Huzzah!!

We have just spent the last 3 full days sailing close-hauled into light winds, heeled over at an angle of 15 to 20 degrees. Normally, I would avoid such a course, but we were 400 miles east of Bermuda with only north east winds in the forecast for the next few days and no desire to motor that far.
All our normal routines became abnormal as we adjusted to living on the "low-side" of the boat. We read, we slept and we fretted as our boat launched off a wave and landed in the trough with a loud thud, but H2OBO handled it beautifully. Now we are motoring the last 60 miles with our eyes peeled looking for the first signs of land - BERMUDA!
As I write this, we have been at sea for 8 days, and it has been magical. The first 5 days were on a beam reach as we took the winds north and north east in an attempt to get north over a persistent high pressure ridge that was in our path when we left Florida. The winds circle around a high clockwise in the northern hemisphere so we needed to get above it to find westerly winds to take us east. As a result, we moved well north of our rhumbline course. Such, I guess, is life at sea. It gives me a deep respect for mariners who traveled before all the conveniences like GRIB, weatherfax, NAVTEX, and SSB radios that we have were available. We who have those things now have a pretty good idea of what to expect weather and sea-statewise, but they pretty much rolled the dice and relied on observations of clouds, air pressure,waves, and marine life. We never did get those westerlies and, as a result, had to sail into the wind.
I would like to thank Herb Hilgenberg, who tirelessly and voluntarily helps people cross vast distances by lending them his weather routing expertise over SSB radio every day. Thank you, Herb.
The whole experience has had a surreal quality to it. Our home has been moving, steered by our Cape Horn wind pilot exclusively and unerringly. We have been surrounded by an endless sea and sky by day and blanketed by countless stars at night. Occasionally a bird or a fish or another vessel appears and disappears and then it's just us alone again. We saw a whale jumping joyfully a few miles away, but never got a chance to find out what she was so happy about.

Morning,   Bermuda bound

We expect to drop anchor in St. Georges Harbour tonight and bring this part of our journey across the Atlantic to a close. Maggie is on the lookout in the cockpit and when she calls out "Land Ho!", I will be delighted to see Bermuda but I will look astern to burn indelibly into my memory our first crossing to a foreign land aboard our little sailboat.
Branko

Report from the Ships Cat

Ahoy me Mateys.
I have enjoyed living on the dock these last weeks. Everything was comfortable, steady and very hot (for someone who wears a fur coat all the time, it was at times unbearable.) The only thing I might have changed was my unexpected swim - thank goodness for my claws, upper body strength and Branko. I really did not want to let go of the piling.
It's been only recently that I started back to my early evening walk and lounge on the deck.

enough already with the cat pics....

But as all things must change, the engine turned on and off we went.
I am not fond of the engine noise, especially when complemented by pitching and heaving seas. The weather was good to us- overnight the wind was steady and had us close to the port side pilings - as we were ready to cast off the wind died completely allowing us a smooth departure from our slip.
We were taking advantage of the ebb tide, but as you all know sometimes the tide is not so exact. Not only did I have to contend with that engine but then went head first into standing waves,needless to say I was not happy and made it known. I have been prone, these last few sails to leaving a mess down below, so I was made to sit in the cockpit with Branko and Maggie. I had a new harness and was tethered. A good thing since i pooped, alot, on the cockpit seats. Me, I did not like it at all, not sure how the family felt but likely the same. Eventually, I just fell asleep and continued to sleep for the next day.
We are now into our 4th day on the Atlantic. The first day out, cloudy but flat seas with a light wind, we rode north with a south east wind and tried to make as much east as possible. When we hit the gulf stream we picked up 2-3 knots sending us north. Lots of chatter on the radio from fishermen. They sit on the edge and/or in the gulf stream and look for trails of weeds, which generally provides good fishing.
This is our 3rd crossing of the gulf stream, and can now say all crossings went fine with reasonable sea state. Our luck is that each time we cross, we are close enough to enter the steam thereby find the best weather windows for the journey.
Surprisingly we have seen little in the way of life out here (so far.) A few dolphins ,a couple of jets and one sailboat going the opposite direction. We did watch three birds, white bodies, with black patches and long skinny tails -play with the boat. They swooped down around the mast chattering to each other, sounding like a creaky door - very nice sound. Beautiful birds.
On our second day we picked up the energy to do a headsail change from the yankee to the genoa and also rigged and sailed the gennaker for a few hours. Hard work.

Laundry on the Atlantic

 The third day we did laundry(I know,already?) Branko rigged up a washing bucket made from a large square pail with a lid, strapped to the bulkhead, by the cockpit stairs - out of the way. We fill it with 1/4 fresh water and detergent, drop the clothes in, and wait for the boat to start moving (our agitator cycle.)
The first three days, the sailing was calm with very little wind, but we made good time considering - and the journey has been pleasant. Today, the fourth day the wind has picked up and we have a furled in genoa, staysail up and reefed main and still going over 7 knots - big difference.
We are still figuring out the best watches. Generally, we all stay awake during the day. At 3:30-4:00 we talk to Herb , after pulling up a grib file for weather. We review and start reducing sail, having dinner and figure our next move. I have been quite good (knock on wood) at night and snuggle up to whoever is sleeping. I crawl up on to the berth, put my head on the pillow and then plop down so that I am curled up against the sleeper - very comfortable and soothing for me.
We likely have another 5 or so days left to arrive Bermuda. Will be happy to be anchored yet again, especially with our new anchor.

Till later, the ships cat.

One Hundred Miles Closer

Sunrise - leaving Florida for Bermuda

We left Florida 24 hours ago, and so far it has been great. We had light head winds as we slowly made our way towards the Gulf Stream. Once in we followed it north on a comfortable beam reach overnight. Maggie and I had comfortable watches, so we will both be well rested today.
Yesterday afternoon, we made radio contact with Herb Hilgenberg, who has been voluntarily providing weather routing services for voyagers for many years. He believes we should have fine sailing weather for the next few days. Additionally, I can retrieve GRIB and weatherfax files via the ham radio, so we feel that we are on top of any weather developments.

Sophie,  hanging on.

The boat is sailing beautifully with our Cape Horn wind pilot, working jib and our new mainsail deployed. The sky was clear and crowded with stars. The half moon rose during Maggie's watch and she reported that it looked like an orange slice. Magical!
The only one not too happy with the trip is Sophie, but she is starting to get her sea legs and will be fine.
Branko

It's Go Time!

After six weeks in Ft. Pierce, we are ready to leave at dawn tomorrow morning.  The forecast looks good, and we are anxious to get to Bermuda.  We have had a great time here and Ft. Pierce is an excellent stop on the ICW.

We will update our blog enroute as well as make position reports.  Use the links on the top left of the blog page to see our current position.

On the Hard and Back; Looking Ahead

On the hard

We are back on the dock at Ft. Pierce City Marina after being on the hard for two weeks at Riverside Marina and Boatyard.  While we were out of the water we worked hard to repair damage to the keel that we incurred after hitting the old mooring block in Marsh Harbor back in January, we raised the water line with new coats of anti-fouling, we had a new bow roller welded onto the bowsprit to handle the new Rocna 33 anchor, and we made modifications to the chain locker.

Ground Tackle

While we wait for a weather window here on the dock, we are making our final provisions, awaiting delivery of our new sails, and making some modifications to make the cockpit and interior a little more seaworthy.  This largely entails securing things that could go flying.  Things need to be lashed down or stowed.  Some other things need to be examined or tightened. And a lot of other things that we probably not aware of need to be done.

The 800+ mi. passage to Bermuda should take about 7 days and that will be our longest passage to date.  More significant than the duration is the fact that we will be leaving our home continent and our familiar culture with no plans to ever return.  It is reassuring to know that during this, the best time to sail to Bermuda, there are dozens of boats making the crossing at the same time as us.

After a brief stop in Bermuda we will depart for the Azores and that leg of the transatlantic voyage is approximately 1500 mi long and will take about 3 weeks.  After that our plans are sketchier, whether we go to the mainland of Portugal or straight to Gibraltar is undetermined (another 600 mi).  At this point we think we will winter in Spain but even that is not certain.  It is just too far away in distance and time to pin it down.

Sophie

Ahead of us is a vast ocean, the unpredictable weather that will cradle us or batter us, encounters with marine life that will amaze and delight us, places we have never seen, and people we have never met.  While at times the experience may be frightening or uncomfortable, it will nevertheless be rich and memorable, and I am certain we will feel alive like never before.  Next month when I turn 50, Maggie and I will be somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  While there is always uncertainty in life and perhaps more so for us, one thing that I am sure of is that there is no better gift for which I could ask.

Branko

Seaglass and Beans

Seaglass Hunting


Generally,  people take a walk along the beach (Atlantic side - preferred) and pick through the rocks, coral and assorted garbage for the ever illusive sea glass-  topaz blue, pale yellow or amber, polished to a ruddy shine are the most sought after. But, 'hunting' seaglass with John and Kathy (s.v. Makani) it is a different story, extreme to the MAX -  make sure you wear sturdy shoes and are not afraid of the surf.

Nancy and Branko - on the hunt

Illusive seaglass

It was an experience.  Makani's version is;  you walk over a challenging iron shore,  drop yourself (low tide, or near low tide) down into the coral and rock crevices, watch out for the surf and scan  and grab the glass as it filters up in the waves - quickly,  before it turns tail and makes tracks to Portugal.   Sometimes you get very wet and pushed around - but all fun.

Seaglass pendant - by Kathy (s.v. Makani)

Seaglass,  is well, glass (bottles, like wine glasses, drinking glasses, medicine bottles and well any kind of glass) that is thrown out as garbage into the sea,  broken apart, by either the impact of the throwing and/or the waves grinding it against sand.   Then it must stay in the surf for a long time,  being polished to a smooth, grainy shine before it is worth your effort - many a glass piece is thrown back,  hoping that it will come back as that illusive blue topaz.

Believe it or not  the sea glass business is,  a big business - perhaps this is a way to add to our cruising kitty?

http://www.seaglassassociation.org/index.html    -  check out the Seaglass Association website - I think Wonder Woman is attending the next conference  ;-)


Hamburger Beans:

The beans also, must be harvested on the Atlantic shore (or a shore that opens to the Atlantic) - they are basically beans from some kind of tree in  Africa,  that some how fall into the ocean and make their way to the Bahamas and believe it or not, are also popular (potential) money makers http://www.seabean.com/. for jewelery.

Hamburger bean necklace

You scour the beaches for beans, harvest them (pick up and put in pocket), sand, polish and then string them into beautiful necklaces and bracelets.  I have not made one,  but Gerri and Alan do.  I have totally simplified the process and made it sound easy, it is not.  Truthfully the hardest thing I have done is try to find a bean and so far I'm batting zero :-)

Necklace made by Gerri and polished by Alan (s.v. Civil Twilight.)

 Maggie

Fort Pierce - Hooked on Music Festival

Its all about the belts - cool kids

The city of Fort Pierce,  or perhaps it is the Marketing dept - often have events in downtown F.P - which,  to our benefit is where the City Marina resides.  Yea.

The crowd

Joe and Janet - Anna B 

He loved Robot Ears or maybe the H- Hoop Dancer...

the Jerk Concession stand

Last Saturday night there was a music festival,  a free music festival.   With it,  came rides for the kids,  concession stands, skateboard tournaments and well bands, Florida bands,   really good bands.    First we heard Mixed Culture,  a reggae band http://www.myspace.com/mixedculture32  worth a looksee.

Drummer - Robot Ears

Mixed Culture

 Second band,   was fantastic.  Two guys,  one on drums and the other,  on his computer - maybe he was on some other instrument,  but really i think it was his laptop.. have a look at the pics,  and as usual let me know what u think.    in the meantime here is their facebook page - fantastic electronics.  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Robot-Ears/175749905787551

Laptop Player - Robot Ears

The best though,  was they were introduced - as a new band,  not heard much from,  first time at the festival... blah, blah - the crowd began dispersing and was losing interest - and BAM these two guys come on and the crowd goes wild - fantastic music.   Oh and they had their own hula hoop dancer to boot -  great visual  with the sound.

She was a great addition

Hula hoop Dancer

The last band we saw,  i liked as well  -  The Nouveaux Honkies  http://www.myspace.com/thenouveauhonkies  -

Fiddler - N. Honkies

Suit jacket - N Honkies

 they were the headliner and the crowd was ready for more - especially after Robot Ears got them all riled up.

The female lead plays the fiddle, sings and is cute - the lead guitarist wears a suit jacket and somehow that impressed me, he played and sang well, which was a nice touch.

I have more to add,  like the Tiki bars that surround a parking lot, the Riverside boat yard (and the sulphur baths)  and our 'getting ready' to cross the ocean list - but will add tomorrow or the next day - stayed tuned.