King of the Wilderness

Chapter 759: Chapter 349: Bahamas Islands Crossing Plan (Part 3)

The voice of Captain Mike on the other end of the line was filled with challenge: ”During these fifteen days, you are no longer a trainee. You are the Apprentice Captain of this vessel.”

”Riven and I are your first mates. Except in extreme situations where the safety of the ship is at risk, we will not interfere in any of your decisions. But we will record every mistake you make.”

”After fifteen days, if you can safely bring Polaris back to Fort Lauderdale, and your performance satisfies us.”

”I, Mike Montgomery, will personally sign off on ASA certifications from 101 to 106, and even 108 (offshore sailing).”

”We’ll replace all the dull courses with a real ocean voyage.”

”So, are you daring enough to accept this challenge, natural-born captain?”

A flame brightened in Lin Yu’an’s eyes, even more so than ever before.

”Why not?”

”Excellent!” Mike seemed to have anticipated this answer long ago.

”Then, Captain, your first task begins now. By ten o’clock tomorrow morning, I need to see a simple ’Navigation Plan.’

”Remember, this is not homework in a classroom. This is a contract that will determine the lives of the three of us for the next half month.”

”But don’t worry, I will ultimately help you perfect this navigation plan.”

The phone hung up, and before Lin Yu’an appeared a real mountain that required wisdom and knowledge to climb.

Lin Yu’an showed no trace of complacency and immediately entered an extreme working state.

In the next few hours, the hotel room transformed into a temporary command center.

A professional offshore navigation plan is far more complex than merely plotting a route; it is a colossal, multidimensional system engineering.

He spread out the vast paper nautical chart covering the entire Bahamas region across the polished floor.

Under the lights, that blue world composed of countless contour lines, navigation symbols, and danger markings slowly unfolded before his eyes.

His gaze started from the Florida coastline, crossed the deep Gulf Stream, all the way south, sweeping over Bimini, Nassau, Eleuthera... These islands scattered like pearls across the Caribbean Sea.

First, in his mind, he broke down this over one-thousand-nautical-mile-long voyage into a dozen more manageable short segments.

The endpoint of each segment was a harbor island where supplies could be replenished or shelter from storms could be sought. It was like planning a crossing route in the wilderness, with the need to first determine every safe campsite.

Then, he picked up dividers and a protractor, commencing the most ancient and reliable map work.

The divider’s legs precisely traversed distances on the chart, with pencil-marked routes perfectly avoiding each purple-marked shoal and those symbols representing death traps.

At each planned turning point, he annotated precise latitude and longitude and magnetic heading in clear handwriting beside it.

After finishing all this, he opened his computer and logged into a professional marine meteorology service website called ”PredictWind.”

The world’s top offshore captains and racing teams all use it.

On the screen, the weather data for the next fifteen days flowed before his eyes like sheet music for a symphony, in the form of dynamic cloud maps, pressure maps, and wind maps.

Unlike ordinary people who only look at ’sunny’ or ’rainy’ weather, his gaze searched for wind patterns, interpreting pressure changes.

His fingers flew across the keyboard, downloading prediction model data from various leading weather centers in Europe, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Importing these data into an analysis software for cross-comparison. The subtle differences between different models represented different possibilities in his eyes.

”...On the seventh day, the GFS model predicts wind direction changes, while the ECMWF model shows the high-pressure system remains stable...” he murmured to himself, like a chess player negotiating with the future.

His gaze finally rested on the forecast map around the tenth day.

Deep within the Caribbean Sea, a spiral cloud system representing low pressure was silently brewing. That was a potential tropical disturbance, the biggest variable in the future voyage.

Using a red marker to highlight this area, and in his notebook, he began designing three different contingency plans around it.

Having solved the route and weather, what followed were the tedious but critical legal procedures.

This was a cross-national voyage; any negligence in paperwork could lead to delays or even termination of the journey.

He logged into the United States Customs and Border Protection’s official website, finding the ”private vessel departure declaration system,” and entered Polaris’s registration document, the passport information of the three persons.

He also downloaded the Bahamas entry app, pre-uploading all scanned documents, applying for a ”Cruising Permit.”

For this voyage, he created an extremely detailed ”Navigation Plan Notification Form.”

This document wouldn’t be submitted to any official agency but encrypted and sent to Scoot’s private email.

On it were their detailed routes, the estimated arrival time at each port, a list and serial numbers of all emergency equipment on board, and even the blood types and allergy histories of the three of them.

If they failed to report safety to the shore at the agreed time, this document would be Scoot’s lifeline for launching global rescue.

In the hotel room, the aroma of coffee mixed with the sound of the printer working, various nautical charts and tables covered the entire desk and floor.

Lin Yu’an, like a general about to embark on a battlefield, prepared each detail to perfection, ensuring absolute security.

Finally, the most mentally exhausting step—material planning. He opened an Excel sheet, establishing an extremely detailed supply purchase list.

Drinking water: 3 people x 15 days x 3 liters per day = 135 liters. He set a safety reserve of 200 liters.

Food: He divided the food for fifteen days into three stages.

Fresh ingredients, steak, chicken breast, eggs, milk, fresh green vegetables (lettuce, spinach), fruits (oranges, apples, bananas).

Long-lasting ingredients, listed are: potatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage, frozen meats, bacon, sausage.

Canned goods and dry items, listed are: various pasta, rice, canned beans, canned tuna, luncheon meat.

For leisure dining, at the end of the list, he separately listed a category.

It was marked with a ’Hot Pot,’ an induction cooker, tomato/mushroom soup base, sesame sauce, frozen mutton roll, and a series of supporting ingredients like enoki mushrooms, tofu, vermicelli.

High-energy snacks (nuts, energy bars); and most importantly—coffee, tea, and alcohol.

All night, in his hotel room, the aroma of coffee mixed with the sound of printers working, various nautical charts and tables covered the entire desk and floor.

On the third morning, when Lin Yu’an arrived at the dock again, the air seemed to be filled with a breath quite different from the previous two days.

Mike and Riven were not waiting next to Wanderer but stood at the innermost part of the dock before a wide T-shaped berth.

There, quietly anchored, lay an elegant and majestic white giant beast.