Bermuda to Nova Scotia – Before the storm

“43.45:456N 65:19.374W”

7768 Miles since leaving Sandwich.

5^th June 2023

32 54.536n 64 32.098w

Leaving Bermuda

Tue May 30 2023

I previously updated the main blog at http://blog.mailasail.com/spectra on our activities while we had an extended stay in Bermuda. Now with the engine fixed(?) and tested (?) as far as we could it was time to go.

After a delayed start necessitating two visits to the customs office, we were finally on our way at 17:15 and of course the rain was hammering down. It wasn’t all doom and gloom though, by the time we had cleared with Bermuda radio and been wished a safe onward journey the rain had cleared and after pulling over in the very narrow Town Cut to let the ferry overtake, we motored out into a flat calm sea.

We cleared the outlying reefs which lie all around the Northern coast of Bermuda within an hour or two and had a spectacular encounter with what we think were Minke Whales. In a flat calm approximately 200 meters directly to port a 6-to-7-meter Minke Whale leaped out of the water leaving clear daylight under its tail. We could hear the crash of its’ re-entry as we scrambled for telephones to take a picture. Before we got them unlocked it breached again and flew through the air at 45 degrees before coming down with an almighty belly flop. Cameras in hand and ready this time it only surfaced once more but of course only showed its dorsal fin and was joined by another one briefly before they both headed South towards Bermuda.

Apart from that we have had a steady stream of Portuguese Man-O-Wars floating past ranging in size from saucer to dinner plate.

The rain finally stopped for my 0000 to 0300 shift and although it got a bit cold in the wee hours the night passed uneventfully as we motored on under a bright but cloudy sky. This morning at 0600 I was awakened by the engine switching off as Tony finally got enough wind to justify putting the sails up. It is now 0830 we have completed 80 miles in the right direction and are sailing at 5 knots under all white sails. ETA Halifax Sunday 4th June some time.

36 13.729n 64 21.644w

Second night and it is getting colder.

Wed May 31 2023

Last night for the first time in many months I put on a fleece sweat top and big boy trousers. The actual air temperature isn’t too bad but we have a gusting 15 to 25 knot wind on the side which is laden with rain and certainly brings a hefty wind chill factor with it. on a brighter note, we are making excellent time, the first 24 hours we logged 141 miles and so far at 0800 in the morning the trip is showing 256 miles completed.

The good weather is due to hold through Thursday and then go light so we will have to make hay while we can. Wildlife has diminished to the very occasional flying fish, lots of Portuguese Man-o-Wars and a few long tail (real name) birds which are very exotic looking.

That’s it for now, Norma is on watch, Tony is sleeping and I am about to make breakfast. If anything, particularly exciting happens I will update, if not, until tomorrow it an adieu from Spectra.

36 43.723n 64 20.818w

Third night over

Wed May 31 2023

Yesterday afternoon we were joined by a 20 + pod of small Dolphins they were of a type that I haven’t seen before being only about 1 meter long but they still managed to put on a display with a couple of them even spinning in the air as they approached. The next bit of excitement was a tanker that had no one on watch. We picked it up on AIS when it was 10 miles away and tracked it all the way in. With less than 100 meters showing as our closest point of approach I repeatedly called them on Channel 16 requesting their intentions but go no reply. Eventually, when they were 5 miles away, I change course 40 degrees and they passed us with a mile clearance. Still no response on Channel 16.

With a strong wind and a back eddy from the gulf stream helping us along we showed 9 knots over the ground at times during the day which has really helped push us along. The 24-hour run from noon to noon was 165 miles which is not too shabby at all.

I also took the time to fix our smelly heads which have been the bane of our lives for some time. With a bag of charcoal and some filter housings brought in an aquarium I put a charcoal filter in line on the holding tank breather pipes. Hey presto no nasty smell when we pumped the toilets. Such a simple fix I can’t believe I haven’t fixed it before.

The wind died right back overnight and by the time I took over the watch from Tony our boat speed was down to 3 Knots. Another big pod of dolphins joined us and kept me amused for an hour before getting on with the business of their day which left me all alone and doing 2 Knots. It was time for the engine to start again which it did on demand phew. Unfortunately, one and a half hours later it stopped and will now not restart. We are pumping fuel so it is not that and we can’t really do much else until the engine cools enough to work on. Tony thinks it might be the stop solenoid again but time will tell. Frankly I have had just about enough of this now, you reach a point when the returns are not worth the effort. We will get into Halifax one way or another and then I think some big decisions will have to be made about what we do next.

39 47.632n 63 45.262w

4th Night and still no wind

Fri Jun 02 2023

That is night number 4 over and done with. Very quiet night, a couple of ships and a few dolphins broke the monotony plus a really annoying bird that kept circling us making a grrr-erk noise. In the end, and to protect his sanity, Tony picked it up in the beam of the powerful torch and scared it away like a German bomber over the East end of London.

I deliberately left this post until after lunchtime in order to catch up on the 24 hour runs.

Here we go Day 3 was 129 miles and yesterday up to noon today was a measly 59. 278.6 miles to go and it could be a long wait at this rate. Anyway, plenty of food and water on board so no dramas at the moment. I tried to call Dartmouth Yacht Marina on the Iridium phone just now and got the answer phone so at least we know that will work. I will try again later today. Current ETA late Sunday but to be honest that is pure guess work at this stage.

That’s it from the flat calm Sargasso Sea.

40 20.608n 63 49.308w

5th Night - Sharks-Pilot Whales-Birds-Dolphins and Tuna

Sat Jun 03 2023

Again 24 hours has passed and the wind refuses to come, my low distance record for a three hour stint at the wheel was 0.25 hard earned miles. Looking at the forecast we should start to get some wind this evening, receive far too much of it on Sunday and then with luck it will ease off for our entry to Halifax and Dartmouth Marina. That’s the current cunning plan anyway.

Highlight of yesterday apart from a rather pathetic daily run of 42 miles:

Early afternoon as we drifted along at under 1 knot we saw a large group of birds diving into the water about a mile away. Soon we noticed a big pod of dolphins zooming towards them from the west and a 10 strong pod of Pilot whales moving in from the South East. The commotion was slowly working its way towards us and we could clearly see splashes in the water and Tuna leaping out of the froth. At this point Tony decided to check the lures that we were dragging behind the boat. When he pulled in the line on the new big orange lure a brown shark followed it in which caused him to jump a bit. The shark hovered around and under the back of the boat and kept popping out to check our lures. By this time the commotion had made its way over near to us and as Spectra was hardly moving in the water Tony started to jerk the line that held the big orange lure. Suddenly the line was jerked out of least  his hand and the rod bent at an alarming angle while streaming line off the reel. What followed was a 20 minute battle with a large Yellow Fin Tuna. This time we actually got the beast aboard even though when I gaffed it I wasn’t ready for the weight and tweaked my back. The thing was ginormous! We haven’t got a set of scales on board but it measured 110cm from nose to tail and was very rotund. I estimated its weight to be at in old money 55lbs while Tony, Gen X that he is, estimated it at 25Kg, whichever one you choose it was one very heavy fish. I filleted it on deck and produced a big baking tin full of Tuna steaks ready for the freezer. In fact it quarter filled our freezer which is now topped up to the brim again. Once filleted I was left with a skinny carcass complete with head and tail, all of which went over the side. No sooner had it hit the water than the shark came out from under the boat and had the biggest and easiest meal this week for sure.

 41 20.442n 63 26.571w

6th night wind at last

Sun Jun 04 2023

The wind finally came in last night and we took advantage by heading as far east of our track as we could. It is now 1030 and we are in a force 7 steady with gusts over 30 knots. I have been on deck already pulling a firstly and then a second reef in the main sail. The foresail has been reduced over again until it is all away. That leaves us with the staysail, a double reefed main and the full mizzen. We are making direct for Halifax at 7-8 knots which is the good news. My third trip onto the foredeck was to secure the 25 litre fuel barrels that were working loose and that was the wettest yet. I am off watch now and Norma is in the cockpit being talked to by Tony who is standing in the companionway. After making breakfast of bacon sandwiches all round I have propped myself in a corner surrounded by cushions to protect my back which is now seriously giving me jip after lifting that damn fish out of the water. On the bright side the ceviche in coconut milk, Garlic, onion, and chilli pepper for lunch yesterday was rather nice.

To sum up after several days of nothing and flat seas we are now in 3-4 meter waves, driving rain and howling wind, you have got to love sailing, what fun.

Current ETA is tomorrow afternoon distance to go 180 miles. When we drop below I will phone the Halifax coastguard and see if I can negotiate a tow in.

That’s all, I need to go find some painkillers.

43 35.413n 63 42.337w

7th Night-cold wet windy and miserable

Mon Jun 05 2023

For the record the last 36 hours has been the worst sailing experience of my life, Last night with icy horizontal rain we had steady 30 knot winds and seas of 4 meters at least. The gate on the port side rail was smashed by a wave and we even got pooped at one point. Tony was borderline hypothermic so we took him off watch an hour early, wrapped him up in any dry blankets that we could find and stuffed a hot water bottle in with him. At 0300 I noticed that one of the solar panels was covered in what I thought were streaks of salt, when I leaned out and scratched them it was frozen spray. As I said it was blooming awful.

We are on a 6 hour calling watch with the coastguard which I think I mentioned yesterday, Our eta at the moment is somewhere between 2100 tonight and 0400 in the morning depending on what the wind does to us. It has just died down to under 20 knots which has of course pushed the eta out but it had brought the boat level enough that I can start the generator. With no sun and the autopilot working overtime out batteries are getting very low.

Bit miserable on this one but I write it as I find it and this is currently not fun at all.