Shipping: The Home Stretch & Arrival in Port Everglades

Note to Readers: This article was continually updated while the freighter was heading to Port Everglades.  Positions read from most recent at the top to earliest at the bottom.

Position as of Saturday, February 2, 2014 at 12:11 PM EST.

Latitude: 26.0970 N, Longitude: -80.1273 W, Course: 000  Speed: 0.0 knots, Time: 05:11 UTC
(12:11 AM EST)

February 2, 2014, at 12:11 AM Eastern Standard Time, the freighter, BBC Africa, with Guided Discovery aboard, arrived at Port Everglades Florida completing a 40 day 10,694 nautical mile journey that began in Koahsiung Taiwan on December 23, 2013.

The journey comes to a successful conclusion

Almost there

This also marks the completion of Jeff Druek's 12 Step Program.  I am not longer dependent on Friday photos for weekly highs.  Starting tomorrow I can see and touch the boat whenever I need a fix.

Position as of Saturday, February 1, 2014 at 8:30 PM EST.

Latitude: 25.16581, Longitude: -80.06486, Course: 023  Speed: 15.3 knots, Time: 01:04 UTC
(8:04 PM EST)

A picture is worth a thousand words.



BBC Africa just southeast of Miami

Position as of Saturday, February 1, 2014 at 11:00 AM EST.

Latitude: 23.82056, Longitude: -82.15826, Course: 059  Speed: 16.0 knots, Time: 15:59 UTC
(10:59 AM EST)

We were having a lovely breakfast at our favorite Sarasota restaurant, Savory Street, when I checked Marine Traffic for the freighter's position.  She had literally just come back into range.  The position report showed her northeast of Havana Cuba and southwest of Key West on a northeast course.  She was making a very fast 16.0 knots.  Note: She rounded Cuba's northwest corner as predicted.

The ship is exactly 194 nautical miles from Port Everglades.  At 16 knots she will arrive at the port in 12 hours, which puts her on track for the predicted 11:00 PM EST docking.

Speaking of "position," ours also changed today.  We departed our one month rental in Bradenton for a suite at the Candlewood Hotel in Fort Lauderdale.  This places us 1.2 miles and 3 minutes away from Marina Bay Marina, the marina where Guided Discovery will be commissioned.

Since December 1, we have made a series of three moves.  First from Chicago to Sarasota, where we stayed for the month of December.  Then to Bradenton and now to Fort Lauderdale.  We have one more move and that, finally, is onto Guided Discovery on February 10.

Our Sarasota Palm Air rental was a 2,100 square foot three bedroom two bath single family.  The Bradenton Heritage Harbor two bedroom townhome was 1,150 square feet.  The Candlewood Hotel is a 500 square foot one bedroom suite. We have been steadily working our way down to a smaller space. When we make the final move to the 63 we will up our interior floor space to about 800 square feet.  It will feel "palatial."

News Flash Friday at 9:48 AM EST.

The shipping agent, Sevenstar Yacht Transport, is estimating the freighter's arrival in Port Everglades on Saturday at 11:00 PM EST.  They indicate that offloading will commence once the vessel and yachts have been cleared by US Customs on Sunday morning.

BBC Africa is still out of range.  Based the Sevenstar report time (9:48 AM), she is 37 hours from Port Everglades.  Assuming a speed of 12.6 knots, that places her 466 nautical miles from touchdown.  It is still unclear on which side she rounded Cuba.

Position as of Wednesday, January 29, 2014 at 11:59 PM EST.

Latitude: 9.921942, Longitude: -79.9636 Course: 347  Speed: 12.3 Knots, Time: 13:03 UTC
(8:03 AM EST)

Wednesday morning, at 4:51 AM, BBC Africa hauled anchor and headed for the Gatun Lock.  At 5:21 AM she had traversed the lock system and 25 minutes later had by-passed the Atlantic anchorage on her way to Colon and the Gulf of Mexico.  We missed seeing her in the lock.

At 8:03 AM her AIS position showed her in the Gulf moving north at 12.3 knots on a course of 347 degrees.  This strongly suggests she is headed for the northwest corner of Cuba and, therefore, a 1,300 nautical mile run to Port Everglades.

Considering that her last reported position is as of 8:03AM and that I was checking at midnight indicates that BBC Africa is again out of range.

Position as of Wednesday, January 29, 2014 at 12:30 AM EST.

Latitude: 9.255647, Longitude -79.91595 Course: 230  Speed: 0.1 Knots, Time: 00:57 UTC

Disregard the course.  The speed of 0.1 indicates that the freighter is not moving.

BBC Africa arrived at the Gatun Lock at mid-afternoon on Tuesday and dropped anchor in Lake Gatun.  She is awaiting transit of the Gatun Lock and her completion of the Panama Canal.

Once clear of the canal at Colon, she will be approximately 1,286 nautical miles from Port Everglades assuming BBC Africa goes around Cuba's south east end.  Assuming an average speed of 12.5 knots, she will make 300 nautical miles per day and cover the remaining distance in 4.3 days.  That will put her in port late Sunday or early Monday assuming my calculation are correct. The freight agent's recently revised estimate that she would make port by Saturday, February 1, will likely be revised again. 

Note: If BBC Africa decides to round Cuba's north west corner, the mileage to Port Everglades is 1,300 nautical miles.