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The World Cruise of Veleda IV |
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Day 2 - Bermuda to the Azores June 3,1999 33 14.3N, 062 15.0W It is 2014 Atlantic Daylight Saving Time, and the wind has died and the sun just set. The sea is calm, but there is still a 4 to 5 foot swell. The spinnaker is doing a slow graceful ballet around the forestay. I hope it doesn't get too intimate with it and wrap itself around it. We are flying the spinnaker loose footed with the tack attached to the forestay by this new TACKER we got from West Marine. We do not need to use a spinnaker pole. Whoops, it is getting too chummy with the forestay, so I will dowse it for a while and motor until the evening breeze picks up. The motion with no wind is quite uncomfortable and hard on the rigging. I can't motor too much on a long passage like this or I will not have sufficient fuel for the entrance to the Azores. I'll be right back. It is 2115 now, motoring along with the spinnaker still hoisted but in its chute that I can pull up to fly the spinnaker very easily. Still no wind. I finished the supper dishes, checked around and want to do a bit more on this log while I have a chance. Yesterday, our first day out, was O.K. Light winds as predicted from the northwest. We are steering a magnetic course of 085 to head for our first waypoint at 35 degrees North, 55 degrees West. This has been suggested by Herb the guru of the weather world. Normally the recommended course from Bermuda to the Azores would be to go north first up to 40 degrees North Latitude, to catch better westerlies and get some help from the Gulf Stream. However Herb on Single Side Band (12.358 MHz) is recommending a more gradual northing. He has predicted a nice high, but it is too nice, NOT ENOUGH WIND! Yesterday we only did 110 nautical miles in out first 24 hours. That's O.K., but today will be much less unless I motor all night. Yesterday we flew the spinnaker for an hour and a half when its halyard broke and the spinnaker went floating down into the water. We retrieved it O.K., but the line broke and is now stuck inside the mast. We cannot pull it out as it seems to be caught on something inside the mast. So we had a very slow day even though we were flying our genoa wing on wing with our main for over 12 hours. We would have moved much better if we had flown our spinnaker for those 12 hours. Judy was sick several times and even today she has to take it easy, not going below, and lying down frequently. I do all the cooking and cleaning, and Judy may or may not eat. We have fallen into our casual sea routine whereby Judy goes to bed right after supper and I have the first night watch until midnight, when Judy comes on. She is able to hear a small kitchen timer and naps in 20 minute intervals during her watch, midnight to 4 or 5 in the morning, then I get up for the forenoon watch from about 0500 'til noon hour. During daylight hours we switch around periodically depending on how we feel or what we have to do. Today we had very light winds again. They did not get above 6 knots, however there are still long large Atlantic swells over 6 feet coming off our port quarter, making for a very rolly sail. We thought about jury rigging a block for the spinnaker, and I wanted to do so rather than wait two weeks until we get to the Azores. So we dropped our main and genoa and motored away from the swells while I climbed up to the top of the mast to attach a block and haul up another halyard for the spinnaker. Our mast steps are handy for such excursions. I had on my safety harness and had a bosun's chair strapped to my rear with tools and the block. The bosun's chair and my safety harness were attached to the main halyard on which Judy took up the slack while I climbed up. This was the first time I had climbed above the spreaders right to the top. Judy has gone up to the top a few times, but not under way. It was O.K. I could not fall as I was strapped on with my harness. However it creates considerable tension hanging on with one hand, fitting the block with the other, grasping the mast with my legs while occasionally swinging through 20 foot arcs as Veleda made her way under autopilot through 6 foot swells. Then I had to wait several more minutes as we could not free the original halyard from the mast and Judy had to bend two lines together for me to haul up and reeve through the block to complete the evolution. On my way down, the main halyard got stuck just as I was on the second step from the bottom, and I had to stay suspended there while we sorted out the snag. The whole evolution was probably only 15 minutes, but took a lot of energy from both of us to complete. Then we got the spinnaker up, but little wind, and right now, NO WIND! Our wind direction arrow is just making lazy circles at the top of the mast. I hope it comes up soon. I will be making a VHF call to BLUE HIGHWAY, a 44 foot Peterson sloop that is just over the horizon ahead of us. The lady (I forget her name) called to chat as she has the first watch from 8 to 11. She called last night and again tonight. I think she feels more comfortable knowing another boat is out here even if she can't see us. So I will give her a call, and finish this up tomorrow. Maybe. June 4,1999 33 59.6N, 060 19.0W 2330 Day 3 Well, we can't reach BLUE HIGHWAY tonight, as they are out of range. We have only seen a few Shearwaters and some Portugese Man O Wars, no other boats or ships. It was a frustrating night and morning as we motored for over 12 hours due to lack of wind. It picked up around noon, and we went along at 5.5 knots with the spinnaker and main until about 1900 when the wind backed. We are now on a dead run, wing on wing with the genoa by the lee and the main secured by a preventer to port and still at 5 knots. The wind has not yet been above 10 knots this trip. We still have large swells and a following sea making for a rolly trip. Judy is still not totally on top of things as she has to be careful of how much time she spends below deck. However, she made bread today. It was delicious, especially when eaten warm fresh out of the oven. We have been reconsidering our itinerary, and rather than going down the French rivers and canal systems this fall to the Med, we may, if we can get an economical winter marina in London, stay there for the winter. We have had a couple of places recommended that are economical and in London with easy access to the tube. This would allow us more time to see Scandinavia and the Baltic this summer and fall, and spend several months in England, going through France next year. Not definite yet, but we are considering it. Next Log |
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