southward

Imvubu is departing Puerto Williams, Chile today, Sunday the 29th, with destination Deception Island (South Shetland Islands just north of the Antarctic Peninsula). Should take us about 4 days. Check the Imvubu blog for more details and updates.

Puerto Williams, Chile

New country, new phone:  +56 982074436.

Imvubu sailed the ca 25 miles from Ushuaia, Argentina to Puerto Williams, Chile Thursday the 26. On arriving we joined about twenty other yachts tied up to the Micalvi Yacht Club and rafted 3 or 4 deep. The Micalvi is an old ship that was purposefully grounded in a narrow inlet and now serves as the local yacht club (though all the boats but one are from elsewhere). Their claim to be the world's most southerly yacht club is probably not an exaggeration.  Formalities were completed at the port captain's office. Now we wait for a favorable weather window to cross The Drake Passage which will take us to The South Shetland Islands and The Antarctic Peninsula. 

Call me

I have an Argentinian sim card. My number is +54 92901644187. Please call.

OK,  I think the link to the photo album has been fixed. Have a look: 

Click Here for some photos from Ushuaia and the passage from South Africa. 

Ushuaia

Commerson's Dolphins, right?

and False Killer Whales (?)

Cape Town, South Africa to Ushuaia, Argentina, with imvubu

Imvubu arrived Ushuaia, Argentina around 22:00 local time Sunday December 22 as the sunset lit up the snow clad mountains of Tierra Del Fuego and Isla Navarino.   It took us over a day to get here from the Strait Of Le Maire (between Tierra Del Fuego and Isla De Los Estados and where we first spotted land after a month at sea) as we had tidal streams and ocean currents against us for much of the way. As we approached The Straits, we saw the Dutch schooner OosterSchelde which was quite a sight in the grey afternoon. The next day we got a closer look and I took this photo:

Tall ship Oosterschelde near Straits Of Le Maire

 The Beagle Channel was very mellow as we motored in flat seas and light headwinds and enjoyed the scenery. 

Ushuaia is stunning. That is to say, the scenery surrounding the town is stunning. The town itself is not anything to write home about. Like Punta Arenas, Ushuaia features a garish casino on the waterfront as a contrast to the natural beauty all around. There is a small, friendly community of sailors down here. Most from elsewhere and many of them running charter businesses, taking customers to Antarctica and the area around the soutern tip of South America. All the sailboats here look like serious expedition boats, so Imvubu fits right in. 

Total distance sailed: just over 5000 nautical miles

Total time:   34 days and some hours (this was both Ralf's and my longest passage time and distance-wise)

We sailed ca 2/3 of the time and motored the rest (the majority in the first 10 day. 

A few days out of Cape Town we passed directly over the Vema Seamount which rises to just 11 meters(at the shallowest) below sea level from the surrounding ocean which is ca 5000 meters deep. It being dead calm, we decided to drop anchor, wait for daylight, and go for a swim if we could find somewhere sufficiently shallow. Unfortunately the shallowest we saw was ca 40 meters which is too deep to anchor properly with Imvubu’s 100 meters of chain, so onward we went.

Heading west northwest, we got as far north as 30°35' south on day 7 before leveling out and heading more or less due west for the next two weeks which saw us motoring quite a bit  as we skirted the top of the South Atlanitc High.  At 31° 11' S, 36° 8' W, ca 700 miles from the Brazilian cost, we turned left and followed a course parallel to the South American coast until we neared The Falkland Islands. 

We hit a couple of small low pressure systems which gave us near-gale and occasioinally gale force winds, but onboard Imvubu that barely causes a ripple in one's martini. That was while we were still in the latitude of the 30s.  Surprisingly the Roaring Forties did not roar at all, and we did not encounter winds above 25 knots between latitude 40 and 50. In the 50s, the weather was more Souther Ocean-like, but not bad. 

As I mentioned in a previous post, we bypassed the Falklands and that might've been a good thing in the end. The Argentinians are still a bit sore about losing The Falklands War, and yachts have been fined for sailing directly to Argentina from The Falklands (which The Argentinians consider part of Argentina) without first getting a permit to go to The Falklands (which of course is English territory and populated by English people) from Argentinian authorities.

The whales that took such a liking to Imvubu were False Killer Whales, not Pilot Whales, I found by consulting a guide (a book, not a person nor a whale). At least that's what I think. See photo:

False Killer Whales (I think)

Around Dec 18 a pod of Commerson’s Dolphins played in Imvubu’s bow wave for a couple of hours. They are entertaining, sometimes getting airborne as well as swimming upside down and spiraling.  In The Straits Of Le Maire some Peale's Dolphins came to play for a few hours. 

Cooking:  To say we ate well is an understatement. Two main meals were had each day, and each person cooked both meals every other day. If there was a little friendly competition augmenting the cooking, Ralf won it hands down.

Sailing:  On one hand, being on Imvubu feels like being on a ship.  She displaces around 35 tons and is 57 feet long. I was surprised to find, though, that sailing and sail-handling was not that different from Twister. The sails are bigger, the sheets thicker, forces probably orders of magnitude greater, but still basically the same animal. 

Fishing: Ralf caught a large (over a meter long) Yellowfin Tuna near Vema Seamount . That one was let go as it was too large and we had no freezer space. Later, I landed two smaller Albacores which we honored by eating them.

Birds: lots of Albatrosses, petrels, shearwaters, fulmars, and LBJs. 

Bypassing Falklands

Mon 16 December. 1200 UTC. 43 deg 51 min S 55 deg 22 min W
We've been beating into and hove to in variations of westerly winds,
so progress has been slower than hoped. Unfortunately we'll bypass the
Falkalnd Islands in order to get to Ushuaia/Puerto Williams
(hopefully) by Christmas. We have landed two Albacore Tuna to
supplement our diet. Temperatures are dropping but days are getting
longer as we're getting farther south. Petrels and Albatrosses keep us
company.

Check the official Imvubu blog for more frequent updates:
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/imvubu/

1600 miles to Falkalnd Islands

Hi Yáll,
I'mvubu's position: 31 degrees 08 min S, 034 degrees 48 min W
It's day 19 from Cape Town and we're close-hauled sailing NW at the
moment since the wind is from the WSW. We had a nice visit from about
20 pilot whales today along with our usual entourage of petrels and
albatrosses, including a Wandering/Royal Albatross. Today was the
first time I've seen a flying fish and an albatross flying along side
by side. The plan is now to make landfall at The Falkland Islands
(which I'm pretty excited about--always wanted to go there) before
continuing on to Puerto Williams, Chile. If the winds cooporate we
should be at The Falklands within 10 days. Fishing has been slow. Ralf
caught a big tuna near Vema Seamount that we let go because it was too
big. I had something big on the line yesterday, but whatever it was
got off the hook before I could reel it in.
I appreciate all the SMS messages. Keep ém coming. I will be in touch
again when we get to The Falkland Islands.

Day 3 out of Cape Town

Imvubu departed Cape Town Monday Nov 18 just after midday, with Ralf
and LT onboard. A Jackass Penguin and a Mola-Mola (Sunfish) bid us
farewell as we motored out of the harbor. Leaving the lee of Table
Mountain, the wind freshened and soon Imvubu kicked up her skirts and
ran along with 25 to 35 knots from astern. Day two found us motoring
again for awhile and now we've had alovely 15 to 20 knot breeze more
or less on the beam with Imvubu doing 6 to 8 knots. Tomorrow we expect
to pass over Vema Seamount where the fishing promises to be good.

Back in South Africa

I arrived Durban the evening of November 6 and joined SV Imvubu at Bluff Yacht Club. It took me a bit under 9 months to sail Twister from Durban to Bergen, via Brazil and Florida (blue line on map). It took ca 18 hours (flying time) to do it by airplane via a more direct route (red line).

sailing vs flying

SV Honeybadger Imvubu

Imvubu looked sharp after a year of refitting which included new sails, new engine, a new galley, and much more. I spent two days in Durban as we put the finishing touches on Imvubu's refit and provisioned for the shakedown cruise to Cape Town. We (Ralf, Jenny, and I) departed Durban the morning of November 9 and motored, sailed, and motor-sailed the 811 nautical miles to Cape Town. The weather was uncharacteristically mild (for the South African coast) the entire passage (I don't think the wind was over 20 knots), and we arrived Cape Town late on Wednesday the 13th (4.5 days). Coming down the east coast, the amount of wildlife increased noticeably after we passed East London. We saw hundreds of Humpback Whales, many of them giving us impressive breaching displays. One appeared to get totally airborne. Also in attendance were Cape Gannets, albatrosses, seals, and a few Jackass Penguins.

We will spend a few days here in Cape Town fixing a few small issues that revealed themselves on the passage as well as provisioning for the South Atlantic crossing. We plan to depart Monday the 18th of November. Where we make landfall on the South American continent depends on the winds. 

No job, no work permit, what to do?

Imvubu and Twister in Durban 12/2012

Go sailing, of course. In early November I will join Ralf on his sailboat, Imvubu (yes, that is Zulu for hippopotamus), in Cape Town, South Africa. The plan is to sail across to Chile (which will probably entail a much longer passage than the great circle route. How long will depend, among other things, on the position of the South Atlantic/St. Helena high). From Puerto Williams, Chile we will sail to The Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands and back up to Chile. Should be fun. I met Ralf in Rodriguez and again in Reunion Island and South Africa where he completed his circumnavigation which took him through The Northwest Passage. When he mentioned that he was planning to sail to Antarctica next, I naturally volunteered. 
Today Twister pulled her keel out of the chilly waters of the Norwegian fjords and sat down on a cozy aluminum crib for the winter. The hull looked surprisingly good given all the abuse I've give it the last couple of years.

Some more data-entry and number-crunching yielded the following:

Total distance sailed San Diego to Bergen (not counting a few hundred miles of day-sailing/side trips and assuming shortest route between each data point):  32 286 nautical miles (29 224 nm solo)
Total time:  2 years, 132 days
Time at sea:  318 days, 10 hours (285 days solo)
Average speed:  4.22 knots

Best 24-hour run: 169 nm, 00:00 31/01/2013 to 00:00 01/02/2013, (2nd day out of Cape Town on passage to St. Helena) with some help from Benguela Current. 

Longest passage: both by time and distance was the first one from San Diego to Nuku Hiva: 2931 nm and 27 days 9 hours--Also the hardest passage (though weather-wise, very gentle). The second longest time-wise was also the slowest: Darwin to Cocos Keeling: 2022 nm in 26 days 12 h. One of the easiest passages. 

Fastest passage (speed-wise):  St. Helena to Recife: 1778 nm in 13 days 19 h = 5.68 knots average speed.

Dismasted (on purpose)

Some Numbers

In So-Cal before trip to Norway

From 28 August 2012 (Darwin, Australia) to 27 August 2013 (Bergen, Norway), Twister spent 190 days and 9 hours at sea (not counting Caledonian Canal and Lochs), covering a bit over 20 000 nautical miles (ca 23 000 statute miles or ca 37 000 km) for an average of 4.4 knots. More numbers to come as I get reacquainted with Excel.

More From Bridget - Scotland To Norway

Scotland is a fabulous land indeed and like most lands it seems there may be no better way to explore it than by sailboat. The sailors have gained the wisdom of the turtles that it is always smart to take your own home with you. 

I met up with Lars in Troon on the central west coast of Scotland on Wednesday, Aug 14.  Lars with his friend Jo came by Twister and I came by plane, bus, and 2 trains from Chicago via Glasgow.  We arrived in the evening and immediately started to embrace the Scottish culture with a few pints, a deep fried haggis (actually 2), and whisky for dessert.  The folks are friendly and always have a smile and a quick joke for you. 

A few days are spent in Troon mostly working on repairing the fuel pump, which had sprung quite a leak.  Again all the folks are incredibly kind with help from the engineers giving us a few missing parts and a few parts that go missing as we accidently drop bits into the seemingly bottomless bilge of the Twister.  People stop by to chat and take time to listen and swap tales.  On Friday (August 16) we are ready to sail on towards Corpach about 170 mile sail.  We toss the Frisbee, check the weather, shop for supplies and then head out around 4pm.  The weather check included some news of a gale approaching, but Lars determines we can handle a bit of gale and the islands should provide some protection assuming we get to the islands in a predicted 12 hours otherwise we will be a bit more vulnerable to the gale.  So on towards the gale we sail.  The departure from Troon is lovely with some sunshine, a seal waving good-bye, a small pod of tiny porpoises, numerous Northern Gannets and a single adorable puffin. 

Whether on land or on sea the weather in Scotland typically leaves something to be desired.  It is almost always chilly and is always changing, but usually any change still includes precipitation in some form such as a change from rain to drizzle to misty to colder to rain to pouring to drizzle.  The occasional show of sun is really appreciated. Therefore, it was wonderful that our initial departure had some sun as we sailed towards a lovely dusk and a patchy night sky with a waxing moon.  The weather through the night is wet and the wind picks up we are sailing in two hour rotations. I, luckily, seem to hit the better conditions and Lars is left to deal with rougher seas and a bit of a gale that hits in the early morning hours around 4am.  We didn’t make good time out of Troon and are still approaching a desired location when the gales arrive. We sail on into morning towards the Straight of Islay (eye-lah).  As we approach the straight the winds pick up significantly as they race down the hillsides and we have a rough run for an hour with 40+ knots wind and some rocks off the port side.  Lars is a great captain and gets us safely into the straits for a protected sail through beautiful Scotland.  The Sound of Islay perhaps a mile wide runs 12 miles between the green hills of the Isles of Islay and Jura.  We pass a few distilleries on the coast and although tempted we don’t stop because we have to make it through the sound before the tides turn and create a tidal current of a couple of knots against us.  We sail through the day with bits of sunshine and rain.  The evening Lars sails Loch Linnhe while I make up a pot of chorizo and veggie soup to warm us a bit. We sail all the way into Corpach at 6am with the first of the morning birds singing and welcoming us and we tie up at the entrance of the Caledonian Canal.

2 days in Corpach sipping Scotch, tossing the Frisbee, and hiking Ben Nevis the highest peak in the British Isles at 1344m. Split a bacon cheeseburger and duck with pancakes at the bottom of the Mountain.  Then, hitch a ride to a bus and return to the Twister for a well-earned shower and tea.  Mark and Maria of Mare Liberum arrive on Monday evening.

Tuesday morning, August 20, we start our way down the Caledonian Canal. The locks open at 8am so we head on into the first lock with 3 other boats including our friends Mark and Maria on their 27 foot Abin Vega, Mare Liberum.  Lars met them in Tonga and I had met them in Durban, South Africa.  The locks take a little bit of practice to master smoothly tossing and holding lines as we go through the locks, but we get lots of practice as the first mile of the canal through Corpach has 9 locks including 7 locks back to back to back in what’s called Neptune’s Steps.  Each lock moves the boat probably about 2- 4 meters (6-12 ft).  The Caledonian Canal built in the early 1800s connects the east and west coast of Scotland running 66 splendid miles from Corpach to Inverness.  The canal is 30 miles man made canal that connects the 36 miles of 3 natural lochs, including world famous Loch Ness.  The first day in 10 hours we complete 20 miles, through 14 locks, lots of swing bridges and a sail across Loch Locky.  Scotland is lovely land for a sail with green hills, trees, and canal sections that are winding little rivers through lush forests.  We spend the night tied up on a wall in Fort Augustus with Mare Liberum.  We are at the top of 5 locks that will lower us to Loch Ness in the morning and we can see Loch Ness waiting in the distance.  Fort Augustus is a nice little town full of friendly folks.  We enjoy a dinner of fish and chips and haggis at a local pub.

Wednesday, August 21 we awake to a beautiful sunshiny morning! Amazing. We brew up some coffee and head into the first lock at 8am.  The locks are full with 7 boats and there is not enough wall space for everyone. Therefore, to fit us in we have Mark and Maria of Mare Liberum raft up to us.  The morning is gorgeous and warm.  We are able to be in t-shrits and smile at the sun.  Maria and I are on the lock wall walking the boats from lock to lock and Lars is on the boat fending off the wall if we get too close. Mark down in Mare Liberum cooks up the most delicious egg, bacon, and tomato sandwiches, which we manage to carry along. The simple things in life that seem so magical; coffee, sunshine, bacon, sailboats, good friends, and smiles!  There are plenty of tourist snapping photos as the boats head through the locks and Lars gives them a show by climbing Twister’s mast steps to the top in his Wellington knee-high rubber boots and boardshorts to get some photos himself of the views of the locks and Loch Ness.

After 5 locks we motor out onto Loch Ness, which is the largest (30 miles long) and a deepest (1000 ft) of the lochs.  The sunshine is not meant to last and after a few miles on the lake we head into some thick fog although from above a bit of sunshine still sneaks through.  We head on down the loch and Lars asks if I want to surf Loch Ness.  I’m hesitant, because I’m already a bit chilly and the loch temperature is 12C (53 F).  But, I tell Lars I’ll pull him behind Twister.  Lars pulls out a board and screws in the fins. To surf we surfed sat on the edge of the boat as the boat was underway and put the surfboard in the water under our feet, then stood and slowly worked one’s way along the boat with a line in hand until you are surfing behind Twister. Lars is incredibly successful and gets a long ride along Loch Ness and manages to pull himself back onto Twister with only his feet wet.  I’m up next and I’m not so good and end up falling all the way into Loch Ness and got a chance to paddle around on the board.  Lars picks me up and we continue on our 11 mile trip (about 2 hours) to our first Loch Ness stop at a Urquhart Castle, where supposedly where the monster hangs out.  We anchor both boats and everyone jumps in for a refreshingly chilly swim.  Lars and I wear our masks and snorkels, but no luck spotting Nessie.  On we travel down the length of the Loch and back into the canal for a sunny evening to our final destination on the Caledonian Canal, Inverness.

We arrive and have a little happy hour celebration in Twister’s cockpit with the local favourite Scotch Whyte & MacCay before heading into Inverness for an evening of Indian food and live music and a local pub.  Scotland is full of interesting characters and we met a number of them on Wednesday evening. Lars carried his guitar and was requested to do some singing at the pub and he inspired a few others to play us some songs on his guitar. 

On Thursday morning we only have about a ½ mile of the canal to cover, which includes 5 locks.  We have now completed 28 of the 29 locks of the Caledonian Canal.  We tie up for a day of showers, laundry, water tank filling, and other little boat projects, so we are ready for the North Sea.  The evening is spent sharing a meal and great conversation in the cockpit with Mark and Maria.  We have a lovely sunset and a clear night with a nearly full moon and stars shining down. Also, across the canal we watch as folks let a large Chinese lantern float away into the night sky.

Today Friday, August 23 we head on toward the Shetland Islands (about 200 miles) on our way to Bergen, Norway (another 200 miles).  The GRIBs look good so on we go.

Scotland to Norway – Is that near here?

Friday, August 23 we pushed off the dock in Inverness with Mark and Maria and went about ¼ mile to the lock where we  were informed that the rail bridge wouldn’t swing fagain until 2pm.  We have an hour so we raft up to Mark and Maria at the lock and have lunch of eggs, bacon, beans, and salad. And our desert is Scottish Tea.  We share our last meal before we part ways. Lars and I will sail towards Norway and Mark and Maria head home to Sweden after 3.5 years and circumnavigating the globe.

We head out into the ocean and surprisingly the sea is glassy with little wind, which slowly dwindles to no wind. This is shocking to me after all the stories of gales on the North Sea, so we are forced to motor on, but we are confident the winds will pick up shortly.

As a parting gift from Mark we were given a set of feathered mackerel hooks.  Mark and Maria had been eating lots of mackerel on their trip through the British Isle. We started dragging the lines and within a few hours we had 3 mackerel in a bucket on board. Lars cleaned the fish and I take over in the kitchen and cook them up.  The fish are stuffed with garlic and onions that has been marinating in some olive oil, lime juice, and spices.  The fish are wrapped up in foil and cooked in the dutch oven.  Delicious! We eat 2 and save one for a fisherman’s breakfast in the morning of eggs, toast, tomato and fish.

The wind never makes an appearance and we motor on into the night rotating through 2 hours shifts.  The morning arrives, but alas no wind.  We continue to motor we get a few gust that give us hope that the wind can fill the sails.  We turn off the engine and try to go with sail power and Lars needs a nap, so I take over under light wind conditions. After some confusion and a few circles and time spent drifting in the wrong direction (I’m so glad Lars is sleeping for this) I get us moving in the right direction and we sail for about 2 hours and even get up to 5 knots, before the wind disappears and the engine is used again.  We motor along with BBC channel 2 keeping coming through the speakers with music, news, and the occasional radio drama. 

Our original plan was to head to the Shetland Islands, but now 24 hours into the trip and slow progress we realize it isn’t going to work with a plane waiting for me on Thursday in Norway.  We adjust our course from 37 degrees to 63 the bearing to Bergen, Norway and on we motor through the glassy North Sea.  Eventually, we decided to give the motor a break because we have a ¼ tank of diesel (40 hours of motoring) and don’t want to use it all on this side of the North Sea, because it is likely we’ll do some motoring on the eastside near Norway.  Therefore, we put up the main and turn off the engine, make slow progress of a few knots for a bit, and then we just bob about the sea.  We point towards Norway, but the prevailing currents are moving us 0.8 knots northwest.  Still we are 20 miles from anything, so the drift is okay. The mackerel are not tempted by the limp hanging line. Consequently, the dinner menu is changed and the evening of bobbing is spent cooking up delicious chorizo risotto with Thai curry, mushrooms, tons of garlic and onions. We make a buddy with a Northern Fulmar, Fluffy, and Lars tries to convince Fluffy  that onions, carrots, chorizo, and bread are a good part of any well balanced diet.  The Fulmar doesn’t agree, but still sticks around to keep us company for most of the evening.  The delightful combination of gin with ginger beer and guitar is celebrated throughout the evening.  The night is pleasant, and because we are not underway nobody has to be on watch so we can more or less sleep through the night.  Occasionally we have to deal with the AIS alarm, which beeps whenever an approaching boat, usually a cargo ship, is expected to get less than one mile from Twister.

Morning number 2, Sunday about 40 hours after departure from Inverness.  We awake without the wind.  We lost a few miles during the night drifting the wrong way.  Thus, we start up the engine and get back on course.  The calm conditions make cooking a bit easier and I’m galley chef-ing.  Along with coffee I cook up some Norwegian pancakes, with fillings of fresh blueberries, apples, strawberries, bananas, nutella, and raspberry jam. I was a bit hesitant to cook pancakes, because my last Twister pancake attempt was while crossing the Gulf Stream as we approach Florida and those rough conditions led to the batter covering most of Twister cabin and me feeling a bit sea sick as I attempted to clean it up.  Today the pancakes are delicious! And soon after breakfast we find a bit of wind and finally sail on. Then, we spot a PUFFIN! And a lone dolphin (perhaps a risso if they live in the Atlantic) joins us for a few minutes and runs our bow wave.  The day is looking good.  Lars checks a day’s progress from noon to noon everyday and today at noon we realize that we only made 44 miles the previous day.  However, now there should be good progress as we are sailing 5+ knots towards Bergen, Norway.  Plenty of birds fly past including lots of Northern Gannets and Fulmars and Sooty Shearwaters.  We do our good deed for the day and recover a Hello Kitty balloon and a 5 gallon fuel container from the water.  The night is peaceful with moon and stars.

Monday, August 26 Day 3

On Monday morning we have a bumpy boat and consistent wind, but not too much wind (perhaps 10 knots) making it good conditions for the beautiful blue and red asymmetrical spinnaker.  We raise the sail and start doing 6+ knots and as Lars said it would the asymmetrical sail reduces the bumpiness.   Breakfast burritos are served up on a blue sky morning. As we sail on towards Norway I check in with Lars about how he is feeling about now being less than 100 miles from his goal of sailing to Norway and Lars responds with “good.”  He was a bit more talkative on the subject when our estimated arrival time was 10 hours and he let out an “OMG!”

This is my longest passage on the Twister or any sailboat.  We are now at 3.5 days 84 hours of the estimated 100 hour passage.  So how do we pass the time? Well, of course, there are the small tasks that keep us busy like making coffee/tea, preparing a meal, checking the weather, adjusting the sails, putting sails up and down, an occasional nap, listening to a bit of news, fish cleaning, emptying the Pringle can, and picture taking.  One might think that lots of reading, games like scrabble and chess, movie watching and perhaps writing would happen, but actually most of the day is just spent staring or I guess watching the world go by. I haven’t even read a single page of my book and writing happens mostly with quick notes into the journal and the only real long entry was done by head lamp at night while I was on watch, because it was too dark to watch the ocean and too cloudy to watch the sky (this typing is occurring in the airport as I head home).  I find it surprising how I can just sit in the cockpit and watch the water go by.  We are hoping to see things like puffins and orcas, which requires watching the sea and today the watching was reward by seeing a pair of shark fins.  Sometimes you sit and help with the autopilot, Horny, a bit with the tiller and watch alone in the cockpit while the shipmate is projecting and sometimes we both just relax in the cockpit watching and conversing about observations, thoughts, cloud shapes, or birds going past.  Mostly I’m thinking about if I could really do this alone? 

It might seem boring to watch the world, but it is great.  Granted I’m only approaching day 4, so it is still a novelty to me. It is nice to have time just to be.  There is no e-mail, no text messages, no phone calls.  Think about the Otis Redding song, Sitting on the Dock of Bay, which clearly was written before people had cell phones in their pockets.  We are simply living that and he makes it seem like an incredibly enjoyable to let the time slip away and I think he was right.

Sing along….

Sittin' in the mornin' sun
I'll be sittin' when the evenin' come
Watching the dolphins swim in
And then I watch 'em swim away again, yeah

I'm sittin' on the Deck of the Twister
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I'm just sittin' on the Deck of the Twister
Lovin' time

I left my home in Cali
Headed for a Norway bay
'Cause I've have lots to live for
And look like everything’s comin’ my way

So I'm just gonna sit on the Deck of the Twister

Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I'm sittin' on the Deck of the Twister
Lovin' time

Look like nothing's gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can't do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I'll remain the same, yes

Sittin' here resting my bones
And this sailing dream won't leave me alone
It's 35,000 miles I roamed
Just to make this boat my home

Now, I'm just gonna sit on the Deck of the Twister
Watching the tide roll away
Oooo-wee, sittin' on the Deck of the Twister
Lovin' time

Watching the world roll by is a marvelous way spend the hours.  Today we observed numerous offshore oil rigs and imagined what how it would be to attempt to roast a giant marshmallow on the burn-off flames.  Late afternoon we wrote a nice little note, rolled it up, placed it in a bottle and tossed that bottle into the sea watching it float off towards our future friend.  Lars is in charge of dinner and the wind vane, Horny, is doing a fine job keeping us on course, so I join Lars in the cabin as he cooks fish soup with the single mackerel he pulled in today and some of our veggies.  He also gives me my first formal Norwegian lesson.  It starts easy with “Thank you” = “takk”,  “good morning”= “god morgen”, and he moves quickly along to me mastering important phrases like “Is there polar bear on the menu?” = “Er det isbjørn på menyen?” which is extremely helpful and, of course, my response to no polar bear on the menu is “okay. I’ll have a beer.” = “okay. Da tar jeg en øl.”

We have a cold and clear final night, which breaks into a beautiful sunrise and now we see the Norwegian coast 30 miles ahead.  We toss over a second message in a bottle and the North Sea passage finishes up smoothly.  As we approach the coast Lars takes down the Scottish courtesy flag and replaces it with a large Norwegian flag. Once to the coast we sail among the coastal islands and fjords.  We have gorgeous day. The sun is shining and the temperature is t-shirt appropriate.  The wind with some help from the tidal currents pushes us along at 6+ knots.  The scenery is stunning rock coasts and islands with lush forests speckled with adorable summer homes and cabins. We drag our hooks with the magic metallic mackerel feathers and pull 6 mackerels into the Twister.  We complete a challenging man overboard drill, which after many circles leads to the successful recover of 5 fishing floats Lars’ uses as fenders, which had slipped of their line.  Finally we approach a small inlet off the main fjord, which has a place to tie up Twister providing a new home for Lars and Twister 94 hours (4 days) since we left Scotland.  We barely finish tying the lines when the fantastic Norwegian welcoming committee appears with smiles, hugs, joy, and Norwegian flags!  Lars did it.  He sailed to Norway.  35,000 miles he has roamed from San Diego, California.  Congrats Captain Ship Monkey Larsadoodle!

The Norway Experience

The welcoming crew is composed of many members of Lars’ family including his mom, Berit.   Everyone excited to great Lars and the Twister. Everyone gets a Twister tour and then they take us away to Kurt and Mona’s house for some good food, family time, and showers.  Hurray for showers after a passage.  The house is lovely, as it seems to be of everything in Norway.  We are treated with a traditional Norwegian stew, lapskaus, and flatbread. Then, we move to the patio for cake, freshly whipped crème and ice cream.  While in the backyard we meet the electric sheep like autonomous lawn mower that is cruising about the yard trimming it.  Once finished it parks itself in the homemade  “dog” house provided for it.  The afternoon slips into evening as everyone swaps tales and Lars shares some of the pictures and stories from his travels. 

We return to the Twister, which is tied near Geir Olav’s (Lars’ cousin) cabin.  The water is a lovely shade of blue and crystal clear making it east to spot the sea stars on the kelp and rocks and also the jelly fish floating on by. We check to make sure Twister is still floating as the tide has dropped and we grab a few things.  Then, Geir Olav takes us up to the cabin where Lars and I will stay.  It is the most lovely and charming cabin I have ever visited. And now I fear my vocabulary will fail me as I try to describe the beauty and seeming perfection of this situation with a cabin on the hillside over looking the Twister and islands and a fjord. There is even a plum tree, veranda, and an old rocking chair.   We are tired from the passage, but enjoy a cheers on the deck with the view as darkness arrives.

I only have one full day in Norway, so we agree to wake up early to try and get on Twister by 7am for the two-hour morning “commute” to Bergen’s city center. There is a foot trail through the woods that takes us 2 or 3 minute to reach the Twister and we can gather blueberries and raspberries as we go! We push off and enjoy morning’s calm and beauty.  It’s a smooth sail with a cup of tea underway and we tie up to the wharf wall in Bergen.  The city is fantastic surrounded by 7 tree-covered mountains and well-maintained, colorful, old buildings and a bustling fish market greeting us at the waterfront.  We begin our all day Bergen walk about by heading to customs, then to the grocery store to pack a picnic in the daypack. Next, we wander the market, which is full of traditional Norwegian things like sweaters, trolls, sausages (lamb, moose, reindeer, and whale), and the fish market is full of a variety of edible sea creatures.  We walk old narrow cobble stone streets and meet Lars’ mom, Berit, for coffee.  Then, we head to get some stamps in our passport at the police station.  Nobody is too concerned about our presence in the country, but I did want the stamp in my passport for a souvenir.  We walk about a bit more and split a wild game sausage.  We take a little train car up one of the Bergen mountains, Fløien.  The weather is cooperating with blue sky and sunshine, so the view is spectacular of Bergen’s waterfront and the surrounding mountains, woods, lakes, islands and fjords.  We can spot the Twister’s mast down on the water.  We picnic with cheese, sausage, fresh rolls, and cider.  Then, wander the woods on the mountain top.  I learn that trolls are a common sighting in the woods, because they live not just under bridges in Norway, but also in their more natural habitat the woods.  We do spot a troll and get a photo with him.  Then, we walk down the mountain back to the city center.  We head to Berit’s home for Rømmegrøt, a traditional Norwegian sour crème porridge.  It is delicious especially with the cinnamon and sugar.  We sample a variety of thinly sliced meats for our flat bread including a Norwegian lamb slice and a lamb sausage.  Coffee follows the meal and Berit plays us a few songs on the piano as we insist.  Lars plays a few  tunes too.  Now late afternoon we head back out for a bit more sight seeing.  In a park with a large pond we spots lots of birds including some magpies and some strange colored black and grey crows.  We wander past an old church from the 1200s and past the colorful waterfront shops.  Norway is incredible.  The only draw back is the high prices. Seriously costly to be here for anything food, beverages and stuff.  A pint of beer at the grocery store runs $4-5 USA. 

We end up back at the Twister and Berit meets us for a happy hour cockpit.  We enjoy, cheers, and chat. Occasionally folks stop to ask about the American flag and the trip that would get a USA boat from California to Bergen.  Berit hugs us good-bye and waves as we push off the Bergen city wall and head towards sunset and the cabin in the woods.  We have a sunny motor assisted sail home, because of light winds.  We arrive at home and check the crab traps that Geir Olav had set for us with our mackerel the previous day.  We have no luck catching a crab, but did pull up at least a dozen sea stars of all sizes and colors.  We still have a healthy supply of Mona’s delicious lapskaus for a delightful dinner.

My final morning we rise and shine early in the fabulous cabin in the woods with the goal of answering the question of which is colder Loch Ness or the Norwegian fjord at 60 degrees north?  The dock jump is refreshing and probably about 13 or 14 degrees C and we both agree that Loch Ness was quite a bit colder.  Now wide-awake we head back to the cabin gathering raspberries and plums underway. We have breakfast of coffee and eggs and photos. And at 9:30am I head to the airport.   Whoa what a fabulous journey!!

Norway!

My norwegian phone number:  +47 41152200.  Photos from Norway and North Sea.

Twister in Bergen

Twister arrived Ebbesvik, Sotra (near Bergen), Norway the afternoon of Tuesday August 27 after a 4-day passage across The North Sea from Inverness, Scotland. We spent the better part of the first 24 hours becalmed, so since Bridget had a flight to catch in Norway, on day 2 we decided to set a course directly for Norway. After a bit of motoring, we finally found the southerly winds the GRIBs had been promising and the rest of the passage was incredibly pleasant (though the nights were a little chilly), even flying the A-sail for a good portion of the journey. The North Sea is littered with oil and gas platforms (the source of Norway's wealth) and we actually had to zig-zag a little to avoid some of them. It seems the North Sea is also full of Mackrell. We caught a few and also lost a few along the way.

Mackrell

Bridget's Take On The Caledonian Canal

Twister’s Adventures on the Caledonian Canal.

Tuesday morning, August 20, we start our way down the Caledonian Canal. The locks open at 8am so we head on into the first lock with 3 other boats including our friends Mark and Maria on their 27 foot Mare Liberum.  Lars met them in Tonga and I had met them in Durban, South Africa.  The locks take a little bit of practice to master smoothly tossing and holding lines as we go through the locks, but we get lots of practice as the first mile of the canal through Corpach has 9 locks including 7 locks back to back to back in what’s called Neptune’s Steps.  Each lock moves the boat probably about 2- 4 meters (6-12 ft).  The Caledonian Canal built in the early 1800s connects the east and west coast of Scotland running 66 splendid miles from Corpach to Inverness.  The canal is 30 miles man made canal that connects the 36 miles of 3 natural lochs, including world famous Loch Ness.  The first day in 10 hours we complete 20 miles, through 14 locks, lots of swing bridges and a sail across Loch Locky.  Scotland is lovely land for a sail with green hills, trees, and canal sections that are winding little rivers through lush forests.  We spend the night tied up on a wall in Fort Augustus with Mare Liberum.  We are at the top of 5 locks that will lower us to Loch Ness in the morning and we can see Loch Ness waiting in the distance.  Fort Augustus is a nice little town full of friendly folks.  We enjoy a dinner of fish and chips and haggis at a local pub.

Wednesday, August 21 we awake to a beautiful sunshiny morning! Amazing. We brew up some coffee and head into the first lock at 8am.  The locks are full with 7 boats and there is not enough wall space for everyone. Therefore, to fit us in we have Mark and Maria of Mare Liberum raft up to us.  The morning is gorgeous and warm.  We are able to be in t-shrits and smile at the sun.  Maria and I are on the lock wall walking the boats from lock to lock and Lars is on the boat fending off the wall if we get too close. Mark down in Mare Liberum cooks up the most delicious egg, bacon, and tomato sandwiches, which we manage to carry along. The simple things in life that seem so magical; coffee, sunshine, bacon, sailboats, good friends, and smiles!  There are plenty of tourist snapping photos as the boats head through the locks and Lars gives them a show by climbing Twister’s mast steps to the top in his Wellington knee-high rubber boots and boardshorts to get some photos himself of the views of the locks and Loch Ness.

After 5 locks we motor out onto Loch Ness, which is the largest (30 miles long) and a deepest (1000 ft) of the lochs.  The sunshine is not meant to last and after a few miles on the lake we head into some thick fog although from above a bit of sunshine still sneaks through.  We head on down the loch and Lars asks if I want to surf Loch Ness.  I’m hesitant, because I’m already a bit chilly and the loch temperature is 12C (53 F).  But, I tell Lars I’ll pull him behind Twister.  Lars pulls out a board and screws in the fins. To surf we surfed sat on the edge of the boat as the boat was underway and put the surfboard in the water under our feet, then stood and slowly worked one’s way along the boat with a line in hand until you are surfing behind Twister. Lars is incredibly successful and gets a long ride along Loch Ness and manages to pull himself back onto Twister with only his feet wet.  I’m up next and I’m not so good and end up falling all the way into Loch Ness and got a chance to paddle around on the board.  Lars picks me up and we continue on our 11 mile trip (about 2 hours) to our first Loch Ness stop at a Urchacht Castle, where supposedly where the monster hangs out.  We anchor both boats and everyone jumps in for a refreshingly chilly swim.  Lars and I wear our masks and snorkels, but no luck spotting Nessie.  On we travel down the length of the Loch and back into the canal for a sunny evening to our final destination on the Caledonian Canal, Inverness.

We arrive and have a little happy hour celebration in Twister’s cockpit with the local favourite Scotch Whyte & MacCay before heading into Inverness for an evening of Indian food and live music and a local pub.  Scotland is fully of interesting characters and we met a number of them on Wednesday evening. Lars carried his guitar and was requested to do some singing at the pub and he inspired a few others to play us some songs on his guitar. 

On Thursday morning we only have about a ½ mile of the canal to cover, which includes 5 locks.  We have now completed 28 of the 29 locks of the Caledonian Canal.  We tie up for a day of showers, laundry, water tank filling, and other little boat projects, so we are ready for the North Sea.  The evening is spent sharing a meal and great conversation in the cockpit with Mark and Maria.  We have a lovely sunset and a clear night with a nearly full moon and stars shining down. Also, across the canal we watch as folks let a large Chinese lantern float away into the night sky.

Today Friday, August 23 we head on toward the Shetland Islands (about 200 miles) on our way to Bergen, Norway (another 200 miles).  The GRIBs look good so on we go.

To The Shetland Islands

Since I was originally planning to be in the South Shetland Islands (Antarctica) now, I thought it appropriate to sail to the original Shetland Islands on our way to Norway. We plan to depart Inverness this afternoon with the high tide and hope to arrive The Shetland Islands Sunday the 25th. We'll only spend one day there before pressing on to Bergen Norway where we hope to arrive Wednesday the 28th of August.

Here are some photos from the UK.  

Troon To Corpach To Inverness

Twister departed Troon the afternoon of Friday the 16^th of August with Bridget and LT aboard. As we rounded the Kintyre Peninsula the wind freshened to 30+ knots and veered to the south/southwest.  Fortunately the next 30 miles were nearly dead downwind and Ireland prevented a big swell reaching us. We enjoyed about an hour beating into 40 knot winds as we tacked into the Sound Of Islay (which separates the islands of Jura and Islay, both famous for their distilleries).  

Once inside the sound, we had flat waters and 15 knots of wind as we glided past one distillery and then another. We were tempted to anchor and ask for a tour but decided to press on to Corpach and the southwestern entrance to The Caledonian Canal. Coming out the northern end of The Sound Of Islay, we found the wind had eased a bit and the remaining 60 or so miles to Corpach were smooth sailing. Arriving at first light Sunday the 18^th, we tied up to a pontoon and got a couple of hours of sleep before the lockmaster opened the first lock and let us into the canal. In Corpach/Fort William we made friends and sampled whiskeys at the nearest pub, and hiked Ben Nevis (the tallest mountain in The British Isles at 1344 meters).  Mark and Maria on Mare Liberum arrived Corpach Monday night, and Tuesday morning we started together our journey along The Caledonian Canal.  

Twister in The Caledonian Canal

View From Ben Nevis

Today which Wednesday the 21st, finds us motorsailing along Loch Ness (we are keeping our eyes peeled). We plan to anchor by Urquhart Castle, have a swim and look at the castle before proceeding to Inverness this evening. 

To Corpach

Twister arrived Troon, Scotland the afternoon of Wednesday the 14th less than an hour after Bridget. After a night out with Bridgtet and me in Troon, Jo headed back to England. Yesterday was mostly dedicated to fixing the fuel pump on Twister's diesel engine. I was surprised and pleased to find that I could removed the pump without pulling out the engine. Once out, it was easy to replace the leaky diaphragm. I was also a little surprised that the engine ran without problems after I put the pump back on. 

Today it's Friday the 16th and Bridget and I will be departing Troon around 1600, with destination Corpach where the Caledonian Canal begins. It's about 170 miles, so we'll probably arrive Sunday morning. A gale warning has just been issued, so it could be a wet and bumpy ride. 

Falmouth to Padstow to Troon

Departed Falmouth Wednesday morning and arrived Padstow (on the other side of Cornwall) 24 hours (almost to the minute) later, right at high tide. Timing is important in these parts as tides are big and most harbors are shallow. Today it was a 6 meter difference between low and high tide. The inner harbor where Twister is now rafted to two other sailboats is only acessible the for two hours either side of high tide (less on neap tides). The rest of the time a gate holds the water in and the boats afloat--otherwise it would dry out well before low tide.

Padstow was a quaint little fishing village about 50 years ago, I reckon. Today it's mainly a tourist attraction, though some fishing boats still call Padstow home. Mooring in the inner harbor is a bit like being in a fish bowl with hundreds of tourists milling about, looking at the boats, and, strangely, fishing for the filthy little harbor crabs which they then throw back.

Friday and Saturday Gary of La Cueca fame (whom I first met in Rangiroa in French Polynesia and several ports thereafter and who sailed with me on Twister from New Zealand back to Fiji) and Tamsin came over from London and Isle of Wight to visit me in Padstow. We had a lovely evening with dinner and wine on Twister Friday. Saturday we took the ferry across the estuary to Polzeath (well to Rock, nearby, to Polzeath by car) where we had a nice day at the beach with some more friends, Ian and Sophie. Gary seems to be adjusting well to life on land. Check out some very good photos from La Cueca's Pacific crossing here (I think mostly taken by Rory who was co-captain with Gary on La Cueca).

Sunday morning Twister departed Padstow with new crew: Jo, whom I met in New Zealand but who is back home in the UK now, has got the sailing bug and wanted to sail with Twister to get a taste of passage-making in a small boat.

Wedneseday the 14th 1100 UTC finds us cruising along The Firth Of Clyde. We are ca 25 miles from Troon, Scotland where Jo will get off and Bridget will get on. Last night, becalmed in The Irish Sea, we started the engine. I soon noticed the familiar smell of diesel. Opening the engine compartment, I found diesel dripping (somewhere between dripping and pouring) from the fuel pump at a good rate, so we had to kill the engine. Consulting some manuals leads me to believe that the diaphragm in the fuel pump is the culprit. The rest of the night we ghosted along at 1 to 2 knots up the Irish Sea with Northern Irleland to our left and The Isle Of Man to our right. This morning, the wind returned and since then we've been averaging 5.5 knots in the southerly breeze. 

Falmouth

Laura with Helford River in background

My UK phone:  +44 (0) 7904149790. Call anytime (if calling from outside UK, omit the 0 in parentheses).

Twister remains anchored in Falmouth where I've been relaxing and sampling some local ales. My friends Stu and Laura (whom I met in Cocos Keeling and saw again at Reunion Island and Richard's Bay, South Africa. They completed a circumnavigation earlier this year, crewing on several boats) were kind enough to come over from Plymouth, where they live, and show me around this weekend. Saturday we enjoyed some delicious mussels at a pub overlooking The Helford River a few miles from Falmouth. I plan to depart Falmouth Wednesday morning and sail to Padstow on the northwest Cornish coast, possibly stopping at Isles Of Scilly on the way. Some of you may have noticed that I'm behind the schedule I posted earlier in the year (I should be in Norway by now). As a result, I've had to decline my job with AMLR (antarctic research cruise) this year. Now my aim is to arrive Bergen, Norway by the end of August, which gives me a few weeks to explore the British Isles. From Padstow the plan is to sail to the SE corner of Ireland, Isle Of Man, then perhaps directly to Fort William where the Caledonian Canal begins. The Caledonian Canal will take Twister to Inverness and The North Sea. From there it's a straight shot to Bergen (with the option of heading north to The Shetland Islands first). 

England

Horta, Faial, Azores to Falmouth, UK

The ~1250 nm passage (rough estimate including some deviations from direct route) took 12.5 days--better than I had expected based on the forecast I left with. Saw some whales, a mola-mola, lots of Cory's Shearwaters (birds), and a fair bit of rain and clouds. Arrived Falmouth, UK around 0100 July 31, 2015. Anchored next to another Twister--actually the first one I've seen besides "Twister."

Thursday 18/07-2013, 1630 UTC

Sailing past Ilha Sao Jorge, 1 mile of point ____ on the NW side of the island, which is standing dramatically out from the clouds and fog. Departed Horta today 1210 UTC in gusty conditions as winds and tidal streams funneled through Canal Do Faial between Faial and Pico. It took maybe ten minutes to motor out of the harbor, get the sails up, turn off the engine, and put Willie Nelson’s, “On The Road Again” on the stereo.

2130 UTC.  Passed SE point (name?) of Ilha Graciosa just after sundown. No obstacles until British Isles. Time for bed.

Friday 19/07-2013, 1800 UTC

Ca 100 miles out from Horta. Sperm Whale city today. Saw at least 6, including a mother and calf with whom I had a close encounter. After I sailed perhaps 10 meters from the pair, they started following Twister, and I was afraid I had pissed off momma, but I think it was just baby being curious. I guess they’re used to whale watchers in these waters (one of the top tourist activities in The Azores).

Saturday 20/07-2013

Very light winds, Twister ghosting along at 1-2 knots. Took perhaps the last chance for a warm-ish water swim, along with the several hundred little fishies that had taken up residence under Twister. Here is a video of Twister gliding along with poled-out A-sail. Not very exciting, but if you're feeling stressed, maybe watch the whole video. 

Sunday 28/07-2013

First 5 days were all sub-100 miles days, with several instances of dead calm. Second half has been much better as a weak low pressure system to the north of us has been gently pushing Twister along at a comfortable pace. Temperature is getting cooler and lots of little fronts with associated clouds and rain have been the norm. Now it’s actually sunny and we have ca 270 miles to Falmouth. Latest forecast looks like we’ll have favorable winds the whole way. (Hopefully not premature) I am rather surprised (and pleased) to have crossed the North Atlantic in the westerlies and not encountered a single gale. Of course there's still The North Sea. 

Monday 29/07-2013

Sailed past a Mola-Mola (sunfish). He/she was just lying on the surface, sunning himself, as they do, with one fin/flipper poking out of the water as if waving hello and goodbye. 

Latest additions to North Atlantic photo album.   I've got a UK phone.  The number is:  +44 (0) 7904149790
(I think omit the 0 in parentheses if dialing from outside of UK). Call or txt anytime.

Northwards

I have decided to set sail for England tomorrow. Roughly 1250 miles to Falmouth via the great circle route. Forecast is for favorable winds for 2 days. After that it looks very variable, but no gales hopefully. I expect a passage of ~14 days. 

Update from Faial

It's been a relaxing stay in Horta. Mare Liberum arrived just after midnight on the 11th. They've been keeping me company since. Yesterday we went to the scrimshaw museum above Pete's Bar, followed by a

Scrimshaw

van ride to the big volcanic crater near the top of the island and a bicycle ride back down to Horta.

The previous day, we got a tour of the French oceanographic research ship Porquis Pas which is a hefty 107 meters (pretty big for a research vessel). Among its capabilities are two submarines--one manned and one unmanned. They're in The Azores doing some bathymetry work for the French military.

Pourquoi Pas

Between the 10th and the 13th the class 40 race boats taking part in the Les Sables - Horta - Les Sables race arrived Horta. They are impressive looking sailing machines. Sort of paradoxically these high-tech boats are reverting to some old-fashined methods to minimize weight--many blocks and the running backstays are fastened with lashings (rope), for example.

Class 40 race boats

Here is the latest version of the Horta yacht art photo album, and here is the latest photos from The North Atlantic, including Azores. 

Bermuda to Horta, Faial Island, Azores, Portugal

Twister arrived Faial this morning, Monday July 8 after a 20-day passage from Bermuda. As expected it was a slow one. I sailed around 1850 miles and had several sub-100 mile days. Latest photos from North Atlantic here.

Thursday 20/06-2013

Departed St. George’s Harbor, Bermuda Tuesday 18/06, 1645 UTC ca ½ hour after Mark and Maria on Mare Liberum. We had decided to race to Horta, the loser(s) having to buy the

Mare Liberum on the way to Azores

winner(s) a beer. Mare Liberum is an Albin Vega 27 (27 feet) like Paul’s Rebellion, though a few years older. When we were a few miles out of the channel into St. George’s Harbor, Atlantic Explorer, the kickass, recently refurbished research vessel from Bermuda Biological Station, was coming back from its latest research cruise.

     In the ca 10 knot southerly breeze I decided to put up the asymmetrical spinnaker (A-sail) to close the gap (actually, the real reason I put it up was so I could close the gap and then have Mark or Maria take some photos of Twister sailing--something that's difficult to do sailing solo). Anyway, it did the trick and once Mark pointed out that I wouldn’t be able to pass them in their lee (because I kept ending up in their wind shadow and then lost speed) I left them in my wake (after we had snapped some photos). By sundown I had maybe a 2 mile lead. I dropped the A-sail (I rarely fly it at night because if the wind kicks up, getting it down can be like wrestling an angry Honey Badger). By morning, we were still about 2 miles apart. We stayed within eye shot the rest of day 2, but by the next morning, I couldn’t see them (though I did hear them on the VHF radio).

     So far, lovely sailing in light southerly breeze. Averaging just over 100 miles  per day. Hope this keeps up.

Saturday 22/06-2013

35° 26’.2 N 059° 16’.4 W (325 miles from Bermuda). Ghosting along at 1-2 knots. The ocean looks like a mill pond (but bigger and bluer). I was just contemplating a swim when I saw a pair of rather un-cetacean-like fins checking out my fishing lure and decided to wait (I think it was actually the dorsal and tail fin of one shark)

Tuesday 25/06-2013

Found The Gulf Stream again this AM. With a 2 knots boost, Twister is going 7.2 knots in a light NW breeze (though way off the desired course). Yesterday the wind came back after spending the previous two nights drifting (backwards due counter-current) with the sails down (no wind, so to minimize damage from flogging sails and to maximize my sanity as the sound of slatting sails drives me mad). The conventional wisdom on this passage is to head north from Bermuda until the latitude of Azores is reached, then turn right and follow the direct course. This is because the area between Bermuda and Azores is right where the North Atlantic High (pressure) likes to sit in the summer, and there’s usually no wind in the middle of a high. So that’s what I’m trying to do now (ie head north to where the wind is). I guess I got something big on the fishing line yesterday as the steel leader parted and whatever it was disappeared with my lure.

Wednesday 26/06-2013

Had a nice swim today. Twister gliding along at 2 knots. No problem keeping up (but I did have a line dragging behind the boat just in case). It seems we are no longer in the Sargasso Sea. I’ve only seen isolated clumps of Sargassum here and there, and the wind-vane autopilot has not been interfered with. However, I have seen more garbage on this passage than I have on any other (no big piles, just isolated bits—parts of Styrofoam cups, drinking straw, plastic wrappers, polyethylene bottles, fluorescent light tube, a flip-flop (sandal), various un-ID's bits,

North Atlantic garbage patch

and I’m pretty sure I saw a cigarette butt.). I guess that’s from being near the center of the North Atlantic Gyre where stuff floating on the surface accumulates. Also lots of Portuguese Men-Of-War.

Thursday 27/06-2013

Second dolphin visit of the passage today (first one was yesterday evening). Lying in my bunk, reading, ca 2 hours before sundown I heard the now familiar squeak-squeak which in dolphin means, “come out and play.” So I sat on the bow for a while as 10-15 Atlantic Spotted Dolphins (I think—they were spotted anyway) cavorted around Twister. By that time, some actual wind had arrived, and Twister was galloping along at 6.5 knots, so I couldn’t (safely) join them in the water. 

29/06-2013. 1030 UTC

Just over halfway. Lovely conditions. Now ca 10 knots of wind on the beam. Going 6+ knots on the right course. Just finished Bertrand Russell's History Of Western Philosophy. Came across a good quote from Jeremy Bentham: "Wars and storms are best to read of, but peace and calms are better to endure."

1530 UTC

Becalmed again. Saw 5 turtles today as well as 4-5 pods of dolphins, hundreds of jellyfish, petrels, and un-ID's shiny little things. Tried to go swimming with a turtle, but they are shy. Picked up a fishing-net float. It had quite an eco-system growing on it--crabs, barnacles, many things I couldn't ID--so I put it back.  

Sun 30/06-2013. 0900 UTC

Becalmed all night. Slept very well with the sails down. 

Wed 03/07-2013. 0900 UTC

I think I have conquered my fear of the A-sail. Yesterday ran all day with it (first with the mainsail, then just A-sail poled out as wind veered from SW to WSW) without problems (in the past, it has often ended with my swearing never to use that sail again). Horny the wind vane was able to steer. Averaged around 5 knots in the 8-10 knots breeze. Strangely enough, Radio Australia is the station coming in best on the SSB (shortwave). Almost exactly the opposite side of the earth. 

06/07-2013. 1834 UTC

Two days ago when it was blowing a solid 30 knots on the beam and pissing down rain (due to a small low and associated front) I had (again) abandoned all thoughts of taking Twister around Cape Horn (some day). This afternoon it's sunny with 15 knots on the quarter and I'm already having second thoughts about my second thoughts. 

Sun 07/07-2013. Ca 12 miles from Faial

A turtle, multiple dolphin pods, and a sperm whale (first one I've seen) were the welcoming committee to The Azores. Close-reached the last ~20 miles to Faial with my new friend the A-Sail then spent the night becalmed a couple of miles off the coast. 

Sperm Whale

Finished The Koran. Surprisingly, most of the stories are from The Torah (Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Josef, Egypt, Moses, and The Exodus) but in very abridged form and then repeated ad nauseum. Also a couple prophets and New Testament--Jonah (and the whale/fish), Jesus (virgin birth is corroborated, but Jesus is not divine). My favorite passage from the Koran:  
"We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents...At length, when he reaches the age of full strength and attains forty years..."  Chapter 46 (Al-ahqaf) verse 15.  

Tues 09/07-2013. Horta, Faial

The Azores are near or on the route for most eastbound trans-North-Atlantic crossings, so the majority of sailboats stop here (it was Joshua Slocum's first stop after departing North America. Have I mentioned that Joshua Slocum was a badass?). Horta in Faial is the best harbor in The Azores and most don't go anywhere else. I've read that somewhere around 1000 sailboats stop here every year (and most do so in the summer months). Of course not all have crossed the Atlantic. Many come from various places in Europe. It has long been a tradition for the crews to paint a mural/calling card to commemorate their stop in The Azores, so now almost every square foot of concrete around the marina is covered in these. Fortunately for me, a boat named Twister has already been here, saving me the work (by coincidence, that mural is very close to where Twister is tied up (rafted to a Hans Christian 43, a lovely double-ender with a big bowsprit).