Sailing BrainWaves

Saturday, October 28, 2017 St. George's Bay, Bermuda It's a beautiful day today, partly cloudy and a light breeze. Although it is a bit more humid, the breeze is still cool and dry. Very nice. Don and I tidied up the boat and then went to town for a few supplies and a big bag of ice. The "Tom-toms" are expected to arrive at the airport about noon. Once settled, we will take BrainWaves to the gas station top off our fuel and water, then check a couple of anchorage sites. We are watching tropical storm/cyclone No.18, Expecting rain Sunday night and Monday, probably the effects of #18. Hopefully, we can head out Tuesday morning and #18 will be between us and the coast, moving off behind us. There is another area potentially developing, but just a wandering area at this point, something we will keep an eye on. I forgot to mention that after we first got here and had those strong winds for days, a smaller sailboat limped into the bay here with a torn mainsail. Th...

Friday, October 27, 2017 St. George's Bay, Bermuda Jake left Yesterday afternoon. Don extended his scooter rental but changed it to a double seater. We all had a great Chinese lunch on Main street in Saint George's. While Don did some internet stuff at the Town square, I took Jake to the airport. Afterwards, Don and I went back to the boat and thoroughly enjoyed another dry dinghy ride. We shuffled things around the "clothesline" Jake rigged in the cockpit, trying to get everything dry. I decided to air out my flannel sleeping sheet. We took a salty swim and bath, rinsing off.with fresh water at the back of the boat. I sat down just in time to watch my sheet floating by with the current. Time for another swim & rinse cycle! Fortunately, after the cold front passed through, the air was much drier. By bedtime the sheet was dry. We had a nice cool breeze and calm night for sleeping. Rod Photos by Rod Looking down the bay towards our anchorage at St. G...

Thursday, October 26, 2017 St. George's Bay, Bermuda We have had a lot of wind, which started the day before we arrived. They continued to build, I think predicted as high As 28 mph yesterday. That has made sleep a little difficult and dinghy rides more than a little wet! It seems we had a slow learning curve, but we evolved our own personal solutions. I put on my rain pants, coat, and tuck my shoes under my coat. I put my phone and wallet in a Ziploc bag and put that in my shorts pocket. Don and Jake wear only their shorts and put everything else in dry bags. The dinghy ride to the dock on shore is usually only a wet butt ride. The return trip to the boat, against the wind and waves is usually a saltwater shower. Today things were calmer and the ride in was almost dry. Jake went exploring, made a friend and took a trip with him to Hamilton. Don and I went on a grocery shopping trip to get the boat re-provisioned for the next leg of the trip. After a good lunch at a gas...

I got a text from Don that they arrived at 9:00 a.m. Atlantic time.  His cell phone should work on Wi-Fi but appears not to, but at least he was able to text.  He said he all was fine.  I just got home from Grand Rapids and had a message from Sue Gokee that she hadn't heard anything, but I'm hoping other spouses have.  Don't text was short and to the point.  He'd had no sleep and was very tired.  That's all the details I have today. 😀 Deb October 23, 2017 St. George's Bay, Bermuda Most of yesterday was great, but eventually, the winds and seas increased and after dinner, things began to get rough. That continued through the night with wind gusts to 27 and larger waves that kept us pitching an rolling. We could see the lights of Bermuda hours away. As we got closer, to our approach to the channel leading into Bermuda, a container vessel appeared on radar closing in on us. As if we didn't have enough to contend with! Don was exha...

Tuesday, October 24, 2017 St. George's Bay, Bermuda Today is the last day for Ken to spend some time in Bermuda. Ken and Jake shared a scooter yesterday and today Don and I each rented one. We planned to do some exploring and also get some groceries to start resupplying BrainWaves. The following pictures were taken during our day around Bermuda. Ken leaves tomorrow morning. Rod Photos by Rod Ruins on the walk to Tobacco Bay beach The unfinished church Ken & Jake down the shore from Tobacco Bay Rod & Jake A future painting? BrainWaves at anchor as seen from Barrack Hill. She is the bottom boat in the middle of the picture. Looking toward the Royal Naval Dockyard Cruise ships at the Royal Naval Dockyard

They're only 72 miles from Bermuda!  They were motor sailing today but they were going to reach Bermuda too early, arriving in the dark so now they are just sailing.  They expect to arrive about  6:00 a.m.   tomorrow  morning.  They've had another beautiful day and everyone is well.  They saw a Bermuda Longtail (a bird) today and had a finch land on the boat. Their coordinates at  5:00 p.m.  were 33°27'N, 65°09' W.  I'm guessing they'll contact spouses  tomorrow . Deb Sunday, October 22, 2017 Atlantic Ocean During my  12 - 2am  watch last night I saw 7 shooting stars. Several were slower and had long glowing tails. Beautiful night again with consistent winds. We made some good progress. My morning watch from  6-8 a.m.  rewarded me with a fantastic sunrise. I shot quite a few pictures of the actual sunset as well and some of the clouds. Photos by Rod We are expecting stronger winds...

I'm so sorry for the late update.  We celebrated Dieter and Evy's birthdays today and I got involved right after giving Don the weather and forgot to do this. They had another beautiful, sunny day.  No one is seasick now.  They sailed quite a bit yesterday and were sailing this evening.  They have gone 445 miles from Cape May, NJ and are about 2/3 of the way to Bermuda.  They are expecting to arrive late  Monday  or early  Tuesday .  That will be good timing as the winds are going to pick up starting  Tuesday  and increasing  Wednesday  and there is also some rain expected around then. Their coordinates at  6:00 p.m.  were 35°29' N, 66°43' W. Deb Saturday, October 21, 2017 Atlantic Ocean I think most of us got some much needed sleep during the overnight hours. We added another 10 gallons of diesel fuel to the boat about 10:30 am, as it was relatively calm. We have 8 cans left of the 12 stored...

For those who are tracking, their coordinates at 11:00 a.m. were 35°35' N, 70°01' W Deb Jake, off watch & off his feet October 20, 2017 Atlantic Ocean The days are already starting to get a little confusing and one blends into the other. Today was another beautiful day with sunny skies, but larger waves. To take advantage of what wind we had, we sailed as much as we could. Although that mean sailing a bit north of the rhumb line. Don wanted to come into Bermuda from that direction based on the projected winds on our arrival. We stopped as much as we could in the afternoon for a quick ocean bath and shower. We dragged a short rope to hold on to, as we still were going way faster than we could swim. Jake used another rope to make a foot loop and hang it off the rail into the water. The life raft  was blocking the swim ladder, so we had to come up with some other way to get back on board. Once your foot was on the loop, with a helping hand you coul...

This afternoon the winds picked up and changed direction. The sea was a little rougher with larger swells and bigger waves. About 30 dolphin suddenly showed up then put on a spectacular display for about half an hour, or more. I shot Lots of videos only too find out that my phone was failing, only the first two videos were recorded. The Dolphins for so close to the bow that I lay down on the deck of the bow and dangled my arm over the side. At times my arm was into the ocean up to the elbow. I should have been able to touch them but the  timing was always off. The better, longer videos are too big for this blog. You can see them on my Facebook page by clicking this link: https://www.facebook.com/rod.lawrence.77 and looking through the sailing photos. We hit the Gulfstream about 3 pm and about 175 miles offshore. The water temperature was 80 degrees. Unfortunately, Jake was the victim of the sea sickness this afternoon. We've all that have been there so many k...

For anyone who is interested, you can put in their coordinates on Google Maps then save it, put in the next coordinates, save and have a track of their progress. Deb

The guys had another good day today.  It was sunny and all crew members are well and happy.  Their position at  5:00 p.m.  was 37.20 N, 71.45 W.  They said they had two wonderful dolphin shows today.  Both times they had 20-30 dolphins that followed the boat for about 30 minutes. The call from the Satellite phone disconnected while I was still giving Don the weather.  He didn't call back, so he must have had enough weather info.  All I had left to give him was Bermuda weather and I can update that  tomorrow . Deb

Tuesday, October 17, 2017 Cape May, New Jersey We awoke to a cold, but clear and sunny day. At 7 am we picked up anchor and went up the channel in Cape May and anchored off to the side with some other boats. Then most of crashed for a couple of hours for some much needed sleep. Our captain especially needed the rest after the overnight trip and having to check on boat and crew throughout the night. After a late breakfast, we all plan to take showers on the boat. Later we'll find a marina to fuel up, get our water topped off, and dump our trash. We're checking the weather outlook and considering another jump south to Chesapeake Bay. A storm is currently over Bermuda but expected to move on. They are predicting a five day open slot for Bermuda. We shall see what developed. Update: Tuesday, October 17, 2017 Cape May, New Jersey Beautiful day, clear skies and all sunshine. Cool, crisp fall day. Don and Jake took the boat on a scenic tour of the marina and topped of...

October 16, 2017 After checking the weather forecast for our trip to Bermuda, we decide to sail down to Cape May, New Jersey. There were some areas of weather forming that we needed to watch develop before deciding if we had a good window to head out across the Atlantic. It was a cold and blustery day as we headed out of the harbor and around Sandy Hook. We passed two sailboats that were aground on the beach, but we don't know how long they had been stranded there. The New York City skyline was easy to see in the background. We bundled up and prepared for a bumpy ride, planning to sail all day and night to reach Cape May. Video & Photos by Rod Leaving Sandy Hook with the New York City skyline in the background Beached sailed boats on Sandy Hook Layered up and almost warm Jake at the wheel Captain Don trying to soak up some sun Ken watching for icebergs Sunset on the way to Cape May Red reflections on the waves just after sunset