Happy Holidays Brilliant's Crew!!

Season's greetings,

"Brilliant's" Log has not been out for some time, so for your holiday reading enjoyment, a catch-up log is attached below. This will be the last log for awhile; sorry it just hasn't been as much fun to write since we've been back to the states. Hope you have enjoyed sailing with us.

We wish you the best for the holiday season and a Happy New Year.

Stephanie & Pete
s/y "Brilliant"
Moody 425
Lying Mulberry Cove, NAS Jacksonville, Florida


06-07 Brilliant's Log 5 May-24 December 2007

"Brilliant's" last log had us waiting for weather to leave Puerto Rico in May 2007. Well as you might imagine "Brilliant" has traveled many a mile since then. I will try to be brief and bring you up to date.

Puerto Rico held us longer than we'd hoped and cost us much more than we'd expected. The three-year old standing rigging (wires that hold the mast up) had to be completely redone after one of the shrouds broke. It took about two weeks and a bit over $3K to repair the rig and get underway again.

Departing Puerto Rico on 19 May, we had a good 403 NM passage in 80 hours to South Caicos Island in the Turks and Caicos (a group of islands south of the Bahamas). There we caught up with our friends Don & Sandy on "Destiny." It was great being with "Destiny" again and we had fun sightseeing the little island. Unfortunately, we had a commitment to be in Hampton, Virginia by 12 June, so we were getting anxious to get moving again. After 5 days we had a marginal weather window and departed South Caicos on 23 May.

For the next 4 days we skirted the Bahamas Islands staying close in case we needed to find shelter. Despite some severe thunderstorms we made good progress to northwest and didn't need to stop. "Destiny" said goodbye after the third day out as they headed to Ft. Lauderdale, Fl and the completion of their 14-year circumnavigation. As we continued en route to Beaufort, NC we were closely watching a tropical storm developing in the Gulf of Mexico. Our two weather forecasters, Chris Parker in the morning and Herb (Southbound II) were both telling us on the SSB (shortwave radio) that we would be fine and to continue. We were also getting and using weather fax from New Orleans as we tried to make all speed for NC.

Overnight the storm became tropical storm Barry and was moving much faster then expected. During the morning report, Chris told us to keep going north. The midday weather fax had me worried about our position, but when we checked in with Herb there was no doubt about our decision. At 1600 Herb's instructions were very clear, "Turn around now!"

We were already 100 NM north of the Abacos (Bahamas northern most islands), but weren't about to argue with Herb. We immediately tacked and set course back to the Abacos. 19 hours later we sailed safely in through Man-O'War channel. We had logged 669 NM from South Caicos.

Barry passed well to the north of us and we stayed safely anchored off Water Cay for two wet and windy days. Underway again we exited the Sea of Abacos through Loggerhead Channel and made for the Gulf Stream and Beaufort. Other than a very frightening electrical storm that we spent 4 hours outrunning, it was an uneventful 536 NM passage. We arrived in Beaufort on 7 June.

From Beaufort, NC, where we cleared Customs and Immigration, we motored up the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW) to Hampton, Virginia arriving there on 11 June.

Now that we are back in the USA the log has become much less detailed and we'll just give you a brief summary of our travels.

Hampton, VA 11 June - 26 July. The time was spent with family and friends. We had to haul and repaint the bottom while there. The bottom paint we'd put on in Rota, Spain in Sept 2006 had prematurely failed and "Brilliant's" bottom was covered with barnacles and other marine growth.

From Hampton to Falmouth, Maine 26-31 July. We logged 399 NM going offshore to Onset, MA. After an overnight at anchor in Onset, we rode a favorable tide through the Cape Cod Canal at speeds over the ground of up to 11kts. It's a very beautiful canal, just make sure to time the tide right. From the Canal we experienced a short summer thunderstorm followed by a complete loss of wind and then thick fog from Cape Ann all the way into Portland. We did see several whales as we motored north and logged another 128 NM before arriving at Falmouth, Maine 26 hours after leaving Onset

Maine 31 July - 26 Aug. We didn't explore much of the Maine coast, staying within Casco Bay the whole time there. But we did spent almost a month enjoying visits with all three of our children and all the grandchildren, which is really the only reason we went there.

Maine to Virginia 26 Aug - 12 Sep. Going south we had hoped to cruise a bit slower. We day tripped our way south, stopping at Kittery, ME; Gloucester, MA; Plymouth, MA; Sakonnet River, RI; Block Island, RI; Stonington, CT; Duck Island Roads, CT; Thimble Islands, CT; Port Jefferson, NY; Oyster Bay, NY; Throgs Neck, NY then down the East River through Hell Gate and past Manhattan Island, New York Harbor (with the Statue of Liberty) to Sandy Hook, NJ. We waited in Atlantic Highlands 3 days for another tropical storm to go by before heading off shore again for Cape May. It was a long 121 NM to Cape May with one of the worst lines of thunderstorms we've ever experienced with heavy rain, 40 knots of wind and lightening everywhere. "Brilliant" handled it in stride, while we used the radar to find the shortest route through the storm. We rested for 24 hours in Cape May before continuing off shore for an uneventful 143 NM passage to Hampton.

Hampton, VA 12 Sep - 13 Oct. With "Brilliant" in the Old Point Comfort Marina, we took time to fly out to California to visit family on the west coast. Returning, we finished some boat projects then started south.

Hampton, VA Charleston, SC 13 Oct - 13 Nov. Going south we wanted to stay on the ICW, something we'd never done before. We spent almost a month just exploring the sounds and the small towns of North Carolina. As we continued south from Beaufort, NC we found the ICW becoming very shallow and much more challenging to navigate. We arrived in Charleston, SC 13 Nov and spent far too long at anchor there while waiting for autopilot parts. We knew we were too far north when the temperatures started dropping below freezing. This forced us to breakdown and buy a small Honda portable generator so that we could run and electric heater those cold evenings at anchor. We did have a chance to catch up with Toby and Sonya Spahr in Charleston. They had been our mentors when we first started sailing. We were honored that they shared their Thanksgiving Dinner and family with us.

Charleston - Jacksonville, Fl 30 Nov- 6 Dec. We had wanted to go off shore from Charleston to Florida, but with our autopilot still broken we decided against it. It would have been too challenging to hand steer "Brilliant" for two and half days; the autopilot is really our third crewmember and it isn't fun without him. So without the autopilot we were motoring south on the ICW. By now we were getting better at reading the tides and getting through the shallow sections at high water. We averaged about 40NM per day and did make a short off shore run from St. Simon Sound to St. Mary, Georgia.

We cruised just over 800 NM from Hampton, VA to Jacksonville in a little less than two months, using about 150 gallons of diesel. We found many excellent anchorages along the way. Anchoring out almost every night, with the exception of about a week tied to free docks in the small towns of the Albemarle Sound, NC, and the three nights in marinas along way.

Mulberry Cove, Naval Air Station Jacksonville 6 Dec - ? .
For now we are in a military marina enjoying the inexpensive berth and the moderate Florida weather. We haven't decided how long we'll stay here yet, but so far it's better than some of the marinas we'd wintered at in the Med.

"Brilliant," this past year has carried her crew 5121 NM!

Total Sailed 2007 = 5121NM
Total Sailed since retirement = 19400