Month: May 2018

I’m coming down the home stretch now, literally. I just turned the corner around Matinicus Rock, starting to head up Penobscot Bay. Roughly 4 hours to go. (Since it’s midnight as I draft this, that’s a 4am arrival.) It’s still very foggy, so visibility is poor. I know these waters, but am watching my progress on the digital chart moment by moment. Plus, on the same screen, I have a separate RADAR image. Both zoomed way in to 1.5-2.0 no resolution so I don’t miss anything. It’s cold and wet on deck. After 5 mins up there a short time ago, my hands were numb and my hair soaked (and glasses fogged). Needless to say, there’ll be no more sleep until I’m tied up in Camden. But I’m well rested,…

Last night ended up uneventfully, as I had hoped. It was pretty foggy trying to get into Camden Harbor, and the channel heading into the inner harbor isn’t exactly where it’s shown on my GPS (not a problem until I saw a big float (waiting to be installed somewhere) moored in the middle of the “GPS channel.” Thankfully, there was enough backlighting (and I was going slow enough (3 kts)) to see it in plenty of time to steer to port and look harder for the actual channel marker buoys. Just as I was pulling into the harbor, Customs and Border Protection called me back and asked a few questions. Fortunately, it was only a few, because I was maneuvering in close quarters at the time! Anyway, after those few…

After a little more sailing this morning (Tuesday), the wind died as expected. So I spent most of the day motor sailing. That is, until around 3pm when the wind went dead aft. At that point, the 7kt wind netted against my 6kt motoring speed left essentially no apparent wind, so I dropped the jib to avoid flogging. The sea is glassy smooth, which makes for a comfortable ride. I watched a couple of movies to pass the time. I also did some math; I can go more than 4nm/liter of fuel at 6kts and less than 3nm/liter at 7kts. So I’m taking my time with an ETA at Camden of about 5am. So all the action will be tonight between, say, 1am and 5am; that’s when I’ll be close…

After motoring som more yesterday morning, the wind cam up around 11am and I was back to sailing. Made good progress throughout the afternoon and, in fact, all night as well. Although the wind was not strong (often only 7-8 kts), it was from an ideal direction, so I was able sail consistently in the 7.8-8.6 range, with a comfortable heel angle. The seas were still choppy midday, but smoothed out (pretty much) by evening, which also helped speed. Outside the cabin, its not so pleasant. Full cloud cover. Dark, gray seas (no more Caribbean azure!). Cold. Wet. And, this morning, foggy (a real pea-soopah) with visibily measured in boat lengths (like, 5) and not miles. Its cold and moist inside the cabin as wellif I werent so focused on…

The storm, I mean. Actually, it turned out to be more of a gale where I was. Around 8 pm, the winds finally started to pick up into the mid-high 20s. Having fully prepared (I thought), there was nothing to do but to stay below, sleep a bit, and watch the wind and boat speed. As it turns out, I only saw a maximum of 39kts, and this was a gust. Mostly, the wind was in the 32-36kt range. I had some good surfs down wave fronts (I think I recall 14.5kts) but, overall, I was mildly undercanvassed. Instead of 9.5kts sustained speed, I probably averaged more like 8.5. Couldve done that on Blue Hill Bay. Oh, well. Better safe than sorry. To make matters worse (progress-wise), the 30+ kt…

1100 The wind has continued to build (now in the low 20s) and Ive been sailing at 9.5-10.0 kts consistently. And reaching maximum speeds in the 13 kt range (over the groundno speedo cheating here). So I decided to put up my storm jib: theres plenty of wind to keep me going and Id much rather do it while the foredeck is still relatively safe and the wind isnt crazy. The only real twist at this point is that Im in a Gulf Stream eddy (warm?) thats pushing me due east with a 4.5kt current. So my bow is pointed toward Maine (actually, New Hampshire), but my boats headed for Newfoundland. This cant last forever, so Im not too worried. But it is slowing the otherwise great progress Id be…

So far, this morning is shaping up pretty well. Its still warm (shorts & polo weather), the sun peeks through the clouds every once in a while, and the wind has picked up to 18-20 kts. Given the direction, though, the apparent wind is only around 10 kts. Very comfortable, pretty fast. Given the nice conditions, I decided to put in my first reef. Immediately at her doing that, I decided to go for the second one as well. Hey, Im not racing! Plus, its much more pleasant to reef in these conditions than when its raining and miserable on deck, with sea spray flying everywhere and the occasional wave of sea water flowing across the deck. I try to stay below as much as possible under those conditions. The…

Yesterday and this morning (so far) have been beautiful: sunny with only a few clouds, not too hot (or cold!), reasonably dry air. Thats a high pressure area for you (heard of the Bermuda High?). The only downside is that Ive been motorsailing a lot (most of) the last 24 hours, given the modest winds (often 6-7 kts) and my own desire to make good progress (see more below). Im still in shorts and a polo shirt (same shorts, different polo since I left Antigua, if you must know). The water temperature here (due east of Wilmington, NC) is 74F, down from 82F in Antigua. But its been in the low 70s for several day. Lifes good on this (east) side of the Gulf Stream. I expect Ill have 24-36…

I passed the halfway mark between Antigua and Maine around 2:30am today, and will be directly west of Bermuda about 12 hours later. I continue to consider diverting toward Bermuda, but the possibility of visiting there for a day doesnt look very attractivethe strength and duration of the wind bit on Sunday/Monday would not be avoided and, worse, Id be facing some 20+ kt headwinds later as I approach Maine. (If I keep going, I shoul arrive before those headwinds develop.) So I havent diverted to St. Georges (Bermuda) just yet. After a beautiful night under sail and a waning moon, the winds became lighter this morning around 4am. So Ive been motorsailing since then, doing 7-7.5 kts in a 5 kt wind. Its been a good opportunity to dry…

The last post was written on Wednesday, more than 24 hrs before it was sent. Believe it or not, Im so exhausted (or queasy) after drafting these things that Im not up for the process of hooking up the phone and WiFi base, then sending the messagewatching to be sure it went out, then breaking down the equipment for watertight storage. Lets see if I can do better. You may recall that I was motoring, but expected the wind to pick up. It did so right after I drafted the last post. Then it really picked up, to 25 kts well forward of the beam (so 30+ apparent). I put in a reef, then a second, and theyre still in now. The wind should die down as I approach Bermuda.…