Gyatso Atlantic Crossing Log for Leg 1a - Antigua to Bermuda
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| Gyatso underway to Bermuda during Leg 1a of the ARC Europe Rally (Photo from Bobo). |
Daily Logs
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on the thumbnail to see a map of daily positions on Leg 1.
Day 1 - Thursday, 10 May
One of David's mottos is, "You gotta show up!"
Anyone who has been tracking our journey for the past few months and years
knows that this is not always easy for us and our lovely, 22-year old Tayana
cutter, Gyatso. Our first goal with the ARC Europe Rally was to get to the
starting line in Antigua. We would see where things went after that. David's
motto now needs a footnote, "Even if you're the last to get there!"
Because of other pre-departure preparations on Tuesday (we'll mention those
later on), we could not get to the fuel dock until the morning of departure.
After checking out of the marina and lashing the dinghy on deck, we preceded
to the fuel dock at 10:45 a.m. hoping that we would have plenty of time to
top-up the tank, fill three jerry cans and make the starting line by noon.
Just our luck: we forgot to adjust for 'island time'! We arrived at the fuel
dock after making arrangements with the marina and found that the tanker truck
had just arrived to fill their tanks, so we were informed that the fuel pumps
were closed until 11:30 a.m. We both paced the dock hoping this would help
speed the tanker along. The helpful dock attendant filled our tank and cans as
quickly as possible after that, we cast off the docklines, and Lisa motored at
full speed while David prepared the sails for the start. All of the last
minute stress melted away as soon as we left Jolly Harbour and set our eyes on
the magnificent shades of blue and green water just outside the harbor
entrance. Winslow Homer could not have painted a more beautiful scene.
We hoisted the main, rolled out the yankee and crossed the starting line 10
minutes after the official start. Although we were the last boat to cross the
line, we figured that this was at least better than crossing early which
carries with it a minimum three-hour penalty. Once we were settled in and had
caught up to the back of the pack of 11 other boats (minus one which served as
the starting line), we rolled out the staysail, our own little secret weapon
when on a beam reach. Gyatso responded and by late afternoon we were in a
comfortable position in the middle of the fleet.
As we passed to the west of Barbuda, one small dolphin came to bid us
farewell, playing briefly in our bow wake as we sailed along at 7+ knots.
Later in the afternoon, Lisa saw what looked suspiciously like whales in the
distance. Rosario, another boat just ahead of us in the fleet, came on the VHF
radio a few minutes later to confirm her suspicions: humpback whales were
jumping out of the water near their boat!
As the sun set, we were among a group of 6 boats. We sailed throughout the
night in 10-15 knots of ESE wind and could see the lights of the other boats
nearby. At day break, the bright pink-orange sun emerged through scattered
gray clouds and squalls with patches of light blue and brush strokes of
magenta in the upper level clouds. The wind has dropped off a bit this
morning, but we continue to sail along our course at 5.5-6.5 knots with less
than 800 miles to go.
Day 2 - Friday, 11 May
Mostly sunny today with some passing rain showers in the late
afternoon. We sailed all day in 8-12 knots of ESE winds, and at noon, we could
still see 3 other sails nearby. Air temperatures are still in the mid 80's,
and so we felt much better after taking a shower in the early evening. We have
been alternating watches, approximately 2 hours during the day and 3 hours at
night, but have not been able to sleep much more than an hour or two during
the off-watches. We did manage to enjoy a cooked meal this afternoon: corned
beef hash topped with poached eggs.
Without a moon until the early morning hours, the night watches are quite dark
with the exception of Venus, which casts a light glow on the water’s surface
as it sets to the west, and the phosphorescence that bubbles in or wake. At
20:00 while Lisa was on watch, a startled flying fish landed on deck. Too dark
to see us, I suppose. At the change of watch at 22:00, the GPS brought us the
welcome news that we had less than 700 miles to go.
Day 3 - Saturday, 12 May
The moon rose through scattered clouds in the distance at
02:30 this morning. At daybreak, one sail was still visible to the west.
Another boat was visible for a while, but must have turned its engine on and
motored out of sight. After taking the morning position at 08:00, we enjoyed
eating bagels and coffee prepared by David and watching a rainbow with a
perfect white, fluffy cloud as a backdrop to the west. A tiny white sail
dotted the horizon underneath the cloud.
Throughout the night, the winds slowly dropped off so that by 06:30 the light
SE winds were making it difficult to make progress under sail to Bermuda. By
noon, we turned the engine on and tried motor sailing for two hours. The wind
picked up briefly again, and we sailed slowly in light winds. It turns out
that the boat to the west this morning was Borborygmae (Bobo). As we struggled along,
we watched as they flew their cruising spinnaker and sailed over to us to say
hello, passing within a few hundred feet! Great photo ops all around, but
unfortunately David is now suffering from spinnaker envy. It was one item too
many on the list for us to get our cruising spinnaker rigged before departure,
but this item just jumped to the top of the list.
By early evening, we were motor-sailing again. We enjoyed a crew favorite for
dinner: beef stroganoff and green salad. Good thing we had a hearty meal,
because the weather went downhill after that. At 20:00 with lots of lightning
in the distance and thunder clouds all around, we reefed the main and
continued with the engine on. We both spent watches dodging lightning and
thunder clouds while searching for wind to sail again.
Day 4 - Sunday, 13 May
At 2:00 it was totally dark, and we had thunderstorms all
around us but had managed to avoid them so far, thanks to David's great work
at the helm. An hour later, a ship passed about a mile behind us while
lightning flashed all around. The engine was off shortly after that, and we
were sailing through heavy rain and strong winds with the staysail and a
double reef in the main the rest of the morning. Now, at 10:00, the sun is out
again and the wind has settled down a bit from the east. We are back on course
for Bermuda, and besides getting doused with heavy rain, we managed to avoid
the worst of the scary-looking lightning last night. The air temperature
dropped below 80 degrees, and so the soggy crew enjoyed hot cocoa and instant
oatmeal for breakfast.
We're thinking about our mother's today and wishing them a Happy Mother's Day
from the middle of the Atlantic!
We spent the balance of the day today sailing in stronger than expected winds at 20-30 knots from the SSE, after having spent the previous night making our way through what seemed like a mini low pressure cell. As reported yesterday, we dodged lightning and rain showers all night in light winds, then we experienced heavy rain, stronger winds and building seas. Under partly cloudy skies again during the day, we charged along at 7.5 knots under double-reefed main and staysail. Gyatso took the 10-12' seas on the stern quarter, surfing down some. Otto the Magnificant, our linear drive autopilot and official third crew member, steered amazingly well considering the sea conditions. To top it off, we were able to put on miles directly to Bermuda.
Later in the evening, the wind began to clock around to the south. At 10:45 p.m. we decided to tack which was a good thing because in the middle of the night the winds had shifted to the northwest at 15-20 knots. After being on watch from 2:00 - 5:00 a.m. Lisa noted in the ship's log, " Very dark with squalls, rainshowers and occasional lightning...seas have dropped down considerably since earlier in the day." David emerged from the cabin at the change of watch to find Lisa bundled in her wet foul weather gear and looking quite miserable.
The experience of the last two nights as well as the weather outlook for the next 24 hours deserve a brief notation. While we are at sea, we are receiving daily weather reports from the rally organizers via email onboard. We can also download a wide variety of weather information through our satellite phone Weather.net service, seek advice from two key weather routers via SSB radio nets, and compare notes with other boats in the rally via VHF and SSB. There is more information and advice than you can imagine, and all of this must be factored in to making decisions based on the actual conditions we are experiencing. Our approach is to put safety and comfort first. This means that as soon as we hear or see thunder or lightning, we shorten sails and prepare for squally conditions. When the wind shifts, we try to steer the boat in a way that gives us the most comfortable ride, even if it means veering from our intended course for awhile. When the wind drops off and our speed drops below 4 knots, we usually turn the engine on and try to gain miles in exactly the direction we need to go. We basically try to be prudent mariners and make conservative decisions when it comes to weather.
Tomorrow we will see what the day brings as we face the challenge of figuring out how to avoid low pressure systems passing to the north of us. During our morning roll call with the rest of the fleet on SSB, we learned that another boat checked in with Herb, the Atlantic weather guru on SSB, and he has advised boats approaching Bermuda to go no higher than 25N today and 27N tomorrow to avoid gale force winds associated with a low that will be located at 29N on Monday night and Tuesday.
Day 5 - Monday, 14 May
Yesterday's weather report cast a sobering mood on the crew of Gyatso. After comparing notes with others in the fleet, we decided to slow the boat down, if need be, to stay below the magic line at 27N today. By noon, NW winds at 18-21 knots were making this task difficult so we took in a reef in the main and the yankee to slow down to 6 knots. Fifteen minutes later, we took in a second reef in the main. Four hours later, with steady W winds over 20 knots, we rolled in the yankee altogether. The wind began to clock around to the NW, and we were forced to steer 40-50 degrees to the NE, hoping for a wind shift to the N at midnight and then NE the following morning that would get us back on course.
At sunset, as we were eating macaroni and cheese for dinner, our VHF radio crackled to life with a call from a nearby boat. It was Moonstruck, another boat in the ARC Europe fleet. We looked to the east and were surprised to see the masthead lights of not one, but two other boats. The other boat was Rosario from our fleet. We were all doing the same thing: reefing in sails and preparing our boats for the weather ahead. They also planned to take it easy throughout the night until the predicted passage of the front the following morning.
At 9:30 p.m., two and a half hours earlier than predicted, the wind shifted to the north. While the wind was still light and the waves calm, we tacked and began to head to the NE, almost drifting with our deeply reefed sails as the first of a series of rain bands began to pass overhead and the winds began gusting to 25+ knots. Another dark and ominous night with strong winds, rain and occasional lightning.
Day 6 - Tuesday, 15 May
We managed to avoid the worst of the weather last night, but
unfortunately, we made very little progress until the wind shifted, as if on
schedule, to the NNE at exactly 8:00 a.m. We had one mishap in the night when
our electric bilge pump would not shut off. Upon inspection, we discovered that
the float switch had wiggled loose and the water strainer on the bilge pump was
totally clogged. We weren’t sure who had it worse: Lisa tackled the bilge pump
problems while David steered through building seas and strong winds. It turns
out that Lisa drew the short straw. Working in the bilge while the boat rolled
through the heavy seas was not a fun task! The problems were solved fairly
quickly, and Lisa retired to her bunk for much needed sleep. After lunch today, we decided that the large seas and 20+ knots
of NNE winds were preventing us from making the kind of northward progress we
needed. We are now facing another gale in the weather forecast, and we definitely
want to get to Bermuda by Thursday at the latest, preferably during daylight
hours. With just under 300 miles to go, the engine is on, and we are motor
sailing north at 6.5 knots with the reefed main and staysail. We are hoping the
wind will shift further to the east so that we can resume sailing again. We are both very tired from dealing with the various wind and
sea conditions over the past three days and are trying to take some longer
off-watches to catch up on rest. We are also celebrating David’s birthday
today, although he has asked for a rain check to celebrate in Bermuda instead.
Lisa is still trying to manage preparing a small treat for later this evening.
Time to change watches and let the birthday boy rest.
Day 7 - Wednesday, 16 May
Shortly after lunch yesterday, the middle-of-the-night bilge
repair duties combined with large, confused seas and cumulative exhaustion,
caught up with Lisa, and she suffered for a bit with sea sickness. David took a
marathon watch during the night to let her rest for almost eight hours. She has
promised as many "dark and stormies" as he wants upon arrival in
Bermuda. Being short-handed on a passage like this means that when one of
us goes down for the count, the other has to handle the boat alone. We decided
to leave the sail combination we had been running with the previous night
(double reef in main + staysail), since changing certain sail combinations is a
two-person job. Instead of adding more sail, we decided to use the engine when
needed to help us power over the big seas which were pretty much on the nose. We
ended up putting on seven more hours of engine time, but the result helped
stabilize the boat so that Lisa could rest and David could handle the boat more
easily alone. Although we took it easy in terms of boat speed mainly to reduce
the heel and spray over the bow, we tried to keep up enough speed to get to
Bermuda before the next weather system moves through on Friday. Today is a beautiful, sunny day. The seas have subsided and we
are sailing along at 6.5 - 7 knots with 15-20 knots of wind from the east. We
have added the yankee to our sail combination, but the double reef remains in
the main sail for now since we are making good progress to Bermuda and it is
giving us a more comfortable ride. A sunny day, good sleep, a cup of lemon
ginger tea (a gift from her brother's family last year), a plate of warm
cinnamon rolls (thanks to the doughboy's pop-and-fresh dough), and a hot shower
fixed Lisa right up. She was back at the helm to enjoy a beautiful sunrise this
morning. In the early morning hours we could see the masthead light of
another boat. From the morning position reports on SSB, it sounds like it may
have been Stella Maris from the ARC Europe fleet. We also learned from the
position reports that we have fallen behind the other boats, but several are
within 10-30 miles of our position. At least two of the boats are already in
Bermuda, one is in the final approaches and many expect to arrive early
Thursday. We are estimating a Thursday afternoon or evening arrival and are very
much looking forward to joining the others at the bar Thursday night.
Apparently, the crew of Brigand is researching this for the rest of us and will
give us a full report on the evening "cocktail hour" chat hosted by
Apparition on SSB.
Day 8 - Thursday, 17 May
A beautiful sunrise this morning after an exhilarating night of sailing through the darkness at 6.5-7.5 knots. What is amazing is that we are making great time even though we still have the second reef in the main. As dawn approached, we rolled the yankee back out after having rolled it in three hours ago to make the boat more comfortable for David on the graveyard watch. Although it may not seem very fast to those of you reading this, it was plenty of speed for us at this point in the trip.
After we both got some rest, we finally shook out the second reef that has
been in since Monday afternoon, and since 6:30 a.m., we are sailing with both
headsails and a single reef in the main. As of our 8:00 position, we have less
than 50 miles to go. The seas are building again after having settled down over
night, but we have a southeast wind at 15-20 knots. Besides a bit of rolling,
the ride is comfortable. The autopilot is getting a workout though. Our GPS
tells us that ETA in Bermuda is 3:30 pm (4:30 p.m. local time).
We had another sailboat that was not in our fleet pass us before sunset last
night. We talked to them on VHF and learned that they were making 9 knots with a
full main and staysail. And we thought we were doing well! Before midnight, we
could see the masthead lights of three other boats next to and behind us. Since
the hour was late, we did not try to make VHF contact to see if it was anyone in
our fleet. Like us, everyone is clearly pushing to get into Bermuda before
sunset tomorrow.
We cleared five flying fish off the decks this morning. Another one landed in
the cockpit last night while David was on watch. He tossed it back in the water
as quickly as possible in hopes that its life might be spared. They flop around
so much when they hit the deck that its chances of survival after just a few
seconds are pretty small.
Lisa cooked up a breakfast favorite known to us as "Egyptian Eyes" but
also known as "One Eyed Pirates" or "Sunshine Suzies" at
local restaurants back at our homeport in Annapolis, Maryland. These are made by
cutting a hole in a piece of bread (we have found that the souvenir rum glasses
from Guadeloupe work quite well for this but any round glass or cookie cutter
will do), placing this on a hot, buttered griddle, and cracking an egg in the
center of the hole in the bread. Once the egg is firm on the bottom but not
cooked through, flip the bread and cook for 1-2 more minutes depending on how
you like your eggs done. We usually like our eggs cooked medium, but we tend to
cook them a bit less so that you can dip the bread in some of the runny yoke.
We are really looking forward to making landfall in Bermuda and are now in final
preparations for arrival: reviewing charts, sailing instructions for the finish,
organizing customs documents, etc. We have certainly contended with our share of
wind and waves on this leg of the trip, and although it was uncomfortable and
tiring at times, it was nothing that we or the boat could not handle. We have
also had some great sailing. It is days like yesterday and today with glorious
sailing conditions that tease us back out here to experience the wonders and
challenges of bluewater sailing all over again.
Arrival in Bermuda - Thursday, 17 May
We crossed the finish line today at 2:35 p.m. (3:35 p.m. local time), but not
without a bit of pre- and post-finish excitement.
Approaching Bermuda is an interesting experience. Many yachts are lined up
making their way into port like airplanes on their final approach to a runway.
Bermuda Harbour Radio is the equivalent of air traffic controllers for yachts
approaching. They put a radar tag on our boats about 50 miles out and then
monitor us as we make our way to the harbor entrance. As soon as we are within
VHF radio range, but no less than five miles out, we are supposed to contact
them. We contacted them five miles out, and then again when we were within about
a mile of the finish line just outside St. Georges Harbour entrance. This is
when our pre-finish excitement began.
Our sailing instructions for the finish were to pass from south to north within
100 yards and to the east of the Spit Buoy at the harbor entrance. We were to
record our finishing time when the buoy was 275 degrees True. We were surprised
to receive the instructions from Bermuda Radio that we must hold south of the
Spit Buoy because a cruise ship was making its way out of the channel, and they
didn't want any traffic north of the buoy. After having come more than 900
miles, we now had to wait 30 minutes to stay clear of the cruise ship. We
decided to take down our head sails to make the waiting process easier. Having
only tacked two or three times offshore, we ended up tacking and jibing several
times waiting for the cruise ship to clear the channel. The wind had increased
to over 20-25 knots and the seas had built to 4-6 feet, making these maneuvers a
bit more challenging, especially at this point in the trip. At 3:30 p.m. (local
time), the ship cleared the channel. We rolled out our yankee again, pointed the
bow to the Spit Buoy, and crossed the finish line 5 minutes and 30 seconds
later. We headed up into the wind one last time, dropped the sails and requested
clearance into the harbor. The first leg of our trip was over after 7 days, 2
hours, 5 minutes and 30 seconds plus 30 minutes in limbo at the end.
Once inside St. Georges Harbour, our post-finish excitement began. First, we had
to make our way to the customs dock to clear in. The dock is tucked in behind
the cruise ship terminal. We were lucky to arrive just as another boat left the
dock, and so we preceded quickly to take their space. The strong wind pushed us
into the tight turning basin faster than we would have liked, but somehow we
managed to get the bow close enough to the dock just as another boater was
walking by. He grabbed our line and helped us tie up at the dock. The tide was
low and the cement dock with wooden fender boards was very high. While pulling
alongside, David had to use our lifelines like a step ladder just to get up on
the dock to secure the stern line.
We cleared through in record time, thanks to the highly professional customs and
immigration operation in St. George. With several boats hovering for our dock
space, we quickly tried to cast off, but not before a customs official on the
dock insisted that we take down our Q flag and hoist the Bermuda courtesy flag.
With an audience of half a dozen people on the dock, Lisa fumbled with the
simple task of changing out the flags. It was at this moment that she realized
how tiring the trip had been. She took a deep breath, tied the flag to the
halyard, and up it went to the starboard spreader. The small audience helped
cast us off, and we contacted ARC Rally Control to make arrangements for our
berth at the Bermuda Dinghy and Sports Club along with the other yachts in our
fleet. We were assigned a space on the inside of the main dock, but it was going
to require some tight maneuvering to make a sharp turn to port immediately upon
entering the dock basin. Rally Control asked if we had a bow thruster to which
David replied, "I wish!" He added, "We have a full keel, and so
this boat steers like a drunken elephant!" We made one pass by the marina
to assess the situation, and not liking what we saw, we called back to say that
we thought we should go anchor until the wind abated. Rally control assured us
that lots of hands were available to help us in, and they urged us to try again,
"Just get your bow close enough to the dock so that we can pull you in if
necessary." We made a second pass, and this is exactly what happened. With
Lisa at the helm and the wind behind us, we entered the dock basin slowly with
the engine in reverse. As soon as we cleared the outer boats, she shifted into
forward to turn the bow to port just enough for all of the helping hands to grab
the bow rail, dock lines and most importantly, the bow sprit which was rapidly
drifting toward the large cement pier. Some more reverse until the spring lines
were in place, and we were safely tied up at the dock thanks to the team work of
the Arc Rally Office and fellow rally participants.
Entering the harbor, Lisa exclaimed, "Arriving in Bermuda by boat is just
as great and I thought it would be!" The beautiful colors of water, the
dramatic rocky shoreline interspersed with perfect sandy beaches, pastel colored
houses with white roofs, lots of ocean-going yachts in the harbor, historic
forts, and the ever-present cruise ships. We have always dreamed about sailing
our own boat to Bermuda. For the past 10 years, the "Approaches to
Bermuda" chart was mounted on the wall of our family room at home along
with charts of other destinations we hoped to visit someday. David, always the
dreamer, calls this practice, "Creating positive thought forms." I
guess it works because here we are.
We uncorked a bottle of bubbly and celebrated the completion of Leg 1. A little
while later, we joined the other crews for dark-and-stormies at the Dinghy and
Sports Club Bar.
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