I haven’t been asked this directly yet but I figure I will sooner or later so, I’ll explain my “Plan for the Pacific” in better detail. When I was in Annapolis planning my route for the trip I tried to find info on a boat that had sailed from Alaska to Cape Horn non-stop. I couldn’t find anything so I pieced together several routes.
1) 44 05N 135 01w (California current)
The idea behind this waypoint was to first sail over the “Great Pacific Garbage Vortex” and ultimately position myself in a favorable current that would help me run south. There are also good northwesterly winds that dominate the area between Dutch Harbor and the California current.
2) 30 03n 128 09w (Baja)
From waypoint 1 to waypoint 2 I will have good current and hopefully favorable northerly winds. Thats it.
3) 27 12s 110 15w (Easter Island)
This is the longest jump between waypoints, around 3,500 miles separate waypoint 2 from 3. First off there is a large area of light winds down by the equator. This area is in the shape of a funnel. The larger side of this funnel covers central America, the smaller side is in Polynesia. So I don’t want to be to close to central America because I’ll have light winds that could make life miserable. Also there are Southeast trade winds off the west coast of south America that I really don’t want to deal with. I cant avoid these headwinds completely but staying further out to sea will help.
4) 56 52s 068 38w (Cape Horn)
When I get to waypoint 3 I will be right by Easter Island. South of Easter Island I should start working my way into the prevailing westerlies that dominate the southern latitudes. Once in the westerlies I’ll just head east and round the horn. My waypoint is a bit further north than I’ll go. I don’t care about seeing “the rock” I will probably be 50 to 100 miles south of the Horn just to be safe.
4 thoughts on “Q &A #7: My Plan for the Pacific”
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week 4. sad but i hope it keeps you well brother….
CLEVELAND — Matt Hasselbeck’s free-agent contract with Tennessee included a few perks.
One of them wasn’t a rocking chair.
The 13-year veteran quarterback, who left Seattle after a playoff-filled decade, threw three touchdown passes in the first half and safety Jordan Babineaux returned an interception 97 yards for a TD as the Titans thumped the Cleveland Browns 31-13 on Sunday for their third straight win under first-year coach Mike Munchak.
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Hasselbeck picked apart Cleveland’s secondary in the opening half, throwing for 194 yards on several big plays while helping the Titans (3-1) build a 21-6 lead. The 36-year-old finished 10 of 20 for 220 yards — 26 on just two completions after halftime.
When the Titans signed Hasselbeck to a three-year deal in late July, the decision caused some head scratching around the league. Now, other teams may be kicking themselves.
“We thought he had a lot left in the tank from watching him in the playoffs last year,” Munchak said. “We didn’t bring him here to retire quietly. We brought him here to do exactly what he’s been doing.”
The Titans were playing with heavy hearts. On Saturday, they learned that Mike Heimerdinger, their beloved former offensive coordinator known as “Dinger” died of cancer at 58. Heimerdinger died while in Mexico to receive experimental treatments for a rare form of the disease.
Heimerdinger and Munchak spent several seasons on former Titans coach Jeff Fisher’s staff.
“I was a young coach, and we grew together,” Munchak said. “He was great. It’s a big, big loss to the organization.”
Tennessee’s Chris Johnson finally broke out of his early season funk, rushing 23 times for 101 yards, three more than his total in three games.
Johnson was glad to finally contribute to an offense Hasselbeck has humming.
“Of all the quarterbacks I’ve played with, he’s most like a coach on the field,” Johnson said.
Hasselbeck said the transition has been easier than expected, and credited offensive coordinator Chris Palmer for making it smooth and seamless.
“I’m the new guy, but our five guys up front have been together for so long,” he said. “And when the defense scores points, you love it. Chris is really running the show on the passing game. He’s patient with me. What we are doing is very different from my past and I make rookie mistakes. He gets me through it.”
The Browns (2-2) didn’t build momentum following a comeback win last week over Miami, and Cleveland enters its bye with renewed problems the club hopes don’t worsen. Cornerback Joe Haden, arguably Cleveland’s best player, sprained his left knee and will undergo further examination on Monday. Also, wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi hurt his shoulder.
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“Disappointing loss,” coach Pat Shurmur said. “This was a team loss. There’s a lot of things we need to get better at, and it starts with me. We just didn’t play extremely well. That’s my responsibility.”
Colt McCoy went 40 of 61 for 350 yards and one TD against the league’s No. 1-ranked defense, which sacked him three times and chased Cleveland’s second-year QB all afternoon. But as he tried to rally Cleveland in the second half, McCoy forced a pass that was picked and taken all the way back by Babineaux.
McCoy set club records for completions and attempts.
Cleveland’s defense thought it might have an advantage against Hasselbeck because of his past with Browns president Mike Holmgren, who first had the QB in Green Bay and then traded for him with the Seahawks. But if the Browns learned something from their boss this week about Hasselbeck, they didn’t apply it.
Playing without injured wide receiver Kenny Britt, Hasselbeck threw a 12-yard TD pass to tight end Craig Stevens, hooked up with tight end Jared Cook on an 80-yarder and lobbed a 4-yard score to Damian Williams — all before the half, and all but ending Cleveland’s chance to go 3-1 for the first time since 2001.
“Big plays killed us,” Browns linebacker Scott Fujita said.
After the Browns pulled within 7-6 on Phil Dawson’s 51-yard field goal, Hasselbeck needed just 18 seconds to put the Titans back in command.
Cook got behind Fujita, caught a short pass from Hasselbeck and took off up the left sideline. With Fujita in pursuit, Cook stayed in bounds after a weak attempt by safety Usama Young to tackle him and went the distance, putting Tennessee ahead 14-6 early in the second quarter.
“Coming in, we knew about the way Cleveland came back to win a week ago,” Hasselbeck. “We wanted to get out to the lead if we could. We made some big plays. That happens sometimes when you (Cleveland) are in man coverage. When you play physical like they do, up on a guy, sometimes it backfires.”
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Meanwhile, the Browns had trouble finishing drives, and sensing his team needed a spark before halftime, Shurmur went for a fourth-and-1 near midfield. But Titans safety Michael Griffin made a nice, open-field tackle on Armond Smith to give it back to Tennessee.
Rob Bironas’ 39-yard field goal gave the Titans a 24-6 lead in the third, and McCoy had little choice to take some risks. One backfired badly.
At Tennessee’s 29, he scrambled to buy time but threw toward the end zone. Babineaux was waiting, picked it off and made his way down field for the fourth-longest interception return in franchise history.
Babineaux followed Hasselbeck to Tennessee, signing with the Titans a few days after the QB.
“That’s why we called him ‘Big Play Babs’ in Seattle,” Hasselbeck said.
Notes: McCoy’s 40 completions were five off the league mark held by Drew Bledsoe in 1994. … Titans safety Chris Hope broke his arm in the first quarter. Munchak did not know if Hope will need surgery. Stevens injured a rib and OL Leroy Harris twisted a knee. … Dawson’s 51-yarder was his longest since a 56-yarder at Buffalo in 2008. … Titans rookie QB Jake Locker made his NFL debut in the final minutes. His only pass was incomplete.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
Matty-Mo,
I didn’t expect to hear historical allusions during the NPR interview especially to 3000 year-old Greek heroes and Gods, but then again it reflects your love of not just making history but reading it. “It’s like the Ionic Sea, but I’m not getting laid…at all!” What a nicely poetic reference to salacious Circe on the Island of Aeaea in the Ionic Sea challenging Odysseus’ familial fidelity and long journey home. Journalist Alexandra Gutierrez’s juxtaposition of the ancient mix-master “Scylla and Charybdis” was deft, and hopefully can be attributed to the influence of a passionate English teacher, or her love for classical Greek literature. “My boss is Poseidon” rounds out a well-edited interview with an intrepid sailor under less-than-optimal conditions.
Poseidon is your boss, Matt. Give him more respect than Odysseus, and you will hopefully drop anchor in Annapolis sooner than 10 years.
Glad to hear the re-supply brought renewal, physically and spiritually. Many thanks to Simon Edwards and other supporters of Matt for helping to bring this together.
Fortitudine Vincimus.
You always have my love and respect, Matt.
Dad
I threw in some dollars for the back-up water maker in the resupply effort. Hope it helps. I wish it could make vodka so you do not have to sped too much time hoping for good things from the Buckeyes or the Browns. This is a good football season for you to be sailing!! Please keep the pictures coming as they are fantastic. You would be surprised how many people in Annapolis are talking about your adventure and the pictures are as close as most of us will come to your dreams becoming reality. Thanks.
I came across this website by chance while searching for others bound for Easter Island and the Horn. I knew I remembered your face but my soggy brain couldn’t place it until I showed your site to Avril who place you immediately. We remember you well from the BVI, some years ago. Congratulations on an incredible journey you have undertaken, we are close to your latitude right now while we are land based in Panama. I will look out over the Pacific and gaze in your direction and send all our prayers and wishes your way. I am going to connect Craig and Chris to this page so they can follow your progress too. If my dreams come true i might follow you around the Horn to Cape Town to touch base with my family before returning to Panama where we hope to settle once the adventurous spirit is satisfied.
All our best wishes.