Photo: Screenshot of the onboard TimeZero Pro electronic chart program

Date: April 13, 2020

Position: Baltimore, Maryland

Today’s start of a virtual cruise of the Chesapeake Bay by Pride of Baltimore II has been delayed due to gale force winds. Pride remains at her winter berth, as one might be able to see by the small red arrow shape in the lower right section (the blue are other vessels transmitting their locations via the AIS system for indicating vessel location, speed, and course, along with other details if one opens a data window of an AIS contact) in the image of Baltimore’s North Branch “Inner Harbor” of the Patapsco River in the TimeZero Pro electronic chart program provided to the ship by the makers of TimeZero. (With our sincere gratitude, TimeZero continues to support Pride’s navigational chart needs.)

This virtual cruise of the Chesapeake Bay will involve manually plotting voyage legs, taking into account real-time weather conditions; using live and recorded video to talk about the sailing conditions, the maneuvers (e.g., tacking or jibing) needed to sail from point A to point B, ongoing maintenance, and life aboard; and presenting information, historical and current, about places and ports on the Bay. We’ll be working with volunteers and partners to present content that will really make this a rich and interesting voyage! The whole time, Pride II will never actually leave the dock. It should be fun to give it a shot.

Considering the actual weather this day, no matter the public relations plan for an actual voyage start, a plan to actually depart this day would have had to be abandoned/postponed. Departure ceremonies might still have taken place for a real voyage departure. But not necessarily. Maybe such departure pomp and celebration could have been shifted to the next day. As is the decision to delay this virtual cruise.

Signed,

Captain Jan C. Miles