happened. Right now we're bouncing around in the anchorage off Ordnance Island in St
George, Bermuda.
We arrived here by accident because we had no intention of being here at all.
Our destination was Antigua in the Caribbean, and no, this is not the result of
my navigation skills!
We sailed out of Norfolk, Virginia on Wednesday, April 24 with our fingers
crossed. It's a bit of a long story, but we were given wrong advice by US
Customs/Homeland Security when we arrived in Key West in July last year. As a
result the extension we were told we'd get to enable us to stay and work on our
boat didn't happen and we were left with no time to get ourselves and our boat
out of the USA before our legal time expired.
With left hand and right hand so at odds with each other we couldn't take the
risk of putting ourselves in the hands of some official who could deport us, or
help us, depending on their particular interpretation of the rules, or mood.
We decided to lie low and get on with the boat work as best we could and
hopefully slip away under the radar. We had succeeded so far, but we'd been
boarded coming into the USA off Florida when all our papers were in order. We
sure didn't need that repeated on the way out.
That 12 mile limit took forever, mainly because the wind was such that we had
to head northeast, rather than due east from the bottom of Chesapeake Bay. Our
planned route was to head towards Bermuda to get as much easting as we could
before arcing south to Antigua.
We left on a stiff breeze and Tom was on watch. He was sailing to Antigua
with us because the North Atlantic can be a handful, and we were still finding
things that needed modifications, particularly to the roller furling gear we'd
installed. I felt it was prudent to have an extra hand on board until the boat
was tested and sound.
With Bermuda in his sights Tom pushed the boat hard and we quickly found
Wind Wanderer could skip along at 10.4 knots with water covering the decks
from time to time. The downside was that it was extremely rough and stuff
below was getting thrown about and wet as water forced it's way in through the
seals of closed hatches.
We changed course and the ride improved considerably, although we had a more
northerly trajectory than we wanted.
Eventually we were out of American waters without clearing out and we felt
and enormous burden roll off our shoulders. We wondered what reception we'd get in
Antigua.
We'd checked the websites before leaving and it was clear the Gulf Stream was
all over the place. We'd hoped for a narrowish belt of strong current without
northerly wind building up the waves, that we could punch across quickly. No
such luck.
For 2 and a half days we bounced about, taking a heavy toll on boat and crew.
Tom and Sandy were fighting nausea. I seem to have been lucky in that regard.
Two days out the outhaul on the mainsail chafed through and the main was left
to flog in 20 knot winds. Fortunately I could furl it quite easily on the new
furler without damage to the sail. We quickly identified the fact that the booms
rotate as the cause of the chafe and stopped the mizzen boom's rotation with a
line to a winch, pulled up tight.
Wind Wanderer ploughed on under jib and jigger (headsail and mizzen)
at a very respectable 7.5 knots. The ride was easing and the sea was a deep
royal blue. We were across the Gulf Stream, even though was still had very
large, lumpy seas.
By now our course was taking us south of Bermuda but we were still managing
to go east before our run down to the Caribbean. At this point there was no
problem sailing on with the immobilizing of the booms to be tackled when we got
there.
Until Sandy noticed our davits had developed a rakish lean to port! All the
pitching had been too much for them and the stainless steel box sections and
some welded joints had developed cracks. To be honest, they were poorly designed
but had held up for the previous owners so we felt they were probably ok. We had
more than enough other work we were doing. They needed gussets and some form of
bracing to help them cope with lateral pressure.
The combination of the mizzen sheet attached to the centre of the front
cross beam and the weight of the dinghy was just too much in the rough crossing
and they were going to abandon ship if we didn't do something.
We braced them with crossing lines pulled up tightly on the winches and that
arrested their merry little swing. The thought of losing the solar panel we'd
installed, and the davits themselves, not to mention the challenging task of
getting the dinghy back and on board in very disturbed seas left us no choice
but to alter course and motor sail to Bermuda. It took another day and a half
to get there and we made it on Sunday night.
Tom lived in Bermuda for 6 months about 30 years ago and has sailed here at
least half a dozen times, so felt comfortable with a night entry. While the
channel is well lit, the entry is via The Cut, which is literally a passage cut
through the hill to get into the lagoon. At night it is very disconcerting with
enough shore lights to make navigation difficult.
We made it, but not before colliding with an unlit buoy which Sandy saw too
late to avoid it. It was a huge plastic thing so only took a bit of paint off.
We immediately slowed down and missed the next one by a whisker!
We'd had contact with Bermuda Harbour Radio and so they were expecting us.
We'd told them we'd left from Norfolk, Virginia. By the time we got here they'd
established we'd left without checking out.
We tied up at the customs wharf and went in. We handed in the spear gun and
flares and completed the formalities. Would you believe they didn't even ask why
we'd left the USA without clearing customs? They weren't the least bit
interested!
So, here we are in Bermuda. Legal at last.
The next bit of Bermuda soon.
Until next time...