We tested off the Day with some breeze that dropped off around 0930 so we were back on the motor. Our VMG (velocity made good) was not great we were doing 6knt but only 1knt towards Antigua so we altered course to improve our VMG. By 1000 the weather finally cleared and we are enjoying a nice sunny day. We can see a sailboat off to the east and based on radio traffic it is another catamaran bound for Falmouth harbour Antigua. We finally broke 100 miles to Antigua, so unless something happens this will be our last sunset at sea and we can finally see it WOW what a great way to end a trip.
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Too close for comfort. Joyce and Grant began the day and spotted lights at 0100. Initially it looked like a catamaran that was off our stern for the last 24hrs. This cat had left Bermuda about the same time as us. It appeared quite far off. As it came closer on a converging course things didn’t look right and it became evident that this was a large container ship. Joyce and Grant altered course 60 degrees, which allowed the ship to pass a mile behind Rose Lee, yikes this was a way too close. Jim and I did the 0300 to 0600 watch with a nice breeze. We can see a light off our starboard bow that we are catching up too. We think it may be Rhapsody a hunter 45 competing in the salty dawg rally. Joyce and Grant took over at 0600 and a short while later Joyce was waking me…. The boat ahead turned out to be "Osprey" and was being sailed by a polish skipper who had run into bad weather and lost his mast. He must have run into one of the many squalls we experienced. He was not in distress and had a hurry rigged sail plan utilizing what was l3ft of his mast, however he was out of fuel and requesting some. We had two tanks l3ft on deck so we came along side and did a line transfer of one of our tanks. He was very appreciative. We also contacted Rhapsody who was behind us and they made arrangements to drop off a couple of guys of fuel to I sorry as well. It’s nice to be able to lend a hand to a fellow sailor in need we are a close community out here. What a great community we live in. 111 km in the last 24 and about 200 left to Antigua, we are seeing lots of birds now.
Jim and I started the day at 0000 with the motor going and no wind. About 10 minutes after we began the breeze came up and we were able to sail nice, I new my whistling would help. The breeze stayed with us until 1000 and we were back on the motor. I am now doing lots of calculations on fuel consumption and range. My fuel gauge has never been accurate so I predict everything by hours and rpm,s. We should have about 250 miles in our tanks with about 400 miles to go😁. At 1400 Jim suggested we reduce rpm,s for fuel consumption so we are running at 1500 which combined with the sails is pushing us along at 4knts, no record breaking runs but it is nice and warm and we are not working. We made 120km in the last 24hrs and the stayed light for the remainder of the day.
The wind has dropped off so we have begun today under motor and very light conditions. The wind is about 4knts out of the S. We transferred 20 gallons of fuel out of our portable fuel tanks into our starboard tank. I bought a small siphon hose with a check valve from Canadian tire before leaving, WOW does it ever work good for transferring fuel absolutely no messy diesel on deck. We are starting to look at fuel consumption since we have a long way to go and very little wind forecast ahead. We made 115 km the last 24 but it is progress so it’s all good. One nice thing I never mentioned we are really well fed. A lot of our friends made up frozen meals for us so both of our freezers are still pretty full and we are eating very well plus we do a full crew happy hour every day at 1400 hours with a can of beer and some snacks. At 1700 we were under sail again on a beam reach in light air, it’s nice to not hear the motor.
Jim and I started the day off at 0000 with a NE breeze of about 12knts. Unfortunately we have to carry a reefer main and jib because of the regular squall that continue to follow us. I feel like the little fellow on Charlie Brown who always has a dust cloud trailing him, but in our case its squalls. I keep downloading weather maps, which show light air and squalls ahead of us with the nice wind behind😣. At 0900 we spotted a large car carrier about 3 miles behind us heading for Europe. The sailing has been good today with no boat issues. It would be nice to see the sun and a few stars, but you can’t have everything. We made 142km over the last 24hrs so that is good progress.
Well the wind has finally filled in with 20knts out of the SE but we will definitely take it. The motor is off and we have a small reef in the main and jib. Lots of flying fish now, we had one hit the enclosure around 0400 it sounded like someone threw a baseball at us. When it was bright I checked out the deck and found the biggest flying fish so far, about 14". I record our 24hr run at 1430 and in the last 24 we made 132km which is not too bad. The weather continues to be overcast with squall every few hrs most of which we are missing😊. I went on deck around 1700 to see if Joyce and Grant needed a hand during a squall 30-35 knots but they had things well in hand. Since I was up I did some work in the lower chart plotter and found a loose antenna connection so we now have a plotter below, nice. I also fixed our port running light which had a poor connection at the bulb, saltwater. The wind went down too about 15knts so nice sailing to finish off today. Today was a good day with lots of sailing and I resolved a few problems.
The weather is still on the nose but very light so we continue to motor in overcast conditions. At 1030 we hit a squall with sustained wind of 30knts. After the squall we picked up a little wind and were able to sail but the wind only lasted for about an hour and we were back on the motor. The remainder of our day played out much the same no wind and frequent squalls so we continued to motor-sail with reduced sail due to the numerous squalls. We did have one memorable moment when Joyce and Grant passed an ODAS weather buoy at 2030, imagine way out here in the middle of nowhere. It must have two miles of cable for an anchor rode. Only 120 miles on our 1st 24hr run.
Well it is finally time to leave but before we could depart we had to swing by the customs dock to pick up our flare gun which you cannot carry on your boat while in Bermuda, it’s considered a weapon. He breeze was really up to about 20 -25 So grant offered to help us get off and walk the paper work up to customs when we would meet him with the boat. We got away from the dock without an issue however when I started testing out things while under way to the customs dock the autohelm started acting up. I would set it and it would veer off to the left or right ??? Wtf I am assuming it is something I screwed up when I was attempting to resolve the noise issue. Now I was unsure as to my next steps, I didn’t want to leave Bermuda without a working auto pilot. Well let’s have a chat once I get to the customs dock and we can determine how to proceed. The customs dock is located in a narrow cut in downtown st George. I decided to back in because of the wind which would allow me to get out pretty easily. Of course I underestimated our hard the wind was blowing and imidieatly lost steerage as my bow got blown off course. The bow thruster was not effective in the strong wind so I was drifting sideways down a narrow cut surrounded by nice yachts tied up on both sides with a 5 foot concrete bridge directly ahead. The last yachts on my starboard side had run a breast line across to the opposite wall so we were soon pinned against the line and the yacht it was tied to. Thank God for giant yellow fenders which we were able to get between us and them. A dinghy with a 15ho came to our rescue and was able to pull our stern out enough for us to reverse out of the cut. I decided to skip customs and head back to smokes to get our helm issues fixed and catch my breath. This was the 1st time I have really lost my cool on the boat and it is scary when you hear a madman yelling obscenities at your boat and you realize it’s you😣. We eventually got back to the dock and tied up along side. Joyce and I began the search for our fkuxgate compass to determine if something was messing it up. After a two hour search we found the class under the nav station. I had bought extra batteries the previous day 16 double a,s and they were sitting on the table, problem solved. Time to head out back to customs get our flare gun and get out of dodge. The get of the day was pretty uneventful. We began our trip with light winds and were able to see the lights of Bermuda well into the evening. Our auto pilot will steer but is making BAD noises so we are hand steering and will use it for emergencies. Our plotter at the nav station is acting up so we using A handheld GPS and our compass for navigation (old school). We are motoring with frequent rain squall and lightning all around us but no real wind. Is has begun.
Well it sure is nice to be here even though we have a list of stuff to do. Chart plotter, AIS, Radar, bilge cleaning, fuel filters, autohelm etc... I determined that that th chartplotter was not fixable it was flashing and would not get a fix. With some help from home I ordered a new used plotter and am having it shipped to Antigua. After a bunch of effort with the air grant determined it might be an antenna issue so we are having an antenna shipped to Antigua. The radar is a mystery so will address that Later. We thouroly cleaned and flushed the bilge. I took the autohelm apart and determined that I couldn' since the noise appeared to be coming from the ram. Meanwhile in between these projects were really enjoying Bermuda. Joyce was always first up and out for a run to explore the island it was like having our own drone. We hit all of the hot spots and went into dockyards and Hamilton. What fantstic place to visit. Our was high light by a visi to our friends home for supper. Dwayne and deb were great hosts and it was nice to have some down time. Well like all good things it was time to leave Bermuda and we had a decent light forecast for Nov 13th so go time is set for tomorrow.Nov 6th
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