2013 Bermuda One-Two Log & Position Entries
6/26/2013
Greetings, Sailing Friends and Family! I'm very happy report that Bluebird arrived safely in Newport last night, after a very good sail from Bermuda. We had 12 hours of light winds, but overall had very pleasant sailing, with a good Gulf Stream crossing. We had no radio or email connections en route, so basically, just sailed the wind as presented. The rest of our fleet sailed earlier to the West and found lots of light winds/dead air holes, that we thankfully avoided. Especially the last day, we had great SW winds, 20+ K, had the spinnaker up making 7-8 K for hours... delightful.
We were visited by pods of porpoise, up to 20 at a time, dancing all around us. A pod of minke whales followed us for a bit. The flying fish were flying...
I missed Harry, my crew mate for the last two races, but his voice was frequently in my head, particularly "time to reef NOW!" Also, "Get that spinnaker down NOW!" Fortunately, John Bell, who joined me for the return leg, seemed to echo Harry right on cue. John is an excellent sailor, we have sailed with him for many years, each of us on our own boats, it was wonderful having him aboard Bluebird. Thank you John!
Official results are being tabulated, but we ended up first in Class, both over the line and corrected time; I suspect we will also come in first for combined time in our class. We missed being first in fleet with our friend Scott Miller on Resolute (J 122 our of Blue Jill, Maine) taking that honor. But as always, it is just great to arrive safely and not too beat up.
Heading back to Maine tomorrow, back to Jan, garden, bees, and work...
6/19/2013
Greetings, sailing friends and family! Bluebird and her crew are repaired, rested, washed and provisioned, and ready to start the return race back to tomorrow at noon! The forecasts are for generally light and variable winds for the whole race- which may take some time...after whining and feeling sorry for myself the first leg, I am going to focus on sailing and take whatever the weather presents.
It has been lovely staying a few days in Bermuda, and in St. George, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The natural history of this isolated extinct volcanoes fascinating, and the political history even more so. As in all of our communities, the people here are struggling with how to have a sustainable economy and lifestyle. They continue to be friendly, open and very welcoming. It is a great place to visit.
That said, I'm eager to return to the cold green waters of Maine! My satellite communicator, Skymate, is AWOL again, so there will be no postings en route. Instead, follow our progress (hopefully with the crown) on the Yellowbrick tracker!
6/14/2013
Nimros and Serif, the last two boats, have finished. Nimros is tied up at the dock; Serif sailed across the finish line, but has no engine or electronics at this point and will be towed in. Awesome job Charles, to stick with it!
6/14/2013
Greetings, sailing friends and family! So the quick report:
We arrived safely, crossing the finish line a little after 2 PM yesterday. It was not a glorious race, but just making it here always counts. The last day os sailing was great, but pretty much everything else I would have given a pass on.
It does appear that we ended up third in our class.
The start: Tropical Storm Andrea passed us in the early AM before the start, leaving lumpy seas, moderately brisk winds. Those of us who get seasick (I am something of a champion in this department) had our first opportunity to experience this.
None of the expected Class 40's (top notch race boats) ended up starting. Dirigo broke her vang, returned to Newport for repairs, restarted and did well.
I sailed in a clump with Panacea, Island Girl, Windswept. We were competitive for quite a while. I think I may even have had the Yellowbrick crown for a short bit!
Sun PM/Mon AM- calm, light winds, slow. But be careful for what you wish for!
Sun PM- this wind comes in from the SW, 20+K. For awhile we were ok, but our sailing Achilles Heel was exposed: we do great with our big 150% genoa off the wind, (as in 2011), and ok in moderate upwind, but into the mid 20's, it needs to be furlled up. Ideally, we would switch to a 110 or 130% jib, but it si too hard to deal with the big thing in a seaway, and no room on deck. My solution has been to go to a staysail and reefed main- it is safe but very slow, with lots of falling off leewards, As soon as I made the switch, I started falling behind while Windswept did a great job.
This is also why I went so far to the West. I just couldn't point very high.
Monday night/Tuesday/Weds AM were very rough and unpleasant, There was lots of crashing over waves, into waves, and under waves. The safest place was in my bunk. Getting up for the every 20-30 min watch checks was very difficult. Looking up through overhead hatch, green water would slide by. Lots of spray in through the companionway. The boat was hot, wet, salty and generally unpleasant (except when curled up on the bunk!). Needless to say, eating wasn't high on the priority list, but I got enough in every day to keep at it. This was generally everyone's experience.
A strange noise phenomena that others experienced: The various noises of the boat (autopilot, rigging, creaking bulkheads) combine, develop overtones, and become a "voice" muttering along- you can almost make out the words. If you sing or make noise, the voice goes away. A second phenomena is actual radio signals coming out of speakers, SSB, even the mast- apparently, if the harmonics/radio frequencies are just right, you can hear transmissions. I spent hours with polkas coming in- couldn't change the channel! Making noise doesn't affect this.
Speaking of communications, my skymate email system seems to have been on the blink, so there were very few postings, and none the last 2 days. Another thing to work on.
Somehow during this part, my navigation got sloppy and I ended up way to far to the west. I don't know why I didn't correct this sooner- I think I just didn't want to make any changes,
Finally, lat Weds/Thurs, things moderated. I finally was able to return to the genoa, shake out the reefs, crack off to Bermuda at a good pace and had one day of quite pleasant sailing.
As I write this Friday AM, there are still one, perhaps two, boats still making their way here. Mirari had mechanical problems and is on his way back to Newport. One boat, Solid Air, a brand new carbon speedster, was abandoned after either rudder or keel failure (I don't know the details). The owner was picked up by another racer, Halcion- the transfer involved actually going overboard on the high seas, then being winched aboard Halcion. I shudder at the thought. Solid Air is still being tacked privately by Yellowbrick, to allow the owner a chance of salvage. It is drifting with the Gulf Stream towards Europe, making a good 2-3 K progress!
Bermuda is quite beautiful. It is lush and green. St. George is peaceful and quiet, as the cruise ships no longer come here (too big to make it through the town cut. Tree frogs chirp from the underbrush, everything is flowering, flocks of feral chickens are everywhere. Will enjoy it until the start of the return leg Thursday June 20!
In the meanwhile, fair winds to all...
6/13/2013
Bluebird arrives safely in Bermuda. More information to come tomorrow.
6/11/2013
06:02 EST. A rough night, winds 25-30K T, down to staysail and 2 reef. Better now. Boat moans and groans, creeks, bangs and crashes, then i thought I was hearing voices- yes, just the radio... on course but have lost Winswept ahead... plugging along.
6/10/2013
17:34 EST. 1 reef and staysail- much better...
6/10/2013
07:02 EST. Gryphon Solo 2 has turned around and is motoring back...
6/10/2013
06:30 EST. Greetings, sailing family and friends! Bluebird is moving slowly at 1-2 K in a light SW'ly breeze- actually a big improvement over the last 12 hours, in which we weren't moving at all and the poor sails were flogging about. Island Girl, Windswept and Panacea are about and in the same situation- I don't know about the rest of the fleet.
Took a nice cockpit shower at dawn, feel clean, fresh and rested. Send some wind!
6/9/2013
21:09 EST. Glassy seas, phosphorescense, shooting stars... now just need some wind!
6/9/2013
19:55 EST. Greetings, all- we are sailing along slowly but surely in light W-SW'ly winds. The seas have flatened out a bit, now that we oare off the Continental shelf. It is also getting warm and muggy. Still over a 100 NM to the Gulf Stream- hopefully this time tomorrow.
I am off to the West of my intended course, pushed by last nightss winds. Making headway.
No wildlife to report yet- fair winds, Gust
38° 59.43' N
70° 17.75' W
6/9/2013
05:12 EST. Plugging along. Seasick as alwyays first night, seas lumpy after Andrea. Better now.
6/8/2013
06:30 EST. After torrential rains last night, Tropical Storm Andrea has passed. It is clearing, with currently NW winds in the 10-20 K range, which will give us a downwind start out of RI sound. Eventually winds will go to the SW, a less favorable angle.
The Yellowbrick trackers are live! View the race tracker now! If you are using an iPhone/iPad, you need to download the app, (free), then "buy" the race, I'm told $2.50 or something like that. Updates every 2 hours at the start, every hour later.
Bluebird and I are rested and ready. Fair winds to all!
6/7/2013
Tropical Storm Andrea is expected to pass over us tonight/tomorrow AM and we are expected to start on time tomorrow.
All but one of the Class 40's have dropped out, apparently because of technical/equipment reasons (basically just not ready or able to go).
I expect to stick fairly close to the rhumb line, trying to enter the stream a little to the west. But there will be lots of light wind, so we'll have to sail what we have.
6/6/2013
Greetings, sailing family and friends! Bluebird is safely tied up at the NYC dock. We are rested, watered, provisioned, registered, inspected, and generally ready for the start of the race on Saturday June 8. The question of the hour is what about tropical storm Andrea (named after my sister, Hi Andrea!) heading up the East Coast? Needless to say, we are all paying close attention. Current forecasts have it passing quickly through the region before the start, leaving light flukey winds in it's wake, with eventually (by Monday or Tuesday) the usual Southwesterlies settling in. Light flukey winds are not conditions that we have done well in. In any case, be assured that the fleet will not start if the storm is threatening. Right now, it's still a little too early to tell.
Meanwhile, I have enjoyed being in Newport. I go for a run in the morning, generally go through a few shipyards and docks to admire the many beautiful boats here- every conceivable variety, from luxury cruisers to state of the art carbon fiber race boats, to restored classics. Bluebird of course stands up to them all very nicely! There are also many historical neighborhoods with colonial architecture, many parks and green areas. All of this despite the fact that large areas have been converted to basically upscale shopping malls, similar to Freeport development.
Other than the run, I have been going through the various onboard systems. At this point, there is very little left to do. I have to remind myself of:
What Really Matters on a Boat: (from John and Phylis' Morgans's Cloud website)
Keep the water out
Keep the crew on board
Keep the keel side down
Keep the mast up
Keep the rudder on.
The rest is all small stuff!
Fair winds to all, Gust
6/4/2013
Safely tied up at Newport Yacht Club, after a 30 mile sail from Cuttyhunk. Good to be here!
6/3/2013 - PM
Anchored in Cuttyhunk Harbor, after sailing this afternoon in the rain. I'm the only boat here in this beautiful spot- wonder why? There is an oyster farm here and usually, in the summertime, a boat comes out and shucks them for you - but probably not today!
Should be off to Newport in the morning with favorable winds.
6/3/2013 - AM
Greetings all - Bluebird is safely anchored at Hadley's Harbor, a very pleasant anchorage at Uncatena Island, near Wood's Hole on Buzzard's Bay. There is a light drizzle coming down, so I'm not in a hurry to leave too soon.
It was a long and tiring beat down from Maine, leaving Friday afternoon, punching into winds that were consistently 15-20 knots, and frequently 20-25K, from the wrong direction, with choppy seas as well. The first night was clear and starry, with a beautiful crescent moon. One small passenger ship came by, otherwise no traffic. Saturday was clear and sunny with more moderate winds. In the afternoon, two fishing trawlers came steaming by- Starlight and Sunlight, from our home port of Rockland! It was nice to see them.
Saturday night was windier. I had a few bouts of seasickness, which passed. I considered bailing into Provincetown, but decided to keep going, arriving off of the Cape Cod Canal at dawn. I was lucky to arrive just as the tide turned, and zipped through the canal with a 4-5 K tide assist. At the western end, I slipped into Onset Harbor, anchored, had a big breakfast and slept for a few hours. In the afternoon, went out to face the wind again, ending up here.
If the rain lets up, I will try for Cuttyhunk Island today. Either way, I expect to be able to get to Newport tomorrow, once this front passes the wind should be more favorable.
Everything on the boat seems to be in good shape, and I am warm, dry, hydrated. Life is good!
5/29/2013
Bluebird is off for another Bermuda 1-2 race. We leave Rocklnd for Newport R.I. June 1; depart Newport single-handed for St. George, Bermuda June 8, returning double-handed to Newport June 20. Bluebird is in good shape with all systems ready and working. Despite the poor weather in New England this Memorial Day Weekend, there don’t appear to be any troublesome features in the long term weather forecasts or Gulf Stream models. Of course, that’s subject to change!
My usual return partner Harry is taking a break this year to play his gypsy jazz at a Django festival. We will miss him and his steady hand at the wheel! But happy to be joined by John Bell, a good friend from RI. John is a very experienced offshore sailor and racer, frequently found on Penobscot Bay with his wife Jill aboard their J-42 Starlight.
As always, while we like to compete and do well, our main goal will be to arrive safely.
This year, the fleet is a little smaller than usual at 28 boats. We will be missing perennial winner Jonathan Green on Jeroboam; he is off racing single handed from England to Newport in the OSTAR (Original Single Handed Transatlantic Race). You can follow his progress at ostar.rwyc.org.
An interesting boat in the fleet this year is Kiwi Spirit, skippered by Dr. Stanley Paris. Kiwi Spirit is a custom 63 foot racer custom built at the Lyman-Morse yard in Thomaston, Maine. Dr. Paris, at age 76, plans on becoming the oldest human to circumnavigate the globe, non-stop and unassisted, while beating Dodge Morgan’s record of 150 days (1986), and doing it without any carbon fuel consumption, relying on wind, water and solar energy alone. The 1-2 is just a training run for him! More information can be found at his website www.stanlyparis.com
Our race can be followed at www.bermuda1-2.org, which also has the link to the satellite trackerwww.yellowbrick-tracking.com.
As always, thank you Chuck Paine for designing such a sweet and sturdy boat; Morris Yachts for building her; and all of the folks at Ocean Pursuits in Rockland for getting her race-ready.
Position Reports
Thursday June 13 2013 at 5:24 AM GMT
Latitude 33° 21.426" N, Longitude 66° 1.807" W
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.357098,-66.030121(Time:05%3A24+GMT%2C+Jun+13%2C+2013%20Latitude:33.357098%20Longitude:-66.030121)&z=7
Monday June 10 2013 at 4:36 AM GMT
Latitude 38° 59.429" N, Longitude 70° 17.748" W
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=38.990486,-70.295807(Time:04%3A36+GMT%2C+Jun+10%2C+2013%20Latitude:38.990486%20Longitude:-70.295807)&z=7
Sunday June 9 2013 at 4:27 PM GMT
Latitude 39° 18.736" N, Longitude 70° 27.015" W
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=39.312275,-70.450256(Time:16%3A27+GMT%2C+Jun+09%2C+2013%20Latitude:39.312275%20Longitude:-70.450256)&z=7
Saturday June 8 2013 at 3:30 PM GMT
Latitude 41° 29.203" N, Longitude 71° 20.096" W
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=41.486721,-71.334930(Time:15%3A30+GMT%2C+Jun+08%2C+2013%20Latitude:41.486721%20Longitude:-71.334930)&z=7
Thursday June 6 2013 at 10:34 AM GMT
Latitude 41° 29.913" N, Longitude 71° 19.048" W
BLUEBIRD SAILING ADVENTURES