11/05/2009, Newport, RI
Just a quick post to update everyone with the latest news on our repairs.
First, the sails are down and off with a sailmaker. We were quite lucky that we got one that would mot only come down to pick them up but had a slot in his schedule to work on them tomorrow. We may even get them back before the weekend, if not, then at least by Monday. I have figured out what was wrong with the headsail furling - again the fault lay with dumb old me. I had cut the too long wire lead from the head of the sail too short and there was too much jib halyard extending from the masthead block and the halyard would wrap around the headsail foil and jam. A simple fix and one that I can do, plus I am going to replace the wire with Amstel and raise the foot about ten inches. The other bibs and bobs are things that we can do over the next couple of days during the rainstorm that is scheduled to come over tomorrow.
We have spoken to the crew of Screech and they will be waiting the storm out in Portland Maine before continuing on. We are hoping that they'll get here by mid next week. It'll be great to see them again.
The marina has been most accommodating, but we'll probably have to be off the docks by next Wednesday. If so we'll look at the local yacht club to see if they have reciprocal relationship with RNSYS for a place to head on over to so we can wait for them.
More news tomorrow.
| 09-10 Cruise |
|
Comments [2]
11/05/2009, Newport, RI
Yep! I am writing this from the dock back in Newport rather than from any of the spots along the way or from the beaches in Bermuda. Why? Well that's quite a story. To put it in a nut shell we were severely gobsmacked by the weather!
Even before we left the harbour we had a problem with the headsail - it simply wouldn't unfurl. If I had a brain I would have put pack to port to sort it out and in hindsight that action alone probably would have saved us a lot of grief. The only excuse, if it is one, was I had was that I was so excited about getting underway that I thought that I would get it fixed in Bermuda. The result is that the headsail is the only sail on the boat that is usable.
The weather router suggested that we dogleg our approach to the Gulf Stream to get us moving south and waiting for the winds to change before we altered course to attempt to cross. As we were leaving the harbour we had absolutely no wind at all, so for the first several hours we were motoring with the sails flapping, then through the first night as we were heading for the dogleg waypoint the winds picked up from the NE and the seas began to build. By morning the supposed 20 kts winds were topping 30 and we were screaming along bouncing over 6-10' seas. It was quite unexpected and certainly not as forecast but it did give us a very fast ride on a beam reach. It was a significant confused sea and everyone aboard was seasick to some extent even with various medications being consumed. The only one who didn't talk to the whale on the porcelain telephone was me, but there were numerous times that I sure wish that I could. We had green water coming over the sides and at one point there was 6" of water in the cockpit, but it drained in seconds so at least we know the scuppers work well. We also have empirical evidence that the pilot house daylights can take the seas although the waves hitting them were not the maximum that the ocean is capable of. In fact we were making such good time that we had to heave to and wait for the winds to change over to the NW to let the Gulf Stream settle down before crossing, so we dropped the main and heaved to and went below for a bit of a rest. The unexpected part is that I think that we must have been in one of the side eddys because we were still moving south at about 2.5 kts and the water temperature had risen from 13 to 20 degrees. During the early night the sail lugs for the mizzen which we had left up as part of the heaving to process blew out so we had to take that sail down. That left us with one workable sail, and we were still 24 ours too early to cross the stream. Then I downloaded another forecast which showed that the weather Thursday night to Friday in the area on the rhumb line from the stream to Bermuda would be in excess of 40 kts! That would be just about the time that we had originally planned to arrive, but with the delay we had before starting the crossing that would put us right in the middle of the mess. We had a discussion and decided to scrub the voyage and head back. At 02h00 on Tuesday morning we reversed course and headed back to Newport.
We put the main up to steady us, relieve the work on the engine and get us moving and for all of Tuesday we had a great sail, easily making 6 to 7 knots and were looking forward to arriving in Newport the following morning. Then, just after I came on watch at 21h00 we got seriously surprise by a severe squall. I say surprised by the fact that it was dark and I couldn't see any clouds or anything approaching so the first inkling that I had was the wind generator going wild and then the boat went right over on its beam ends. I managed to disengage the auto helm in time and get us up into the wind but then the main was beating itself to death above us. The long and the short of it was that the reefing furling got jammed in the wind generator and I had to cut them loose and then the mainsheet tackle failed and we had to wrestle a jury rig into place. Just about then the squall passed but the winds had shifted to the north at about 25-30 kts so we were beating our way back to Newport with a main that we couldn't reef or adjust the sheets. Fun, eh?
I spent the following 30 hours on deck steering either manually when we had to or by the autohelm whenever we could to allow us to luff up whenever the winds got too strong. Then, as we were cresting a wave, another one coming from a different direction came up and smacked us at exactly the wrong moment and ripped the autohelm from its mounting. That meant all three of us on deck, or rather Ron steering, me down in the lazarette and Barb preparing equipment and handing it down to me as I made the repair. Geeze!
By the time we got to the gap between Block Island and Nantucket the winds had died right down and we had a couple of dolphin come to play under our bows by way of welcoming us home. We got the main down as we entered the Newport approaches and discovered that it wasn't unscathed from the squall and it would need repairs too. So, now the butcher's list reads: fix the furling on the headstay, get the mizzen repaired, and get the main repaired, fix the wind generator, plus assorted jobs below decks that Barb has found. I expect that we'll be in Newport for at least 4 days.
There are three things on the plus side, though. Peri finally on the boat and not on our bunk! Hurray, Peri; Barb has finally learned that everything needs to have a place to be stowed when we go to sea, or they'll be flying about all over the boat, and a table or shelf with edges simply doesn't cut it; and as well, this will give Mary Lou and Jay a chance to RV with us. I have decided that trips longer than 2 or 3 days are simply not for us any more, on Nelleke at least. The action of the sea in bad weather is just too hard on Barb's bad knees and I'm not 24 any more either. So, we will continue to head south, but only in 2 day jumps at most. Ron has been able to change his flight so at least I don't have that on my conscience, and in fact we are hoping that he'll stay with us as far as he can. We might be able to get to NYC for him to fly out of there, if we can get the sails repaired in time. That will be the deciding factor.
| 09-10 Cruise |
|
11/01/2009, Newport, RI
We have been to the weather briefing and the consensus is that we have a window, so we're off. The forecast was that if we left as scheduled today we would have a good sail to the stream, but then a very sloppy crossing, whereas if we leave later in the day or tomorrow, we'll still have a bit of a sail, followed by a motor sail and then settling conditions as we cross. We may even get an eddy that merges with the stream as we enter it to push it to flow to the SE which will push us towards Bermuda as we go. Then on the other side we may be on a close reach for the rest of the way. So, we compromised and are going at 15h00. But of course, the whole thing is very problematic and the weather router was caging all of her remarks with caveats so we'll have to see.
Of course, this means that we'll be out of internet range for about 5 days or so. I will be writing up the blog daily but I will only be able to post when we get to Bermuda. Or, you can e-mail us by way of the sat phone at 881641497094@msg.iridium.com. We can also text or e-mail you back.
Please be patient and wish us luck.
| 09-10 Cruise |
|
