Captain's Corner: Oct. 19, 6: 40 p.m., Eastern
Liberty Star Enroute Across the Gulf

The first day at sea on our return trip from Gulfport, Miss. to the Kennedy Space Center has gone extremely well. The day started with a mid-morning transfer of the Pegasus barge in the Port of Gulfport, an operation that went without any problems due to excellent service from the two tug boats, Angelica E and Emmett Eymard, that maintained the barge position ins pite of an easterly wind. The transfer of of the public affairs team went fine with the help of the local pilot boat and the Pegasus and Liberty Star hook up went extremely well, also without a hitch and we got underway in a very short period of time.

The transit of the Gulfport channel between Cat and West Ship Island went as well as possible and we are currently proceeding on our planned route to Kennedy Space Center at 9.3 knots or about 11 miles per hour.  If we maintained this speed for a full day at sea we would cover about 230 miles.

The tow of Pegasus is going quite well; with Pegasus tracking behind us very well.

Current conditions are clear and sunny with cool temperatures and seas running at 2-3 feet. Tomorrow's weather continues to look good overall. The weather forecast  for later this week shows seas increasing to 4-6 feet.

The Liberty Star's crew is in great shape and ready to head home for KSC.

Captain Mike Nicholas