Tuesday 1005 May 13 3139N 6526W Wind maybe 3kts Motoring 7.0kts at 2700rpm Sunny
In hopes of dinner the fishing line is out. We have all day to catch just one Mahi Mahi, so that should be a piece of cake, right? The tackle went out at 9am after Bosun Horntoot tied on the lure and then Admiral Nancy, after needing a bit of prompting, sang her irreristible "Here Fishy Fishy". Thus far we have caught just weed, but Lord Nelson is sure he saw something investigating our lovely lure: perhaps a Flying Mirage Fish?
We think we will arrive about 6pm, too late to clear customs today. So with Radio Bermuda's permission we will proceed to anchor in Powder Hole, put up the yellow Q flag; and then in the morning weigh anchor and go onto the Customs' Dock to clear in.
Dave has kept the cockpit clean and Bob has done likewise in the cabin; Nancy is in charge of the heads; and JFK does the cooking. Good food in a clean boat is a great recipe for good morale. And so when we arrive in port, all that remains is to put away the lee cloths, and wash the salt off the decks and rigging. This has been a salty passage, as we were on the wind and against the waves. Much blue water found its way onboard: but happily very little got past our cockpit enclosure and onto us, and hardly any drops made it down below.
We have had an unusual passage: the norm for this trip might be 400nm of sailing if you are lucky, and 500nm of motoring through the Doldrums. We happily sailed quite fast for four days and 13 hours, logging 786nm. The last 30 miles we sailed along at a pedestrian 6 knots in a light breeze: boy does this IP420 sail well in lighter airs! Of course it helped that the seas were relatively calm. Only at midnight, exactly as forecast, did we run out of wind and turn on the motor. So we will be in Bermuda about 6 o'clock, and the weather forecast is for a beautiful evening; so after we have dropped the hook, and secured our little ship, it will turn ...yes, you guessed it, Dark 'n' Stormy.
John and Nancy, with Dave and Bob
In 2014 Adventuress sailed to Europe. She made landfall in Muxia Spain; then England. After cruising the English South Coast, and the Channel Islands, she wintered at Woodbridge, England. The next three summers we cruised England, Holland, Norway, Denmark, France, Spain, Portugal, and Gibraltar. For the foreseeable future Adventuress will sail in Europe. UPDATE: it's October 2021 and we are sailing her back to the USA: Transat passage will be Nov/Dec: expect to be in Florida end of January.
