I’m writing on day 1 of the 1st leg of our next Atlantic crossing (we love Starlink!). Our crew, long-time friends Rachael and Jeff Delahoyde, arrived Wed 5/8 and we have been working on the pre-departure task list including grocery runs for fresh fruits/vegetables and laundry. As usual, there are also last-minute boat chores and “surprises” like a wonky wind sensor.
We are a sailboat which, need I say, means we must always know the speed and direction of the wind to set the course and sail trim to get to our destination. On Thursday, we discovered our instruments weren’t receiving data and suspected a bad wind sensor (which sits at the top of the mast). Thankfully, we were able to order a new unit that was delivered on Friday (thanks FedEx). A quick shimmy up the mast for Anthony and voila‘ – wind data. We went out for a test sail on Friday afternoon, and all was working fine! But alas when we turned on instruments Sat. morning… no wind data! Aaargh!!
Hmmm… that indicates a connection issue – after lots of trouble shooting and tracing connection lines, we got it working again, but still feel like there’s a gremlin in the system somewhere. We’ll see what happens when we arrive in Bermuda and turn the instruments off…
Nevertheless, we set off on Sat. morning (5/11) from York River Yacht Haven. Our destination is Bermuda, which is ~ 660 miles SE of Norfolk, VA and the 1st stop as part of the ARC Europe rally (a smaller version of the ARC Rally we did in November 2021 from the Canaries to St. Lucia). This time we’re headed West to East which can be a little more challenging. We’ll see.
We are currently about 130 miles East of the Chesapeake Bay and crossing the Gulf Stream. We had to time this crossing carefully because the Gulf Stream current runs N/S at about 2 or 3 knots so you definitely don’t want strong winds from the opposite direction that would work against the current and create steep waves!
So far, all is well – we’re enjoying a beautiful sunrise, the promise of warmer weather (yesterday was cold and cloudy) and swells between 6-8 feet … It’s a lumpy ride, but it could be worse… More tomorrow!
Day 2 (Sunday) was not nearly as smooth as Day 1. When we crossed the Gulf Stream around 5am, we had light winds but left over swell from an earlier system. This made for lumpy, sea-sickness-inducing conditions. Luckily, we crossed without incident and a weak front moved through and gave us good wind which turned into strong winds 25+, some 30s. Although we were headed “downwind” with the wind behind us, it kicked up 8-10ft seas and we were soon careening around with three reefs in the main sail and eventually a shortened jib as well. The wave slamming on the hull (and between the hulls) sounded like a freight train and was loud and jarring. We hit a top speed of 19kts, but it was quite a bumpy and uncomfortable ride.
Day 3 (Monday). We had great/strong wind most of the night and we were “slammin and jammin”. Moxie was crushin it with a close-to-a-record 24-hour day distance-wise of ~224 nm. Lot’s of surfing and associated violent hull slamming and careening down waves which were in the 8ft range, but now things are better with 15-20kts on a broad reach. We have our sea legs, are settling into the routine, and headed directly for Bermuda, about 275nm away. We hope to arrive shortly after midnight Tuesday and looking forward to a walk on land!!
When the wind is a little lighter (and depending on the waves), the boat rocks more and the squeaks below are nerve-wracking! The lines that control the sail rub across the strakes so I set about to fix the problem. A little hand lotion does the trick – unfortunately it only lasts for a few hours, but better than incessant noise below!
Day 4 (Tuesday). We made it! We arrived about 9:30pm after working our way around the island because Bermuda is surrounded by reefs (and the wrecks that go with it). It was a little tense coming into a place we’ve never been to, down a narrow channel in the dark!
Luckily we had very good charts and Jeff and Rachael on the bow looking for anything ahead, so we made it in safely.
We celebrated with a fabulous dinner (spinach salad and lemon chicken w/rice) followed by Bermuda Brownies!! Woohoo!
Hi you all! I hope that you are enjoying beautiful Bermuda!
Sending love from Florida
I love reading about your adventures! Thanks for posting. Glad you have your sea legs♥️ stay safe and enjoy all the fruits of your labors! I have not figured out how to follow the star link but I will get there. Live to you all
Chris and Shell Acker
Fair winds tomorrow as you head to the Azores! Will be following along!