I guess this is a day for recuperation as the wind is now light out of the West. Seas have flattened out and are much more regular, temperatures are rising, sun is shining so it’s time to shed the thermals and don shorts instead! This morning began with a real treat of a pod of dolphins (at least 9) swimming in our bow wave. They were a delight to watch.. Read More
First night at Sea
It’s Tuesday afternoon, and we are all up after sleeping off our overnight watches. We had as many layers of thermal clothing that we could fit under our jackets, wooly hats and gloves, and it was chilly. We entered the Gulf Stream around 5am, with the wind blowing 20-25 kts, nicely on a beam-broad reach, and immediately noticed a warm breeze. The water temperature rose to over 80F, and the.. Read More
Goodbye land
We’ll be slipping our lines at 09:30 to head out of Ocean Marina in Portsmouth towards the start line in the James River. There are 41 boats taking part, and although this is more of a rally cruise than a race, with four lifelong yacht racers on board, of course we are competing! The boats range in size and stature, from an ex Americas cup boat, Falcon, through a racing.. Read More
Delayed Start
Having listened to the wind howling all night, we were very relieved to hear Andy’s decision in the 9AM broadcast to delay the start until Monday at noon. By then we should still have wind in a favorable direction with less punch and seas that are diminishing. We are even provided with suggested entry and exit coordinates for the Gulf Stream to have the shortest point to cross it and.. Read More
Customs and immigration
Entering and leaving countries by private yacht is interesting. In fact we Europeans are not allowed to enter the USA as a normal tourist, and had to get visas to fly in. When arriving by boat, the boat’s home country flag must be flown at the stern of the boat, the new country flag flown high up in the rigging, and the yellow ‘Q’ flag for quarantine flown below it… Read More
Jitters
There was a definite air of something around the marina on Friday. It was hard to identify, but could probably be diagnosed as the jitters. We’d all spent the morning listening to a presentation by a swimmer for the US Coastguard on disasters at sea, complete with statistics, much from his personal experience of rescuing distressed yachtsmen. His underlying message was that mostly it could have been prevented before the.. Read More
Weather to Sail
Friday Morning, weather briefing. Even Patrick in Australia texted to say it’s a cliffhanger 🙂 So far we know we’re not leaving on Saturday, and probably not on Sunday, but we have all to be ready to go then. As soon as this deep Low passes through, we are off. The weather will be good to carry us across the Gulf Stream before the very light winds from the High that is to.. Read More
Food, one way or another
Thursday’s agenda started with an excellent lecture on rigging by a really practical professional rigger, with lots of simple tips and checks to ensure the mast and sails stay put! He also offered to come on board and check over the boat, and provided short term and longer term advice. He suggested increasing the diameter of the staysail sheets, for instance, as they will take a lot of load in.. Read More
Follow the Yellow Brick
Wednesday was scheduled as a free day so we decided to divide and conquer. Hope and Karen headed off to the nearest coffee shop with Internet access, while Howard and William stayed at the boat and worked with the local expert on swinging compasses and fishing for tuna. Same guy. We had noted that the compass was reading off by up to 30 degrees and since we will be steering.. Read More
Crossing the Gulfstream
Tuesday, 9am and we are all back in class for Andy’s lecture on what to expect as we cross the Gulfstream. This is generally the hardest part of the trip, unless a new low pressure system develops in the tropics….. It is fascinating stuff. The current flows North East along the USA coast before crossing the Atlantic to Europe, keeping both coastlines warmer than they would be otherwise. Around where.. Read More