Welcome to the adventures of Bluebird, a sailing vessel with a home port of Rockland, Maine. Bluebird has carried her faithful crew through many adventures, both large and small. Gust and Jan Stringos have circumnavigated the Atlantic, participated in the Bermuda One-Two, the Marion-Bermuda Yacht Race and many smaller, local races in the icy waters off the Maine coast.
GUST STRINGOS
Gust has been sailing for most of his life, having been born into a seafaring family. Bluebird has run ten races to Bermuda. In 2016, Gust raced aboard Yankee Girl with skipper/owner Zach Lee in the Newport Bermuda Race where they won their double-handed class as well as the overall first-place double-handed Philip S. Weld Moxie Trophy. Bluebird finished third in fleet combined corrected time overall in the 2017 Bermuda One-Two. In 2005, Gust spent a year circumnavigating the Atlantic with his wife and fellow sailor, Jan. Gust and Jan live in rural Maine where they enjoy gardening, hiking and cross-country skiing.
BLUEBIRD SAILING ADVENTURES
2023 Bermuda One-Two Updates
Bluebird Boat Tracker Race Fleet Tracker Race Website Photos
June 23 - 14:30 - Safe arrival in Rockland, heading home!
June 23 - Off of Monhegan - A pleasant night of sailing under the stars- now back to the land of lobster pots! Hope for early afternoon arrival to Rockland.
Jun 22 - Off of Provincetown, Cape Cod - Iridium is dead again, will only be able to update position when in cell range. Which won’t be much.
June 20 1530 - I’m happy to report safe arrival in Newport, crossing the finish line this morning. It wasn’t our most brilliant race- we had lots of adverse current, a long calm, and most significantly, a long period of NW winds ahead of the beam, that we couldn’t manage very well without being swept east (if the race had been to Maine, we would have done well!). None the less, it was a good experience and a good sail. John McCrea was an excellent #2, a calm and steady seaman, well trained by Peter! We had a great last 24 hours, spinnaker up, under clear skies and the bright stars of the Milky Way, with the sun coming up between Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. The wind was dying at the finish, but we managed to get across the line.
Bluebird stayed comfortable and dry, with no significant issues (the already reported electronic communications issues, while annoying, were pretty minor in the big picture). Now, I’m going to get a shower, a good sleep tonight, and start the return trip to Maine in the AM.
June 20 0955 - Bluebird finishes!
June 20 0800 - Good morning. All is well on Blue Bird and we have had an amazing 24 hours or so under spinnaker. A good mind eraser for the previous 24 hours! We are 13 miles out and hopefully finishing around 9:30 or do. See you soon!
June 19 - Good morning from Bluebird somewhere off the Flemish Cap or at least it felt that way last night. Current again not our friend but we fought hard with little breeze to not get flushed. Good news now is spin is up and moving at 5k minus Meg current of course towards Newport. Beautiful day out here and all is good!
June 18 - Good morning Roy. This is Bluebird. We fixed sat phone and should have coms test of the race. We are enjoying a beautiful morning as we continue our fight against evil currents. Finally pointing in the right direction. All is well!
June 15 - about one hour after the start Bluebird sent this to Roy: Will try to sort it out, but may not have comms again.
June 13 - I’ve had some time to settle down and rest up after the trip over. Some brief comments:
Manners and Hospitality: starting at the customs office, one quickly learns the importance of slowing down and having manners. People here start their conversations with “how are you today”, and they expect a good heartfelt answer, with good eye contact. Passing a stranger on the street, it would be rude not to sing out “Good Morning!”. At a restaurant, you are never rushed, and the check is never brought to you until you indicate that you are ready for it. We Americans in general seem to have a hard time with this approach- we are in much too much of a hurry.
You can’t go home again: As in Newport, development happens and things change, while I want everything to remain the same. But it is an ongoing dynamic process. St. George was settled in the 1600’s as a British Garrison/Navy town. The town itself, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, remains a colorful enclave of painted limestone buildings with narrow streets and alleys. But change happens in the periphery. When we first sailed in in 1999, we could see a former Club Med hotel being torn down from the top of a hill overlooking town. Now, the area is a golf course. Along the South Shore, in 1999, the most luxurious hotel was the Saudi-owned Elbow Beach resort. This closed just before Covid and is now shuttered and destitute. Meanwhile, next to the ruins of Fort St. Catherine, a historic fort outside of St. George, our favorite restaurant has disappeared and a 4 tower new luxury resort has opened. We didn’t like this at all, but ended up having lunch there on the beach.We had a long talk with our waiter- he was from Sri Lanka and has worked in the international hospitality business- Abu Dhabi, Japan, Caiman Islands- for him this job was a great opportunity, he hoped to work a few more years and then return to his family in Sri Lanka. So we tried to adjust our perspective.
Weather: We have had showers every day, but it is always warm, the sky and sea bright blue in between the showers. The island is lush and green, flowers everywhere.
Beekeeping Notes: I have noticed a lot of honey bees about this trip. Bermuda is a very good environment for Bees. In trips past, I met Mr. Randy Furbert, a patriarch of beekeeping here. Unfortunately, he died a few years ago. I met Tommy Sinclair, a beekeeper who also works in the department of agriculture. I was curious if they had avoided the varroa mite, which has devastated hives in the mainland US. While they tried to avoid it, banning the importation of bees, somehow the mite has made it to the island- possibly, from swarms hidden aboard cargo being unloaded. In any case, the mite is here, but they are trying to contain them. They have released many mite-resistant queens in hopes of strengthening the local bee population. There are still many feral colonies in Bermuda- hollow trees, cliff holes, roof spaces…. Most feral colonies in Maine no longer survive the winter. They have two main nectar flows each year- Fiddlewood in the early summer, Brazilian Pepper in the fall. The fall flow is always threatened by hurricanes.
Historical Notes: Since this was basically a garrison town occupied by British troops, there are many old cemeteries around, interesting to walk through. Most of the buried died quite young, usually of yellow fever or some other plague.This morning I came across a headstone for two young men- “Boy First Class” 17 y/o William Maunder, and “Captain’s Assistant” 19 y/o William Griffin, who were reported drowned at sea in 1885. The monument was erected by the officers and crew of H.M.S Pylades. As a young teenager, I think I would have aspired to become a “Boy, First Class”.
Race Report: The weather looks good for the start this Thursday. Boats have repaired their damage. Bluebird is in great shape. The iridium phone is working again (battery failure) so we will have better communication this time!
June 9 - Fantastic summary of the race so far at Scuttlebutt Sailing news.
June 7 - I’m happy to report Bluebird’s safe arrival in Bermuda. We crossed the finish line shortly after 5 PM last night, June 6.
At the race start, we had moderate SW winds to get us out of Newport and at least a little offshore. The wind became light and fluky, but we were able to maintain headway most of the time.
Saturday morning, the expected NE winds started to fill in, quickly climbing to the mid-20 K range, eventually over 30 K, with waves to match. These are actually pretty good conditions for Bluebird, as she is able to stay stablehand still go fast- especially when positive Gulf Stream current was thrown in. I had the sails reefed down and felt pretty secure. I had the staysail all set to go, except for the halyard, but decided I was safer staying in the cockpit!
Sunday evening the winds moderated and shifted to the NW.
No breakdowns or incidents, except that my satellite phone stopped working, so I couldn’t get fresh weather reports or communicate out. A couple of boats were usually in my neighborhood, so I was able to maintain radio contact.
Bluebird is first in class in both real time and corrected time. And, looks like we may be first in fleet on corrected time.
Now, have some time to relax before the return!
As always, I need to thank Chuck Paine for designing this beautiful, stable but slippery-fast cruising boat; Tom Morris for building her; Bill, Jody and the gang at Ocean Pursuits for their excellent maintenance and attention to detail; and Doug Pope for his excellent sails. Couldn’t have done it without all of you!
And finally, thank you co-workers back at the ranch, for taking care of things while I’m away- I appreciate it!
June 2 - 20:00 - Per race notes and radio communication, Bluebird reported to Corvus and Strummer that the iridium go communication has been lost.
June 2 - 15:50 - Underway and all good here!
June 2 - 8:00 - Setting Off!
Well, this is it- my start will be at 11:20 AM. Bluebird looks great- clean, dry and everything working- unfortunately, that won’t last! Things always happen. But we are in good shape.
Winds look to be light at the start, but sometime on Saturday will turn to the NE, very strong, just in time for the Gulf Stream approach. But, at least it will be downwind. These are conditions that Bluebird usually tolerates OK.
The easiest way to follow the race, see the tracker and get reports from all of the boats is at www.bermuda1-2.org. Fair winds to all!
May 29 - Arrived Newport safely. Great downwind sail getting here!
May 28 - Safely through the Cape Cod Canal and anchored at Onset, after an overnight sail from Maine. On to Newport tomorrow.
May 27 - Greetings, sailing friends and family! Bluebird and I are en route to Newport Rhode Island for another Bermuda 1-2 Race, our 11th! The start is next Friday, June 2nd.