Annapolis Bound

After completing the repair to the stanchion, re-loading with provisions and fuel, and attending to various boat and personal matters, Grace and her crew left St. George's Bermuda for Annapolis, Maryland at about 9:00 a.m. local time yesterday.  Their present position is 33 23 N 66 31 W, and they are averaging a sparkling 9 knots over the ground.  

On the home front, our mooring was laid in yesterday -- we're using two Helix moorings, secured fore-and-aft to reduce swinging in the narrow creek.  

15 Day Passage to Bermuda

Hello Everyone,

While our passage took 15 days and it seems there would be much to tell, there really isn't. And because this internet cafe costs $14 an hour this will be a bit of a short posting.

We left the Azores trying to get south to get into the tradewinds for an easy passage west, but the winds kept pushing us northward of our line to Bermuda. For most of the journey the wind was from the southwest--the direction we wanted to head-- and the often 2-3 meter swell was also southwesterly so the Ile de Grace did a lot of slapping against the waves and we developed a motion, which Captain Larry calls the "nodding dog." If you remember those bobbing head dogs that sat on the back dash of car windows, then that is what our own heads began to feel like. Ususally, the weather was cloudy, and cool and we were often damp.

This trip I tried to take videos, and I apologize for the poor quality--I did not always stop recording when I thought I had. The sound is terrible because of the wind, but hopefully you can get a sense of the motion of most of our days.

In this next video, I tried to show you how we had our traveler to the port side while under sail. This was necessary after our stantion broke on May 19th. (Dominique and Alex were on deck at the time and we quick to respond, by releasing the boom. Larry was quick to come up with a temporary fix, and after a few phone calls on the satellite phone, we were back underway.) I introduce Otto von Helm (our auto pilot) who does most of the driving 24-7, doesn't drink or sleep on the job, and only very occassionally loses his grip. (But then don't we all?) I also introduce Old Sea Dog, our mascot. He sits on watch 24-7 on top of the Navigation Table looking out over our bow. He too never drinks or sleeps on the job, and has kept us out of any serious trouble. We are grateful and I will miss him when he leaves the ship with Larry. I also tried to video myself signing off--please ignore.

[After spending 40 minutes uploading this video, it failed. Sorry. Will try to fix when I get home and don't have to pay an arm and a leg to post.]

And finally, Larry, Alex and Dominique all say hello.

After Larry's 12volt inverter--which we used to charge his computer for weather reports--stopped working, Alex lost access to the necessary power source to run his computer. Thus, the chess matches he and Dominique were having came to an abrupt halt. But no worries, they created their own chess board and were soon back at it.

Will try to post on our brief stay in Bermuda later. Cheers, Jennifer

St. George's Bermuda -- Safe and Sound

Ile de Grace and its now-merry crew arrived St. George's, Bermuda late last evening, and are up and about the island today tending to fuel, water, food, laundry, spare parts, and, yes, showers. The Azores-Bermuda trip took 14.5 days. All are well, and they'll be leaving for Annapolis as soon as logistics and weather permit. The captain, crew, and Jennifer send warm-weather greetings to all.

Sailing As It Was Meant To Be ...

Grace has been skimming along of late, maintaining over-ground speeds of between 6 and 8 knots over the past 96 hours, and averaging just under 6.5 knots throughout.  The winds are steady from the northeast, and the growing wave swells made for a difficult night of sleep, even as the boat nears it next port-of-call:  St. George's, Bermuda.  They expect to arrive around midnight tonight, requiring them to stand offshore for the morning's daylight, given the very narrow opening into St George's harbor.  For those that have never been there, the cut through the coral was widened many years ago for cruise ships, which now fit so snugly, it's easy to imagine a top-deck passenger stepping from the ship onto land as they pass through the narrowest portion.

It's also said that the most dangerous past of any passage is the 2 hours preceding the moment one ties up ashore, so I'm sure that caution will be the order of the morning.  All are looking forward to stepping ashore after 15 days at sea.  Their morning position is 32 33 N 62 14 W.

3000 Nautical Miles and Counting ...

Since leaving La Rochelle, France in late April, the crew has sailed over 3000 nautical miles,  and looks forward to covering the last 400 or so miles to Bermuda.  Their morning position was 33 11 N 56 01 W.  They are sailing at an average speed of about 6 knots over the past 48 hours, and have averaged just under 5 knots since leaving the Azores 12 days ago.  The wind has either been light or in their face, and the weather rather dreary throughout.  Coupled with the problem with the traveller (under control, but yielding slower-than-otherwise speeds), the two water issues, and an emerging battery re-charging issue, I think it's fair to say that Grace and her first mate are glad to be making landfall soon ...

Grace expects to be in Bermuda on Tuesday, where they'll shower, dry the boat out, water- and fuel-up, replace the stanchion, and welcome your trusted scribe aboard for the final dash across the Gulf Stream and up the Chesapeake Bay.  I'm really looking forward to reuniting with Jennifer after the five-week absence.  Our mooring is being installed this week, so all systems go on the home front.

On the Bermuda Rhumb Line!

Grace and crew are making nice time, sailing at 279 degrees directly for the island of Bermuda. They're in 13-15 knots, sailing at 5.5 knots under the modified main sheet traveller arrangement. The weather is warming, the skies are brightening, and the crew sends their best to all.

Their morning position is 33 49 N 50 21 W.

All Is Well; Replacement Underway

Grace sails on under fair (if ill-directioned) winds, and all is well at sea and on land.  Thanks to the outstanding service of Gregor Tarjan, our catamaran expert extraordinaire, and the good folks at Fountaine-Pajot, a new set of stanchion and hardware is being shipped to Bermuda.  Ile de Grace is heading south, moving toward the 32nd latitude -- home of Bermuda.  The weather and water are both warming noticibly, and spirits are strong.  The crew sends regards to all family and friends.

Holding It All Together

An eventful few days for our crew and boat:  yesterday, in moderate winds and light seas, two bolts securing a stanchion sheared away, with said stanchion securing the cockpit roof -- which renders unusable the mainsheet traveller and thus the main sail.

 

The crew reacted instantly, dropping the main sail, removing the boom, and taking the strain off the now-poorly supported cockpit roof.  After investigating and then talking with the factory, they were able to slip a few replacement bolts through the plate securing the stanchion connecter to the roof, and have moved the mainsheet traveller to the outboard ends of the traveller to transfer the main sail load to the still-stable outside stanchions securing the roof.  Nonetheless, the gear failure is a bit troubling, and we're awaiting guidance from the Fountaine-Pajot factory.

The wind direction has been less-than-favorable, and they've turned south to a starboard tack to make more southing and avoid a steady progression of lows / gales that are passing north of Bermuda into the North Atlantic.  It's been overcast and drizzling, and while spirits remain high, the crew is looking forward to sunshine and warmer weather.  Each passing day brings them closer to that weather, as they move west and south.

Their 5/20 1200 GMT position is 35 31 N 47 59 W.

 

Halfway To Bermuda

Jennifer and her crewmates report a solid two-day run of 330 n.m., averaging just under 7 knots, always in the apparent center of a limitless expanse of ocean.  Winds are lightening, but they remain under sail.  At 36 10 N 44 06 W, they're halfway to Bermuda, and could be there in 5-7 days at the current rate.

Calm Seas, Foggy and Overcast

Grace is making steady if uneventful progress to Bermuda; their location is 36 41' N 37 22' W.  Spirits are high, as they await a ray of sunshine and a breath of wind.  The engine and auto-pilot are acquitting themselves well, and they are averaging about 115 nm/day.  They're about 1350 nm from Bermuda; at the current rate, they hope to arrive a week Sunday or so (5/25/08).

Underway -Smooth Sailing

Ile de Grace is about 200 nm from the Azores at 37 47' N 32 44' W. Crew and boat are all fine, and Jennifer sends her regards. The weather forecast seems favorable, and they are making good time to Bermuda, a mere 1600 nm away.

Passage to Açores

We left La Caruna on May 1st with high hopes of an easy passage to the Azores (spelled Açores everywhere else in the world). After all, Captain Larry and First Mate Dominique had captured a rainbow the night before our departure. Our plan was to head a bit south from Spain and arc up into the Açores, but after 12 hours of heading due west toward the tip of Spain with nothing but a head wind from the west, we were then unable to turn south. The wind had shifted, due to a low, now coming from due south. So we headed for a more northern route to the islands.




First we had to cross the 4 shipping lanes on the northwest coast of Spain. Two go north and two go south, one each for "dangerous" and "non-dangerous" cargos. Captain Larry had timed our departure from La Caruna so that we would reach the shipping lanes: 1) on his watch; and 2) at night so that the ships would be easier to see with their navigation lights on. There were quite a few ships, but we managed to give them all wide berth ... until just as we were leaving the shipping lanes, Dominique suddenly had to give-way to a rather large whale that passed 10 meters off our bow. Now we can definitely state that we "brake for whales."



Once out of the shipping lanes, we soon entered the first of 2 low pressure areas that greatly affected our trip. As noted earlier, the wind was 20 to 30 knots from the south, so we headed west with the seas getting quite choppy. As we took waves over our bow, sea water began to leak into the boat from what we now think was the air vents in the back of the anchor locker. It wasn´t ever too serious, but had to be dealt with in less than pleasant sailing conditions. At the same time, we lost half of our fresh water in the first 48 hours, when we believe the sea action (though only about 10 feet) "sloshed" tens of gallons out of the water tank vents. We were already on water rationing, so that continued, and we had plenty of bottled water to make it to the Açores--just no baths; so we were all a little gamey after 9 days at sea.

There are no photos from our rough weather sailing because: 1) I did not want to get my camera wet; 2) we were all either too busy or too tired for photos; and 3) truth be told, I was often hanging on to the stern railings giving everything I had to the sea. Larry, Dominique and Alex were perfect gentlemen about it and never made me feel more like a sea sissy than I already did; and I would like to thank them.

In the brief lull between the two lows, we did manage to create some fun with man-overboard drills. Alex spotted a fender drifting in the sea and made casual note of the fact. To which, Larry began shouting "Man Overboard!" and we moved (a bit awkwardly) into action. With Dominique at the helm, Alex at the ready and Larry shouting orders, we managed to rescue the drowning fender. However, Alex would not follow through with mouth-to-mouth resusitation.







We got another chance when I spotted a drowning fishing buoy. This time, with Alex at the helm and Dominique at the ready, we attempted another rescue. After it was clear the poor man overboard would not make it, Captain Larry showed us how a pro does it. Again no volunteers for mouth-to-mouth, but we did end up with two extra bumpers. It was all quite exhausting, however, and the crew took a much need rest. Here is Dominique--completely wiped out from the rescues and Alex recovering on the trampoline, dreaming of his next bilge duty.....








After going through 2 lows with the winds against us, we then had a period of too little wind, and again had to motor. During these respites, Dominique and Alex played competitive chess matches, but always ended up friends. Larry could do his crossword puzzles when he was not pulling double duty as Galley Chef.








As for me, when not on watch, I tried to break all records for most sleeping on an ocean passage--sorry, no photos of that either. We were visited by a couple of whales, many dolphins and a few lost swallows and passed the occasional ship, all of which could easily capture our attention and eased the feeling of being so alone in such a big ocean.






So we ended up on the Island of Faial and the town of Horta on Friday, May 9th. It´s a beautiful island and we can see the volcano on Pico as if it were a short walk away. Faial is known as the blue island because it has so many blue hydrangeas on it. There is a scrimshaw museum dedicated to telling the story of the whaling in this area, and Horta is where Joshua Slocum, in 1895, put in when making his first solo cirumnavigation of the world.

The Marina is interesting for the many paintings left by boats that have past through. Whileat first the paintings look like a lot of graffiti, they tells the story of those brave enough to cross the Atlantic and reminds us all of how nice it is to have the Açores as a resting stop along the way.

Today, Sunday May 11th, I happened across a procession. The tradition here is to decorate the center of the street with flowers and dyed sand. Tomorrow and Tuesday are holidays so I think today´s procession must be the beginning of the celebrations.



We plan to leave tomorrow morning, Monday, May 12th. Again, our intention is to sail a bit south of Bermuda to avoid the lows and arc up to the island in 12 to 14 days.

Talk to you then, in the meantime, Happy Mothers Day to all mothers who read this post.

Best wishes,

Jennifer

Courtesy of NOAA

My brother Mark is a civil engineer in the Weather Service, and shared with us this website -- NOAA's Ocean Prediction Center.  Who knew?  .... Terrifically useful site!

www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov

Arrival: Azores

Ile de Grace and crew arrived safe and sound around noon, Friday 9 May 2008, Azores time. They hope to leave for Bermuda in a few days, after attending to some boat matters and refueling, etc.

Azores Bound -- Making Good Time

Ile de Grace is making good way toward their next landfall -- the Azores. Present position is 39 degrees 33.9 minutes N and 24 degrees 28.4 minutes west. The crew is in good spirits; theories abound on the fresh water mystery -- perhaps the tank venting tubes? They're looking forward to showers -- have been on water rationing -- and warmer weather for the Azores-Bermuda leg. Jennifer sends greetings to all!

Spain Abaft

I just spoke with Jennifer; their position is 41 degrees 11.35 minutes N, 17 degrees 14.45 minutes W -- placing them just about halfway from A Coruna, Spain, and their Azores destination.

They experienced 30+ knots of wind as they were leaving Spain -- for about 30 hours, and the boat took on a bit of sea water into the bilges -- possibly through an imperfectly-sealed mast collar.  The situation seems to have stabilized, once the bilges were drained. In addition, their fresh water gauge is either on the fritz, or they have a fresh water tank leak (the former is more likely).  They have plenty of bottled water.

I guess you could say they have more salt water where they don't need it, and less fresh water where they do need it. 

The boat is sailing well; they're making about 6 knots good in 12 knots of wind, and about 8.3 knots good in 19 knots of wind ...

She sends her regards to all; they expect to make landfall in the Azores Thursday-Friday, May 8-9.