2017-18 Avalon to Mission Bay

Monday, October 30, 2017

We dropped our Avalon mooring lines at 7AM headed for Mission Bay.  It's an 8-hour motor.  Some of us were still sleepy-eyed after attempting to follow Game 5 of the World Series.  Yes, it just has to be those baseballs!

So the run was pretty uneventful.  We did pass within a mile of the Gener8 Constantine a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC).  She was lightering about 25 miles off the coast.  Lightering entails offloading crude to smaller tankers or barges for transit to shore ports.

Departing Avalon at 7AM.

Gener8 Constantine a VLCC SUPER tanker! At 1050 feet
in length drawing 55 feet, this ship to too large to enter
port offloading facilities unless lightened.

VLCC have a size ranging between 180,000 to 320,000 DWT.  VLCC are very large shipping vessels, the standard dimensions of these ships range between 300 to 330 meters in length, 58 meters breath and 31 meters in depth. They are known for their flexibility in using terminals and can operate in ports with some depth limitations. The cost of a VLCC ranges between $100 million to $120 million depending on its age. See Maritime-Connector.com for more info on these giants and the bigger ULCC's.

Just after 3PM we motored into the Bay and made a hard left into Mariners Cove.  There we dropped the hook and settled back for a longish happy hour.

At anchor in Mariner's Cove, Mission Bay