Sailing At Last

This is the tale of our journey to fulfill a passion of learning to sail and a dream to circumnavigate. Welcome Aboard At Last!

Profile of At Last and the Gorrell's

Who: Mark & Janet Gorrell
Port: Wickford, RI USA

Our Current Position

19 December 2013 | Westerly, RI
17 July 2013 | Mystic Shipyard, Mystic, CT
14 June 2013 | Summit North Marina, Bear, Delaware
04 June 2013 | Point Lookout Marina, Ridge, Maryland
21 May 2013 | Dunedin Municipal Marina, Dunedin, Florida
05 May 2013 | Bahia Mar Yachting Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
27 April 2013 | 22 56.8'N:073 02.0'W, Nearing the Exumas & Bahamas
23 April 2013 | 18 25'N:064 50'W, The BVI
13 April 2013 | Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
08 April 2013 | Admiralty Bay, Port Elizabeth, Bequia
04 April 2013 | Tobago Cays and Mustique, Grenadines
29 March 2013 | Port Louis Marina, St. George, Grenada
15 March 2013 | Port Louis Marina, St. George, Grenada
06 March 2013 | Between Salvador, Brazil and St. George, Grenada
05 March 2013 | Port Louis Marina, St. George's Harbor, Grenada
17 February 2013 | Terminal Nautico, Salvador, Brazil
04 February 2013 | 153 miles from Salvador Brazil, Atlantic Ocean
30 January 2013 | Island of St. Helena, Atlantic Ocean
29 January 2013 | 14 36.9'S:22 37.3'W, On the way to Brazil
20 January 2013 | 15 55.55'S:005 43.58'W, Jamestown, St. Helena

What an Interesting Sail!

26 July 2012 | Mackay Marina, Mackay, Australia
Janet
What a trip from Vanauatu! We started across the start line without a single sail up. We had to replace the furling line for the main sail right before we left (due to some severe chaffing) and were a bit behind in getting started. There was little wind for the first hour or so but once out from behind Vanauatu a gentle breeze began. The forecast called for light winds so we raised the spinnaker. We broke our rule of never flying it at night and kept it up because the winds were predicted to stay light. Unfortunately, the wind clocked around to the point where we could no longer us the spinnaker so once again at night we were pulling down the spinnaker and changing sails. We were much more successful this time and began motor sailing due to light winds. After putting 14.5 hours on the engine, it was never to be turned on again during the trip. The rest of the sail was primarily 20 - 30 knot winds and 10 - 15 seas with spurts of light winds and flat seas. I think we reefed and unreefed the sails more times than we had in the previous five years of owning the boat. We got quite good at it by the end of the trip. We also had many, many squalls which gave us much rain - we were grateful to have the full enclosure up around the cockpit which kept us dry. Some of the squalls were wet and windy while others were wet and without wind. One of the hardest parts of the trip was discovering in the middle of the night that you had too much sail out. Then, we would have to decide whether to wake the other up or wait until the next change of shift to reef the sails. Waiting caused us to work the boat much too hard at times. Overall, we sailed quite well and were ahead of many of the boats that are usually right around us. Mark attributes this to me breaking another Kindle and deciding to do sail trim instead of reading. He did gently point out to me that during his shifts his average speed was about .4 knots higher than mine. He got my competitive nature to kick in and thus I did work much harder on sail trim.

Once we were about 125 nautical miles outside of Mackay, we went through a passage that cut through the Great Barrier Reef. We were told to expect currents and countercurrents of up to five knots. We were lucky to enter the passage during a favorable time and had a three knot current pushing us through most of the trip. We entered the passage during the dark so both of us were up during much of the last evening at sea. We were both a bit anxious about the reefs and the increased traffic once we entered the pass. We did end up motor sailing through much of the reef due to the wind being right on our nose. Although the passage was a shipping lane, we were grateful not to see many cargo ships. We were welcomed by a pod of whales upon entering the harbor of Mackay. They were huge and amazing. We actually saw one's tail flip up right out of the water. Beautiful.



The passage was shorter than we expected (seven instead of eight) due to the high winds. Our average speed was 6.7 knots which makes this passage one of our fastest yet. So far for the entire trip, our average speed has been 6.2 knots. You should see Mark's excel spreadsheet on these figures. We log every three hours during our passages keeping track of everything from miles per shift, average boat speed, wind speed, wind direction, etc. The most miles we have traveled in a day on this passage was 176.8 nautical miles. The highest number of miles per day since the beginning of the trip was 180.6 nautical miles on our way to the Marquesas.

Cooking while underway continues to be a dangerous undertaking for me. I had made two individual size pizzas for us on the last day of the passage. I needed to get rid of all the meats in the freezer and all of the fresh vegetables before entering Australia, so I made a veggie pizza and a meat lover's pizza. When taking my veggie pizza out of the oven I caught the pan on the safety bar and dumped the hot pizza on my leg and foot. I quickly wiped off the hot pizza with a dish towel but did get about five good size burns which quickly became huge blisters. I once again found myself sitting on the galley floor in tears for a brief moment. The scares on my body will be able to tell some great stories about the difficulties of living on a boat for two years!!

Overall, the trip did not feel as difficult as the last passage to Vanauatu. I think that I am beginning to understand that the future passages are just going to be more difficult, meaning bigger winds and seas. This passage was uncomfortable at times but also held some excitement with all of the reefs, squalls, and changing winds and seas. We did feel that we worked the boat a bit too hard at times and as a result we are entering Mackay with some repairs to do. We discovered a rip in the main sail while we were in the passage to Mackay. We also sheared four bolts on one side of the mast where the boom attaches to the mast. Luckily all of the bolts on the right hand side were intact. We discovered this also in the passage to MacKay. This failure was a potential disaster if the other bolts sheared off. These difficulties led us to many of discussion on maybe not pushing the boat as much and going as fast. Arriving safely and in one piece surely ranks higher.

We arrived in Mackay around 4:00 pm in the afternoon and were quickly boarded by customs and quarantine. We did need to throw out some of the food items on board but we had done a fairly good job of cleaning out all of our meat, fruits and vegetables. The quarantine officer checked all of our cabinets for any sign of infestation by any type of creatures. He also went through our food and souvenirs. I was happy that the wooden kava bowl we had bought in Fiji was not a problem and the woven basket we were given in Vanuatu also passed inspection. He did have me put the woven basket in the freezer to make sure any bugs in it would be killed. I had to leave it in the freezer for 7 days. This was not an issue since our freezer was now just about empty. We seemed to have an easier time with quarantine than other boats. Some of the boats were boarded by dogs that were sniffing for any drugs. Several of the boats were also unlucky enough to have the dog pee on their beds. We completed customs and were in our slip by dark. We were thrilled to have the crew from Samsara and Brizo take our lines as we pulled in. Almost all of the World Arc boats were on the same dock. We were quickly whisked away to a cocktail party on Anastasia. What a wonderful welcome to Australia!!
Comments
Vessel Name: At Last
Vessel Make/Model: Island Packet 465-02
Hailing Port: Wickford, RI USA
Crew: Mark & Janet Gorrell
About:
Hi, We have been sailing for more than twelve years, chartering in the BVI, Leeward Islands, Chesapeake, and Florida. We completed many US Sailing certifications. We have been saling At Last for the last four years in New England between Nantucket and NYC. Mark has crewed on deliveries to St. [...]
Extra:
For those of you who know Mark, you would agree that he is a very conservative and risk adverse person and one who suffers terribly from motion sickness. So, you must be wondering how he could give up the security of a wonderful job to sail around the world, especially in this economy. Well, [...]
Home Page: http://sailingatlast.com
At Last's Photos - Main
Back in the US and heading home
1 Photo | 2 Sub-Albums
Created 3 June 2013
Our time in Marigot Bay, Rodney Bay and other photo albums commemorating our trip
1 Photo | 4 Sub-Albums
Created 19 April 2013
Stops in Grenada and the Grenadines
1 Photo | 4 Sub-Albums
Created 28 March 2013
Carnival and Old Town in Salvador
25 Photos | 1 Sub-Album
Created 17 February 2013
Photos of this unique and friendly island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean
18 Photos
Created 16 February 2013
The pictures from our stops in Richard's Bay, Durban, St. Francis and Cape Town.
1 Photo | 4 Sub-Albums
Created 14 December 2012
Halloween party and a visit to a volcano
21 Photos
Created 23 November 2012
Our time in Mauritius
46 Photos
Created 23 November 2012
Our visit to the atoll of Cocos Keeling, Australia
23 Photos
Created 21 October 2012
35 Photos
Created 18 September 2012
Our time in Mackay, Cairns and Darwin Australia
1 Photo | 3 Sub-Albums
Created 5 September 2012
Our time in Port Resolution, Dillon's Bay and Port Vila
43 Photos
Created 17 July 2012
Our time in Denarau and Musket Cove, Fiji
20 Photos
Created 6 July 2012
Our visit to Vava'u Tonga
56 Photos
Created 21 June 2012
The Islands of Suwarrow and American Samoa
27 Photos
Created 8 June 2012
1 Photo | 4 Sub-Albums
Created 29 April 2012
Rangiroa
26 Photos
Created 29 April 2012
This gallery include the passage from the Galapagos and photos from Hiva-Oa, Oa-Pou and Nuku Hiva
1 Photo | 3 Sub-Albums
Created 11 April 2012
These are pictures of the passage to the Galapagos and our experience on the islands of San Cristobal, Isabella and Santa Cruz
2 Photos | 4 Sub-Albums
Created 2 March 2012
Here are photos of the passage to Panama, the San Blas Islands, the transit through the canal and events yet to come.
11 Photos | 6 Sub-Albums
Created 22 January 2012
A compendium of pix of our various excursions around St Lucia
5 Photos | 2 Sub-Albums
Created 6 January 2012
These are pictures from the last of the Leeward Islands.
25 Photos
Created 19 December 2011
Photos of Terre-De-Haut, an island part of Les Saintes southeast of Guadeloupe.
13 Photos
Created 18 December 2011
Here are more photos of English Harbour taken form At Last as we left Antigua for Guadeloupe
10 Photos
Created 16 December 2011
These are the pictures of our passage from Antigua through our stay on Guadeloupe
28 Photos
Created 16 December 2011
These are photos of Admiral Nelson's Dockyard and our trek to the top of Shirley Heights overlooking English Harbor
42 Photos
Created 13 December 2011
Here are some photos of the islands as we were leaving Nevis, passing Montserrat and arriving at Antigua. A pleasant 50 mile motor sail into 10 knot head winds. I took a nap for 90 minutes. Blogging keeps me up late at night.
15 Photos
Created 13 December 2011
Pictures of Nevis
14 Photos
Created 11 December 2011
These are pix of Saba, Statia and St Kitts as we passed by them to sail to Nevis
18 Photos
Created 11 December 2011
Pictures of his homes and yacht on the island as we passed headed for Anguilla
11 Photos
Created 5 December 2011
7 Photos
Created 2 December 2011
Some of the photos of the passage that hit the cutting room floor
27 Photos
Created 22 November 2011
These are pictures of some of the results of the recent outfitting for the trip
8 Photos
Created 19 October 2011
These were taken last year sailing in Long Island Sound by Yacht-Shots. My colleagues at Baystate Health were kind enough to have three copies of one these photos printed and framed for me as a going away gift. A large one for home, one for the boat and one for my desk. Very Special!
7 Photos
Created 19 October 2011
This is a compilation of photos taken over the first four years of cruising on At Last in Naragansett Bay and Long Island Sound with close friends, family and the Cruising Club of New England, a wonderful group of sailors.
55 Photos
Created 1 October 2011
At Last is painted in January of 2008
4 Photos
Created 1 October 2011
At last is delivered, commissioned and has its maiden voyage just in time to be in the 2007 Newport Boat Show
6 Photos
Created 1 October 2011
These are pictures of the layout of the IP 465 and the interior of At Last
12 Photos
Created 1 October 2011

Profile of At Last and the Gorrell's

Who: Mark & Janet Gorrell
Port: Wickford, RI USA

Our Current Position