As I write this we are passing Bermuda about 20 miles to port.  In spite of the forecast calling for very light wind, we are under sail and moving along nicely with 15kts on the beam.  Frankly, it feels more like gliding than sailing.  Pandora is making 7.5kts and is healing less than ten degrees, nearly level. 

Interestingly, when Pandora reaches 7kts she begins to hum.  Not sure why, but it is a soothing, gentle hum as she moves through the water.

Shortly after dawn, a shower passed and left behind a lovely rainbow.   You really get a feel for just how expansive the ocean is with this photo, rainbow, clouds, and a tiny spec of a sail, if you look closely, on the horizon.

A pod of dolphins visited us this morning but true to form, they resisted my attempts to get a photo. 

Close to Bermuda we saw a number of small boats out fishing as well as several sailboats as they headed for the harbor.  Other than that, it is rare to see another boat when we are on passage, hundreds of miles from land, except for an occasional ship, miles away and unseen, appearing on the AIS tracker.

After being at sea for a week, I would love, love, love to stop in Bermuda for a few days but I am loath to drag the run out to two weeks or longer.   If I did not have a schedule, and was with Brenda, for sure we would stop.   Alas, we are in a rush and it is, in the end, a delivery…

We are about 150 miles short of the half way point of the run, (a mouthful, I know) and the rest of the trip is likely to be much faster as a good part of what remains will be in the easterly trade winds.  Today is day 7 and I expect that we will be in Antigua sometime next Monday or perhaps Tuesday for a total run of 12-13 days.

That would make his run a lot like others I have made but with a lot less “excitement” given the fact that the wind has been quite light to moderate.  And, it is quite possible that the last 600 or so miles will be a lot of fun, sailing on a beam reach with reasonable winds of 15-20kts.  Perfect for Pandora.   I hope that the current conditions will continue and prove the forecast wrong.  That would be nice?

It was just two days ago, that I was estimating we would use perhaps as much as 80% of our fuel on this run.  But, after sailing much of yesterday and sailing again today, we may end up using as little as 50% of the fuel if the wind fills in just a bit.    Who, knows, not to jinx it…

The up and down mix of expectations and changed assumptions about sailing, motoring and arrival dates, is par for the course on passage.  Every time I prepare for a long run, I try to guess how long it is going to take and, more often than not, I am wrong.

This trip, with a few exceptions, has been mild with reasonable wind, when there was wind, and only a few squalls.  The biggest problem has been needing to delay our progress, to let bad weather to our south clear out.

As of this morning, we have motored less than half of the way, in spite of the very light winds. I am becoming more confident that when we hit the trade winds in a few days, our speed will pick up a lot.

This sort of variety and uncertainty with conditions is typical on passage and as we head south our miles per day will hopefully increase and the sailing better.

Overall, sailing in the ocean is often quite benign, but with “moments” I will admit, made fewer, hopefully, as long as you follow the advice of a weather router.  And, having Starlink and the availability to check email and keep up with the every changing forecast, makes it a lot better.

A typical day aboard is spent reading, sleeping, napping, eating, and doing minor chores to keep everything in good shape.

Yesterday Matt and I replaced a float switch on the main bilge pump, something that has been bugging me for some time now.   I did not have the exact same model to replace it with but was able to get the new one into position. I will order a replacement when I get home and then put it in place more permanently.  It buggs me that something called a “super switch” does not last very long, but they do not and I have replaced many of them over the years.

Cleaning is also a big thing and a good amount of time is spent on dishwashing, sweeping up the cabin and of course, cleaning the head.    With three guys living in a small space, often with bad aim in the dark… things get a bit gamy, as you can imagine.

After a few days at sea, a certain rhythm sets in and everyone knows what must be done.  Matt and Peter tend to keep an eye on things up in the cockpit, adjusting sails and keeping an eye on things. 

I tend to stay below, keeping a log of our progress in a notebook.  Every two hours I log information like our position, latitude, and longitude, along with wind strength, direction, boat speed etc.  The idea is that if something happens to our electronics we can always go back and look at my notes to determine where we are or at least, where we were recently.

To pass the time, I read for hours a day to pass the time.  So far, basically a book a day.  Before a trip I sign up for Amazon Kindle Unlimited and download a dozen books.  I also keep a supply of hardback books, just in case.   Brenda will confirm that I do not do “idle” well.

We also make a point of checking fittings on deck each morning to see if there are any signs of chafe or other issues.  For example, today I found the head of a rivet laying on the deck and after some sleuthing, I was able to track it down to a fitting on the boom that holds one of the mainsheet blocks.  The problem probably would not lead to a failure, but as a precaution, we worked up a Dynema (super strong line) sling from the block to the boom so that if something does break, the line will hold things together and avoid a catastrophic failure.

But perhaps the single thing that separates offshore sailing from coastal or day sailing is when things line up just right, and they do, for at least a while on every run, when you are able to set the sails and go…

To sail at or above hull speed, reeling off the miles for days at a time with barely an adjustment.  Those who have never been offshore can hardly imagine what it is like to point the boat and only do minor tweaks for days and hundreds of miles. 

There have been plenty of times at the Yacht Club bar when other sailors have spoken of times when they set the sails and went for hours, barely touching trim or wheel.  I too have boasted about those experiences.

Passage making has those moments too but on a very different scale.  To spend the afternoon reading a book while the boat tends to herself, make dinner, sleep for a few hours, get up to stand watch, have breakfast, lunch and still have the boat moving along and making time, day after day.  That is something…

That is passage making and there simply isn’t anything else quite like it.

Well, of course, that is setting aside the strong squalls, hours/days of endless motoring and having waves break over the deck when things are not quite so benign.

During those times, what comes to mind is more like “So, Mrs. Lincoln, other than that, what did you think of the play?”

Or, put another way, “sailing is hours of bliss punctuated with moments of sheer terror.”

For now, we are having a lovely sail and that is what I will focus on.  And, of course dinner. 

Tonight, teriyaki salmon with roasted potatoes, sauteed peppers, onions and a green salad. 

Tomorrow, who knows?  If it’s not all that benign…Perhaps soup…

After years of doing the whole “north-south” thing, I have talked ad nauseum and written plenty about the number of hours that I run the engine on the Antigua run.  On some runs, I have clocked as many as 140 hours of engine time and have often found myself worrying about running out of fuel. 

Two years ago, when one of my three built-in fuel tanks sprung a leak in Antigua, dumping a full tank, 35 gallons, into the bilge and over the side, my total fuel capacity was reduced from 135 gallons to 100, not nearly enough to make a run, if history was to be any guide.  

As I could not have a new fuel tank fabricated before I made it home, I decided to get a 50-gallon flexible fuel bladder and bring it back, following a state-side visit.  Fortunately, Pandora has three vented lockers in the cockpit and two of them are large enough to hold a bladder that is about 5’ long, not a small thing to stow.  As an added benefit, unlike plastic jugs, the bladder can be folded up when it is empty and takes up very little space in the locker.

I had to work out all the fittings for the bladder, a fill port, line for transferring fuel and a bleeder hose to get any trapped air out,  as well as to find a way to get the fuel from the bladder into the deck fittings for the three, (at that time, two usable) tanks.  This involved a long enough piece of hose to reach each deck fill as well as a high-capacity electric transfer pump.  Curious about all that?  You can see all the stuff that made up my “kit” at this link. 

With the new tank, the addition of the bladder and my usual six 5-gallon plastic jugs, I now carry 180 gallons of fuel, enough to run about 9.5 days under power.  You would think that would be more than enough fuel to get to Antigua but this year I could very possibly motor as many as 170 hours, using perhaps 140 gallons with just 40 to spare. 

Many of the over 80+ boats that are making this trip will have to divert to Bermuda just to get fuel and I am pleased to be able to pass it by. (Oh boy, I hope that I am not jinxing things by saying that) It has already been a long run and I do not want to add any more days at sea between me and Antigua.

Despite being into our 6^th day at sea, we have only made it about a third of the way south.  So, with 500 miles between us and Essex, as the crow flies, we have logged almost 650 miles through the water.  That is an additional 150 miles of bucking currents and sailing in the wrong direction 🙁 

On the bright side, slow or not, the sunrise today was lovely.  It began slowly with spot of light to the east.  It was darker than this photo suggests. Then it began to brighten.

Became brighter and brighter as the sun appeared.

A dramatic beginning to a new day.

And, better than that, sailing!

I will enjoy it while it lasts as soon enough we will be motoring again.

When we were first heading out, I thought that perhaps it would take 10-12 days but it is not looking like at least 13 days, as many days as my longest run. 

When I am talking to folks about this run, a question that inevitably comes up is “how long does it take to get to Antigua?”  My answer is generally “well, that’s sort of like asking, how much does a car cost?”  It depends, but I will say that the southbound run takes anywhere from 10 to 13 days and this year will not be a big difference. 

It is generally a mix of great days and slow days but we get there eventually.

One way or the other, It is going to be a long trip.  And, speaking of S-L-O-W, I log our position and many other stats every two hours on passage, and when we were jogging along with adverse currents and the need to wait for better conditions for more than a day and a half, we logged 144 miles under the keel and managed to gain mere 60 miles south in the direction we wanted to go, about 40 miles a day. A pathetic showing. 

Not great given the fact that when conditions are good, we can make about 250 or more miles in the same timeframe.

Anyway, we are now sailing toward our destination, and have been for hours now, but by tomorrow, early Tuesday morning, I expect that we will again be motoring, and that could continue for as many as 3-4 days based on the current forecast of very light winds to the south of us.

The good news is that the weather models suggest that the last 500-600 miles of the trip will be great sailing so fingers crossed that it holds.

I am not particularly concerned about running out of fuel, well, not yet anyway, but to be estimating that we will use more fuel on this run than any other to date is a bit sobering.  I guess that my little “guardian angel” is still with me and perhaps that is why she decided to make that tank leak two years ago so I would have to purchase a fuel bladder. 

If it were not for her, I would surely be making a stop in Bermuda for fuel and then guarantee that the run would extend to at least a full two weeks.  All I would be able to say to that would be ugh, no make that double-ugh.

So, as we continue to move along under sail, it is clear that we will be doing plenty of motoring before we get to the trade winds and ultimately to Antigua.

With that in mind, the “thought of the day” and for days to come will be conserve fuel!

Yes, repeat after me “conserve fuel”, and I will.

One of the most common questions that we get from folks that are not familiar with the cruising lifestyle is “at night when you are on passage do you anchor so you can sleep?”  Answer: “No, not really.”

Oh, and the second question is often “so, when you arrive in the islands, what resort do you move into?”  Would not that be nice.  “Please, I would like a room with a water view.  Is it available for four months?”

Last night I did find myself feeling like we were anchored, hanging out, drifting actually, several hundred miles north of Bermuda, 500 miles from anything, waiting for a small, but nasty, low (storm) to move out of the area to our south, near Bermuda.

Chris Parker, who knows that it is in his best interest to keep his clients out of the nasty, or as he likes to call it “salty” stuff, has been very aggressive in telling us not to go below 37 degrees north until sometime late Sunday.   What he was trying to convey is that if we did not follow his advice, we would find ourselves in “extreme salty” conditions, something that I have no interest in.

A few boats went south of that line anyway (one didn’t get the memo it seems) and have found themselves with adverse winds of more than 30kts as well as a lovely (read: extreme salty) mix of squalls and thunderstorms.  

By lingering north of 37 degrees north latitude, we were in an area with almost no wind, think 5-10kts.  So, for much of the last 24 hours we have been moving east along the 37 degree boundary at around 3kts, with two thirds of that speed due to an easterly current. 

As of this morning, and it is 08:00 Sunday as I sit down to write this, we are about 80 miles north of where Chris wants us to be as of dusk this evening so we decided to turn on the engine and go slow, in the 5kt range. 

The water temperature is in the low 80s and while the evenings are cool, it is comfortable with a light sweater.  We do have a full enclosure so it keeps us snug, even if it is raining.  When we first left Essex, the water temperature was in the low 60s and it was very cold, even down below in the cabin, think 60.  Fortunately, I have a cabin heater that I can run from the engine when it is on and a diesel heater for when we are sailing. 

The comfortable cool conditions will not last much longer and as we get farther south it is going to be a lot hotter.  The biggest problem is that we have to keep the boat fully buttoned up to avoid getting water down below.  With the engine running, which is located under the galley, it gets pretty stuffy.  Right now, quite nice, short sleeve weather.

Conditions are overcast, compliments of the low south of us but somehow, boring or not, I need to include a photo, or two, I the post.  So, here is a view to the north, behind us.  See how calm…

Not a lot to look at. Grey to the southeast and REALLY grey to the SW where the low is located. Hope it gets better before we get there.

We are hopeful that the nasty stuff will have dissipated as we work our way south near Bermuda.  From that point, we should have light wind and a good deal of motoring before we hit the easterly trade winds. 

It is possible that by being delayed, we will be able to avoid some of the very low wind areas but we will have to see how that goes.  Some of the weather models suggest that there will be more wind and not dead calm.   One way or the other, we should be able to sail briskly in good trade winds for perhaps the last 500-600 miles.

I will admit that last night did feel like we were anchored in an exposed roadstead, made particularly uncomfortable as it was rolly and noisy but way better than close reaching into 30kts and big seas.  We did sleep well but kept watch even though we were not moving.  With the main up with two reefs, it did a good deal of slatting and jerking.   Not great. 

Well, I guess the answer to that common question is “Yes, we do anchor in the ocean at night but not the way you think.  No, it was more like drifting along with no place to go.” 

I thought that it might be interesting to put up parts of a daily notice I get from Shoreside support for the rally.  There is 24/7 coverage for all boats in the fleet.  Mindy, who wrote this, is in London in St Mary’s Docks for the winter.  She coordinates a team of individuals that volunteer to be on call, around the clock, until the last boat gets into port.  Every day she sends out a notice of what’s going on and who might have issues.  We also have an Emergency Response Team (ERT) that helps boats with issues, mechanical and otherwise. 

So, here’s what came out last night…

We had 4 departures today, 5 diversions, and lots of issues. Dune Buggy has returned to Hampton due to the weather. I will give the 2 returned boats a day or two to rest before asking what their plans are. Other than those two returned boats, we have 2 boats in the Chesapeake and 1 in Florida who have not departed. 

We currently have 75 boats underway, a great deal of whom have erratic tracks as they try to keep themselves north of the weather. Some are so close together I imagine they feel like they are in a flotilla this year; hopefully they are having a good time. It has not been a good time for the handful of boats who ended up in large seas and unsettled conditions further south. In addition to our weather diverted boats in Bermuda, we have several new arrivals in NC & SC, and 2 repair diverted boats in NC (see issues and concerns section). We appear to have a few boats who might be diverting to points further south. 

Departures

• Incognito departed for Antiga
• Stella departed Hampton for Antigua
• Alacrity departed Hampton for Marsh Harbour
• Serenity departed Hampton for Marsh Harbour

Diverted or Resumed Boats: 

• Life Above Zero, Oestara, and Raftan are diverting to Charleston.
• Wayfinder diverted to the Cape Fear River, NC
• Les Noble joined Summer Bird in Beaufort. Kiwi Dream is in Wanchese.
• Mystic, Nomad, Pangolin, and Mary Darline are waiting for weather in Bermuda. Pagolin & Mary Darline are thinking about departing Monday. I haven’t heard back from Mystic or Nomad. 

Arrivals at Destination:

None

Boats with Concerns, or Issues:

• Cinchona (Bahamas, offshore route) has lost their steering and is using an emergency tiller. They are also having furling problems with their mainsail. They said they did not currently require assistance and will try to make repairs when the weather calms down. Chris Parker is aware of their problems and they have corresponded with the Emergency Response Team (ERT).
• Editor:  Steering problems come up every year and some decide just to continue on, with others turning back.  I have a windvane and a spare driver for my autopilot. I also have mine serviced by the manufacturer every few years.  I live in fear of loosing steering.  Of course, something else can also fail that I haven’t even thought of.
• Mor Childs Play (Antigua) requested some technical assistance with an intermittent autopilot problem. The ERT is working with them. 
• Carosy (Bahamas) is having tracking problems and has lost their topping lift. They have requested help from any Bahamas boats still in the US.
• Yesterday, Tim sent a weather warning message to several boats who had moved into Chris’ danger zone. Tranquility had not seen the forecast. Chris Parker worked with them and determined that although his emails were sent to the correct email address, they were not ending up in Tranquility’s inbox. This is a good reminder to me that not every boat is getting their weather even when they are being sent to the correct email.  
• Betwixt, Once, and Flash have lost their Starlink (maybe others as well) but they are still able to communicate and update tracking with other devices. Parallax’s inReach died and they will be updating their position manually. As usual, Tim and Allen continue to work with any boats who stop tracking or have communication issues, and advise them how to get their forecasts with alternate devices. 
• Kiwi Dream (Bahamas) is having major repair work done. He hopes to continue with the rally soon, but also recognizes that may not be possible.   
• Editor: A few days ago, Kiwi Dream tried to transit Oregon Inlet, a terrible inlet near Cape Hatteras, I guess to avoid bad weather.  They hit the bottom and sustained significant damage.  I can’t imagine what they were thinking as even local fishing boats have difficulty there. 
• Summer Bird (Bahamas) is in Beaufort for a generator repair. They hope to be ready to go on Monday afternoon, weather permitting. 
• Zephyr-McGuire (Antigua) has arrived in Portsmouth. They are interested in finding a Delivery Captain for December. If anyone has any good recommendations, please pass them along to me
• Editor: A day out of Newport, Zephyr’s new engine transmission failed.  It was a huge disappointment so they had to divert back to Newport for repairs that will likely take weeks.  They still want to head south so are considering hiring a captain and delivery crew to move the boat in December. 
• Dune Buggy (Antigua) did not like the weather and turned back. He has arrived in Hampton. I will follow up in a couple days about their plans.

At least all systems are still in order aboard Pandora and reading about all the issues that the fleet is encountering is one of the reasons that I am so cautious. 

Glad to be moving south again.  Hope that it does not get too nasty.  

Oh yeah, we will not be moving into a resort when we return to Pandora in mid-December.  That is a bit above my pay grade.

We are in our fourth day at sea and are only about a third of the way to Antigua and we are in a holding pattern.  I had hoped that the entire run would take about ten days but now it’s looking like it could be 12-13.  Not great.

Conditions were a bit sporty last night but not too bad with gusty winds going rapidly from 10kts to 20 and back again, hour after hour.  And, we had a 2kt current on our nose so progress was slow.

However, things have settled down now as we slowly sail east trying not to go too far before we head south again. 

The guys up in the cockpit enjoying a nice day and not trying to think too much about how much farther we still have to go.

The biggest problem is that there is a low forming to the south, between us and Bermuda that is expected to bring winds in the 30-40kt range with gusts in squalls to 50kts.  Not great and gusts at those levels can break stuff.

In order to avoid all of this, Chris said that we need to stay north of 37 degrees north until the front passes, perhaps sometime overnight on Sunday.  As it’s not even noon on Saturday and we are at that latitude, we decided just to sail east to kill time.

As we are already as far south as he recommends, while we wait for the front to pass, we have to sail perpendicular to our intended course and wait until things improve to the south.

We have been in a similar position over the years and a number of times over the years and delays where we sail east, instead of south, can add days to a trip.   Once we begin to head south again, there will be a few days of motoring and that’s slow too as I can’t really go much faster than 6kts without burning a lot of fuel. Sailing in good conditions are generally in the 8-9kt range, a lot faster than motoring.

The good news is that once we reach the easterly trades, perhaps 600 miles north of Antigua,  we should be able to cover a lot of ground with upwards of 20kts on the beam which may allow us to make nearly 200 miles a day.   On our run south last fall, we had a number of days where we came close to that distance so it might happen. 

So, here we are, jogging to the east, waiting for better conditions. 

Other than a frustrating delay, all remains good aboard Pandora, even if things are a bit trashed in her cabin. 

The US weather model, GFS, says that the low won’t clear out until early Monday morning while the European model says that things should clear up perhaps 12 hours sooner.   Chris often favors the Euro so fingers crossed.  He did say that he’d send out an update later today so we will see how things develop. It would be good to get moving in the right direction, sooner than later.

With Starlink, which is working pretty well, we can also download the models and see them ourselves.  Seeing the graphics does make it a lot easier to interpret what Chris is suggesting. 

Here’s what he said about the risk of being too far south, too soon.

“There is a large potential risk for vessels to lie S of 37N or 37-30N Sun5, and with favorable weather thereafter, no need to assume that risk.” 

I’m taking his advice.

Today’s sunrise, over a calm sea and us in the middle of the Gulf Stream was beautiful.

Matt is all better now.  Two days of not feeling particularly well but now back in the swing. 

He had been turning up his nose at most food choices and I was a little fearful that perhaps he was what we might call a “selective eater”.  Nope, not at all now that he is feeling his old self.  (not as old as me and Peter, BTW) It does seem that he is an omnivore with a preference for M&Ms and Kit Kats 🙂

Anyway, we crossed the Gulf Stream overnight and could hardly tell except that the water temperature abruptly went from the low 60s to the 80s.  When I crossed the Stream in the spring it was very bumpy with a 30-40 knot southerly wind with gusts to 50.  With less than ten knots of wind last night, not quite the same.

We turned on the engine yesterday at noon and here we are, more than 24 hours later and still motoring along.  Chris Parker had given us coordinates for a very narrow favorable part of an eddy that was supposed to give us a push of a few knots.  However, we did not find it and instead have a persistent 1-2kt current against us.

However, that is not so bad, setting aside the endless motoring and little to no wind, as there is expected to be an area to the south of us in a few days that will bring near gale force winds from the NE.  The wind direction is not expected to be a problem as it will have us on a broad reach, but strong winds 30-40kts and add in some squalls to 50kts and it’s something that we’d prefer to avoid. 

By getting near Bermuda a bit later will help us avoid those conditions, I hope.  I will say that the forecasts have been changing virtually every day but the expected winds between here in Antigua should be mostly favorable, at least when there is wind. 

As of now, we expect to be motoring off and on for at least an additional 40-50 hours with intervals of good sailing in between.  With some luck we will hit the easterly trade winds about 300-400 miles north of Antigua and they will, hopefully, be under 20kts on the beam.  Fingers crossed.

We do not expect to need a stop in Bermuda as we have plenty of fuel.  I really do not know exactly what my fuel burn rate is with the new prop, but I expect it to be a bit higher than with the last propeller. 

With an estimate of say, .8GPH, I should be able to get at least 220 hours of motoring out of 180 gallons of fuel and the most motoring I have ever done on this run was 110 hours and that was on a trip with a lot more light air and dead zones than this run is expected to have. 

So far, I have motored a lot but I have only gone less than 300 miles and there is still a lot more distance to cover. 

Of course, forecasts change and perhaps this one will as the models don’t agree anyway. Key to keep our options open and not go to fast. What will happen? Time will tell…

However, I am a card-carrying member of the “cup is half full club”, so it’s going to be just fine. 

Perhaps it is too soon to say that we will have an uneventful trip, but it is day three and all is well with Pandora and crew.