If your up for big read here is New Port to Bermuda thru eyes of one the crew that is helping me head south. Are main man Peter Bergoo !!!!
Thursday Oct 30, 2014
S/Y Salty's support crew for the sail to St. Thomas (USVI} via Bermuda started is to arrive today. Our boat is moored at Newport Yachting Center in Newport, RI. This gives us 1.5 days to make final preparations prior departure on Saturday, Nov 1. However, the weather forecast is not cooperating with this plan, as a cold-front with 30-40 knot winds and 15-20 ft waves will pass through starting Saturday and continue until Monday or Tuesday. Salty and 16 other boats participating in the NARC Rally will have to wait out this weather.
Coming onboard Satlty is a different experience to the other boats in the NARC flotilla. Pushing the hatch open we are greeted by Carly & Carl of course but also their three children, 5, 3 & 8 mths. This is their home and it looks like a small apartment with children. Carly folding laundry, girls jumping around in Beauty & the Beast dresses and the toddler sitting on the floor looking at us with big brown eyes. Carly tells us where to bunk and of course we are also introduced to the washing machine, the latest addition to the boat. Not sure if it has been given a name yet?
With two (Peter & Wayne) out of three of our support crew available Carl brings out the crew-to-do-before-leaving list. Among other things we mark the reef lines. Once this is done we raise the main to make sure lines are correct and suddenly pieces of the main halyard block falls down on the deck. Carl comments are censored but you can imagine…… Replacing the block requires going up in the mast to replace the block. However, when we realize that this would very likely have happened under way, we are grateful we are able to fix it now rather than under way in freezing cold and 15 ft waves.
Friday Oct 31
We are clearing the boat in preparation for departure. Weather report not encouraging. The only certainty is that it's going to be really cold coming days. Did we bring clothing for this?
Our third crew member (Quinn) has arrived on a Swan from New York. It was a very cold trip during the night and they motored the whole way. This confirms it's going to be cold early on. Salty is the place to be though, she has central heating and warm water.
Quinn (22) is a recent graduate from Dartmouth (Mechanical Engineering). He has one problem already. He is 6-5 and the bunks are 6-3 so he will have to figure out how to fold himself? He was on the rowing team at D-th so we will have some serious muscle power if needed during the trip.
Dinner with the group from NARC Friday evening, including the Zaniboni children who behaved exemplary.
Saturday Nov 1
Carly and the children said their goodbyes. They are staying with grandma In Plymouth, MA until it's time to fly down to St. Thomas. Carl went with them to spend the night.
This meant the crew was on their own. Some sightseeing along the cliff-walk where the big mansions look out over Long Island sound and Narragansett Bay. Fabulous homes to look at I can't imagine doing the upkeep of such a place.
While our captain was huddling in Plymouth, we invited the crew from Tango to come over and enjoy the warmth inside Salty. We also accomplished to validate that Tango is now a dry boat on the journey south, likewise (almost) the same with Salty. We did save two beers for arrival in Bermuda.
Sunday Nov 2,
Waiting for the wind to settle. The cold front is as strong as predicted. We are grateful we are not out on the open sea today. One can sense that the crews are anxious to leave. The decision is to leave Monday morning.
Monday Nov 3,
Wake up at dawn. There seems to be a reluctance between boats to get going. Not much movement to begin with. Carl decides, what are we waiting for? Let's go. Now there is action on several boats and the flotilla seems to come alive. We set out from the dock. It's quite narrow and with the wind still going at 20-25 knots it's a tricky operation to leave the dock. Carl puts in a spring line that allows him to point the bow away from the dock and move the boat forward. Elegant, I sure learned something already today.
We set sail and of course first thing the halyard is not threaded right after the repair of the block. Easy fix but with a new crew not used to all the lines and how the boat reacts it's a little tense. Soon we have the main set with the second reef in place and we are ready for the Headsail (Genoa). With the wind from NE at 20 - 30 knots we have a broad reach going south in the Narragansett sound, sun is shining, the white caps are silver white and we all have our foul weather gear on. We are in for some good sailing.
Pretty soon though, all is not well, Wayne is very quiet. He is getting seasick although he has taken preventive medication, just as the rest of us. We encourage him that he will get over it. Just hang in there for a day or two and you'll get your sea-legs.
Tuesday Nov 4,
The weather forecast is throwing us a curveball. Our course plan to Bermuda is basically a straight line once we are out in Long Island sound. This was a good plan until Tuesday morning. A front is developing south of Bermuda and will hit the island Thursday night - Friday morning. At our current course and wind we can make it to Bermuda before midnight Thursday. It's a gamble, as the approach into Bermuda is on the east side of the island and there are reefs along the entire coats-line. We are sticking with our original plan until further.
Cooking is not needed as we are all feeling the potential for seasickness. My diet consist of tea and bread. Tastes delicious under these circumstances. Quinn eats mostly candy from the two 5 lb bags of discounted Halloween candy he brought with him (whatever works). Wayne doesn't eat or drink anything, he is not getting better. We are concerned that he is becoming dehydrated.
The wind is turning SE which gives us head-wind. Not good with our plan to reach Bermuda before the storm hits. Carl decides to use both engines to gain miles and await the next Group-file forecast.
Wednesday Nov 5,
The wind is dying down but the waves remain. Wayne is bad and we make him drink on a regular schedule to keep him hydrated. We have burned a lot of fuel during the night but we will not arrive Bermuda before the storm hits, so we decide to go turn south where there is a pocket of calmer winds between two systems. Good thing Carl knows how to read these things and explain to the rest of us. Makes sense to go south and avoid the storm by going to the side of it and reach Bermuda from the south and get there behind the storm. Great plan - we are really good at this.
Going south we have a broad reach again from the SE and gradually the wind dies down in the afternoon. Carl prepares chicken, mashed potatoes with corn - delicious. This is the first real meal for all of us since we left Newport. Even Wayne gets this down. Great, he is getting better.
Thursday Nov 6,
This is the day we were supposed to arrive Bermuda drinking beer & wine. Not so. We are fighting SE winds head on at 15-20 knots. The pocket of light winds closed and we are stuck to work our way SE towards Bermuda. One boat on our course even decides to just keep going towards the Caribbean and skip Bermuda. We discuss this option but Wayne is too bad to just keep going, we need to get him ashore as he is certain he can't take this much longer. He is a trooper though. As sick as he is, he has not said a single word of complaint during our journey. Some of us, no names, would have been cussing and complaining in his position.
Winds are picking up. During Quinn's watch it starts to rain and gradually the winds are picking up. We are getting the storm that we tried to avoid and it's getting nasty.
Friday November 7,
As I wake up at 5 am and look out through the skylight with the early rays of light it doesn't look so bad. As I poke my head out through the hatch I see Carl in all foul weather gear and he is not looking very cheerful. I get my stuff on to go out and relive him from the cockpit. There is lightning all around us, rain is pouring down and the waves are 10 - 14 ft. This is not pleasant cruising. However the likelihood in getting hit by lightning is very low. That said, a few second later we get a strike so close we feel the air pressure from the lightning bolt along the sound of a firecracker going off right by your ear. The good thing is that Carl has set up his electronics so that unessential electronics can be isolated and hereby protected. OK that was close we realize and turn back our attention to keeping the boat going through the waves. Suddenly, we get a burst of extremely hard wind from the south (> 60 knots). The boat starts turning sideways and the Bimini is pulled off. We quickly tie this down not too lose it. Meanwhile the boat turns itself around in the water 180 degrees and it suddenly it's much calmer as we are going with the waves and the wind. There is also a very bright light around us as this takes place. Carl and I look at each other: What was that? Of course we are in the Bermuda triangle. We believe we experienced what we later define as a Microburst. It only lasted for maybe 1- 2 minutes. But it was very forceful and we can conclude that the boat handled herself very well. She is a good boat Salty - Thank YOU Salty.
After ten hours the storm subsides and the wind dies down. We are within reach of Bermuda and we are all looking forward to walk on land again. Early evening we turn north, towards the approach to Bermuda. Around 10 pm we contact Bermuda radio who gives us instructions for customs clearance.
The approach into Bermuda at night is confusing. Many green and red lights. What is what? Carl has done enough of this over the years so we all feel safe but doing this in a storm. Not a good idea.
As we enter through a
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