Katie’s first sea voyage
We were finally ready to set sail late morning on Saturday 19th May, after going ashore to check out with the authorities and buy a few last minute groceries. Katie’s rash still hadn’t gone but it didn’t seem to be of concern to either her or the doctor.
Our only concern was the crew’s drink problem, which had become apparent the night before!
So… the dinghy and engine were hoisted on deck (Clare’s first job as crew), we all jumped in for one last swim round the boat then up with the sails and we were soon goosewinging away from St Martin. As night fell, we saw the light of Sombrero island disappear behind, our last sight of land for 865 miles.
We had a gentle start for the first three days. The seas were calm, the skies were blue and a gentle southeasterly breeze pushed us along at around 4 knots. This gave us a chance to slowly get into the rhythm of life on board. Dave and Clare split the night watches (two shifts of three hours each) and I relieved them for the odd hour or two between night feeds. During the day, we were all up and about at various times, with normally one nap each.
Katie had a Moses basket lashed below for night-times and a cot wedged behind the wheelhouse table for during the day. Still, she ended up spending most of the time being cuddled by one or other of us, or in her favourite place – the carrying sling. She can’t have been too unhappy about life at sea as we were treated to her first smile the second day out!
On day four, the mast fitting for the topsail broke and Dave had to climb the mast to replace it – thankfully the seas were still calm at this stage. The sky however had clouded over completely and that night we were surrounded by drizzly rain and lightning. The wind had swung round almost head on so we had started the engine and were motorsailing.
The following day, the swell started building. We had been unable to get weatherfax broadcasts for several days due to poor reception so we prepared for the worst by bringing down all sails except the main and lashing down any loose items. That night the wind picked up ... and up… until we were in gale conditions.
The motion inside was pretty uncomfortable to say the least and drips kept finding their way in around the hatches until the floor was slippery with salt water. I stayed below in the safety of our saloon bunk all night, as simply feeding and changing Katie was enough of a challenge. We had to pad out the sides of Katie’s cot to stop her arms flying up with each lurch of the boat. She certainly didn’t need any rocking to sleep!
Conditions were so bad that Clare abandoned her cabin and ended up ‘hot-bunking’ with us – alternating with Dave to share our makeshift bed (the middle of the boat has the least violent motion). I wasn’t sure when I woke who I would find next to me!
The strong winds and seas continued for two days and nights before slowly moderating. Through it all, the engine kept on going and with the mainsail steadying us we ploughed slowly through the seas towards Bermuda, still making progress at about 3 knots.
Finally, the wind dropped off and the last two days were calm, sunny and enjoyable once more. We all regained our appetites (Katie had never lost hers, thankfully) and it was a relief to be able to cook and eat ‘proper food’ after two days on mostly bread and jam. Clare even used the sextant to take a sun sight, but so far is still mid-calculation and we are eagerly awaiting the final position.
The wind stayed from the NE (the direction we were heading) so we kept the engine going and motor-sailed the last 200 miles into Bermuda. We arrived at 10.30pm on Sunday 27th May, after 8 ½ days at sea. After clearing customs and dropping anchor in ‘Convict Bay’, we cracked open a bottle of bubbly to celebrate our safe arrival.
Clare has coped well as crew - standing night watches, cooking meals and keeping her cool in the rough seas. And that’s on top of living in close quarters with us for two weeks - putting up with our funny habits, nappy changes on the dining table and endless inane comments of ‘Isn’t Katie’s hair getting longer??’
(Which it is… plus she’s grown 1 1/2 inches… and her eyes are turning brown…)
But over to Clare:
I'm a very happy crew member but equally very happy to be on dry land for a few days! The McCabe family are an amazing team. Dave is constantly fixing, tweaking and generally making sure we are all ok, never losing his cool. Hazel has the extraordinary ability to keep us all cheerful with snacks and drinks, and chats even in the middle of a dark and stormy night(cliche but true), whilst feeding Katie, and keeping the good ship, Ros Ailither, a smooth running home.
Next stop America.
Our only concern was the crew’s drink problem, which had become apparent the night before!
So… the dinghy and engine were hoisted on deck (Clare’s first job as crew), we all jumped in for one last swim round the boat then up with the sails and we were soon goosewinging away from St Martin. As night fell, we saw the light of Sombrero island disappear behind, our last sight of land for 865 miles.
We had a gentle start for the first three days. The seas were calm, the skies were blue and a gentle southeasterly breeze pushed us along at around 4 knots. This gave us a chance to slowly get into the rhythm of life on board. Dave and Clare split the night watches (two shifts of three hours each) and I relieved them for the odd hour or two between night feeds. During the day, we were all up and about at various times, with normally one nap each.
Katie had a Moses basket lashed below for night-times and a cot wedged behind the wheelhouse table for during the day. Still, she ended up spending most of the time being cuddled by one or other of us, or in her favourite place – the carrying sling. She can’t have been too unhappy about life at sea as we were treated to her first smile the second day out!
On day four, the mast fitting for the topsail broke and Dave had to climb the mast to replace it – thankfully the seas were still calm at this stage. The sky however had clouded over completely and that night we were surrounded by drizzly rain and lightning. The wind had swung round almost head on so we had started the engine and were motorsailing.
The following day, the swell started building. We had been unable to get weatherfax broadcasts for several days due to poor reception so we prepared for the worst by bringing down all sails except the main and lashing down any loose items. That night the wind picked up ... and up… until we were in gale conditions.
The motion inside was pretty uncomfortable to say the least and drips kept finding their way in around the hatches until the floor was slippery with salt water. I stayed below in the safety of our saloon bunk all night, as simply feeding and changing Katie was enough of a challenge. We had to pad out the sides of Katie’s cot to stop her arms flying up with each lurch of the boat. She certainly didn’t need any rocking to sleep!
Conditions were so bad that Clare abandoned her cabin and ended up ‘hot-bunking’ with us – alternating with Dave to share our makeshift bed (the middle of the boat has the least violent motion). I wasn’t sure when I woke who I would find next to me!
The strong winds and seas continued for two days and nights before slowly moderating. Through it all, the engine kept on going and with the mainsail steadying us we ploughed slowly through the seas towards Bermuda, still making progress at about 3 knots.
Finally, the wind dropped off and the last two days were calm, sunny and enjoyable once more. We all regained our appetites (Katie had never lost hers, thankfully) and it was a relief to be able to cook and eat ‘proper food’ after two days on mostly bread and jam. Clare even used the sextant to take a sun sight, but so far is still mid-calculation and we are eagerly awaiting the final position.
The wind stayed from the NE (the direction we were heading) so we kept the engine going and motor-sailed the last 200 miles into Bermuda. We arrived at 10.30pm on Sunday 27th May, after 8 ½ days at sea. After clearing customs and dropping anchor in ‘Convict Bay’, we cracked open a bottle of bubbly to celebrate our safe arrival.
Clare has coped well as crew - standing night watches, cooking meals and keeping her cool in the rough seas. And that’s on top of living in close quarters with us for two weeks - putting up with our funny habits, nappy changes on the dining table and endless inane comments of ‘Isn’t Katie’s hair getting longer??’
(Which it is… plus she’s grown 1 1/2 inches… and her eyes are turning brown…)
But over to Clare:
I'm a very happy crew member but equally very happy to be on dry land for a few days! The McCabe family are an amazing team. Dave is constantly fixing, tweaking and generally making sure we are all ok, never losing his cool. Hazel has the extraordinary ability to keep us all cheerful with snacks and drinks, and chats even in the middle of a dark and stormy night(cliche but true), whilst feeding Katie, and keeping the good ship, Ros Ailither, a smooth running home.
Next stop America.
posted by Katie at 12:58 PM
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