Where does the butter melt?

john_morris_uk

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i think you first have to look at what you mean by 'melts'. I think a better criteria would be 'when the butter is spreadable'.
Its about 32ºC in mi casa just now and I ran a rough test by taking butter from fridge and sticking an oven thermometer just under the surface. Spreadable at 20ºC . I'll do another test in the AM when the temp is expected to be 19C. Temp rose a bit too fast this arvo.
This was using 'Mainland'(NZ) salted butter.

Going to this site earth :: a global map of wind, weather, and ocean conditions that puts us in about 30ºN or the lat of the Canaries.

View attachment 188033
I like the research.

However I think ‘when the butter melts’ refers to it collapsing into it’s liquid state. Which a quick google says is 32-36C.
 

Frank Holden

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I like the research.

However I think ‘when the butter melts’ refers to it collapsing into it’s liquid state. Which a quick google says is 32-36C.
Ed Zakery. If you keep sailing south until the butter liquifies before turning right you'll probably end up in Recife or maybe even Antarctica..
This assumes the butter is in the shade in a well ventilated saloon. Also that its 100% butter and not a 'spreadable' blend.
More research to follow.
 

Frank Holden

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Research completed.
Butter out of fridge while making first coffee of the day. Surface temp 8ºC. Butter can be carved at that temp.
Drank first coffee, checked butter, surface temp 18ºC. Easily spreadable. By time it hit 24ºC yesterday it was beyond spreadable, I would have called it sloppy.
So depending on the individual perception butter may be said to 'melt' anywhere from 18ºC to 36ºC.
This would mean that on a voyage from northern Europe to the Indies you would be turning right anywhere between Madeira and the equator.
'Spreadable' would seem to work - after a fashion.
It may be some months before forumites resident in the UK can replicate this experiment.
Ambient here is currently 22ºC indoors and out.
earth :: a global map of wind, weather, and ocean conditionsButter1.jpg
 

boomerangben

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anchor-butter-block-200g.jpeg
Brave man bringing an anchor of that vintage to this butter knife fight 🤪
 

Frank Holden

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I've just taken out a new block of butter and see I made an error. It isn't 'Mainland' brand, that's cheese, it's 'Westgold'.
I also, in the wee small hours, had an idea.
Why not invest in one of them newfangled thermometers and turn right when the daytime tempreature in the shade reaches 18/20 º ?
Better still - just turn right when the wind comes away from the NE?
 

Allan

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It looks like I'll need to look elsewhere for the lat long of where people normally turn west! It has been quite amusing though.
Allan
 

Frank Holden

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Try a look at the mini globe transat qualifier on yellowbrick. That shows the traditional routing very well.
'Yellowbrick' - that sounds a bit how you say 'buttery'.
The 'qualifier' just shows pretty much a straight line track down to the Canaries.
From there they seem to be planning on turning a bit to the right at 20N, 30W. Air temp thereabouts is currently about 22ºC
The butter would be in the no man's land between spreadable and liquid so I think we can chuck out the whole butter thing.
Oh look! They will be turning right when they pick up the NE trades. Amazing.minig.jpg
 

capnsensible

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'Yellowbrick' - that sounds a bit how you say 'buttery'.
The 'qualifier' just shows pretty much a straight line track down to the Canaries.
From there they seem to be planning on turning a bit to the right at 20N, 30W. Air temp thereabouts is currently about 22ºC
The butter would be in the no man's land between spreadable and liquid so I think we can chuck out the whole butter thing.
Oh look! They will be turning right when they pick up the NE trades. Amazing.View attachment 188378
Yellowbrick is a well known tracking app that enables many thousands of people to follow races and events globally.

As an example one can view the RORC transat that started from Lanzarote 9 days ago. 2 large yachts are already in Grenada. Their track indicates a much more northerly route than the traditional. Trade winds aren't always as precise as some believe. But I'm sure you know that.

A look at the Miniglobe where they are travelling at more like 4 knots shows once again that the trades are further north at this time. Watching the very experienced ocean sailor Don Mckintyre on his regular updates on YouTube helpfully explains their routing.

Weather sites such as windfinder are useful to understand what's going on. From posts on the racing forum it seems that lots of vendee globe followers are looking and learning at the weather information on the tracker.

I've no idea if any of the racers (apart from one I know for sure hasnt) have butter aboard.......
 

RunAgroundHard

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It looks like I'll need to look elsewhere for the lat long of where people normally turn west! It has been quite amusing though.
Allan

The World Sailing Ship Routes chart, found in Admiralty Sailing directions clearly shows where to turn west for sailing boats, about 20.5N by 25W, where you have two choices, "The Southern Route" to the Bahamas and Florida, or another leg / route, taking a boat into the GoM, south of Jamaica. The junction is SW of the Canaries.
 
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