Sunday, August 31, 2008
News From Aussie Jim
This is a copy of his email after crossing the Atlantic (Bermuda to the Azores)
Hello Oriental et al,
Greetings from Europe, well from the European Union, well the Azores are in the European Union as the are part of Portugal. And they are absolutely BEAUTIFUL......
So ins and outs of the trip.
left Bermuda (St George) 5/8/08 1500 UTC
arrived Azores (Horta) 28/8/08 1315 UTC
Total time 22 days 22 hours 15 mins
Total distance 2133 nmi
Ave 24 run 93 nmi
Greatest distance in 24 hrs 132nmi
Least distance in 24 hrs 36nmi
When I left Bermuda there was a low pressure system approaching from the North that had rain and strong winds associated with it, so I went due east for the first 2 or so days then headed north. The plan was to skirt the edge of the low to catch the some winds (and hopefully not the rain etc), without going so far as to get caught in the Azores high (I saved that for later). This strategy worked pretty well for the first 10 - 15 days as I gradually put more and more Easting into the heading as I approached N37-38 then following the great circle route to Flores (Azores most NW island).
Eavesdropping on Herb´s weather prognostications for others (Southbound 2 SW radio broadcasts) I heard that there were some more low fronts coming off of Newfoundland so I stayed in this Latitude (N37-38) rather than heading a degree or two more north and took a compromised GC route / rhumb line from there. In general this worked ok, missing most of the low fronts, getting there tails with a bit of weather here and there, but also in this leg I was increasingly getting days when there was bugger all wind (BTW this is an Australian Meteorological term).
This lack of wind was exacerbated by the movement of the Azores high to pretty much follow me for the last 5 days.... in these last five days I covered a grand total of 240 ish nmi, with the shortest being 36nmi, and then for the last 4 hours of my approach to Horta there was a stiff wind that saw me down to 3 reefs in the main and the yankee up. Obviously from this you can tell that I didn´t use the motor until I was withing hailing distance of the Horta breakwater, certainly the light airs are troublesome when combined with a swell that just knocks the wind out of the sails and sends everything flapping, at times I did drop the sails and just bob around.
Some fun things ...
Bermuda was lovely... but expensive. The Cup Match Bermuda (annual 2 day cricket match) was lots of fun, and the place was generally lovely and very welcoming.
Occasionally I would listen to the BBC world service, where I did catch Australia winning gold at the Olympics..... I couldn´t but sing a version of the Australian national anthem
to the tune of the Gilligan's Island theme song that I heard on the radio once years ago ....... it got stuck in my head, at one stage I sung it out loud, it was really strange hearing my voice after a week or two of no conversation.
The colour of the Atlantic out there is just something to behold, I thought I knew what the colour blue was... but now it has be redefined.
The day before I landed at Horta I was bobbing around at sunrise and I noticed this large ´thing´ floating about 500m away (about 1/3 mile for the Americans in the house :-)). A weary brain thought, shipping container..? it seamed about the right size ... what the... and after about 5 minutes it moved... and it turned out to be a whale just hanging out, and then it´s buddy surfaced and they headed off N....
anyhow that is more than enough to bore you all to tears so I will sign off for now.
xo
J
Hello Oriental et al,
Greetings from Europe, well from the European Union, well the Azores are in the European Union as the are part of Portugal. And they are absolutely BEAUTIFUL......
So ins and outs of the trip.
left Bermuda (St George) 5/8/08 1500 UTC
arrived Azores (Horta) 28/8/08 1315 UTC
Total time 22 days 22 hours 15 mins
Total distance 2133 nmi
Ave 24 run 93 nmi
Greatest distance in 24 hrs 132nmi
Least distance in 24 hrs 36nmi
When I left Bermuda there was a low pressure system approaching from the North that had rain and strong winds associated with it, so I went due east for the first 2 or so days then headed north. The plan was to skirt the edge of the low to catch the some winds (and hopefully not the rain etc), without going so far as to get caught in the Azores high (I saved that for later). This strategy worked pretty well for the first 10 - 15 days as I gradually put more and more Easting into the heading as I approached N37-38 then following the great circle route to Flores (Azores most NW island).
Eavesdropping on Herb´s weather prognostications for others (Southbound 2 SW radio broadcasts) I heard that there were some more low fronts coming off of Newfoundland so I stayed in this Latitude (N37-38) rather than heading a degree or two more north and took a compromised GC route / rhumb line from there. In general this worked ok, missing most of the low fronts, getting there tails with a bit of weather here and there, but also in this leg I was increasingly getting days when there was bugger all wind (BTW this is an Australian Meteorological term).
This lack of wind was exacerbated by the movement of the Azores high to pretty much follow me for the last 5 days.... in these last five days I covered a grand total of 240 ish nmi, with the shortest being 36nmi, and then for the last 4 hours of my approach to Horta there was a stiff wind that saw me down to 3 reefs in the main and the yankee up. Obviously from this you can tell that I didn´t use the motor until I was withing hailing distance of the Horta breakwater, certainly the light airs are troublesome when combined with a swell that just knocks the wind out of the sails and sends everything flapping, at times I did drop the sails and just bob around.
Some fun things ...
Bermuda was lovely... but expensive. The Cup Match Bermuda (annual 2 day cricket match) was lots of fun, and the place was generally lovely and very welcoming.
Occasionally I would listen to the BBC world service, where I did catch Australia winning gold at the Olympics..... I couldn´t but sing a version of the Australian national anthem
to the tune of the Gilligan's Island theme song that I heard on the radio once years ago ....... it got stuck in my head, at one stage I sung it out loud, it was really strange hearing my voice after a week or two of no conversation.
The colour of the Atlantic out there is just something to behold, I thought I knew what the colour blue was... but now it has be redefined.
The day before I landed at Horta I was bobbing around at sunrise and I noticed this large ´thing´ floating about 500m away (about 1/3 mile for the Americans in the house :-)). A weary brain thought, shipping container..? it seamed about the right size ... what the... and after about 5 minutes it moved... and it turned out to be a whale just hanging out, and then it´s buddy surfaced and they headed off N....
anyhow that is more than enough to bore you all to tears so I will sign off for now.
xo
J
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Late Getting In A Post
Hey folks. Sorry we haven't sent anything out there lately. We haven't been able to get on to check email or anything until today. To catch everyone up, Peter and Gale have left headed north and will hopefully be back in a few months. We left and rafted up with them and Perry and Susan for the weekend. Had a good time, played alot of music, (used part of the music for the video, Peter on guitar and singing, Perry on guitar, and I with the harmonica playing a newly learned tune from Willie Nelson) the boys played on the beach, and it was a nice way to wish them well on their journeys.
Got alot of great sailing in, was able to test out our auto-pilot, (we thought it was broken, but when I opened up the control panel, one of the wires on the circuit board was unplugged) and it works like a charm! Now I can roam the boat at will without having to man the wheel constantly. We snapped some more fishing boat photos, and they turned out pretty good.
Will post the photos later, but they're in the video for now....
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Readings from "Sensible Cruising: The Thoreau Approach"
"We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success"
Nothing can bring a couple closer together, can enhance mutual respect any faster than the interdependence required of a couple to handle a sailboat smartly. In addition, cruising offers such a wide array of possible activities that both partners can satisfy their expectations of a cruise even when the expectations are quite different.
"Enrichment has nothing to do with dollars and cents"
"Cold and hunger seem more friendly to my nature than those methods which men have adopted and advise to ward them off"
"Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."
"I see young men, my townsmen, whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms, houses, barns, cattle, and farming tools; for these are more easily acquired than got rid of."
"We live but a fraction of our life. Why do we not let on the flood, raise the gates, and set all our wheels in motion?"
Monday, August 11, 2008
Thanks Aussie Jimmy
Peter and Jimmy (who oddly enough both hail from Australia) spent some time trying to explain the game of Cricket. Now to the average American, Cricket is difficult to understand, so Jimmy sent us a real simple way to remember the game, in the form of a towel....
It says....
Cricket
As explained to a foriegn visitor
You have two sides, one out in the field and one in.
each man that's in the side thats in goes out
and when he's out, he comes in and the next man goes in
until he's out.
When they are all out the side that's out comes in
and the side thats been in goes out and tries to get
those coming in out.
Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
When both sides have been in and out
including the not outs.
That's the end of the game.
HOWZAT!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
River Weekend
Decided last minute Friday to leave for South River for the weekend....why not.... 'after all, it's a beautiful weekend.
This Week's Catch
Not the biggest, but by far the coolest spots. They let this one go. A fine catch indeed.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Boatyard Mishap
Found this out there and thought it was interesting. Notice aft portside in this picture. One of the slings gave way while two people were onboard.... but I'll bet no one else has a picture of their boat that's like this one!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Leftover "Bits", As Aussie Jimmy Would Say
We had some leftover "bits" that we threw into this video from vacation....
The storm in the video got worse, and right at the end of the video I told Rick, (my brother) that we should head to the building at the marina....
another couple got caught in the storm while trying to come into the marina.... they were a little shook up.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Our Vacation Map
The black route was about 11 hours sail to Ocracoke
The red route was about 12 hours sail to Belhaven (Dowry Creek)
The green route was about 14 hours sail back to Oriental
click on the map to get a better view
The red route was about 12 hours sail to Belhaven (Dowry Creek)
The green route was about 14 hours sail back to Oriental
click on the map to get a better view
Vacation Video
It's been a long time since we all saw each other, so pulling out the video camera wasn't always thought of at the right times... but here's what we got!
Friday, August 1, 2008
Long Trip Home
We left from Dowry Creek this morning and had a slow but good sail home. We passed several trawlers and of course, every time I see one of these I feel the need to take a picture. Had alot of fun, will post some video soon!
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