by Judy Handley | Dec 2, 2005 | Passage To Caribbean, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 46, Year 1: Settling In
Date: Friday, December 2, 2005
Weather: Rain, Winds 20-30 knots
Air Temperature: 68 degrees F
Water Temperature: 72 degrees F
Latitude: N 33 degrees 15.00 minutes
Longitude: W 68 degrees 09.79 minutes
Location: Passage from Norfolk to St. Martin, Day 6
One indication that we are finally settling into this crossing to St. Martin is that we have absolutely no idea what day of the week it is until we check a calendar or look back at previous logs. Is it really Friday, and have we really been out here six days? Is it really December? It doesn’t feel like it out here, but the calendar tells me it is so. Since we have only ten hours of daylight, the days go by very quickly. Last night and all of day today, we have been working our way through a weather front with rain and periods of high winds mixed with periods of more moderate winds. We have also had periods of sunshine accompanied by rainbows. Today’s primary front has given us winds in the twenty to thirty knot range and another front tomorrow will continue to send us the heavy winds. As long as they are behind us, and they are supposed to be, we are fine. It would be more comfortable is the seas weren’t so high, probably ten to twelve feet, but Windbird has been handling the wind and the seas nicely. Our main sail and our head sail are both double reefed and we continue to move at about six to seven knots in the heavy winds. There are periods when the winds slow down and then we make about five knots.
Unless something changes our minds and we stop in Bermuda, we still have about eight days to go to reach St. Martin. I hope the next eight or so days go as quickly as the six days so far. And what is it we do to pass the time so quickly? Mark and I are both reading a lot. I gave Mark a copy of Jimmy Buffett’s Tales of Margaritaville to read as we left the Chesapeake. I decided that he needed some light reading after the month of engine work and he really enjoyed it. I think his favorite part was a list of six lessons from Freddy and the Fishsticks. Lesson #6: “If you decide to run with the ball, just count on fumbling and getting the #&@! knocked out of you.a lot, but never forgot how much fun it is just to be able to run with the ball.” A little piece of American philosophy brought to us by Jimmy Buffett. My niece, Lynn, back in Boston gave me the book a couple of years ago. Thanks, Lynn. I read The Secret Lives of Bees while Mark was reading Margaritaville. It is a great book and Mark is now reading that. That book was first given to my by Linda Stuart back in the Concord School district. She had encouraged me to read it for the past couple of years, but there just wasn’t time. Now there is time. Thanks, Linda. And I am just about the finish Kite Runner-another great book. This book was given to me by Leslie Kole. I taught with Leslie in Concord and she has always been able to recommend books that I love reading. I’m not sure what I will start reading tonight during the night watches, but reading definitely helps the nights pass more quickly.
We continue to check in with the weather net each afternoon. It is wonderful to hear where other sailors are located and to get Herb’s personal suggestions for the course we should take next.
by Judy Handley | Dec 3, 2005 | Passage To Caribbean, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 47, Year 1: Let’s Go Surfin’
Date: Saturday, December 3, 2005
Weather: Heavy Wind and Big Seas from Behind
Air Temperature: 68 degrees F
Water Temperature: 72 degrees F
Latitude: N 31degrees 30.81 minutes
Longitude: W 66 degrees 32.50 minutes
Location: Passage from Norfolk to St. Martin, Day 7
For the first four days out of the Chesapeake we were bashing into the waves as the strong winds were directly on our nose. We knew we needed to get across the Gulf Stream before the wind shifted to come from the north, so we plodded on using the motor to help us. We made it out of the Gulf Stream but the wind and waves were still coming from the direction in which we needed to travel, so we continued the bucking bronco ride. Then the wind shift came and for the past three days we have been surfing the waves as the wind is coming from behind us. And there has been plenty of wind and ten to twelve foot waves-great surfing conditions! The surfing is much easier on both us and the boat, but as long as the waves are as big as they are now, we do a bit of rock ‘n roll with the surfing.
We just finished listening to the weather net, and Herb told us to get as far south as we can by tomorrow. We need to get across a ridge lying off Bermuda by tomorrow evening. So we have just headed south and it is a bit rougher than the easterly course we had been on all day. A couple of the boats that had been heading from New England to Bermuda made it there today, but Herb’s suggestion was for them to leave ASAP and get south of that ridge. I guess we made the right decision about not going to Bermuda. We have 828 miles to go and if we can get across that ridge tomorrow, we will then have a day or so of light winds and then by Tuesday we should pick up the trade winds that will take us to St. Martin. As you can see, it’s all about the weather.
Today we spotted a large ship on the horizon. It was a Navy war ship, #44, at least that is what we understood them to say. They called on Channel 16 to let us know they were going behind us. At that point in the day, the waves were so high we could sometimes not see the ship when it dipped below a wave. Those waves have calmed considerably and we just hope it stays that way. We’ll check in tomorrow afternoon.
by Judy Handley | Dec 4, 2005 | Passage To Caribbean, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 48, Year 1: Feast or Famine
Date: Sunday, December 4, 2005
Weather: Little to No Wind, Counter Current
Air Temperature: 72 degrees F
Water Temperature: 72 degrees F
Latitude: N 30 degrees 08.32 minutes
Longitude: W 66.degrees 02.35 minutes
Location: Passage from Norfolk to St. Martin, Day 8
Is there really any such thing as a happy medium in life? Maybe. But I’m not sure there is out here on the high seas. It seems we are always getting way too much wind from the wrong direction, or not enough wind from the right direction. It is feast or famine, often not “just right”. Early this morning, I think we were as close to a happy medium as we might get. The sun rose just after 0600 and the moderate winds we had during the night decreased to five to twelve knots. The winds were light, but they were allowing us to move slowly in the right direction at around five knots. That’s not as good as the seven knots, but at least we were moving in the right direction.. I guess that is a happy medium. And then around 0930, the winds just died and we had to start the engine so that we could reach the ridge Herb had encouraged us to cross today. We are currently in front of that ridge and our new challenge will be to stay on the west side of a cold eddy sitting at N24 degrees by W64 degrees. We will continue to motor through the night and into tomorrow and Tuesday, unless the winds increase, and that should bring us to the west side of the eddy. We will then use the current on the western edge of the eddy to give us a boost south and east.
The temperature differentiation out here from morning through the night is fairly consistent. The air temperature at sunrise has been about 64 degrees the past couple of days and the temperature at sundown is usually 70 or 72 if it is a sunny day and 68 if it is a cloudy day. With the north winds pushing us along from behind, we get a fair amount of wind in the cockpit at night even with the enclosure, so on night watch we continue to wear layers of clothes. During the day the layers come off and we put on the day attire, which is a short sleeved shirt and a pair of lightweight pants. For night watch, I will put on a turtle neck over the cotton top I wear during the day, my trusty LL Bean wool sweater, a polar fleece vest, and finally a light jacket. The wool socks and wool sweaters were retired the first night we spent in the Gulf Stream, but when the wind shift came to bring winds from the north, the wool sweaters were resurrected. There is a story that goes along with that sweater that I would like to share with you. During the summer of 1985 we were living in Salisbury, Maryland. Mark volunteered to go along on a Salisbury University freshman orientation trip to Hurricane Island in Maine. The orientation was to complete an Outward Bound experience. The group had stopped in South Freeport at LL Bean on the way up and Mark bought us both wool sweaters. When he brought the gift home and the temperatures in Salisbury were hovering around 92 degrees with about 100 per cent humidity, I thought he had lost his mind. Why would I ever need that wool sweater? Well, now I can list about a thousand needs and will be very sad indeed when that wool sweater gets too worn to continue to be useful. It is now in its twentieth year and going strong.
A little side note: We caught our first fish during the night last night. Flying fish somehow jump up out of the water and “fly”, sometimes landing on the deck. We caught one last night. Let’s see if we collect more tonight.
by Judy Handley | Dec 5, 2005 | Passage To Caribbean, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 49, Year 1: Changes in Latitude
Date: Monday, December 5, 2005
Weather: Moderate Winds
Air Temperature: 74 degrees F
Latitude: N 27 degrees 58.62 minutes
Longitude: W 65 degrees 09.54 minutes
Location: Passage from Norfolk to St. Martin, Day 9
Yesterday our latitude was 30 degrees North. Today it is 28 degrees North. We are making progress. It is 1640 (4:20 pm Eastern Standard Time) and the sun is dipping below the horizon. I find it interesting that out here there are always clouds on the horizon in all directions, but not overhead. We had a beautiful day and a nice surprise with the wind. Around 1100 the winds picked up and we have been able to sail since then. Because of the wind direction, we are having to travel further south than we would like at this point, so we will probably use the engine tonight at some point to help us get further east. We have used all of one of our three tanks of fuel and part of a second, so we have to choose the times carefully when we do use the motor. All in all, things are looking positive for a weekend arrival in St. Martin.
Mark spotted dolphins today swimming along side, but by the time I came up from the cabin they were gone. The only other sign of life today was a beautiful white bird with a very long tail and black wing tips. Since all of the books are still in disarray, I can’t easily find my bird guide, but hopefully I can dig through the books tomorrow and find out what kind of bird we were seeing. I baked bread today and Mark is currently working on one of our bilge pumps. We have a monster bilge pump but right now it is bringing more water into the bilge than it is taking out. Because of the tack we are on, the through-hull (hole in the boat) that transports water out of the bilge is under water and that is what allows the water to come back in. We thought we had fixed this problem but obviously not. We have two additional smaller bilge pumps, but one of them has stopped working. None of this is serious problem, but since the seas have calmed down it seemed like a good time to work on this.
It is amazing to be out here and see nothing but ocean in all directions hour after hour. The water is so blue. The temperature today was 74 degrees and I am finally wearing shorts and a tank top. I’ll still have to layer for the night watches, but last night was much warmer than the night before. That change in latitude is starting to make a real difference. And the even more amazing thing is that even though it looks like we are alone, we know there are other boats within 30 to 60 miles. At 1430 every day, we turn on the Ham radio and check in with Southbound II. That’s the weather net. Everyone that checks in gives there current latitude and longitude and that’s how we know where they are. You feel like you know these people. I’m looking forward to meeting some of them once we reach St. Martin.
The crescent moon is out already and twilight is here. It is time to start the night watches, so until tomorrow this is Windbird standing by.
by Judy Handley | Dec 6, 2005 | Passage To Caribbean, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 50, Year 1: Heat Wave
Date: Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Weather: Winds SE, Sudden Rise in Air Temperature
Air Temperature: 87 degrees F
Latitude: N 26 degrees 47.03 minutes
Longitude: W 63 degrees 57.83 minutes
Location: Passage from Norfolk to St. Martin, Day 10
We are once again motoring as the winds persist in coming at us from the southeast, precisely the direction in which we need to sail. We are hopeful that by tomorrow evening we will reach the trade winds and have fair sailing to St. Martin. But of course, that is our hope. We shall see what really develops. One thing that has definitely happened in the last 24 hours is that the air temperature has increased. We needed no polar fleece vests last night on watch and today we had to take out most of the panels in our plastic cockpit enclosure. That enclosure has been a life saver for us in the past month and half, but it did feel good to be able to roll it up and prepare for warmer weather.
We are starting to plan for our arrival in St. Martin by making lists of all the things we need to do once at an anchorage. We are also carefully reading the Caribbean cruising guides to plan other stops on our way to St. Lucia. We will not be stopping at many of the islands as we hope to be in St. Lucia by December 19 to greet our kids who are flying in for Christmas. But once we reach St. Lucia, we can slow down a bit and enjoy just being there.
