As a replica of an 1812-era privateer, the Pride of Baltimore II—built in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in 1988—serves as an ambassador for the city to dozens of ports of call each year. The Pride II offers a host of ways for the public to experience the boat: student education programs, dockside tours, on-the-water lectures, overnight guest crew passages, and day sail opportunities.
While the Pride II has sailed to ports around the world, this year, she is staying relatively close to home to participate in a number of War of 1812 on the Chesapeake Bay commemorations.
With all that time on the Bay, it’s no surprise that the captains and crew of the Pride II are avid users of CBIBS data.
The Pride II team uses data from CBIBS buoys to get a good check on actual conditions. As they’re often under way, they access CBIBS data using cellular access to the internet to check on the CBIBS website and the mobile apps. Primarily, they track wind speed and direction, as well as wind gust. When weather forecasts indicate stronger winds, crew members are interested in wave height. And of course air temperature can greatly affect the experience for crew and visitors!
“We mostly use the central Chesapeake Bay buoys as they are located in the most sailable waters of the whole region,” the crew noted. “Pride II is large enough that sailing in the rivers is mostly unavailable due to space constraints.” At 157 feet long (including her spars) and 26 feet wide, that certainly makes sense.
The crew of the Pride II appreciates having CBIBS data join other available buoy data: “Local variances of wind pattern are of great interest, so the more wind data-gathering locations there are, the better understanding of the wind direction and strength variances we may come to learn.”
As one might expect, the professionals on board Pride II enjoy spending time on the water even when they’re not at work, and they use CBIBS data there, too. The schooner has two rotating full-time captains. Captain Miles owns a sailboat that he and his wife sail when he is not aboard, so wind and weather data are important to them when not at work. Captain Trost competes in triathlons, so Bay water temperature is often on his mind.
Keep an eye out for the Pride II up and down the Bay this summer (check out their schedule here) for opportunities to visit them, and if you see them on the water, give them a hearty wave.
CBIBS is involved in War of 1812 commemoratives in a special way as well: Several CBIBS buoys mark points along the National Park Service’s Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail, which commemorates the Chesapeake Campaign of the War of 1812. You can learn about the War of 1812 at these locations via each buoy’s web page or by calling 877-BUOY-BAY.
Photo courtesy Pride of Baltimore, Inc.