imageAs we approached the Gulf Stream, it was interesting to watch how the water temperature rose in places and was a bit cooler in others, presumably due to eddies. We entered the Gulf Stream around 10:00pm on Friday and would hardly have known it, apart from the curve northward in our track despite keeping a constant heading; the sea was remarkably calm, as, unfortunately was the wind. Still, with relatively low engine revs (~1900 rpm), we managed to keep our speed over ground well above 6 knots. This was our smoothest GS crossing to date.

Our freezer again decided to go on the blink. This time I turned it off as the temperature rose above freezing and the upper layer of food (mostly breads and veggies) began to thaw and I transferred all the contents to either the small freezer box inside the fridge or to a spot low in the main fridge compartment. However, this is where it was most useful to have an engineer onboard who has a very good understanding of refrigeration. Mike tried heating up the copper coil just before the expansion tube with my hair-dryer. He explained that sometimes the lubricant that is mixed in with the refrigerant clogs the fine bored copper tube. Sure enough, 5 minutes later the freezer plate became cool and about 30 minutes later all the food was transferred back into the freezer. We were back in business again. Thank you Mike, you definitely earned several ‘Dark and Stormies’ on this trip!

We cleared back into the US by phone before we reached the Chesapeake entrance and had no issues. Howard specifically requested and received confirmation that it was OK for our two US citizen crew members to depart the vessel upon arrival in Little Creek. This is a very different story from Tonic’s, another Salty Dawg boat, I’m glad to say.

We docked in the Cutty Sark Marina, the same marina as on our return trip last year, around 7:00 pm on Saturday, just in time for a Pain Killer onboard before heading to the excellent seafood restaurant, “Captain Groovies” for our farewell dinner. We are happy to report that docking this year was a lot easier: wind a lot less than the 25 kts last June, day-light (not 01:30), and a crew of 4.

Jerry and Mike departed by taxi to pick up a rental car the following morning. It was a real pleasure to get to know Jerry whom we hadn’t met before the trip. Mike was absolutely right when he said we would like him; he is an experienced captain so had sage advice, an easy personality and cooks excellent breakfasts (French Toast in particular) and creative lunches (Panini with an Indian flair using left-over curry). Maybe now we have to work on reducing our waistlines a bit….