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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

Bermuda's Up Ahead...Somewhere and Quite Soon.

Sun May 11 1025 2520N 6516W Wind +/-20kts ENE Seas 6 feet Sunny Sailing at 7kts under full jib staysail and single reef main COG 006T

We expect stuff to happen out here and so:
Our wind speed of +/-20kts is only an educated estimate because our little wind sensor - anemometer - at the top of the mast has gone on strike. Can't blame her really: she has been bounced around up there for almost three days: and something tells me (geometry, perhaps?) that a lurch of say a foot in the cabin is ten feet up there. And these lurches are refusing to go on strike.

We have been blown a bit to the left so we are missing Bermuda by about 40nm. We might still find it: if the wind shifts as forecast, clocking from E to SE to S and dropping down to 5 to 10kts; if the satellites stay up and working so our GPS units will tell us where we are (no Dad, we do not carry a sextant); and if we don't decide to go straight to the Azores. We will let you know.

All is well otherwise. We won't have a better three days' sailing than these last three - though it would be more comfortable if we were downwind and down wave.

ETA Bermuda Tuesday afternoon/eve and then will be quite Dark and fairly Stormy conditions aboard Adventuress.

John and Nancy, with Dave and Bob

Postscript: Same Day late afternoon: wind is clocking just right, and dropping: so we have almost all sail up and making a beeline for St George's at 7.5kts as the seas are calming. Dinner tonight will be Salmon with Shrimp in an Alfredo Vodka sauce - the Vodka will be fresh, but not the fish: we have been sailing too fast to catch fish!

Crew Perspective

Nancy's at the helm and John is busy reading "The Boys in the Boat" on my Kindle, so I thought I would add a little crew color (colour)commentary for the blog. It is so great to be sailing with them aboard Adventuress again, and Bob is a fantastic crewmate and he completes what very well may be the perfect voyage. Other than running the engine to charge the batteries, we have been sailing between 7 and 8+ knots since we left the islands. I had heard so many stories of motoring north to Bermuda that this has been a dream passage thus far. This will be my first time ever to Bermuda and I do have some trepidation that John may have one of his prank's in store for me in way of initiation. If the rest of the voyage continues as it has started it will be a memory that I will long cherish. Thank you both for allowing me to share this with you. -- Dave
'THE VOYAGE' has commenced in memorable fashion even though we have not quite mastered the Masters techniques. The good ship Adventuress is a marvelous vessel and is delivering us quickly to our initial destination of Bermuda. I am enjoying the crew mates and their individual senses of humour. Laughter is always present and makes it so very enjoyable to be aboard. I am learning much from Dave who has great technical knowledge and trying still to keep up with John. Nancy graciously shares her knowledge and keeps us very organized. I can't wait to see Bermuda again and looking forward to the next leg of our journey and exploring the Azores with my good friends, Admiral Nancy, Captain John and 1st Mate Dave. --Bob

(Editor's note: see what the threat of starvation does for the crew's writings?)

Update from a Speck on the Ocean

950am Sat May 10 2336N 6556W wind 22kts NE Sunny Still under triple reef Jib Staysail Triple reef Main 7.1ktsCOG 356T

Breakfast is a bit more challenging: making coffee is hazardous; pouring cereal into a bowl not quite so simple as it sounds. The boat is leaning at an angle between 12 to 15 degrees, and it jogs you also fore and aft. It is not yet like the proverbial 'washing machine' but it is still a challenge to get from A to B and do anything that needs two hands.

At this point, two days in, we are all adept at keeping watch and handling the sails; and the only breakage so far on the boat was a minor irritation: a wimpy plastic hinge on a toilet seat broke apart (culprit unnamed!) which was promptly switched out with the forward head (which we do not use offshore because up in the bow it is more like a crazy fun-fair ride than a bathroom). But one does have to ask: why on a toilet seat sold for a boat would they put rinky dinky hinges designed for Minnie Mouse? (Hayden, please feel free to forward to Island Packet and to Raritan!)

Progress is excellent: we have been blown West of the rhumb line but only by about 24nm; so considering that we have in 47 hours now covered 330nm that is hardly far off the line. We all had showers last evening, and regular readers know how superb such a simple pleasure becomes on a salty boat offshore. Adventuress has also taken several dousings of rain but apparently does not share our joy because she promptly showers herself all over with scores of gallons of seawater.

John and Nancy, with Bob and Dave

Freight Train to Bermuda

0920 Fri May 9 2054N 6531W wind NE 24kts Seas 8ft Sunny. Sailing under triple reef jib, staysail, triple reef main at 7+kts

When sailing North from the Virgins it seems that the wind is often stronger and more Northerly than forecast. Yesterday we stowed the dinghy on deck, checked off the last few things on the Offshore Prep List, and left the breathtaking beauty of Culebrita at 11.05. We are having a fine romp with good speed from heavily reefed sails, and are just a few miles west of the straight rhumb line to St George's cut. It is quite a ride especially at night with the waves splashing over the bow and the loud swish of the stern wave as it fills in our wake. Nancy says it is like riding a freight train; which makes one wonder when and for how long was she a Hobo?

So we are finding our sea legs quickly. We did get some sleep after our traditional first night Coq au Vin for dinner: tasted pretty good even though we had with it only water to drink.

We should be in Bermuda late Tuesday; although one never knows...This first day we will cover 175nm and that is an average of 7.3kts - pretty good going for our little ship. We are all well and Adventuress is loving her new autopilot.

John and Nancy, with Dave and Bob

The Beauty of a Flexible Timetable

Culebrita, Spanish Virgin Islands 21.50 May 7. At anchor

The list for offshore prep is almost complete (we have only to drop the dinghy from the davits, and store it and the motor on deck) and we have a favorable wx forecast for the next five to six days, boding a fine sail to Bermuda. So we may leave tomorrow morning. But then again, we may not, because we are happily not on a timetable dictated by the calendar; but rather, we will leave when we are ready and when we are rested. In fact, we may not leave tomorrow simply because the snorkelling in Louis Pena is superb: so we may just travel 5 nm to Louis Pena and explore the reefs.

Dinner tonight was lobster tails, steamed and then finished in hot butter and garlic: boy were they good, and thank you, Donna for bringing us that lovely treat!

We will now be out of range of telephone and internet, but will post here to the blog most days on our trip. We have a very strong crew, and a carefully prepared yacht, and yet: we still expect the unexpected. We do not expect, however, to meet any challenge that we cannot overcome with our combination of experience, preparation and ingenuity.

Best warm wished to all our readers, and especially to John and Bev Parker: as you follow our adventure, know that you are in our thoughts and prayers.

John and Nancy, with Bob Nelson and Dave Hornbach

A Little Test from our SSB Radio

18.19N 64.52W Berthed at Oasis Cove Marina, St Thomas: Monday, May 5, 2014

Before a passage we test out a lot of stuff to ensure it is working at least when we start: after that, it may stop working - the ocean is not friendly to electronics on a yacht. (As long as the crew keeps working, then the skipper should be thankful!) So Hayden just reminded me to test our track for posting to this blog from our long-range SSB radio. Good idea, Hayden!

Unlike the mega motor yachts heading over to Europe at this time of year, our rhumb line to Falmouth 3,413 nautical miles away will not be the route we will take: instead we will sail 840nm due North to Bermuda; this sail is typically in a pretty straight line as we will have beam trade winds from the East to start, and then probably little wind as we get into the Bermuda High area also called 'The Doldrums'. From Bermuda, it will depend on the weather, but we will almost certainly not sail the straight line to the Azores, but will first head NNE for a few hundred miles, until we get about level with the Delaware, before turning starboard and due East: this leg will be about 1900nm. Our final leg to Falmouth will be about 1250nm, again not in a straight line. So we expect to log about 4,000nm in total.

Our little ship is up to her ears in food! We have provisioned all the way to the Azores, as food supplies can be spotty in Bermuda. To give you an idea: we have 24 frozen dinners in the reefer; and lots of starch, breakfast cereal and snacks. We have 24 litre boxes of long life milk, and will load up more potatoes and apples this week before we leave.

We carry 250 gallons of fresh water; it is, regrettably, all in just one tank. So in case we were to spring a leak in that tank and lose it, we carry 25 gallons of water in one gallon jugs, stashed in the hold.

We expect to leave here on Thursday am, as it looks like we will then have at least a couple of days of trade winds.

John and Nancy, with Dave; waiting for Bob's arrival this Monday eve.