 |
        |
 |
Position at 9pm Thursday, May 11, 2006 36*
37.4N
68* 32.1W
Cumulative miles: 390
Distance to New York: approx 340 Nautical miles
He Said:
Bermuda turned into a whirlwind for us... we really enjoyed our tour of the island the first day we arrived and can honestly say that Bermuda is an absolutely spectacular and beautiful place. It's hard to comprehend that this little stretch of land, only 10 miles long, exists all on its own in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean... it is so short as well which makes it particularly hard to find, in fact we couldn't even see it until we were within 10 miles of it... no wonder so many sailors used to get lost at sea trying to find Bermuda!
On Sunday word came down that a weather window may open up on Monday night or Tuesday morning for our departure to the States so that's where the whirlwind began. We got our sails into the sailmaker for the needed repairs at 8am on Monday and were promised that they would be ready by Tuesday morning... that's cutting it close! Terri and Dwight took off to pick up groceries to re-provision the boat for our second leg of the journey, and our new crew member Gary stayed to help out with last minute boat projects. Monday night they had the Rally awards ceremony at the yacht club and we actually placed 4th! I was surprised due to the problems that set us back and all the motoring we had to do when the winds died on us, but it was cool and we were all happy.
We still needed fuel since we exhausted our supply with all the motoring in light airs to get here, so it was decided that Tuesday morning at 7am we would depart St Georges for the opposite end of the island where there was an industrial Shell station that sold duty free diesel fuel. It made a huge difference in our re-fueling costs, saving over $300 which made it well worth the 2 hour detour.
We had to say good-bye to John at this point as he had a flight booked to get home... he would have loved to stay for the second leg but due to the delay in our start and the uncertainty of the departure date he had to return to the States. After that we headed back to St Georges to find our sails ready so we set to work reinstalling them and by about 4pm we had the dinghy hoisted and we were good to go!
One last weather check revealed that things were settling down around the Gulf Stream, but there was a new low forming over the mainland that could give us trouble on approach to New York. That was still 4 days away and a lot can change in 4 days so most boats had already left anticipating that if things worsen we'll just slow down and sit it out offshore. Our main concern at this point was not taking a beating by the wrong wind over the Gulf Stream. We were a little late in leaving and they warned that there may be some squall activity in the area bringing lots of wind and gusts... some of the boats decided to wait until morning when it was forecast to be calm and then motor out... I'm sorry, did they say windy... let's go sailing!!
We actually had a great sail, we had a double reef in the mainsail and just a sliver of the jib out and we still had to work to keep the boat under 9-10 knots... we were haulin! The seas built up pretty fast but by morning the wind had died down from 30-35 knots to about 20-25 and we were still making 8 knots for the rest of the day. It wasn't until about 36 hours out that we had to start motoring in calm conditions. Overall, the passage has been great so far... the Gulf Stream really let us off the hook this time as the wind was perfectly calm and the water was like glass. We watched a beautiful sunset and now everyone is off to bed to get ready for their night shifts.
Tonight's Sunset over the Gulf Stream
Tomorrow and Saturday that low pressure system is supposed to develop and hopefully move North, but is still expected to bring us over 40 knots of wind out of the Southeast... looks like we'll be surfing into New York City!
Bring me that horizon! Cheers, Rick
She said:
Our whirlwind tour of Bermuda is drawing to a close and we are running around doing the last minute things we need to do to go off shore again. Yikes, so soon!! LOL Rick, Gary ( our new crew member who is great), John and Dwight are pulling down the sails and hauling them in to get fixed. I snagged Dwight for a bit to help me go grab groceries for the journey. We jumped in a cab and our very happy and friendly taxi cab driver took us to a nice, big and unbelievably clean market with lots to choose from. We even got ice cream!! Every Bermudian I met was cheerful, friendly and genuinely proud of their island. They all asked how I like it here and were pleased we were all enjoying it so much. It will be hard leaving this wonderful island so soon. But our beautiful Ontario awaits us at the other end!
Dwight found a beautiful park in the middle of town and we all walked there after dropping the sails for repair. It was a gorgeous park filled with trees and flowers and beautifully arranged. The huge palm trees swayed gently above the splashes of colors throughout the park.
Looming palm trees over all the perfect gardens Walking
slowly through it, we all stopped and found our own private oasis to take in all
the splendor and sweet smells, gentleness and lushness of this well loved
park. A knobby stone wall surrounded the park and flowers grew from its
crevices. A huge circular stone archway at one end seemed to invite you to step
into this fragrant, brilliant world of nature.
Beautiful stone archway at entrance
I even found one bush tucked in a corner with a single bird of paradise blossom right at the top. It was stunning to see one in the wild and growing free and happy.
Bird of paradise in park
After the park we stepped into a local tiny restaurant called "Angeline's". It was packed and the smells coming from the open kitchen were mouth watering. We all ordered cheese burgers and fries and sat back and watched locals come and go in this popular place. The burgers were fantastic and we all left with stuffed bellies and smiles on our face. As we were leaving I snapped a picture of the pink town buses of Bermuda that make you grin every time you see them zoom by.
Rick, Terri and Gary at Angeline's
Our last night in Bermuda was upon us before we knew it. The rally awards dinner was tonight and our last weather update to discuss. We headed into the Dinghy Club and all the captains and crews huddled around the weather forecasts and print outs that Steve Black (the organizer) had. Huge lengthy discussions began in earnest about the best time to leave and what weather was expected. This went on for some time and I left the captains to it and wandered upstairs to do emails.
Everyone gathered to accept our awards and to cheer each other on. Rick was very proud to come in forth place considering our sail problems! There really is no loser in the rally. Everyone supports each other and our goal is to all arrive safely and soundly. Most of us decided to leave the next morning and we celebrated with "Dark and Stormies" the drink of Bermuda made with dark rum and ginger beer.
Rick accepting our award
We got up very early Tuesday morning to motor to the other side of the island for cheap gas. John had to leave us at this point and head to the airport. We sadly said our goodbyes and I knew it wouldn't be the same without him. Luckily Gary fits right into our motley crew and we all get along great. After being with us only a day, it feels like he has been part of the crew forever! Once we filled up the tanks we zipped back (at a ripping 6 knots!) to pick up the sails, install them and think about heading off! While all this was happening I was in the galley cooking up a storm of breads and meals to freeze for the journey. At one point I looked up and realized I was surrounded by baggies piled high with food! Ashley loves this part because morsels always fall to the floor and are quickly eaten!
Our journey on the ocean this time started out very rough with gale force winds and local squalls the first night. We didn't end up leaving until early evening. I wasn't feeling too hot, as usual LOL , and headed to bed to try and sleep it off. Next day was still lumpy but better and we had good winds to sail with which made us all happy. At one point we were all napping except Gary and he started saying "Wow" and "Amazing". We all said 'whats up?" and he said dolphins! We all leapt out of bed and bounded into the cockpit as fast as we could. We missed the two pods of about 4 Gary saw but we did see one leap out of the water right along side the boat!! It was amazing and we all kept staring out, willing them to come back and play around our boat all day. But they had disappeared and we didn't even get a picture of them. Boo hoo. But it was so uplifting to see them.
Today is a good day on the water. We even had winds to sail although they were not supposed to be here. We are in the gulf stream now and it is beautifully calm with very gentle. swoopy rollers that seem to be hugging us and gently guiding us through the stream. I am very happy about this as Rick has been warning me all along to expect it to be very rough and unpleasant if the wind was bad... Boy am I glad there was no wind! The sun just set and it was spectacular over the calm water of the gulf. Rick saw three more dolphins leap out of the water but they were gone in a flash. Dwight is napping, Rick and Gary are reefing in the main sail in preparation for the night and I am tapping on this computer. Lucky is joyfully singing and talking to herself and Ashley is chomping on her beloved bone. All is well and its a lovely night on the ocean. Thinking of you all and thinking how beautiful this world can be.
The Gulf Stream not living up to its ferocious reputation tonight Cheers, Terri |
