It’s Thursday morning and the sun is just coming up over the mountains here in West End Tortola.  After  8 days at sea, 189.5 hours actually, and over 1,100 miles of blue water along with three days of gale force winds, not to put too fine a point on it, we arrived at our destination only a little worse for wear.  Our average speed was just over 6kts which was less than I would have expected since there were plenty of times when the GPS reading in the double digits as we plummeted down the face of 20’ waves, several times topping out at better than 17kts.  “Hang on guys! ”  However, as we crawled up the face of the next wave we’d quickly slow to something like 4.5kts.    I guess it’s all about averages and well, that’s the average.

Anyway, this blog isn’t about numbers (well mostly) so I won’t beat that horse any longer.  All and all, it was a good run, if in a more than “salty” way than I would have liked.

All I can say is that WE HAD BETTER HAVE FUN here in the Caribbean as it was totally frigging hard to get here.

I did learn two things from this trip.  First, I can endure hardship better than Brenda (I knew that actually) but not as nearly as well as Jerry and Dave, two of my crew who seem completely nonplussed by constant depravity and discomfort.  Amazing!   The second thing I learned is that Pandora is an AWESOME boat.  My thanks to Rodger Martin for designing a world class ocean ride.   But, I guess I already knew that too.  Oh well, I must have learned something but I won’t think about that too much for now as my crew, who will be cruising with me here for the next week, really want to, as my father used to say, “get the lead out” and move on with our day.   Besides, we have snorkeling to do.  More to come on that score.

Amazingly, after over a week at sea we somehow managed to time the sight of first landfall at sunrise yesterday.  This was our first real view of as the crew shouted, with enthusiasm and in unison “land ho”.   “Bob, Bob, there’s no way that happened.  You’re totally making that up.”   OK, OK, call it editorial license.   We were happy to be here at last.

Anyway, this was the first view of land for us in more than a week and how sweet it was.  And unlike those “adventures of yor” who didn’t have GPS, we actually knew where we were.  GOOD MORNING TORTOLA!A frigate bird flew out to make a formal greeting and to be sure we were flying our “Q” flag.And speaking of “frigate” the crew was more than happy to pull down those “frigating” sails. And in the “you can’t make this s*&% up” department a rainbow formed as we entered sheltered waters.  “No way Bob, you Photo Shopped that.”  Yes way…a real BVI rainbow to greet us.   Those Brits, they really know how to say welcome.Yes, welcome to paradise and to paraphrase my late father after 8 days at sea, it was “good to be seen” as we arrived in the beautiful BVI.

It was a remarkable if often really annoying journey and I am so happy to be here. What a beautiful harbor.  Time to make the donuts.  Hungry crew.

As I write this we are “enjoying,” NOT, our third day of gale force winds.  A gale is at least 35kts of wind.  If you think that sounds unpleasant,and it is, the 40+ gusts that we have been contending with for the last three days have been even more fun.  Oh yeah, and I won’t even mention our “own little squall” that trailed us for about 8 hours last night.  Somehow it stayed on top of us nearly all night.  And, all of this kicks up some remarkable waves in the 15′ to 20′ range that blast along and under us from behind every 10 seconds or so keeping us clipping along in the 7.5kt range.

You’d think it would be faster but 7.5 knots is an average that takes into account that the boat slows considerably as she “climbs” up the backside of a wave where her speed is quickly slowed to perhaps 4.5 to 5kts.  However, on the face of the wave Pandora surges ahead in a thundering rush usually topping out in the mid teens.  At a few points we saw speeds of 17+kts on the GPS.  To have the boat go from a crawl up the back of a wave and blast down the other side in a surge, all in perhaps about one minute, feels a bit like a free fall and is a remarkable experience.  To do this for three days without a break gets pretty old. Jerry, one of my crew, remarked to me today that this experience in the dark of night with heavy rain falling and waves surging against the boat feels like being on a runaway freight train in a dark tunnel.  Good description.

As you can imagine, the pressures on the boat are tremendous and we have had our share of breakages and leaks.  Fortunately, most are fairly minor but when the autopilot failed two days ago, we all thought that we were in for a horrible few days.  Pandora tracks well in rough conditions but steering under those circumstances is very challenging and can quickly tire even the most enthusiastic crew.  So, as we were powering down a wave late Sunday afternoon, Pandora all of sudden veered off course and rounded up into a huge wave.  Fortunately, someone was at the helm in case something went wrong so two of us were able to wrestle her back on course within a few minutes.

I pride myself, as Pandora’s previous owner did, in having spares on board for a lot of systems and there are literally thousands of dollars of spares tucked away.  However, I didn’t know if the broken specialized bolt that linked the autopilot ram to the steering quadrant was somewhere in all the hardware that I have tucked away.  Amazingly, after searching for nearly two hours, I finally found the precious piece and had it installed in less than ten minutes.  I just KNEW I had seen it somewhere!  YES!  Let me tell you, Dave, Jim and Gerry were ecstatic too.  Remarkably, I ultimately found a second spare.  I had seen these in the past but had no idea what they were.  Now I do.

Since Pandora has been banging around constantly I try to do a careful review of all systems several times a day to be sure that nothing looks like it’s about to break.  Today I found some critical bolts on the steering quadrant that had worked themselves loose and was also alarmed (an understatement) to find the watermaker lurching from side to side.  The screws that held the base to the workbench had pulled loose.  I was shocked to see how tiny they were.  Fortunately, I was able to put in some new larger ones with some help from Jim — a major mess averted.

The last few days have been very difficult, and if this trip is what might be called “typical” then I am not sure I’d want to do it again.  However, I should note that when we were making a decision on a weather window to leave Beaufort, Chris Parker, the weather router, did mention this front and said that it would be important to stay in front of it to stay in good weather.  Naturally, the front moved in faster than predicted, so we missed that window by about 12 hours.  Had that not happened, our trip would have been much easier.

I think that the moral of the story is that if things look iffy, perhaps it’s better to hold off and try later.  I guess that’s often the case in life. Or, to put it another way “pick your battles.”  Yes, it’s been a very tough ride but my crew has been terrific and everyone is getting along well.

As I finish this up we are about 100 miles from Tortola and should arrive there around dawn on Wednesday.  I have to say that there have been a number of times in the last few days when I would have been happy to be just about anywhere than aboard Pandora.  However, if we arrive in Tortola and the sun is out and I am holding some sort of tropical drink with a little umbrella, I expect that all will be forgotten.

All and all, we have done well and nobody even got sick.  That’s good too.

Well, I am looking forward to spending time in the BVI with my crew but more than anything else, I can’t wait to see Brenda again.  I have missed her terribly and on top of that, I am looking forward to seeing our new granddaughter Tori again.  Oh yeah, it will be fun to see her parents Rob and Kandice too.

Yes, I am glad that this trip is almost over.  And in spite of the fact that Pandora has proved herself to be a wonderful blue water boat, I can’t stop from thinking “are we there yet?”. Boy, I sure hope so.

Hello Brenda!!!  I REALLY, REALLY can’t wait to see you. XXXOOO to come…

It’s nearly midnight on Saturday and we are sailing along at a very good clip, sometimes more than 8kts.  That’s pretty fast especially in the choppy ocean conditions that we have now.  And, ocean conditions it is, as we are 450 miles from the nearest land and 600 miles from the US coast.  We are really on our own, that’s for sure.  If we were to get into trouble, the only real option would be to get help from a passing ship and there aren’t many around.  We did have two come by today but they were too far to see as the closest they came to us was about 20 miles.

And, one thing about being out here by ourselves, is that it is critical that any problems be addressed while they are still manageable.  When conditions are rough little problems can become big ones very quickly.  For example, each morning we take a good look at the deck, lines and the sails to see that everything is in good shape. A small wrinkle in a sail that wasn’t there the prior evening can spell trouble and a little hole in a sail rubbed by another piece of hardware can lead to a major failure.

Yesterday Jim, one of my crew, was looking at the mainsail and noticed a small rip about 40′ up from the deck.  We pulled the sail down and then realized that the “little” rip was actually a pretty big hole, nearly 10″ long.  Fortunately, I had some adhesive sail repair cloth on hand which we applied on each side of the tear.  I am pretty sure it will hold until we get to Tortola.  Fingers crossed.

We also did some preparation for possible gale conditions expected Monday when we may encounter winds in the 30-40kt sustained range with gusts to 50.  Even though the winds will be behind us, that’s a lot of wind. With that in mind, we spent time today rigging a third reef in the main which will allow us to reduce the mainsail area by about 75%.  We were also having trouble getting good sail shape from the first reef which we have used for much of this trip so far.  The problem was that the reef wasn’t flattening the sail enough so the boat was heeling much more than it should have and it made for a very uncomfortable ride.  After about two hours of work today, everything seems to be in order.

Making sure that we are very well prepared will keep things from getting out of control when conditions get nasty.  It’s particularly important when you consider that no one can come out to help get the boat to shore when we are this far from land.  So, a problem that is easily fixed if we were a few miles from shore becomes a very big deal out in the “real” ocean.

And speaking of “remote” I can’t believe that I was able to send this text to Brenda via my SSB radio so she can post it to my blog. Amazing, actually.

So, we have been at sea for four days now and are half of the way to Tortola.  And, as I write this we are barreling along in the dark hundreds of miles from anywhere.  It’s different, that’s for sure.

With most of the “issues” resolved for now, it’s nice to know that we should have good sailing conditions for much of the rest of the trip, even though some of those miles may be “pretty sporty.”  At least I can say that I am as prepared for a possible gale as I can be.

I am feeling pretty relaxed right now, or is it that I am just tired?  Hmm…  The last few days have been pretty stressful as I have had to sort out a number of problems and worry about the nasty weather we are heading toward and all the while wondering if we were prepared.  There’s something about the word “gale” that tends to stress me out for some reason.

I guess it’s impossible to know but now I feel that we are as prepared as we can be.  Fingers crossed that I’m right.

I hope that you have been able to follow our progress as I am using a new tracker that is pretty neat.  It even allows you to click on an individual waypoint to see how fast we were going at that particular time.  Cool, I think.

Wish us luck as we continue our way south.  Thanks for “watching.”

It’s Friday morning and we are about a third of the way to the BVI with an average speed for the first 400 miles of about 7.5kts.  That’s not too shabby but an important speed as that’s what it will take for us to reach an important waypoint off of the eastern tip of the Dominican Republic where we have been told we will run into a cold front on Monday.

The plan is for us to outrun the front by being to a position south of the frontal boundary that is expected to stretch from approximately 24 degrees north and 65 degrees west to 22 degrees north to 68 degrees west near the eastern tip of the Dominican Republic.  When we left Beaufort on Wednesday morning Chris Parker, our weather router, predicted that we’d have to be past that line by about 18:00 on Monday in order to outrun the front and gale force winds in excess of 30kts with gusts in the 40-45 range.

To be able to outrun the front we would have to maintain an average speed of 7.5kts overall.  The good news is that as of today we have been able to do that but now the forecast has changed with the front expected to be in our way about 12 hours sooner.  This means that we will likely encounter strong winds for about 12 hours or so.   The good news is that the wind will be behind us from the NE but may be pushing waves in the 15-20′ range.  However, they shouldn’t persist for that long as we are able to pass the front.  Unfortunately, it is possible that the front will be moving south at about the same speed we will be going so I guess that we will just have to be prepared and see what happens as we get closer to Monday and the front.

Of course, that’s a long way off and much can change.  I’ll be speaking with Chris again on Saturday, tomorrow morning to see what, if anything, has changed.

Anyway, I left CT on Monday to drive to Beaufort, an 11-12 hour ride.  With stops and some “coming home from grandmas home” traffic near Baltimore, the ride ended up taking about 14 hours with me arriving at Pandora around 01:30 on Tuesday morning.  I was really tired.

Tuesday was spent scrambling around getting last minute provisions in advance of the arrival of my crew.  Somehow we got everything done and left the dock to get fuel by 07:30 on Wednesday.  What a rush, but in a bad way.  I was exhausted.

As I mentioned in a recent post, I had been frustrated by a total lack of communication from the guy working on the replacement ports on the boat and while the job was “finished” I have to say that his work was pretty rough and in the case of the cockpit window, very messy.  I also noticed that while the cockpit window was out it must have rained as there was some water damage on a bulkhead in the aft cabin. I am hopeful that I will be able to clean it up and perhaps bleach the wood to get the black staining out.  Fingers crossed.  However, rest assured that I will not pay the full invoice, if I ever get it, and may opt to say “sorry pal” and not pay anything at all to cover the pain and suffering along with the damage to the woodwork below.  I am sure that he put in several days of work and won’t be happy.  However, he knew of my departure plans and did not submit a bill to the marina or me by that time and it was clear that the job was not even completed.  Fortunately, the work is at least watertight so I can wait till a future date to fix any remaining issues.   So much for “remote control” of boat repairs.

Oh yeah, remember the other job?  You know, the one to install the new charger/inverter?  That was done but, as I had feared, with all the other equipment that he had to remove in the nav-station to get the new unit in place, he was, shall we say, less than meticulous in labeling wires that needed to be reconnected when he was done.  So, while the unit itself works, the 110 outlet on the nav station doesn’t work now and the wire itself leading to the plug doesn’t have power at all.  Who knows how hard it’s going to be to trace down that problem.   That’s disappointing.  However, not nearly as frustrating as the fact that he had not reconnected the SSB wiring correctly so I was unable to use my radio to get an updated weather forecast from Chris on Tuesday.   The SSB email modem was also reinstalled incorrectly.  Between the two units it took me until Wednesday evening before it was all sorted out.  Very frustrating.  And to make matters worse, it was very rough so trying to sort through problems while bouncing around in large seas was not pleasant at all.  Chris Parker was so concerned that he had not heard from me that he contacted Brenda.

Fortunately, Brenda knew what was going on as I had texted her on my new Delorme tracker to let her know what the problem was.  I can only think what Brenda would have done if she had not heard from me.  It would have been terribly upsetting.

This experience, once again, reinforces my feeling that it is critical that I do as much work on Pandora as possible myself so that when things go wrong, I can fix them.   Better yet, do the work the right way first and there won’t be a need to fix things, especially when I am at sea.

And speaking of “at sea”, we got off to a really rough start but those strong winds and waves made for some very fast sailing with speeds sometimes approaching 10kts and even higher a few times.   It was pretty amazing to see the waves roll by with the phosphorescence of the breaking crests glowing green in the darkness.   I don’t believe that Brenda would have been pleased at all with the conditions.   Nope, not a bit.

So, as I write this we are sailing along on a close reach at about 7.5kts, the speed that we must maintain if we have any hope of outrunning that front.  Chris thinks that the wind will die later today and then pick up from a SE direction.  Anyway, our trip so far has been fairly uneventful, setting aside the “technical issues” I have gone on and on about, if a bit “sporty” for the first 24 hours.

When the wind dies later today I think that we will all shower in the cockpit and perhaps do a bit of fishing.

Interestingly, this trip at 1,200 miles is about 150 longer than any I have taken to date without stopping.  It will also take me farther from shore than I have been, about 300 miles from land.   Actually, as I write this, we are at the point furthest from land that we will be for the trip.

Well, we did get underway as planned even if I was exhausted from a full day of driving followed by a day of frantic provisioning in anticipation of my crew arriving on Tuesday afternoon.   I don’t know why it is that all my trips involve a few days of frantic preparation and some time spent sorting out problems that crop up after we are underway. Well, at least I am usually am able to “sort.”   I guess that’s what sailing is all about.

Well, that’s my report.  And don’t forget that you can follow our progress by clicking on the button “Where in the World is Pandora.”

Stay tuned.

That’s all for now.

I spoke with Chris Parker today and his original recommendation that Wednesday the 4th will be good for a departure to head to the BVI still stands. This is actually a surprise to me as long range forecasts usually don’t turn out to be quite the same when they are no longer long range.

So, here’s what Chris thinks things will look like for next week.

I could leave either Wednesday or Thursday from Beaufort but a departure on Wednesday puts us south of the Gulf Stream in advance of strong NW winds in the range of 20-30kts with higher gusts that we’d likely see with a Thursday departure.

By leaving Wednesday morning we’d be ahead of this and probably will see winds in the 20s out of the west as we cross the Gulf Stream.   By evening, and we’d be across the Gulf Stream by that point, we expect to have NW winds in the 20-25 range that should carry through Thursday morning.

After that the winds should go light with a continued NW component followed by light winds for Saturday and Sunday, suggesting a few days of motoring.

On Monday it looks like NW winds will build again which will allow us to carry the rumbline all the way south to the BVI.   This is in contrast to the “normal” run to the eastern Caribbean that generally calls for a lot of easting toward Bermuda prior to heading south when we reach the easterly trade winds.  Of course, a straight shot is also shorter which may mean a total run of a week or perhaps a day or two longer if we have to motor a lot.

However, if we are delayed and can’t get going on Wednesday we will probably have to wait until the weekend or next Monday to avoid the next front that rolls off the coast after Wednesday.

And speaking of delays, remember the “unfinished” work  on Pandora that I wrote about the other day?   As I mentioned in my last post, I was able to find someone to look in on Pandora on Friday who told me that some of the work was completed but that the cockpit glazing was not in place.  Yesterday I finally heard from the yard owners, who are now back from their vacation.   They reported that the cockpit glazing is now in place so we should be “good to go” unless something else comes up.   I still don’t understand why the sub that is doing the work would not return my calls, or those from the marina.   He still hasn’t contacted me, work done or not.

As of now, it looks like Pandora and her crew are in for a good run with good conditions for a few days of easy fast sailing when we get underway. This is very good as Dave and Jerry are not familiar with Pandora so I don’t want to “jump into the fire” right away with heavy conditions.

I fully expect to see some “sporty” conditions during the trip but it would be best to have that later in the run when we are more settled in to our routine.

While it’s supposed to rain on Monday and Tuesday, it looks like the high on Wednesday will be around 60 degrees which is a lot more appealing than being out in near freezing conditions as we begin our run.

Of course, every post should have at least one photo so how about a sunset photo as Brenda and I entered Cuban waters last March?  That seems like a long time ago.  What an amazing trip that turned out to be. Yes, I expect that this winter will be filled with wonder too as have the last 4 for me and Brenda.

And, speaking of “wonder”, how about a photo from yesterday of our granddaughter Tori in her “Pandora crew” shirt?   She’s pretty excited about our trip too. I really feel so sorry for all the mothers who’s children are not as cute Tori.   Yes, and when it comes to “wonder” I sure hope that I don’t find my self “wondering” why I decided to make a run from the US to the BVI, beginning in January”.   I guess you will have to stay tuned to see how it goes.

So, here’s to a terrific run next week.    Yes, indeed, it looks like Wednesday’s the day.

Don’t forget to check out “Where in the World is Pandora” on this page.  I’ll have my new tracker working by Tuesday so you will be able to see where we are at most any time all the way.

I’ll be back in a few days with an update.

Happy New Year!  It’s going to be great, I’m sure.