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Aboard The T.S.G.B. Day: 53
 America, finally on the bow, but not quite so simple. Much work must be done before we can
return to the United States of America. The ships purser must compile a multitude of customs and immigration forms for the visit we will receive from the Customs Service and the INS
upon arrival in Long Beach. Each crew member must fill out an individual customs declaration form declaring purchases made in all of the foreign countries we
have visited. The purser will spend several hours compiling these forms for easy review by the customs officer. The process is similar to
that of when arriving in the United States from an international flight.
Additionally, lists need to be made of all foreign nationals including
their INS status along with their visa type and any US documents required. For convenience, prior arrangements were made for our entry
before the ship left US waters. INS rules have become stricter and are enforced more stringently since September 11.
Click on the advanced notice of arrival to see the new requirement for
all ships entering the USA. A 96 hour advance notice with crew list and information on each crew member is required as well as where the ship
is from, where it has been and who owns it. 96 hours gives our Coast Guard time to verify the information before the ship is allowed into any US port.
US Notice of Vessel Arrival 
  
While we are getting all of the paper work together so the ship can be
cleared for entry in a timely manner, the ship must be made ready for port.
Cleaning is the name of the game. After 14 days sailing into a head
wind and sea, the salt spray has just about covered everything. It has amazed me how dirty a ship can get in the middle of the ocean where
there is not dirt. But is does! So we clean the rust and clean the decks, inside and out. We wash down the bulkheads and we paint
where it is needed. Tomorrow morning, the day before Long Beach, we will stop for four hours so we can get over the side and spruce up the
hull. With any luck, we will look ship shape for are arrival into Long Beach.
 
This evening we passed about 5 nm off of Guadalupe Island. The island
lies about 150 nm west of Baja. Guadalupe, (yellow) is used to fix our position and maintain our track. As seen above, moveable electronic
lines (blue and dotted) are used to gauge and maintain a desired distance from the island. This form of terrestrial navigation is referred
to as parallel indexing and is one of several critical skills our cadets reinforce while on the Golden Bear.
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