Serafina

18:29.8N 64:21.6W Sunday 17th Nov – 1,709 miles Well, there we were powering along on the last leg, looking forward to a starry and peaceful final night with just 60 plus miles to run, with the wind blowing a steady 15 knots from the North East and the job just about done, when it seems that the weather Gods decided …

Lady

Lady is tied up at AYH Red Hook Marina Saint Thomas USVI. Going out for dinner and drinks. Will be in BVI North Sound Virgin Gorda Monday. Thanks to all.  

Pas de Deux

15 Nov 2013 1420 AST N18*21′; W064*47′ – on mooring at Caneel Bay, St. John, USVI Distance traveled since departure from Hampton Roads:1455nm. Approx. distance to go: 0 Average speed: 6.7 kt Reminder – this message is being sent via HAM radio which is very slow.  We like to receive your replies, but when replying, please DO NOT include the …

Jammin

Sorry for the delay in getting more out about our experience.  The insurance company sent the surveyor within 24 hours of our arrival.  So now we wait and see.  Ten loads of wash were done to get rid of the salt water soaked items.  Dehumidifiers are removing the moisture within the boat and the floor boards. We have had a …

Lady

Friday, November 15th, 2013 19N/65W Here’s an update on the past few days. For most of this passage, the wind blew from the wrong direction, or blew so little that we had to motor, until yesterday evening, when the trade winds filled in, and now we are scooting along on a broad reach with reefed sails at about 7 knots, …

Serafina

22:21.88N 64:35.94W Friday 15th Nov, day 11 and 1,424 miles run. Well the thing about weather forecasts is that they are just forecasts. Carefully presented by skilled professionals from data fed into various computer models, plus the viewing of tea leaves, seances and slightly wild eyed women staring into inverted goldfish bowls. They assume that what is happening has happened …

Pas de Deux

14 Nov 2013 1420 AST N20*31′; W065*16′ – full sail beam reach toward St. John, USVI Distance traveled since departure from Hampton Roads:1318nm. Approx. distance to go: 134nm (straight line) Average speed: 6.7 kt All is well! What a difference a day makes.  Overnight the wind slowly backed (shifted in a counterclockwise direction) to the E and it was no …

Serafina

24:30.63N 64:38.65W Thursday 14th Nov, Day 10, 1,265 miles sailed, approx 350 miles to go. Bugger – we are still here, I just cannot believe that for all these years I thought Startrek was a documentary. So Wednesday stayed pretty much as advertised, the seas were very uncomfortable and with the underlying 20 knot SW wind, they just kept growing …

Pas de Deux

13 Nov 2013 1530 AST N22*48′; W065*49′ – tacking SSE against wind toward St. John, USVI Distance traveled since departure from Hampton Roads:1175nm. Approx. distance to go: 273nm (straight line) Average speed: 6.7 kt. All is well!  This is our third day with wind directly from where we want to go.  The actual wind direction is from 170* true.  Normal …

Serafina

26:29.24N 65:40.49W Probably Wednesday 13th Nov or thereabouts. I remember being told once that they only invented weather forecasters in order to make economists look good. So the good news is that we are still going strong, in fact right now we are flying along at 8 knots heading south west under a clear blue sky, but the less good …

Tevai

Life on board continues to be eventful. The oven gave up its ghost last night, but as luck would have it, Pattie had attended the Salty Dawg session on cooking with a pressure cooker, so our casseroles and such are still on the menu, no worries. This morning our fishing efforts paid off with a Dorado which was marinated in …

Serafina

27:52.58N 67:18.8W Tuesday 12th Nov Impossible to type, but all OK and making 8 knots through pretty wild seas in roughly the nright direction – and believe me, that is not something we have been able to say before, especially last night. Should pass through this weather front in 10 hours or so and will update blog when boat is …

Pas de Deux

12 Nov 2013 1600 AST N24*43′; W066*25′ – motoring SSE against wind directly toward St. John, USVI Distance traveled since departure from Hampton Roads:1039nm. Approx. distance to go: 392nm Average speed: 6.9 kt All is well!  The wind is coming directly from the direction we want to go, so we have been motoring directly into the wind since before noon …

Pas de Deux

11 Nov 2013 1630 AST N26*35′; W067*09′ – motoring south east toward imaginary point N of Virgin Islands Distance traveled since departure from Hampton Roads: 915nm. Approx. distance to go: 511nm Average speed: 7.2 kt All is well!  Overnight we got into a weather pattern with wind velocity good for sailing – 10-15 kts – but from the wrong direction, …

Lady

Remembrance Sunday November 10th, 2013 Larry did a magnificent job with the Mahi Mahi Sauteed in olive oil  and butter with garlic – made a very nice appetizer. Overnight Friday the wind still came from south, so we headed more east that south. Yesterday was pretty uneventful, until just before dinner, when the guys decided to see what they could …

Serafina

Monday 11th Nov Nothing straightforward about this passage for sure! Sunday was generally light wind which is not our best suit, but as soon as we hoisted Flossie we set off at a pace, only to have to take her down again in the unpredictable squalls. We found ourselves pulling away from Ruffian generally which was not part of the …

Pas de Deux

10 Nov 2013 1545 AST N28*51′; W067*54′ – heading south east toward Virgin Islands Distance traveled since departure from Hampton Roads: 760nm. Approx. distance to go: 653nm Average speed: 7.4 kt Over half way!! Much warmer today with some sun – finally.  The solar panels have been starving.  Since we’ve been doing so little motoring, it’s been tough to keep …

Serafina

30:57.10N 68:37.63W Sunday 10th November So I had no sooner posted yestdays blog when we got an urgent email from the weather team warning all boats of a major new pair of low pressure systems that were going to produce serious gales well in excess of what we had just endured. But there was good news in that all we …

Happy Chaos

We have been making  good progress, averaging 170 nm a day. Caught a nice Mahi Mahi on day 2 while crossing the Gulf Stream, it was quickly consumed for lunch. Evan is now hooked after his first big catch and has been tending the line like a pro. We were happy to get across the stream though as it was …

Ruffian

31 11N 68 36W 168@6.0k WIND: 106@9g12 WAVE: 3’/15s ENE Lovely sailing for the past 24 hrs. Poled out the genoa yesterday and today have full sail up. Everything is now dry! In company with Serafina and Want To.

Tevai

A glorious sunrise with rosy rays extending down to calming waters started the day aboard Tevai. Soon after, a pod of about a dozen spinner dolphins came to jump, cavort and lead the way south. We’re under power at the moment, waiting for the wind to build back, though after all the 40+ knot wind action we’ve had, no one …

Serafina

32:50.75N 69:20.33W Well firstly the good news which is that it is now Saturday and things have finally settled down, we have just shaken three of the four reefs out of the mainsail and are sailing at 6 to 7 knots almost directly towards the BVI’s. That is a real first on this trip as we spent most of the …

Pas de Deux

9 Nov 2013 1300 AST N31*50′; W068*40′ – heading south east toward Virgin Islands Distance traveled since departure from Hampton Roads: 575nm. Approx. distance to go: 830nm Average speed: 7.6 kt With the milder conditions yesterday, we all got rested.  It was a bit cool overnight on our watches.  Until around 0700 this morning we kept sailing pretty deep downwind …

Jammin

So here we sit just cutting cookies east of Cape Hatteras.  With no rudder, seas 8-12 fouling our make shift bucket and anchor “rudder” system about every 4 minutes we are adrift but fairly safe.  When big ships pass near I get on the radio and identify myself, “I am the disabled sailboat off your port/starboard.  We have no rudder.  …

Pas de Deux

8 Nov 2013 1415 AST N34*09.92′; W070*27.90′ – heading south east toward Virgin Islands Distance traveled since departure from Hampton Roads: 408nm. Average speed: 7.6 kt We made it through the very strong cold front of yesterday, hearing numerous reports of other boats with breakdowns as severe as lost rudders and dismastings.  As rough as it was, we’re not surprised. …