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As I write this we are clipping along at about 7kts flying the big code zero on a beam reach.  I am always nervous about flying that sail when the wind is gusty, especially when we are on a broad reach and the true wind is upwards of 15kts.

While the apparent wind isn’t all that high, as we are running down wind, if we were to round up unexpectedly, things would go head pretty quick and I don’t want to think about what would be involved in pulling down a torn sail that big.

Anyway, with the guys on deck keeping an eye on things, we are probably ok.  The problem is that the wind is not quite strong enough to rely on the small jib and main alone and we really need to keep the boat moving at a decent speed if we hope to get home in a reasonable amount of time.

Sunrise this morning was impressive.  Generally I take the last watch from 03:00 to 07:00 which gives me an opportunity to get some sleep (sort of) and be on deck when the sun comes up. Just one year ago I purchased an Iridium Go transponder that allowed me to get email and weather information in an easy-to-use package.  Between the unit and external antenna it cost me about $900 and I did the installation myself.   The unit worked very well and didn’t use much power.  However, it was very limited and I could only get email from a dedicated address and it was VERY SLOW: think dial up speeds.

The slow speeds, and data limited email and weather information, while adequate for use on passage, was just to expensive, at about $140 a month, to justify using it for any time beyond passages offshore.

Fast forward a year and Starlink came along.  The cost, at least in the beginning, was about the same as the GO and it was lightening fast, giving data speeds that exceeded those that I have at home.

That pricing and unlimited data usage only lasted a few months and by March I learned that I would have to upgrade to a much more expensive package of $250/month with limited 50gb of data while offshore.

Supposedly, there was another option for unlimited data while inshore, in a harbor I guess, at $120/month but how to toggle between that and the offshore data plan was, and remains, very unclear.

I have reached out to Starlink support more times than I can count and am still completely flummoxed by the options.  Can I subscribe to onshore use at a lower price and then upgrade to offshore when I am on passage?  It is unclear to me and no matter how many times I asked for help from support, I never got a clear answer.

I have many friends who also have the RV unit, like mine, that isn’t supposed to work offshore but it seems to, although it does drop the signal sometimes.  It’s hard to say how it will work over time given my limited experience with it, but others have said that they have used it successfully across the Atlantic.

Starlink does sell a maritime unit for $2500 that is designed to work offshore, while moving and I recently received a notice that I could upgrade and get a $900 discount, and keep my current unit.  That option is pretty appealing as the net-net cost to me would be pretty low, especially if I sell the “old” unit to someone who wants to use if for camping or some other non-ocean use.

I have noticed that the RV unit takes longer to boot up when we are offshore than when we are anchored and it seems to be less stable and drops the signal regularly.

I guess by the time I get to CT I will have a better feel for how well the unit functions and if it continues to be less stable, it might make sense to do the upgrade.

To be fair, the Starlink service is in its infancy with a very limited number of satellites in orbit but as more are launched and the software is updated, I may find that it works better.

In January I wrote a post “Starlink, too good to be true?” and one thing for sure is that it is a game changer but how that will work out from a cost standpoint remains to be seen.  At $250 a month for 50GB of data plus $2/GB beyond that amount is not sustainable for me or likely other cruisers.  To give that context, a typical household uses about a half of a TB every month and that would clearly break the bank for just about everyone.

Sure, the unit is super-fast but that makes it even easier to blow by the allowed usage and run up some really alarming bills each month.

For now I plan on using the service sparingly and will suspend it at the end of the month.  By the time October rolls around and I am preparing to head south for the winter, hopefully there will be a plan that makes sense for folks like me.

After getting used to having unlimited fast data this last season, I am surely hooked and let’s hope that Space X comes up with a plan that works for us “little people”.  If they do, I can only imagine how many cruisers will opt for the service in the coming years.  And, to make things even more interesting, Amazon’s Blue Origin program plans on launching a competitive product by 2024 which should have an impact on Starlink pricing.

Fingers crossed that Starlink doesn’t end up being too good to be true and that they will come up with a plan that makes sense.  If they get this right, Starlink will continue to be just about the biggest thing to hit the cruising community since GPS.

 

 

We have been underway for about 24 hours and have covered about 150 miles or so, an average speed of about 6kts, a respectable speed but not as good as I would normally expect.

My crew, Mike and George are settling in and we are all spending a lot of time reading and just hanging out.  During the day, there is no formal watch schedule and everybody just keeps an eye on things.  At night we split up time on deck with one watch going from 8:00 to midnight and then a second watch till 3:00 and then I come on for the final watch before it gets light around 6:00.  It’s an easy time when conditions are calm and having one on deck is fine unless things get dicey like needing to put in a reef when it’s good to have another on hand.For much of the run we expect that the winds will be light and while we had to put in a reef last night and were doing better than 8kts much of the time, since just before dawn the wind has been behind the beam and has dropped to about 10kts.   After more than a year, I broke out the big Code 0 headsail so we are now going a bit faster, 5-6kts. The winds for the trip, util we approach the Gulf Stream, are not expected to be very strong, so I don’t expect to make big mile days.  Anything upwards of 170 to 190 miles a day is considered fast but I don’t expect to do that for the next few days at least.  Once we get north of Bermuda, we may encounter some adverse strong winds so it’s hard to say how that part of the trip will work out.

It is still early in the season and cold fronts continue to roll off the NE Coast every few days. They are getting generally weaker than in the winter but still pack a punch with strong N and NE winds that will make it tough for us to make our way for the last few hundred miles.

Of course, that is a week from now so who knows what the timing of the fronts will be as we make our way north.

We were a day late in leaving due to repairs to the engine cooling system and are playing catch up with the rest of the fleet.  However, I am so pleased not to have to worry about the engine (I hope).  As we have been sailing much of the time since we left yesterday, I have not really tested the repairs.

I am so pleased that I was able to get a tech to pull the water pump and replace the seals. I was particularly happy to see that the pump itself is in fine shape and should not have to be replaced any time soon.

Slow or not, we seem to be catching up with the rest of the fleet that left a day earlier as our wind at the beginning of the trip seems to be a bit stronger than the earlier boats had.

Starlink is working well although it takes more time to boot up, about 10-15minutes, than it takes when we are sitting at anchor.  However, once it stabilizes the reception is amazing so I will be able to put up my posts myself instead of sending them as emails to someone on shore as I have done in the past.  And, I can also put a few photos up, which will make it a bit more interesting, I hope.  I spoke with our son Rob this morning and he was amazed to hear how clear the call was.   Me too.

I have to watch my usage as it can add up quickly, even at $2gb.  I had a total of 50gb included in my monthly allowance before the bill goes over $250 but I did not realize that my phone and iPad were backing up to the cloud so I burned all of my data in a few days of usage. Live and learn.

Starlink is an amazing service but there are still a lot of kinks to work out regarding how they charge for usage as they continue to tweak the plan and what is included in the monthly fee.  It is interesting that it takes a lot longer to boot up at sea than when are anchored.  I guess it has more difficulty in finding the satellites. And, after I had it turned off for a few weeks it took about a half hour before it was working, as it downloaded software updates, perhaps the location of the satellites.  Who knows but after that, it worked really well.

I expect that by next fall, they will have worked things out and there will be an affordable package that will work for me and other cruisers.   For now, I have to suck it up, on the over charges, and hope for the best.  I plan on suspending the plan for the summer and hopefully by October all the kinks will be worked out so I can really understand what I am paying for an what it will cost to use the system.

Well, one day out we are reeling off the miles at a steady pace.  It’s nice to look out the back of the boat and see the tropics setting over the horizon.

We’re heading home, making time and that’s a good thing. Let’s hope that the next few days are as easy as our first day out of St Thomas.

They say that cruising is fixing boats in exotic places and the end of this season is no different.  I’ve been dealing with engine cooling system problems for a few weeks now and yesterday as we left the marina the leak, that I thought was fixed, happened again.

So, back to the marina and a frantic look for a tech to solve the problem.  Why I didn’t think to find someone to put in the seals that I had purchased a few days ago is a mystery to me but I did find someone near the marina to come aboard and take off the water pump yesterday afternoon.

Talk about a guy willing to get his hands dirty.The offending water pump.  And yes, he was as sweaty as he looks.After a few hours of work the pump went back in.  Today, and it’s still early, he comes back to inspect and be sure that everything is still good.

Then, we head out (I hope) and this time we really mean it.

And again, with feeling.  Onward to Essex CT. Remember, you can follow the fleet at this link, and me, Pandora.

It’s Wednesday morning and we are just about ready to head out from Red Hook St Thomas.   My newest crew member, Mike flew in from San Francisco a few days ago and between him and George, who has crewed with me a number of times, we are just about ready to head out and get underway.

1,500 miles to go and that is a long way.

The weather for a trip that I expect will take about 9-11 days is obviously uncertain as even the best weather models does not see out much more than 4-6 days with any sort of certainty.  However, the long range forecast that Chris Parker gave us last night suggests that we should not have much, if any, adverse weather which is better than was the case just a few weeks ago when gales were plaguing the waters in the north Atlantic.   The most uncertain part of the trip will be what we encounter north of Bermuda, the second half of the trip.  As we are still early in the season, conditions can be nasty up there and it is possible that a strong cold front will exit the US coast and bring with it a NE Gale.  A lot of this depends on timing so we will be monitoring the weather forecast closely.

The image below is what the forecast suggests as a route for us.  Each line represents a separate forecast model with assumptions about the sailing characteristics of Pandora.

The blue areas are those without wind and red, in the mid 20s or higher.   Anyway, I won’t say much more about all that but the weather right now and into the next week suggests that we should be ok and hopefully can make it all the way to Long Island Sound without diverting somewhere else along the way. One area of some uncertainty is my engine cooling system which has been acting  up a bit over the last week or so with a small drip/leak on the front of the engine.  I have taken some areas apart, tightened a few key bolts and the problem seems to have been solved.  Just for fun, or not, here’s a shot of the area in question.  You can see the red antifreeze puddling slightly.   The engine, in this area looks a bit nasty but hey, it’s an old engine. The leak is coming through a seal that is part of the water pump.  I have no idea if my “fix” will hold but a proper repair is a fairly big deal that will require removing the water pump and replacing some seals and gaskets.  With that in mind, I ordered a set of parts overnight from the US and picked them up at the other end of the island yesterday.

I guess I subscribe to the idea that if you carry an umbrella on a cloudy day it is less likely to rain.  So, let’s hope that with parts on hand it won’t rain.  At least I am ready although making a repair at sea isn’t appealing.  Fingers crossed.

So, all that is left is to stow things properly, fill the water and get everything on deck ready for the run.

I will be posting regularly as we make our way north and may include some photos as well, a first due to our Starlink unit.  Unfortunately, I had a glitch in how I set up the account and used a lot of expensive data already so will have to limit my usage to keep the bill from spiraling out of control.

You can follow along and see how my track is going on the Salty Dawg Homeward Bound Rally tracking page. 

There are also some details on this blog about tracking Pandora individually, under the tab “where in the world is Pandora”.

I guess that’s about all for now as we still have a few items to square away before we head out.

Wish us luck.

I’ll be in touch.

It’s Saturday and Pandora is on a mooring in St John in the USVI. ironically, the same place, and likely the same mooring, that Brenda and I were when we were on our way home to the US during the early days of the pandemic.

Our second crewmember Mike is flying out from San Francisco, to join us for the run.  I was thrilled to find him, albeit at the last minute.  As a fellow SDSA member, he is eager to spend time on the water and after watching a number of my SDSA webinars and following my blog, he’s looking forward to the run.

I am hopeful that we will have an easy one as going north is generally easier than going south in the fall.  Fingers crossed.

George, my crew member from a number of trips, and I did an overnight run from St Martin where we stopped briefly to cut the 200 mile run from Antigua into two legs.   While we sailed much of the 100 miles from Antigua to St Martin, the second leg was dead down wind in light conditions, an easy run under power.

As we approached St John the sun rose in the east.  A beautiful sight. And, the rising sun painted the clouds over St John with a beautiful glow. Nearly there. Last night when I was doing the dinner dishes, I came upon what looked like a small noodle in the dish drainer.  When I was about to remove it, it moved.  It wasn’t a piece of food, but a tiny gecko, just over 1″ long.   This photo makes him/her look large, but trust me, really really tiny.  After dark last night I was surprised to encounter him again climbing up the canvas on the aft enclosure, a long way to go for such a tiny critter.   I wonder if he will complete the voyage with us.  I’ll admit that I am already worrying about his demise on the ocean.   Something else to think about. Great!On passage, we are often visited by small birds but visits by reptiles, not so much.  The last time this happened was years ago when a lizard stowed away on our boat in FL, which we discovered when we were in The Bahamas.   I wrote about that encounter in 2014, so I guess that history repeats itself about once a decade.

In spite of this place being quite beautiful, with very clear blue water, I can’t help but view it with a bit of dread given Brenda’s and my experience here. during the pandemic, a few years ago.  That run, three months overall, from St Lucia to Florida was not a lot of fun.   I wrote a number of posts during that early period of lockdown, March of 2020.  It’s worth following this link to all of my March 2020 posts to see what it was like.

During that time, when we were stuck aboard in the Caribbean, we were chided by friends that thought that we were “locked down in paradise”.  Not!  It was more like being locked down in a tiny room surrounded by water, as beautiful as it was.   In a post that I did when we first heard about what turned out to be the worse pandemic in 100 years, I naively thought that the threat would pull our nation and the world,  together against a common enemy.  Sadly, I was wrong, very wrong.  

As Brenda said at the time, that “cruising (especially during the pandemic) was like being in prison with the possibility of drowning”.  Lovely.

So, here I am with crew member George being chill for a few days while we wait for the right time to head north with the Salty Dawg Homeward Bound Rally.

The official start date for the run is the 10th, so now a few days before we are supposed to depart, we are very focused on the upcoming weather.  This afternoon we expect to get the first of a number of weather briefings from our weather router, Chris Parker.  I’ve been working with him for a decade now and trust his work.  Chris, please order up a nice run for us…

When I spoke to him yesterday he told me that he expects that we will be able to leave on time, which is good news.  The thought of a nearly two week delay like we had in the fall, when we were heading south is not appealing.

The problem now is that the conditions in the North Atlantic are still nasty with strong winds rolling off of the coast every few days.  This time of the year things should be settling down and we hope that this year will also be the case.

Mike should land in St Thomas and perhaps catch the 2:00 ferry to St John.  I look forward to meeting him and buying him a beer, or two, to welcome him to Pandora.

On the 8th, we move into a marina in St Thomas to begin getting things ready for the run.  Provisions for two weeks at sea are always a challenge to organize.

Oh yeah, one more thing.  While I sit here, Brenda is on the first day of her two week fiber tour of Japan with some friends.  We spoke on WhatsApp last night and was really wonderful to talk to her.  It was amazing that the call sounded like she was next door and not 14 time zones away in Japan.  I do miss her and can’t wait to be home again.  Essex in the summer is lovely.

I guess that’s about it for now.