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Total Run This Leg:
1,771.3
Nautical Miles
Total Average Speed: 5.26 Knots
Hours / Days This Leg: 336.5 Hours, 14.02 Days
Distance To Go This Leg: 1,176.5 Nautical Miles
Estimated Time Of Arrival: 7:00 a.m., Saturday, October 16
Present Course: 117 Degrees, Southeasterly
Winds: South Southeast at 5 Knots, Dead Ahead
Seas: Rippled Surface
Swells: Persists at 7 Feet from the Southwest
Barometric Pressure: 1010 Millibars
Air Temperature: 79 Degrees
Sea Temperature: 80.5 Degrees
Visibility: 10 Miles
Skies: Overcast
Sea Floor: Ocean depths below the USS New Jersey range from 1,960 to
2,060 Fathoms, or 11,760 to 12,360 Feet Position:
USS New Jersey is now 89 Nautical Miles South of Puerto Sacrificios, which is 15 miles
East of Bahia de Puerto Angel, the outer Western point of the emerging and notorious Gulfo
de Tehuantepec.
Weather's The Subject Of The Day
USS New Jersey's trackline is still running
Southeasterly, and is approaching the Gulf of Tehuantepec, which lies South of the Isthmus
of Tehuantepec, the narrowest part of Mexico.
This Gulf contains a great expanse of water and indents
the coast between Bahia de Puerto Angel and Barra del Suchiate, 256 Miles East Southeast.
During the months of November to January, these Pacific waters South of the Gulf
are subject to ferocious North winds produced by high pressure systems in the Gulf of
Mexico which spill Southward across the Isthmus into the Gulfo de Tehuantepec. These
winds and resulting heavy seas are known to sailors as "Tehuantepecers" and are
studiously avoided, or at least well prepared for.
Meanwhile, Captain Kaare Ogaard said tonight that the USS
New Jersey "has basically passed through the Eastern Pacific's hurricane alley,"
an area of latitude just traversed, which during this same hurricane season that produces
Atlantic storms, does the same here in this part of the Pacific.
Related to that, Captain Ogaard this evening received a
"Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert," underscoring that assessment. The
alert warns sailors that within the next 12 to 24 hours, the formation of a
"significant tropical cyclone is possible."
From the Naval Pacific Meteorological Oceanographic
Center on North Island in San Diego, California, he was advised that USS New Jersey had
already passed South of this potential trouble, and if it does develop into a Tropical
Storm, it should have little effect on the tow. Winds within this advisory area are
estimated to be 20 to 25 knots, and the system is moving Westward at 10 Knots.
USS New Jersey's upcoming weather scouting will be as she
passes South of the Gulfo de Tehuantepec, the home of the Tehuantepecers.
Submitted by Bob Wernet onboard the Sea Victory.
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