Just
finishing up this portion of the blog so we can go ashore and find an internet cafe and get this posted. Looks like it worked, More to follow.
5-14-14 Absolutely
nothing noteworthy took place yesterday so you get spared the mundane life of a
sailor when things work as they should.
At 0107 this
morning Gibbs Hill light came blinking out of the sea every 10 seconds fine on
the port bow. Land Fall! We continued to close the coast and by 0800 we were
motor sailing down the south shore below the South Hampton Princess. We entered
town cut just a little after 0900. Once through, the harbor of ST. Georges
opens up. We were surprised to find we had to wait in line to get to the
customs house dock due to numerous boats participating in the 2014
transatlantic Arc clearing out. We queued up behind 4 other sailboats and found
a spot to anchor for the wait. By 1120 were finally tied up at the customs
house dock and shortly thereafter, formalities taken care of, we were granted
clearance, departed the dock and had our anchor down in the harbor at 1100.
South Hampton Princess on hill
Entering town cut
Nancy's reaction to arrival
Almost through Town Cut, the harbor is opening up
This ketch was ahead of us to clear in
The next leg of the ARC to Azores starts
Believe it or not,
we spent the entire day aboard catching up on sleep and cleaning up Avelinda.
We got the dinghy overboard and found that we had left the keys to the dinghy
engine lock back in St. Augustine. As it was getting late we decided to wait
until tomorrow morning to cut off the lock.
Nancy prepared
baked ziti for dinner which we had in the cockpit washed down with ample
amounts of red wine.
5-12-14 For those of
you following our track on the Delorme Inreach site, you were probably
wondering what the hell we were doing this morning. Let me tell you a tale of
woe: We had been under power since noon the previous day. I turned it at 0230
last night to the sound of the engine ticking over at 1300 rpm. At 0430 I was
awoken by the engine being shut down so I called out to Nancy and ask if we
were under sail again, to which she replied that she shut down because of
overheating… WONDERFUL thought I. Once up we began troubleshooting and found
the raw water strainer somewhat fouled and surmised that to be the problem.
After discussing the issue we elected once again to take care of the problem in
the morning and I returned to bed. Nancy resumed her watch and Avelinda drifted
about on a placid sea. Once up and after a cup of coffee we tackled the
strainer in earnest and had it cleared within 45 min. Turned the engine on and
found it still overheated, shut down and back to trouble shooting which soon
turned up the fact that the engine cooling pump had thrown a belt. It took
almost 2 hours to replace that rascal with a spare we had aboard due in part to
difficult access and in part to the spare belt being about one inch to short.
Following plenty of cursing and cajoling we were able to finagle it on and were
underway again by 1000. The seas are almost completely smooth with just the
barest of cat’s paws tickling the surface. By noon we were able to post our
worst days run to date of 70 nautical miles.
The rest of the day
was pretty boring as we sailed over a flat calm sea but the evening and sunset
made up for it. Watch the videos below.
Sorry the videos didn't want to upload will try again later
5-11-14 We were under sail for the whole of the night but
0715 found us becalmed again so… on came the engine. At 1030 this morning we
were 262 nautical miles from Bermuda or at least to a point below Gibbs Hill
light house. we will still have about 20
to go after reaching our land fall.
Our noon to noon distance traveled turned out to be 93
nautical miles, surprising considering the calms we have been experiencing.
At 1500 Nancy had just turned in when I sighted a huge buoy
so close to our course that I expected to go over and investigate. I rousted
Nancy from her bunk and as she steered I went up on deck to get a better view.
I took many pictures as we circled it. It appeared to be a buoy gone adrift so
we took its position down to report to authorities we arrive in Bermuda.
5-10-14 At 0430 this
morning I was awaken when the engine shutoff, thinking the wind had returned
and Nancy was going back to sails I rolled over to return to sleep only to hear
her report that the engine had shut down on its own. I got up to investigate.
The shut off solenoid was found to be engaged meaning there was a short in the
circuit and the fuel had been turned off. It took some time but I was able to
remove one of the wires to the solenoid and restore fuel flow. We tried to
restart the engine but could not even engage the starter. Throughout my trouble
shooting Avelinda continued to sail along under a light breeze at 3kts so we
decided we would await daylight to continue trouble shooting.
Returning
mid-morning to troubleshooting the first thing I found was a shorted solenoid
relay caused by salt water dripping from the raw water cooled exhaust
connection which in turn was caused by a failed hose clamp. Fortunately, all
hoses are double clamped onboard as a safety measure. Had there only been one
the hose could have blown off the exhaust manifold resulting in the cabin being
filled with exhaust fumes and the bilge with raw water. Lacking a spare clamp
as big as the one needed we robbed one from one of the aft cockpit scuppers
which rarely see any use and replaced the missing one at the exhaust. The cause
of the starter failure turned out to be a loose connection to one of the wires
which activate the starter. That’s a brief description of the problem solving but
it took me the better part of the day to accomplish. In fact I finished up just
in time for cocktail hour. We will replace the relay and procure spare clamps
in Bermuda. I was able to get the engine going in time to have it available
when the winds later fell short again.
Taking advantage of the calm I dropped each sail in turn and
rigged luff hauling parrel lines to correct the ill shaped luffs. Now we await
winds to see how much difference they will make.
Our noon to noon run was 102nm, about average in these
conditions.
We ended the day with a very pleasant dinner of red beans
and rice and a glass of red wine.
5-9-14 Today a now
routine clear sky, calm sea day starting with light winds slowly building
during the day giving us yet more pleasurable sailing.
This morning while
strolling the decks looking for problems or at least potential ones I came
across the small swallow lying under the dinghy, stone cold dead! He received
the same internment as his predecessor.
By mid-morning the
breeze filled in from the south west and we had another day of wonderful if not
a little slow sailing. Our 1200 position fix resulted in 113nm noon to noon
run. By 1900 the wind had pretty much died so we cranked up the engine and
powered along at 1300 rpm and 3.8 to 4kts charging batteries while making way.
2030 found us on a
collision course with the freighter “Unique Explorer”, still some 6 miles out. Once
again the AIS transponder was activated, after waiting 15 min. to see if he was
going to make any course changes I contacted him on vhf channel 16 then 14 and
ask if he was aware that we were on a collision course. A short pause and he
reported he was taking action. By speeding up he was able to pass ahead of us
by about ¾ of a mile.
5-8-14 This morning
around 0300 while Nancy was on watch an AIS target appeared on the chart
plotter and after observing it for a while Nancy activate it on the screen and
noted it was a 90ft pleasure yacht named Joan’s Beach. When the chart plotter
confirmed a collision course in about 25 min. by displaying two red lines
converging and a red representation of a sinking ship she went to battle
stations, 1st activating our transponder, usually left in receive
only mode to conserve power, and then calling Joan’s Beach on the vhf radio.
Once contact was made Nancy reported “I think we will be meeting up ahead”, her
skipper asked “what would you like to do”… Nancy responded, “well we’re under
sail you might speed up or slowdown” at which Joan’s Beach skipper retorted I’m
changing course to starboard to pass ahead of you. Sinking ships avoided.
Our third day at
sea dawned as beautiful as the previous two. Nancy and I remarked on how we
have both settled into an at sea routine with our sleeping and sea legs
attained. The 24/7 isometric exercises associated with life aboard a small boat
at sea has done wonders for our back pains which have seemed to gone away.
This day ended with the now routine light winds, flopping
around followed by increasing winds as the evening wares on and a delightful
night sail.
5-7-14 The night of
the 6th & 7th was delightful, the sky littered with
stars seldom seen because of light pollution and a balmy breeze from behind
pushing us along at 1st 5.5kts and later, helped by the gulf stream,
9kts for the better part of the night. The westerly’s held throughout the
morning and into the early evening before finally falling light around 1500
allowing us a noon to noon run of 154nm before leaving us wallowing in a windless
hole which lasted until around 2000.
The engine was
started and we idled along at 3.5kts to stop the flopping around charge the
batteries. When the winds returned the aluminum genoa was shut down and we
sailed through the night at 4kts. While the engine was running we gave Al, who
had steered relentlessly since departing, a break and turned over the helm to
Mr. Cabot our electric autopilot named after the 1st owner of
Avelinda. As for steering we have to date only steered for about 20 min., the
time needed to get out the inlet.
Another failure
reared its ugly head today. While running the engine I decided to turn on the
water maker. A previously broken but as yet undetected water strainer feeding
the water maker made its self-known when I applied pressure water to it. I was
able to quickly shut down the leak but not before getting soaked. We have lost
the ability to make fresh water from the sea unless we can obtain a replacement
in Bermuda.
Two land birds paid
us a visit today and adopted Nancy. The 1st was a small finch with a
red top nock which came aboard early and thoroughly inspected Avelinda from end
to end inside and out. Nancy put out some water and a few cracker crumbs for
him but neither one of us saw him partake of any refreshment. In the evening
Nancy sat reading her book and he alighted near her, hopped over to her and
snuggled up to her right thigh. Shortly thereafter a small swallow landed atop
my hat and then flew around the cockpit before landing near the finch. He
hopped over and took up roost at first next to the finch before wiggling his
way between the finch and Nancy’s thigh. Some 30 min. later the finch crawled
out and went into death throes and died shortly thereafter. He was
unceremoniously give a burial at sea. Awhile later, perhaps sensing the same
fate, the swallow gave up his roost and flew forward to find a more favorable
habitat for the evening.
you have to look close to see the birds next to Nancy and the coaming
We're loving life
Our 1st
breakage of the trip occurred around 1600. With the light winds from behind I
had elected to prevent the main boom from swing back and forth by tying it out
with a line to the bow cleat. Later when it became necessary to jibe over to
the starboard tack I failed to release the preventer first thinking we would
run wing on wing for a while and it would be handy to leave it on. After jibing
I went forward to realize it just in case the main decided it wanted to be on
starboard tack as well. Just as I reach the cleat and before I could release
the preventer the main jibed over with such force that it broke the boom in
half, the only thing preventing it from splintering completely was the
stainless steel sail track. Rousting Nancy from her off watch nap we quickly
set about straitening and seizing the boom back together with light line. We
then reduced sail by one panel and secured the 1st batten to the
boom by lacing lines through special grommets set into the sail for just such
an occasion. Losing the boom on a junk rig is a serious matter as it is what
allows the reefing of the entire sail. In this case we only lost the use of one
panel of sail or about 73 square feet of a 515 square foot sail. We have hardly
noticed the loss and positive outcome is that we now have enough main sheet to
let the sail out sufficient to not need a preventer while running wing on wing.
All and all a wonderful day under clear skies upon a calm
sea and we made good over a hundred nautical miles in our 1st 24hrs.
5-5-14 After a hectic day getting Avelinda up to the
dock and getting everything aboard I returned the dinghy to the house,
preserved the engine and covered everything with a tarp to keep rain and leaves
out while we are away. Meanwhile Nancy made a last shopping trip to the liquor.
With our booze aboard we made a final trip to the house and dropped off the vehicles.
Our neighbor Leslie was kind enough to drive us back to the boat and see us
off. A quick trip to the Conch House marina to top off our water tanks and we
were away at 1845. 1900 saw us at the sea bouy were we set a course of 030
degrees and engaged Al, our wind vane autopilot named after my dad Alan
Maxwell.
Instead of heading
straight for Bermuda, my plan is to go north east for about 120 miles to get
into higher latitudes where the wind will be more favorable and hopefully avoid
the calms of the Sargasso Sea which lies in the direct path.
Winds of 8kts from
the south gave us a very pleasant and much welcomed 1st evening sail
as we left St. Augustine behind at 5 1/2kts.
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