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The "Right Let's Do This Properly" Round the World Club, what!


SeanG

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Just now, Jeff W said:

Hmmm!  Very nice great circle you have there:)  It is likely I passed directly over you on my flight on Friday night.  You may have missed me, I was at 30,000 feet.  I shall keep and eye out for you steaming in below the Golden Gate Bridge.

 

Jeff

 

We did see some traffic on radar, but sea-level Visibility was terrible!

 

Indeed, we shall be announcing our arrival through the Golden Gate, see you at the SFO Bar perhaps?

 

SeanG

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27 minutes ago, Jeff W said:

SFO Bar????, an airport bar is no place for a sailor:P.   Tie up at the Embarcadero, Take the cable car up to Mason and Powell and meet me in the Tonga Room :)

 

Done!

 

SeanG

 

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Right... I've had my spies (well... my 6 year old son actually) in San Francisco.... He's located the Fairmont in 'The Crew', or at least a building which looks close enough...  So!  Off to the Tonga Room we shall go as soon as the gangway goes over!   We have 700NM's to run to the outer marker, so should be there in a bit over a day and a half!

 

SeanG

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We have arrived!

 

After sitting off the California coast for 2 days while the real world impeded our progress, we have finally made the transit through the Golden Gate and into the San Francisco bay.  

 

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First sight of the Golden Gate bridge through the dawn mists

 

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Passing under the bridge gives you a real idea of how bit it really is

 

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Alcatraz ahead

 

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And passing close by Alcatraz island on our way to our berth at Embarcadero.

 

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Cruising past the San Fran' shoreline.

 

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And finally docked.

 

From here we bid farewell to the crew of Canterbury, and we go cross-country by car.  Canterbury is racing us to New York the long way, via Panama, and will hopefully arrive in time to pick us up for the trans-Atlantic leg.

 

From here it's into the Mustang and up the hill to the Fairmont!  Pics to follow!

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See you all at the Tonga Room!

 

SeanG

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From the Embarcadero it was only a short drive to the Fairmont, so we decided to do a little sight-seeing....

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A quick stop for breakfast....

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Then it was definitely time to head to the Tonga Room and check in with our fellow travellers

 

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The Tonga Room was closed.... it was 10 in the morning after all!  So, after a little more sightseeing, we finally arrived at the Fairmont....

 

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See you all in the Tonga Room this evening?

 

SeanG

 

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8 hours ago, Jeff W said:

Yes Indeed.  See you in the Tonga Room tonight.  Open invitation to whoever is in still in town.:)

 

Based on my count there should be 7;

 

Busflieger, James50, jwenting/CaptainDuckman, Breitling 2, VSM, and of course you and I.....  And DaveLTB is only in Sacramento, so may be persuaded to pop back for a tasty beverage ;-)

 

SeanG

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No way... currently lazing in the hot pools at the Fly Geyser 120km north of Reno.

Nothing will convince me to get my old tired bones out of this hot water B)

 

Dave Britzius

(Cape Town)

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One day to go before the 'off', and a change in the status quo for this leg...  This time out, yours truly will be in the drivers seat, quite literally!  And for those of you following along with our slightly left-field journey, yes, we realize that our entire party will *never* fit into our chosen transport...  Though there are 4 seats in the Mustang, the backs seats would not making a suitable perch for the many, many hours this leg will take us... So!  Myself and our navigator, Christina will take the Mustang, and lead the way, while Manuel and the others will follow along in a Jeep Grand Cherokee, as the support vehicle.

 

For others who play "The Crew", we shall be leaving the Fairmont tomorrow evening (NZDT) and heading for Jacksons Hole, trying to follow the old 'Overland Route' as closely as we can within the limitations of the game world.

 

Toodle pip, and see you all in NYC!

 

SeanG

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At precisely 11:26am we rolled out of the Fairmont, with our aim to be in Jacksons by night...  Despite being 2 hours late departing (did I mention the sensational breakfast at the Fairmont?) we were fairly confident of making it in time, assuming no drastic problems!

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Ready to roll!

 

Negotiating the midday traffic was a lot less of a drama than expected, and with our parties navigator Christina beside me things went smoothly.

 

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A last look back at the Golden Gate

 

We left San Francisco traffic behind, and were soon making excellent progress towards Sacramento.

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Out in open country at last

 

Heading towards Sacramento Manuel in the support vehicle called up and suggested that they should have Christina help navigate for them, since they would not be making such fine progress as we were in the Mustang.....

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So, in Sacramento we stopped and, while admiring the architecture of the Capitol building, we swapped Christina for our wireless operator Marc, who claimed to have never been lost in his entire life.  Little did we know that this was a bold claim that we would later find to be less than entirely accurate!

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A quick petrol stop on the way out of Sacramento, and the weather was on the turn.

 

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Passing Folsom Prison, which should have been on our right, not our left........ (and this turned out to just be the beginning of our navigation woes!)

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The head of Lake Folsom

 

 

Finally, after finding our way back to the main road, we made our way up through the mountains to Lake Tahoe, where the sun was out, and despite the chill, there were boats out on the lake.

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Brief stop at Lake Tahoe

 

Now, this should have been a warning as to the navigational prowess of you Marc....

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Backtracking down a dirt road after a wrong turn

 

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Back out on the main road, down the Eastern side of the mountains, back on to open land.

 

We were slipping behind schedule, but Marc insisted that he knew a shortcut to make up the time we had lost.  At least it kept us close to the original route of the Transcontinental railway :)

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The road deteriorated.... and seemed to be going nowhere!

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At least there was some "Aviation" in this leg!

 

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I can only use the "Boys will be boys" excuse to explain this......

 

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Back on the black-top, past Bonneville

 

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Heading up into the hills, headed for Salt Lake City... the sun is already low in the West, which doesn't bode well for making Jackson's!

 

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Salt Lake City!   At least it's still light... just!

 

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Climbing, and getting darker... and the snow started just after leaving Salt Lake City

 

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Lovely clear night

 

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Jackson's!  Now to find our Hotel... and await the support team.

 

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Parked up for the night, and we have retired to the bar.. still no sign of the rest of the team..

 

12 hours on the road, should have been less, if it hadn't been for out diversions and 'short cuts'......

 

Next leg should take us through to Chicago!

 

23:50 and time for bed.

 

Good night!

 

SeanG

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7 hours ago, DaveLTB said:

Impressive Pix

 

Thanks Dave!   I really love the screenshot tool in-game... brings out your 'creative' side :)

 

SeanG

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Good news!   Commander Jones, aboard the Canterbury has advised that they are safely tied up in New York, awaiting our arrival.  This is a huge relief, since we didn't have any alternate transport arranged for our Atlantic crossing!

 

We shall press on later today from Jackson's..

 

SeanG

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Horrendous weather leaving Jackson today, heavy snow and almost zero visibility!

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The chaps in the Jeep were very smug over breakfast, teasing Marc and I over our choice of vehicles.. at one point they offered Marc a ride with them!

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Soon enough the weather began to clear, and though the road was still pretty treacherous we started to make up some of the time we had lost due to our late (again) start.

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Running down out of the mountains, and the weather had cleared beautifully... we even spotted what could have been one of our fellow travellers flying past!

 

After some eventful and some boring hours of driving we finally arrived in Chicago!

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And on Lakeshore Drive.... now where was the Hotel??

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Quick visit to the museum..... which was closed... and it was raining anyway!

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Now... for those of you playing along at home, you will have noticed that we like to stay in 'nice' accommodation when we travel.  For the U.S. leg of the journey we once more relied on Mr. Jeremiah Weed to sort the details for us...  In San Francisco, the Fairmont was superb.  The rustic 'Pub' in Jackson was perfect for the setting....   Arriving in Chicago, we had been told that we were staying in a 'First Class Motel'......   

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*This* was not what we had in mind!   With any sort of luck we will survive the night......   At least there is a Waffle House next door for breakfast...

 

SeanG

 

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In this, the last installment of our car journey across America we leave Chicago behind, and despite our reservations as to our accommodation, we all really enjoyed ourselves... which should adequately account for our belated departure from the windy city.

 

And if by explanation of our delay...

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Mr Weed, as it turns out, is from a fine line of New England whiskey distillers, and shared with us some of his vast knowledge on the subject of fine American whiskey....

 

Leaving Chicago, we passed by Soldiers Field, a site of many *many* helicopter landing attempts way back in FS98 days....

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Finally out of the city, and heading out into Illinois farmland, Jeeves (for he has taken over navigation duties in the Mustang) has the brilliant idea to take a wee shortcut, based on his unerring sense of direction and impeccable map-reading skills...... sadly, it appears that he may have had the map up the wrong way!

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Instead of heading East for New York, we found ourselves in Indianapolis... so, as they say "when in Rome".....

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Back on the road, in more-or-less the right direction

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Punxsutawney.... I feel like I've been here before....

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And.. through the trees, our first sight of New York... so despite Jeeves' best efforts we made it to "The City that Never Sleeps"!

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(Still a little way to go!)

 

And finally, we make it into the city.  When they say "it never sleeps" they are not kidding!

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A little sightseeing......

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And, after a lot of hours, a lot of miles, some spectacular scenery, and a lot of laughs, we arrive at the pier, ready to re-board Canterbury.

This road trip has really been an enjoyable journey, as has the whole trip so far.....

 

Now.. bring on the 14th and let's set sail for the Home Country!

 

SeanG

 

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2119 Local time, it's a balmy 15ºC as we board Canterbury for the last time on this epic adventure!

Commander Jones welcomed us aboard, but was worryingly distracted.  Once we were all safely ensconced in our state rooms I headed forward looking for our good captain.  I found him huddled over the navigator's table, with the ships navigator Lieutenant Commander 'Frankie' Drake, and our own navigator Christina.  They all shared the same worried look... this did not sit well with me at all!

Commander Jones handed me the NOAA Met report....

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Now I too shared their worried look.   Developing Storms leaving New York, Gales East of New Newfoundland.... and that was just for our departure... the forecast for the coming few days is not that encouraging at all!

 

Shortly after 2140 we slipped our lines and started the slow track out of the harbour.

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Bidding farewell to the great city, and those iconic landmarks

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Finally, at 2220 we pass under the Narrows bridge, and turn North East along long Island, and the North Atlantic beyond!

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By now word had spread of the weather ahead, Manuel was ready to take to the boats, and had to be subdued by Jeeves, Marc was rocking slowly back and forth in the corner, having already donned his life jacket and Christina had not returned from the radio room where she was trying to contact some North Sea trawlers for some weather intel.

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Mr Weed and I however had made ourselves at home in the Officer's Ward Room, and were making inroads into the alcohol supply therein....

 

Tonight, one suspects, may be quite 'interesting'...

 

SeanG

 

 

 

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Small update:

 

Just passing Westhampton Beach, and the temperature has plummeted!  Currently 0ºC and still dropping, overcast skies at 3000ft and falling... I suspect it's going to get rough when we clear the cape!

 

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SeanG

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57 minutes ago, MM said:

Great imaginative work. Lots of fun following along!

Thanks Mike... I'm having a ball actually, and in fact the story is turning out to be a surprise to me as well.. I have no idea where I'm going with it!  :)

 

SeanG

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Right... SITREP  1858 Local, Abeam St Johns, Newfoundland.

 

Temperature steady at 0ºC, but the wind (and associated windchill) has risen drastically.  We now have 21 Knots, gusting 34 and snow showers.. 

 

During the night, and the subsequent day Manuel did not leave his stateroom and last time anyone checked on him he was staring at the bulkhead with a look of absolute dread on his somewhat green face!

Nobody has been moving around the ship much, most keeping to themselves, Christina however has spent a great deal of time with LtCdr Drake in the Navigation spaces plotting variations of our course to avoid the worst of the weather.  The latest weather contains some good news, but with some bad mixed in:

...GALE WARNING...

.TONIGHT...W winds 30 to 40 kt. Seas 9 to 18 ft. Scattered snow 
showers with VSBY 1 nm or less. 

This doesn't look good, but the silver lining is that the storm North of Newfoundland is moving slower than expected, so we should pass to the South of the worst of the weather...

 

The Canterbury is pitching and rolling quite sharply now, shipping a lot of water over the bow, sometimes breaking as far aft as the main gun mount!  Salt spray, blown by the freezing wind is starting to freeze and stick to almost any surface, and the snow is beginning to make it's way inside clothing, and even through closed hatches.... not pleasant at all!

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Not much to see today...

 

Although... from the Wasp's NV equipped camera....

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Anyway, the galley has prepared a fabulous dinner for us, of locally sourced fish and crab, along with some great New England whiskey, those who are up to it will no doubt have a great evening... The rest, I fear, will not be enjoying themselves at all!

 

SeanG

 

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