11/18/2009, Bermuda
Nov. 18
Anna's Perspective:
We've been in Bermuda for 14 days now. Got the broken propeller fixed. We got 2 extra people for the trip to St. John's: Mommy's ASTA friend Matt and Daddy's friend Roth. We are anchored in the harbor now and Matthew just caught a fish. We think it is a grey triggerfish. Daddy was slicing open it's side and it's guts were pouring out over the deck and it's eye balls were popping out and blood was squirting everywhere; and weirdly, I wasn't grossed out. I wanted Daddy to take one of it's teeth out so I could put it in my journal, but he refused, of course. He is going to cook it and we're going to eat it tonight. Matt is already here and Roth is coming tomorrow. I wonder how the fish will taste?
|
Comments [0]
11/18/2009, St. George's Harbor, Bermuda
So we've been in Bermuda for 2 weeks now... exactly what have we been
doing? For most of the time, we've been berthed along an ancient
looking stone wharf in the center of St. George's. It's a charming
town, with beautiful old buildings and winding little streets. We're
almost on a first name basis with several of the shopkeepers and
restaurant waiters by now.
Our home-away-from-home has been the Crew House, presided over by the
ever-friendly Sandra. The town has made available a great little
house right on the water for yacht crews to relax, check emails and
coordinate repairs/supplies. Sandra was even kind enough to set up an
extra table for us to do home schooling. At night, the Crew House is
closed, but the wifi is still turned on, and it's funny to watch
yachties bearing laptops hovering around the building like bees on a
hive.
Unfortunately, the weather hasn't been all that great - lots of cloud
and wind, with temps in the mid 70's. But we have had a few nice
afternoons for snorkeling at Tobacco Bay and exploring some of the old
British forts around here. We've made excursions to the Dockyards,
the big town of Hamilton and the excellent aquarium.
We have tackled a lot of projects and have hopefully exercised most of
the gremlins that plagued us on the trip over from Norfolk. On
Monday, we hauled the boat out of the water and replaced our maxprop
with a fixed propeller. We rebeded the leaky stemhead fitting that
was letting in lots of water when we were in big seas. And we cleaned
up the hull with a nice scrubbing job.
On our next leg from Bermuda to the Caribbean we will be joined by 2
new crew members - Matt Maples is an experienced Tall Ship sailor /
photographer / journalist and Roth Herrlinger is an old Dartmouth
buddy (and best man at our wedding) who is taking time out from his
busy life in California to join us. We are psyched to have their help
and company on the 900 mile trip south.
We are hoping to depart this Friday/Saturday, weather permitting. We
will be bound for St. John in the US Virgin Islands. We've had some
fun times since leaving Newport in August, but somehow it feels like
the "real" trip will begin once we put the anchor down in a beautiful
bay lined with palm trees. Can't wait to take that picture!
|
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeiwMnPI3AA&feature=player_embedded
|
11/09/2009, St. George's Harbor, Bermuda
Safari Tu crew safely arrived in St. George's Harbor, Bermuda on Wednesday, Nov. 4, seven days after leaving Norfolk, VA. This was our first big offshore passage for the Spring family (and possibly the boat), so we recruited our super-experienced friend Noel Johnson to join us as skipper for this leg. It was very rewarding to see the Bermuda lights come up over the horizon and it does feel like we accomplished a lot, but we didn't love this part of our trip: living sideways for days on end, big lumpy seas, some seasickness early on (names withheld to protect the innocent) and above all, BOAT GREMLINS!
Boat gremlins had us from the get go - starting with the aft head door mysteriously locking us out shortly after leaving Norfolk. The autopilot malfunctioned after 2 days of steering through the big seas of the Gulf Stream, the stemhead fitting near the waterline loosened up letting in lots of water, yet more water entered the boat through numerous deck leaks, one of our running lights shorted out, and most significantly our feathering propeller became jammed which eliminated the possibility of using the engine. Despite all the issues, Safari Tu handled the seas very well and we stayed focused on keeping the boat and the crew safe.
Just like the olden days, we were 100% dependent on the wind and weather - our 4.5 day passage was going to take longer than planned... And so it was that the wind died down to nothing and we were becalmed for 24 hours - during this time we actually drifted 24 miles away from Bermuda. We used the time to dry out the boat, rest, and eat some good meals. Finally the wind filled in from the right direction and we were back in business.
Along the way, we saw several pods of dolphins, a family of whales, and lots of flying fish (including one unfortunate chap who landed on deck). We had Halloween at sea, including a surprise visit from Noel's wife Donna - see our photo gallery for the photo evidence, video to follow!
Once we reached the Bermuda harbor entrance, we were lucky to be able to rely on Noel's good friends Virginia and Jamie onboard the catamaran Matau for a tow into St. George's. We are forever grateful for their presence on the radio, at sea, and on land. Not only did they rescue us without batting an eye, but they also invited us over for cocktails and a tour of their 75 foot boat. We were all very impressed!
About a day after our arrival, a steady stream of yachts began to arrive from the east coast. We began to feel like we were back in Newport, as more boats hail from Newport than Bermuda!
We have met lots of friendly people who have been helping us line up repairs and spare parts over the last few days. Thanks to Sandy and the rest of the team from Bermuda Yacht Services, we have been able to relax in the cruiser's lounge with free WiFi, and she even set up a table for school lessons!
St. George's is a lovely, historic small town here in Bermuda - very welcoming and friendly. We are branching out and doing some walking around and taking the bus and ferry to other island destinations while we are here. The tall ship Spirit of Bermuda has made a few appearances since we've been here, and Jen was able to reconnect with some of the crew from her summer journey on board.
We were sad to say goodbye to our number 1 crew member: Noel. We learned a lot from him, and he fit in just like a member of the family. We wish him luck with his next adventure in Trinidad - and thank his family profoundly for sharing him with us! Thanks also to our Shore Team leader Cindy, with whom we maintained contact via satellite phone once per day during the passage - it was great to know that she was watching out for us.
We are now seeking a few good crew members to help us with our next passage to the Virgin Islands - hopefully with fewer boat gremlins! We have not yet set a departure date - our first priority is to get the repairs taken care of.
From the logbook, our Bermuda triangle incidents:
Day 1
Water in forward starboard compartment - stemhead fitting leaking. Bilge emptied.
Noel and Scott deployed the dinghy to stop leak on bow in 4-5 ft. waves
Day 2
Propeller shaft spinning while engine is off
Blige pump continues to be emptied
Day 3
Bobo the autopilot stops working
Wheel locks to port for a time
Radar connection corroded and no longer working
Day 4
Secondary Bilge Pump clogged
Must empty bilge every 2 hours
Day 5
Becalmed, dove on the max prop and discovered that there was no fouled line, but that 3/4 fasteners were missing with the prop jammed.
GPS resembles a kid's Etch-A-Sketch as we drift around the middle of the ocean
Day 6
Saw an incredible wildlife show over 5 minutes involving whales, dolphins playing at the bow and flying fish!
Screwdriver slides off the nav table and lands point side down on the top of Jen's foot.
Day 7
Early morning arrival in Bermuda
Later in the afternoon, Jen rips muscles in her knee while adjusting a dockline.
Anna and Matthew's Haiku and limericks created while underway:
Flying fish jump high
They are white and they fly far
Gliding on the sea
Life jackets are big
They keep us safe and cozy
They are bright yellow
The water is dark
Monsters live in the ocean
I hope they stay there
We're Bermuda bound
We are in the triangle
It will take two days
2 Limericks:
By Jen:
There once was a bird on the ocean
Who couldn't stand all the motion.
He got on our boat
And stayed quite afloat -
That bird caused quite a commotion!
By Anna:
There once was a man in a moat.
He was swimming with a tropical goat.
He went through the trouble
To jump in a puddle
And scream at the top of his throat.
|
We are enjoying following your adventures. Right now Dave is on the Liberty Clipper headed from Boston to Nassau. He is helping to deliver the boat, he got on in Baltimore. He said he MIGHT be interested in helping crew your boat depending on your schedule and his. You can contact him on his cell phone at 216-965-8210 or at dpleanza@hotmail.com
Cheers,
Fran
10/27/2009, Still in Norfolk
Just to keep our readership posted...
Our plans have been changing along with the weather. We are still in Norfolk, and now have plans for an early morning departure tomorrow with Bermuda as our destination.
Our friend Noel is here from Newport, and has been super helpful in getting the boat ship shape and the family ready for our journey. Have a look at our recent photo album to see some of the projects we've been up to.
Because Noel has to be working on another boat on Nov. 7, so we have changed our plans to accommodate his travel needs by choosing to break up our trip to the Caribbean by stopping in Bermuda. This was not originally our plan, but at this point, any place warm and tropical is appealing! Bermuda certainly is no hardship destination, so we are happily altering our plans.
While we are underway, sister-in-law Cindy will be receiving daily updates from us, and will attempt to update our position on our blog. We will look forward to sending you photos and updates once we arrive in Bermuda 5 or 6 days from now, weather permitting!!!
Can't wait to get started on this part of our adventure!!
|
10/23/2009, Norfolk, VA and Hertford, NC
When we left Annapolis, we endured about 4 days of cold wet and snotty (as sailors say) weather. We had condensation dripping off of all of our hatches and accumulating on the interior walls and our clothes. The kids stayed pretty much below decks as we had a few long days of ugly weather. At least the wind was from the right direction, and we managed to make a lot of miles on the days we were sailing.
Scott celebrated his birthday on our last long day of sailing into Norfolk, VA - our heaviest weather to date. We endured 30-35 knots of wind and large swells and waves for the entire day. We were very relieved to arrive at a dock to stop moving, and to get a warm meal.
We meant to get some of our systems on board updated and installed in Annapolis, but it was not meant to be, so we arranged for much work to be done in Norfolk. Among the items needing work: the Auto Pilot (named Bo-Bo after Scott's childhood imaginary friend), the Single Side Band Radio, and our refrigerator.
My Dad drove the hour and a half to come up to Norfolk the following day to collect the kids and myself so that Scott could get some work done on the boat in peace! In the meantime, I have spent most of my time here taking advantage of my parent's kitchen to pre-cook meals for our passage - I've made and frozen about 10 meals in 2 days! I've also been doing a little provisioning for our time away from our "normal" food items - not sure where we will stow all the items I have purchased!
Tomorrow we head back to the boat and see the progress that Scott has made during our absence, and see if he's created an empty locker to put all of our food items in! Noel arrives tomorrow evening and we will await a weather window for our departure in the next few days.
Our shore team (thanks, Cindy!) will be in contact with us daily, and will hopefully be able to update our position on the blog as we go. Otherwise, we'll have an update and photos from someplace warm next...
|
