This info is available (possibly an updated version) on the web https://www.wayoffthegrid.com/floatplan/BM-SGE_PT-HOR
Kai, Emily, and Reverie are sailing across the Atlantic to Portugal! We will be stoping at a collection of islands called the Azores for a couple months before reaching mainland Portugal in the fall. We’re currently in Bermuda and have had a wonderful couple weeks exploring the island. Highly recommend making a visit sometime. The sail to Bermuda was extremely mild, easy and trouble free. Our good sailing friend Ed has been with us aboard Twig since FL and is continuing onto the Azores. The weather outlook for our roughly two-week passage from Bermuda to the Azores looks favorable. We have hired professional weather forecasters https://www.wriwx.com/ to keep an eye on things as they relate to our voyage. They will be sending us regular updates and routing suggestions throughout the passage. We are excited to get sailing!
Twig is a 2001 Saga 43. Sailing Sloop. Cream colored fiberglass monohull. Green sail bag and cockpit canvas. Single mast, fin keel, spade rudder, light green bottom paint.
We will sail east between 32N 33N until 060W before deciding when to begin moving north. If it looks like there is a strong weather front around the 16th to 18th to the north of our position we will might remain below 34N until 039W. The absolute furthest north we expect to be is 39N, probably between 041W and 034W. Waypoint updates with ETA for the waypoint will be made via our twitter (@TwigVessel) feed that is available on the Position & Updates page listed above. For example “#waypoint 33 00N 060 00W ETA 2021-06-15 0300UTC”. The coordinates are shorthand for 33 Degrees 0 Minutes North 060 Degrees 0 Minutes West. The time is given in 24 hour format in Coordinated Universal Time so 0300UTC is 3:00AM.
People Onboard: 4
We transmit our position over VHF with a Class A Automatic Identification System (AIS) transceiver. This sends our details to other vessels within a 20 mile radius. It’s received by various shore stations and satellite receivers that relay our position to websites like MarineTraffic when they receive our location info. Positions sent by shore station work when we are as far as 80 miles from shore. When outside cellphone range we send our position via satellite to https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/twig/journey and https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/shipid:450795/tracktype:9/lpt:1606661280 Our satellite updates are not guaranteed but attempted every 5-10 minutes. Note that there are sometimes spans of several hours or more where our position is not updated. The AIS satellite receivers are different from our Iridium. They work globally and are available to various MRCCs and to private parties by subscription.
Our latest position from our Iridium device can be obtained by texting the word twig to +1 763-878-8944. You should get an automatic reply within a couple minutes. It includes coordinates and the time of the fix in UTC. For example example, sending the word twig will result in a message that looks like “Twig - 32 22.783 N - 64 40.377 W - 2021-06-10 18:53UTC - 0.1 SOG - 145 COG”. Speed Over Ground (SOG) and Course Over Ground (COG) are simple calculations based on the previous position and time. The same method can be used to retrieve the position of one of our buddy boats by texting their vessel name (sargo, taima1, polarseal) to the same number.
A low-bandwidth friendly webpage with positions for Twig and our buddy boats is available at https://api.wayoffthegrid.com/position or for Twig specifically https://api.wayoffthegrid.com/position/twig
If our position hasn’t updated at any of the above links and we have not communicated with Emergency Contacts listed below in over 12-24 hours it’s possible to get our position by purchasing access to AIS SAT Data https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/online-services/single-services/sat-flexible (MMSI 367572690) by contacting our weather router listed below or by contacting a Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC).
We love getting messages at sea. If you’d like to send us a short message from a US phone, use +1 763-878-8944 (763-8SV-TWIG). This number is only good for sending text messages to. Calling it will not go anywhere. When we reply to your text message it will be from our iridium number (it might look strange on your phone) +881631403941. If you happen to be using an Iridium device or don’t mind the long distance charges you can reply/text us directly to our Iridium number. Short messages (around 140 characters) can alternatively be sent via email to [email protected] These short messages (by phone or email) are typically the fastest delivery because they are sent via push notification to our satellite communication device. Longer email messages up to 40,000 characters (40kB) can be sent to [email protected] We download emails sent to this address via satellite and/or long-range HF radio (SSB) once or twice per day.
If there is great cause for concern please contact USCG, RCC Bermuda, MRCC Ponta Delgada, Lisboa Portugal, or CROSS France using the contact details below. The USCG is the parent organization responsible for rescue coordination until 035W (MET Area IV). The area we are most likely to be in is managed by USCG SRR Norfolk. East of 035W and south of 48 27N it is France, MET Area II. North of 48 27N is UK, MET Area I but we do not intend on going that far north!
Explain the cause for concern and give them the details they require. In almost all cases you will simply be making them aware of a possible situation. DO NOT request a rescue effort unless you are absolutely certain one is needed. A loss of communication does not necessarily mean we are in any danger.
Weather Routing Inc. (WRI)
If North of 48 27N and East of 035W.