Bermuda to Newport, Rhode Island
We left Bermuda on 5th June along with at least 8 other boats, including a 22-foot yacht heading back across the Atlantic with a (very tall) British single-hander at the helm. Most of these boats soon overtook us but we were quite happy sailing gently out to sea in a light following breeze.
There was quite a large swell left over and it took us all a while to get our sea-legs - even Katie wasn’t as smiley as normal for the first day! The sighting of a whale surfacing close to the boat did a lot to raise spirits
We were only able to sail for the first two days. We took a slight detour to the west to avoid a gale forming to the north of us and then encountered head winds, so ended up motor-sailing the rest of the way. We passed through several weather fronts, with rapid wind shifts and lots of lightning but never found the SW winds that were forecast on the other side of the fronts.
We had hoped to have these SW winds for crossing the 60-mile-wide Gulf Stream (known locally as ‘the bowling alley‘). When the wind is against the current, conditions can be quite nasty, and we had been told to avoid crossing in any north or easterly winds. We were therefore rather dismayed when the wind started picking up from the north east as we were halfway across.
There was no wind at all for the first thirty miles but by the time we exited the Stream, we were hammering along at average 8 knots, with a top speed of 10.1 knots. By this stage, it was blowing a force 5-6 from the NE. I know this as I had just been out on deck with our hi-tech hand-held ‘wind-o-meter’ and got soaked from a rogue bit of spray!
We were out of the worst of the current by the time the wind came and were happy to see the miles ticking away as we careened along, although the angle we were at made life interesting on board. Staying in your bunk was one thing but rocking Katie to sleep was a major test of balance!
Once through the Gulf Stream, the wind slowly eased (still on the nose) and after another night and day at sea, we came within sight of land. Dave spotted it first and won the last English Crunchie bar (Clare‘s favourite), but it wasn’t much of a contest as Clare was asleep below and I had my head in Katie’s cot!
We had completely smooth seas and a lovely sunset as we motored towards Newport harbour, arriving just before midnight on Sunday and celebrating with our now customary bottle of bubbly and cheese & biscuits on deck.
Clare seems to have survived the trip ok, good job she shares the same sense of humour as the captain - this is particularly important at the 2am change of watch!
Crew's blog
We’ve been through every kind of weather since we left the Caribbean. Steamy hot, no wind, flat seas, hot with lots and lots of wind, dark and hot with gales raging, big seas, starry nights, thunder and lightening, pitch black skies, cold fronts, warm fronts, lows, troughs, ridges (you name it Hazel’s the expert), full moon, no moon, beautiful sunrises, gulf stream madness, cooler airs, rain, rain, rain, fog, then all is calm the sun comes out, the seas flatten and Rhode Island is on the horizon. Ah at last!
There was quite a large swell left over and it took us all a while to get our sea-legs - even Katie wasn’t as smiley as normal for the first day! The sighting of a whale surfacing close to the boat did a lot to raise spirits
We were only able to sail for the first two days. We took a slight detour to the west to avoid a gale forming to the north of us and then encountered head winds, so ended up motor-sailing the rest of the way. We passed through several weather fronts, with rapid wind shifts and lots of lightning but never found the SW winds that were forecast on the other side of the fronts.
We had hoped to have these SW winds for crossing the 60-mile-wide Gulf Stream (known locally as ‘the bowling alley‘). When the wind is against the current, conditions can be quite nasty, and we had been told to avoid crossing in any north or easterly winds. We were therefore rather dismayed when the wind started picking up from the north east as we were halfway across.
There was no wind at all for the first thirty miles but by the time we exited the Stream, we were hammering along at average 8 knots, with a top speed of 10.1 knots. By this stage, it was blowing a force 5-6 from the NE. I know this as I had just been out on deck with our hi-tech hand-held ‘wind-o-meter’ and got soaked from a rogue bit of spray!
We were out of the worst of the current by the time the wind came and were happy to see the miles ticking away as we careened along, although the angle we were at made life interesting on board. Staying in your bunk was one thing but rocking Katie to sleep was a major test of balance!
Once through the Gulf Stream, the wind slowly eased (still on the nose) and after another night and day at sea, we came within sight of land. Dave spotted it first and won the last English Crunchie bar (Clare‘s favourite), but it wasn’t much of a contest as Clare was asleep below and I had my head in Katie’s cot!
We had completely smooth seas and a lovely sunset as we motored towards Newport harbour, arriving just before midnight on Sunday and celebrating with our now customary bottle of bubbly and cheese & biscuits on deck.
Clare seems to have survived the trip ok, good job she shares the same sense of humour as the captain - this is particularly important at the 2am change of watch!
Crew's blog
We’ve been through every kind of weather since we left the Caribbean. Steamy hot, no wind, flat seas, hot with lots and lots of wind, dark and hot with gales raging, big seas, starry nights, thunder and lightening, pitch black skies, cold fronts, warm fronts, lows, troughs, ridges (you name it Hazel’s the expert), full moon, no moon, beautiful sunrises, gulf stream madness, cooler airs, rain, rain, rain, fog, then all is calm the sun comes out, the seas flatten and Rhode Island is on the horizon. Ah at last!
posted by Katie at 3:42 AM
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