Around the World with Blue Stocking: SailBlogs

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Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:31:11 -0500

The first two thirds of the trip from Bermuda were easy and fun. Getting across the Gulf Stream (250 miles wide where we needed to cress) was neither easy nor fun. The forecasts I was getting by radio were dire and frightening. The actual conditions were better than forecast, but still challenging especially with fragile end-of-voyage sails. Basically headwinds sometimes too strong, sometimes too light, and occasionally just right. We kept sailing, but often our course was 60 or more degrees away from the goal. And the forecasts kept being dire and frightening, but the weather kept being a little better than the forecast. I didn't have enough fuel to motorsail as much as I ordinarily would have, because the one reserve tank I had fuel in (30 gallons or so) chose this leg to develop an impossible contamination problem and I discovered about the same time we got the first scary forecast that I did not have that extra fuel. I have 2 reserve tanks, but finances are so tight now that I decided not to put anything in the other one (at $5 a gallon) in Bermuda. Bad decision. But we lucked out and we made it with actually only one day of underway time more than I estimated. (almost exactly 7 days). This voyage was a lot tougher than expected and my boys really rose to the occasion. Maybe they even surprised themselves with their courage and skill. (Continued...)

Bermuda Short

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:44:45 -0500

On June 9, 2009 at 5:10 local time we entered St. George's Harbor on Bermuda. This constituted (technically speaking) the completion of Blue Stocking's circumnavigation since we started west from here in January of '07 and arrived from the east, crossing our wake in the entrance channel of Town Cut. Bermuda welcomed us (as Opua had seen us off) with an intense little thunder shower and I might have stood off for a while if I was totally unfamiliar with the entrance. But I felt confident about my position and orientation even though the visibility was poor and the approach went smoothly. (Continued...)

Off to Bermuda

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:04:00 -0500

After five weeks here in St. Martin it's time to sail off on the penultimate leg of the circumnavigation. With the exception of a brief social flurry in the early part of May, mostly I was anchored in the middle of St. M's huge lagoon doing little chores on the boat and killing time until son Fred's arrival on May 26. He and I did some touristic exploration (not nearly enough) and some 2-person maintenance jobs I saved for his arrival: re-reeving the mizzen topping lift and scrubbing the propeller and the bottom. I can go up the mast alone or with casual support on deck, but it is definitely safest to have a capable and experienced person on deck, because often the unforeseen happens in work up the mast and it's helpful to have someone who can improvise solutions safely and quickly avoiding repeated climbs. This climb and repair went smoothly. For the bottom cleaning (also much safer and more convenient with good deck support--we shared the underwater work) we went on a little cruise around the island to the most popular resort area off Orient Beach--on the east side of the island obviously. Among other resorts on the beach there is one called Club Orient which is a "plage naturiste" or nudist beach (clothing optional as they say). We had to interact with that a bit for Fred to rent a windsurfer. Mostly we would have preferred if the subathers (and walkers, lots and lots of walkers) had kept their clothes on. An amusing moment: we anchored at one point quite close to the beach to be in shallow water to wash the bottom. The totally Gallic and totally naked captain of a nearby day charter cat dinghied over to inquire (politely) why we were so close to his boat and was satisfied to hear we would be away in a few hours, before he returned from his day trip. Fred later observed it was a bit tough to take him entirely seriously. I had been a dedicated if solitary nudist during most of the long leg from Cape Town, so somehow it did not seem so odd to me. Probably not a good idea for a male sailor to work entirely nude in the engine room, for the same reason you don't wear a tie in shop class! And of course women are well-advised to wear tops when working with wringers. (this reference may be obscure to younger readers--ask your mom or dad). (Continued...)