The Lull Before the Storm

The weather forecast for today is suggesting the winds and storm should hit us this afternoon. Fortunately I am in the northwest corner of St. George’s Harbour against the wall so I should not be blown into anything. I have been told it will get very lumpy and the fenders will make a lot of squeaking sounds - and the black marks from the huge tires will clean off the hull! My lines are secure as far as I can tell. Andy from the staff just came by to check on me.

Thankfully, Gary had a change of heart – and plans. He cancelled his flight for today. I do appreciate it since he is a volunteer and has no obligation to stay. I had made up my mind that I would be okay if he left, but we still need him to sail with us once the storm passes. Hopefully, Dennis is making some effort to get another crew member from the list of volunteers. I have posted a notice: Crew Needed  Good Food! And the Rally knows I am in need of at least one more crew member.

Communications is the biggest problem since I cannot get an Internet connection. I was able to use my 3G cell phone connection (at the cost of $50 for just over an hour!) yesterday, but I can’t even get on it today. I did use the satellite phone last night to call Dennis and let him know what was happening here. Needless to say, I was exasperated by the time I reached him! This has become more than I bargained for! So far, no tears here.



Gary protecting the lines from the rough concrete wall.

 I have the generator running to charge the batteries. Now I just need to figure out how to turn it off so I don’t screw it up! I remembered to put a “load” on it while running. Dennis' "how to" book is very helpful and I have been very observant, asking many questions whenever he worked on something. It is paying off.

The other concern I have is the capacity of the holding tanks. Since we are an ocean going boat, they are very small (16 gallons each) with the standard practice of returning organic waste to nature. (If you know what I mean!) There are no restrooms or showers nearby so it takes a walk to the center of town to find the public restrooms. Not exactly worth a trip in the middle of the night! And of course, you cannot discharge within 3 miles of land.

The clouds are forming and the wind is starting to pick up so I expect we will be seeing weather soon. The boat is starting to rock a lot. Gary has gone sightseeing while I wait for the generator to finish the charge. It is a good day to do some cooking for the second leg of the passage. Broccoli cheddar soup sounds good! Maybe some chili, too. I will use a very deep pot to contain the hot stuff!

Stuck in Bermuda - Alone!

The Crew before they all bailed on me!

Here we are waiting out a big storm that is forming in the Atlantic between Bermuda and the East Coast. It looks like we are going to be here at least until Saturday if this gale does what is expected. At this time, no one knows where it will track. Even if it goes north of Bermuda, the winds and sea will be high with huge swells. Not exactly what I would want to experience!

Dennis’ office is in need of his magic so he is flying home today. It was a major effort just getting an Internet connection to find a flight. I finally got a Delta flight through Boston to get him home this evening. He is scheduled to return Thursday night – assuming the storm is not centered here which would reroute him to???

Jeff is leaving the boat today to fly home to tend to his stomach upset. Hopefully it is nothing serious. They say sea sickness is an issue of mind over matter. But I can tell you that when you have it on your mind, it doesn’t matter what they say – you feel it! The more you think about NOT getting sea sick, the worse you feel. It is really hard to manage the mind when your stomach is suggesting otherwise!

Gary sprung one on me: he booked a flight home for Tuesday! I was really upset that he did not even discuss it with me first. I am trying not to panic about how to handle 48.5 feet of boat alone in a storm! I can do most things needed, but doing them alone in bad conditions terrifies me. I did not sign up for this test at this time!



Conditions are starting to deteriotate!

 We have to move off the dock at the St. George’s Dingy and Sports Club as the 30-35 knot winds will slam us against it. (We already sustained some gel coat damage during the storm a few nights ago.) The suggestion is to anchor out. I don’t want to be alone on an anchor in the middle of the harbour in these conditions, plus I don’t have a dingy readily available so I will be “boat bound.”  If the anchor were to drag, I would be challenged to reset it to avoid hitting another boat or the reefs or a wall! Fine time to have the whole crew bail on me!

I have prevailed on a couple of local business women here. After telling them my dilemma, they helped me find a place to tie up at Penno’s Wharf. I am secure on the wall with everything tied down and bumpered as best I can. Since there is no electricity here, I will have to figure out how to run the generator to keep the food cold. Dennis has a “how to” note book so I should be able to do it.

The great thing about being part of the Rally is that there are many sailors ready to lend me a hand. The crews of Magnetic Sky, Skitterygustest, Madrugada and Namaste have been supportive. And of course, the World Cruising Club staff has been sooooo helpful.

Driving to Bermuda!

Yup! That's right: Driving!

Trillium at Start of 2011 Atlantic Cup Rally

What do you do when you are sailing North and  the wind is out of the North? You "drive", as in motoring. Do you have any idea how long it takes to "drive" from Tortola to Bermuda at an average of 6.5 knots per  hour? Well, I'll tell you: from noon on Sunday until midnight on Friday!

                                                                                                At the beginning of the Atlantic Cup Rally, we had nice winds down Sir Francis Drake's channel and out into the Atlantic. We were able to sail for two days with decent winds. The winds lightened up and since Trillium needs at least 13 - 15 knots to really move along, we did some motor sailing. Then the wind shifted to straight out of the North - right down our rhumb line. Not only that, it started blowing 18 - 25 knots. Just what we need to really sail, but not on our nose! And so we continued "driving" to Bermuda - all the way!

It was a little like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disney World: up, down, around, jerk left, jerk right, fly off the bunk and meet it on the way down! The weather itself has been very comfortable with partially cloudy skies to protect us from the sun. We have only had a couple of squalls. It has just been the Northerly winds!



Sea sickness takes its toll on Jeff



We did have a sea sickness issue. I had about 18 hours of it, but Jeff has been sick the whole trip. Since it is lasting so long, it may be something more serious. He is going to see a doctor when we get to Bermuda. The picture shows how he spends most of the time when he is out of his bunk! It has not been pleasant for him. Jeff will probably leave us in Bermuda and fly home.

That will create a dilemma as we will be short-handed with only three of us to do the watches day and night. But the risk of Jeff staying and getting worse is not an option. It could be an appendix or some other abdominal issue. Having recently observed the US Coast Guard demonstration of an at-sea rescue, we don't want to take a chance. What I saw at the Safety-at-Sea Seminar tells me you don't want a helicopter rescue on the water even in calm seas! Now we will have to figure out how to deal with the loss of crew.

Things Do Go "Clunk" In The Night!

The Trillium Crew: Jeff, Gary, Sherry & Dennis

Trillium is not racing in the Rally. We are part of the Open Class. The Open Class crossed the Start Line after the racing group. We quickly caught up with and passed some of them. Then it became very interesting as boats started blocking each others' wind and cutting them off at the turns. It was quite fun to watch, but a little nerve-racking to be in the middle of it!

Life on board was pleasant for the first two days as we sailed North. Then the hum of the motor became annoying as it was a 24/7 drum. Watch shifts were working well - even though Jeff was ill, he took his turn at the 3-6 AM watch.

Functioning as the Galley Manager became more difficult as the winds got stronger and clocked around to the North-Northeast. At times I needed someone to hold the pans on the gimbled stove while I managed other tasks in the galley. It became a real juggling act for both cooking and eating. But dinner was served!

Then it happened! Just before midnight when Dennis and I were on watch, there was a loud clunk, bang, thud or ... in the engine! We shut it down and started checking the engine room. On restarting it, we noticed a strong vibration so we kept the rpms low and continued on course. The next day we contacted Roger at Free State Yachts in Maryland on the satellite phone to get suggestions for solving the problem. We thought it was a clutch or some mechanical part. He thought we may have something around the propeller. There was no way I was going to let Dennis dive under the boat in 8' seas 400 miles from land!

At one point, Dennis asked Jeff to check the engine exhaust output. Since he wasn't sure where to look, he looked in the "wrong" place. Actually it turned out to be the right place because he spotted a long green streamer flowing out behind the stern! Once again we shut down the engine and started pulling in this green "monster."  We had caught a large polypropylene fish net!

It had been wrapped around the prop and the line cutters had done a number on it (probably the vibration we were feeling). And it was hung up on the skeg rudder. Once we had it aboard, the vibration stopped and the engine hummed. The wheel was easier to turn.

Life was good - again! And on we went - "driving" to Bermuda!

And We're Off!

So long, Nanny Cay, until we meet again in November!

The provisions are prepared and stowed. The tanks are full. The sails are rigged and ready. The crew is on deck and ready to cast off. We are about to move to the START line for the Atlantic Cup Rally to Bermuda. You can follow us at http://carib1500.com/events/atlantic_cup where you click on Boat Positions. 

It hasn't exactly been easy getting ready:

1. Holiday: Good Friday
2. Holiday: Easter Sunday
3. Holiday: Easter Monday
4. Holiday: Friday the Prince got married!

Holy holiday! You couldn't get anything done around here! And when we did manage to move forward on things, there were multiple bait-and-switch, added tariffs, and anything else where they could screw us! Obviously I have been a little P-O-ed! I will share that in a future post.

Jeff, Dennis & Gary at Captain Mulligan's (nothing to do with golf!)

We have a new crew for the return trip: Gary and Jeff. It will be a new learning experience for us as each brings different skills to the team. Gary is a very experienced sailor and has sailed the Caribbean 1500 and Atlantic Cup multiple times. And the best thing is that he knows how to get in and out of Bermuda. It is a rather challenging entrance. Jeff was a first-timer in the 2010 Caribbean 1500, but he does a lot of ocean racing. Hopefully we will learn more about sail trim from him.

The winds look favorable for the first day: 15-20 knots out of the east - the wonderful Trade Winds. The seas are projected to be 6'-8'. That should move Trillium right along at a comfortable speed on a starboard tack for a day or two. Earlier it looked like we were going to hit the lulls. It was suggested that we may be motoring for the last two days into St. George's Harbour on Bermuda. Now they are suggesting that we will get some gusts into the high 20's and some squalls. So who knows until you get there!

From Bermuda to the Chesapeake Bay: The more
"feathers," the stronger the winds. Red is not good!

There is a storm brewing between Bermuda and the Chesapeake Bay so we will hold in Bermuda until it passes and then make a run for the East Coast. We still have a lot to learn about weather and reading the various reports, gribs and charts, but we are improving with each trip. Experience has been a good - and relatively gentle - teacher. We check the weather on a site called http://www.passageweather.com/. We will check the weather again in Bermuda. In addition, we receive daily email weather reports via our satellite phone each day. And we are in communication with the fleet once a day on the SSB (single side band radio).


See the Gulf Stream snaking around the ocean!

And then there is the Gulf Stream! If you have never looked at how it meanders and twists and turns up the East Coast, check it out online at the weather link above. It looks very gnarly right now so it will be an interesting passage across it later in the trip. You can see from the arrows that it flows in multiple directions and at different speeds in each area. Our challenge will be to figure out the best place to cross so we don't get pushed in the wrong direction. If you are only traveling 6-7 knots and the stream is traveling 2-3 knots against you, it can be a very slow trip in some rough waters. The graphic shows you what it looks like currently. It will change slightly by the time we get there in 8-10 days.

As in the past, we will be out of communication range for several days while at sea. (Some of you have said: you do see land all of the way, don't you? And the answer is: NO. We are several hundred miles from land most of the time!)