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He Said: All of our crew arrived in Tortola a couple of days early to help get 'Sophisticated Lady' ready for the offshore passage to Bermuda, which was great, it's always nice to have help with all the last minute details! Mike arrived from California, and John arrived with his son Colin from Ontario, Canada. The next day was spent inspecting the rigging, engine checks, tying everything down and just making sure nothing was going to go flying down below once we hit the open ocean. Terri was madly cooking up a storm and baking tons of yummy smelling foods in the galley, getting ready to freeze all of our meals so they were ready to go in a flash; that way if it was so rough that nobody wanted to cook there was always something that could be prepared quickly. We always eat very well on the ocean!
We had the final weather briefing and everything was still a go for the following morning, The way was clear and we were forecast to have mild seas and 15-20 knots of East wind... perfect!! We left the marina at 9:00 a.m. and by noon we had rounded Soper's Hole on Tortola for the last time this season and started the race!
Mike and Rick at the Helm
John and his son Colin very thrilled about their first major offshore passage!
For two solid days we had absolutely perfect sailing conditions with steady winds pushing 'Sophisticated Lady' at 8+ knots like a freight train! The wind dropped a little on the third day and gave everyone a chance to stand upright and really just enjoy being on a sailboat on the ocean. We even had a barbeque with fresh Mahi Mahi (fresh from the freezer!) with some of Terri's famous ginger sauce, and grilled vegetables... yum!
Beautiful Sunset on the Open Sea
Calm Waters but Looks Like Weather Ahead!
On the fourth day we were less than 150 miles out of Bermuda when stories of a gale warning started filtering down through the group. We were still in winds less than 15 knots, but by the time we were within about 80 miles of Bermuda, we started hearing Bermuda Radio on the VHF indicating there were still gale warnings for the local areas around the island. 'Special Delivery', one of the lead boats that was about 70 miles ahead of us was the first to get hit. She is a Taswell 58 and had full sail out when the gale blew through and gave them some significant trouble with their headsail. They ended up managing to get it in without incurring too much damage, but the jib was now highly fouled around their headstay and would be useless for the rest of the trip. They were only 10 miles from the finish and managed to motor in the rest of the way to the safety of the harbour. The next boat to arrive was 'Joy For All', a beautiful Farr 50 featured in Latitude's and Attitude's magazine a couple years ago, and as they approached the finish line, their fuel pump gave out and they had to sail through the narrow Town Cut into St George's Harbour with no motor in the dark... not something you'd want to have to do in the best of conditions, let alone with a gale pushing you through the entrance at night! They made it in safely and put into the anchorage for the night to grab some much needed sleep.
Colin Grabbing a Nap in the Cockpit
By this time, news was coming through that the storm had already moved through the area and we should be arriving in fairly light conditions. In a perfect world, I guess that could have been true, but in our case, all I can say is, WRONG!! LOL We were about 6 hours from the finish line and it was still fairly quiet so I told everyone they may want to get some rest because we'd have all hands on deck for the finish and to make our way through the cut in the dark. John had the final watch to midnight, and I was about to go down and try and take a last nap when I started hearing that all too familiar whistling noise in the rigging at the top of the mast when the wind is gaining strength. The wind was definitely picking up and the waves almost immediately increased fairly substantially in size... guess I wasn't going to get my nap after all!
Wasn't too long after that we got hit full in the face by the gale that was already supposed to have moved on through...NOT! It was as if Bermuda was saying to us... "What... you think you can make landfall here that easy?!? You have to earn your right of passage to Bermuda!!" John and I were struggling to keep the boat on course and started reefing in the Jib down to the size of hanky which was still more than enough to keep the boat moving at top speed. By now Mike had come up, realizing we were probably going to need an extra hand with this one, and we did. Mike and I put on our foul weather gear and tethered on to the lines running forward down the sides of the boat so we could head up to mast and pull down another reef in the mainsail. That's always a fun job in the black of night as the deck is pitching and bucking around under you trying to throw you off like a bronco! We finished up that job and made our way back to the dryness and safety of the cockpit. The job was well done and we were immediately rewarded with a much smoother ride. It wasn't long after that the lights of Bermuda came into sight and you get that feeling like... wow, we made it! The wind was still up, but we were making great progress and before long we crossed the finish line at the Spit Buoy that marks the entrance to the channel to St George's Harbour. It was 3:00 a.m. and the seas were still pitching violently so I knew getting the mainsail down would be a challenge. I needed to be at the helm to keep the boat under control as we headed upwind, so Mike donned his gear again and headed up to bring the sail down. We rocked and rolled pretty badly, but we stayed under control and lowered the sail before too long.
All hands were now on deck and with our trusty spotlight we started making our way through the channel. Bermuda Radio had instructed us to make our way over to the Powder Hole anchorage, which was the quarantine anchorage, until the following morning when we could move over to the customs dock to check in. All in all we had a great trip, we had a little bit of everything but nothing major until our last little 'test' at the end and we came through with flying colors.
'Sophisticated Lady' resting peacefully at anchor in St George's Harbour, Bermuda
As you come to expect after making landfall at night, our reward came in the morning when the sun was up and we could look out and see all the beautifully colored homes that dotted the shorelines of St George's Harbour. There is truly no other place like this on earth; it is a fantastic feeling, knowing where you are, knowing how you got there, and knowing that a small team of 5 people on a 50 foot sailboat occupying nothing more than the tiniest amount of space on this vast expanse of ocean can make it!
Cheers,
Rick She Said:
Day 3
It is 2:00 a.m. and I am sitting in the cockpit thinking about what I would be doing if I was in the real world, the normal world on land. I imagine I would be sleeping, warmly tucked in my bed dreaming my dreams. Instead I sit here quietly gazing out on the charcoal blue ocean surrounding me. I look to the sky and see dimly lit stars scattered amongst the creamy colored clouds. Behind my back the moon casts its brilliant warm gaze over my shoulder and across the water. I feel protected and buoyed by the beam she casts. I believe the Native Indians called her "Grandmother Moon" and she feels wise, weathered and nurturing to me.
 I am alone on my watch but there is a difference between alone and lonely. I have my warm dog curled up on my lap and 4 good men slumbering in the bunks below. Although the inky black water and shadowy horizon is all that surrounds us, although we are truly alone out here, we are not. We have each other. This group of people on a voyage who form a family with its own rhythms and flow. We share food, thoughts, laughs, ideas and gentle thoughts that cross our minds as we sail night and day. Each day feels like an extension of the last and an image of the next. The flow is calm, easy and feeds the soul.
As I peer out into the night and scan the horizon for lights or signs of life I feel my soul stretch and heave a sigh of content. This must be what attracts man to the sea, this space and time to let your soul bask in the sun and sigh in the night. The fact that we are not connected to anything at all, free to flow anywhere and just be.  Day
4
The Storm. Yes of course we got a storm. After I write this beautiful poetic stuff about the joys of off shore sailing its only appropriate that the ocean should then kick my butt! And it did. We had heard from our fellow boats ahead of us that they had just been through a nasty gale but that it should be gone by the time we reached the same area. Wrong, wrong and wrong again. We had a wonderful dinner together with much excitement and talk about reaching Bermuda. We were supposed to make land fall in about 6 hours and everyone,especially Ashley, was very excited to be near the end of our voyage. This is when the ocean decided to say " hey, wait one minute, I am not done with you guys yet". John was on watch from 9pm to midnight and we all decided to try and get some rest as it would be all hands on deck at about 2am. 
Weather Coming!!
Rick took one look at the radar and saw the gale directly ahead of us and said "maybe I will just lay down up here in the cockpit!". He never did lay down. Its amazing how fast the conditions can go from relative calm to massive waves and driving rains. We were suddenly engulfed in rain and wicked pounding waves reaching 20 feet ! Moving around the boat became a huge challenge. I felt like a rock climber clutching every hand hold I could as I made my way to my cabin. Ashley and I thought we would get some sleep before duty called. What a joke! Imagine trying to sleep curled up in your washing machine while its on. And some crazy giant keeps throwing it across the room every two minutes. That is what its like laying in your bunk trying to brace your self with your legs and arms pressed against the walls. Ashley and I spent the whole time plastered together against the low wall bunched in an impossible ball of blankets, fur, books, clothes and what ever else was rolling around in the cabin. To top it off and complete the evening, we took on a huge wave that surged over the cockpit bimini and into John's hatch and my hatch. It sounded like a bath tub full of water just got dumped inside the whole boat. John, who had been trying to meditate and Ashley and I were instantly soaked with cold salt water in the face! Did I say how fun this off shore stuff is. Let me tell you. Needless to say the only person who got any sleep was Colin, teenagers can sleep through anything! Although he did lurch out of bed at one point to say "when the bleeeep is this going to end!" Lol
Tiny flying fish that soar onto our deck in the night. They really do fly!
We continued to get the stuffing kicked out of us until we rounded the reef at the far side of Bermuda. Bermuda is this amazing little island that is only 12 miles long that is perched all alone in the middle of hundreds of miles of open ocean. You can't even see it till you are practically on top of it. No wonder there are hundreds of ship wrecks surrounding it. It was a sight for very sore eyes and bodies as its lights glowed in the night. Mike got the wonderful job of going out on deck in the huge, pounding waves to take down the main sail. He never complained and gamely clipped onto the jack line and crawled out across the deck with waves trying desperately to throw him off the boat. We got out our ten million candle power spot light and made our way into the safety of the Bermuda harbour as the waves and current pushed us all over the place. Its a very narrow entrance but we made it with no problem and safely anchored in the howling winds. We all smiled at each other and looked into each others exhausted faces and cheered our arrival. We had made it. At last. Then we all crashed to sleep the most amazing sleep in our wet, crumpled beds.
The "Sophisticated Lady" crew happy to be on solid ground in lovely Bermuda. Cheers, Terri
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