Caribbean 1500 - Sapphire - We arrived safely last Tuesday!

Hi Everyone,

Sorry we have been so out of touch! We lost our offshore email system
just as we were leaving and were unable to send email updates. This
is the first day I have been on email since we arrived. We are alive
and well and had a great trip.

We had winds behind us the whole way and Sapphire does not do as well
in those conditions. We left our spinnaker at home (because it takes
up a lot of room and we use it very little), so we did not make great
time. We did have a great time!! We caught 4 mahi-mahi and one that
was 63' long and weight approximately 55 pounds. Fred picked out the
lure, Jim caught it (took 45 minutes), Bill cleaned it and I took
pictures!! So it was a team effort. I will send out pictures in a
few days when I get a good signal, so you can see for yourself how big
he was!

We had dolphins visit twice, once they stayed a long time and we have
a picture and video.. not sure I can email that... it may be too big.
All in all it was our best trip ever! Thank you so much Jim and Fred,
you guys made it happen! They were outstanding crew members.

I will write more in a few days and hopefully include pictures! Just
wanted to get this out and let you know we are alive and well.

It was very sad that a boat was lost in the Bahamas. They were
advised not to go, but the owner's wife wanted off the boat so they
decided to divert to the Bahamas. The cuts going in can be very
dangerous with huge seas. A wave washed over the boat, taking the
dinghy and davits, the bimini and doger and mast, and everyone on
board. They crawled back on the boat and THEN put on their life vests
and deployed their emergency life raft. It was swamped and three of
them were washed up on the beach. One crew member was never found.
It was really a tragedy.

I will write more soon... just wanted to let all of you know we are
OK! Sorry you couldn't get the daily updates!!

The Crew of Sapphire,

Bill, Linda, Brie, Jim and Fred

Caribbean 1500 Day 6 - everyone (except Fogger, of course) wore their life vests & harnesses

Overnight, the sea was filled with big swells. Sunsets handled them all very well. As the wind started to clock back towards the NW and W, we were able to set our sails and surf those swells with few changes throughout the night. There were a couple squalls with wind gusts in the 30s & 40s, but they were short lived. During those periods, Sunsets just FLEW down the rhumb line like a rocket ship. You could hear and feel the power from down below. Up in the cockpit, everyone (except Fogger, of course) wore their life vests & harnesses and latched onto the jacklines (the safety lines that run up and down the length of the boat), just in case.

With the pitching of the boat and the incredible speed (she is rarely below 10knots) as well as a few mishaps, making coffee has become a two-person job. One person holds the pot and the melita filter with the coffee and the other person pours the boiling water. You can't do both yourselves because you need one free hand to steady yourself. Even adding the cream and sugar to your coffee cup is a challenge. You can't set the cup down to tear open the sugar or open the cream; otherwise your cup will tip over and spill coffee everywhere. You can't hold the pot and pour the water into it or the filter full of web coffee grinds will go everywhere when you let go to balance yourself after a particularly big wave. (Both of these examples are from recent personal experience.) But we all know how important coffee is, so we accept the challenge boldly and without reservation. (NO COFFEE, WHAT? THERE'D BE MUTINY, I TELL YOU!!)

The rolly-polly waves always put me to sleep. I just love being in a bunk and feeling the boat move around me. Since we have been pitching side to side, Howard and I have taken to sleeping across the width of our bunk instead of head at the top. That way we can have our heads on the UP side of the slant and brace our bodies against the wall of the cabin. Unfortunately, as you fall asleep, you forget to do the bracing thing. I walked into the cabin to find Howard fast asleep and sliding back and forth across the mattress. The boat would pitch to the right, and he would slide to the right. The boat would pitch to the left, and he would slide to the left. Within a short time, all of the sheets and blankets were scrunched up into a pile in the corner of the bunk. I'm convinced that there's not point in remaking the bed until we get to Tortola.

The weather report says the winds are supposed to die off today and into the weekend. But right now, we are getting 20-30knt winds on our beam and we are SCREAMING down the rhumb line to the finish. Unfortunately, this wind is not expected to keep up, but for the last hour it has been a spectacular ride with an absolutely gorgeous blue sky dotted with beautiful puffy clouds. We just surfed down a wave and hit 15knots of speed!! YEE-HA!! You don't get that every day. Unless I wait around for a few minutes and HERE WE GO AGAIN!!! Whew this is great!!

My only complaint is that it's HOT down below. Guess I'll just have to go sit in the cockpit and enjoy the sun and breeze. Ahhhh.

Gotta go-- looks like George may have just snagged another Mahi Mahi!!!

Kelly
aboard s/v Sunsets
N23-16 / W66040

Caribbean 1500 Day 5 - As Fogger would say: Going overboard is stupid; just don't do wo it.

Had the privilege of watching another beautiful sunset last night and an equally beautiful sunrise this morning. There is nothing quite as dramatic as watching the sun rise or set over water. Each and every time is special and unique. Of course, laying in the cockpit and looking up at the zillions of stars is pretty awesome too. The Milky Way is so thick and bright out here and shooting stars abound. Some of the stars are so bright we mistake them for ships.

We are about 700 miles from home and about 250 miles from the Bahamas rightnow. There are some large sea swells that have started to roll in as a result of weather out near Bermuda. They are beautiful (so far), but at 15-20feet high, they may not be that attractive after a couple of hours of UP and DOWN and LEFT and RIGHT and shouts of DUCK!! from our crewmates.

We try to set our sails pretty conservatively during the night so if a squall comes up, we won't have to try to raise or lower sails in the dark. Our boat is different from others this size-- the main sail has be raised and lowered from the mast on deck, not from the cockpit. To get out there, the crew ember takes the harness strap that is connected to his life preserver and attaches it to the boat at different points as he walks
forward. (As long as that crew member is not Fogger who is stubborn about wearing his harness. Tisk, tisk.) With the harness, if a big wave comes aboard and washes the crew member overboard, he may not go too far as long as he is tethered. As Fogger would say: Going overboard is stupid; just don't do it. So we won't.

We've had a couple intense squalls run up on us. Once or twice we weren't able to shorten sails. When that happens, it's a fast, fast ride (15kts at one point!!). It takes a lot of muscle power to keep the boat under control with 50knot winds!! The stressful part when it first hits probably only lasts less than 2 minutes, but it feels much, much longer. Once the bulk of the squall passes, it's amazing how fast Sunsets can actually progress.

Some of the fleet have reported seeing whales and dolphins. One boat had a seabird sit in the cockpit for a couple hours. Besides George's mahi-mahi yesterday, the only fauna we can report on is a stowaway stink bug!! We found him sitting on our ditch bag. Guess he wanted a guarantee that he'd get in the life raft if it was deployed. He's fish food now. [One less stink bug to chase out of your house, Anita!]

It's actually kind of lonely out here. Because we are a "fast" boat, the rest of the fleet is a bit behind us. We have seen NO ONE since we entered the Gulfstream. And we haven't heard anyone on the VHF radio either. In fact, we've only seen one freighter. That was late last night. Our AIS system alerted us that the freighter would be dangerously close to us if we stayed on our same course. Howard slowed the boat a little to let the freighter pass while I called them on the VHF radio to make them aware of our intentions. The last thing we needed was both of us slowing down to avoid the hit and then hitting each other. And, when we're going fast, it's surprisingly loud. The cockpit is blanketed by the sound of the water from our wake. You really have to speak up to hear each other. And down below, the occasional crashing as Sunsets cuts through the waves is both loud and disconcerting.

This afternoon, the big swells are here. Ed is hand steering under Fogger's watch. Steering through waves like this is as much an art as it is a science I think. You have to feel where the boat is going to go. You can feel her lift up on the swell, the wind catches her at the crest and spins her a bit and then she slides back down on the back of the swell. It takes strength
and talent to keep the sails full of wind so you can control the boat while all this is happening.

Swells make down-below living quite a challenge. Especially challenging is using the stove. The stove is on a "gimbal" so it pivots back and forth so that the food inside of it stays level. It's really challenging trying to get something in or out of the oven when it's wildly pitching. It really does take two people. See, cooking is NOT easy, I don't care what anyone says.

Gotta go. The sun is about to set and I don't want to miss it. And I have to get dinner going. I had planned for meatloaf tonight, but I simply cannot find the loaf in my freezer. [Janel--I think the scupper people took it.] So it's going to be chicken stir-fry of some sort and it's going to be served
in a bowl because it's way too rough to try to eat off a plate. Which reminds me, the foodies need a menu update:

Wednesday night: Jeff's pulled pork bbq and collard greens. hursday night: Janel's mock lasagna Today, for lunch: Pick your leftover (cause we had leftovers from every meal we served so far.)

More later.
Kelly aboard s/v Sunsets
N26-14 W68-18

Future Darwin Award Nominee

Another view:

Letter to Northern Yacht Club Mens Helpline

Hey Mate, really need your advice for a serious problem:

I have suspected for some time now that the missus has been cheating. The usual signs; phone rings, if I answer the caller hangs up; going out with the girls a lot. I try to stay awake to look out for her when she comes home but I usually fall asleep.

Anyway last night about midnight I hid in the shed behind the boat. When she came home she got out of someone's car buttoning her blouse, then she took her panties out of her purse and slipped them on.

It was at that moment crouched behind the boat I noticed... a "hairline crack" in the outboard mounting bracket.

Is that something I can weld or do I need to replace it?

2010 Awards

2010 Novice Sailor: Mark, Monique St. Denis – X TA SEA

2010 Family Award: Lawrence, Heather Brownell – Rapture

2010 Racing Family: Keith, Carol, Aiden Holm – Auberg

2010 Super Cruiser: Wade Glew, Susan Angus, - Oh Boy

2010 Volunteer of the Year: Ann Peikoff – Deja Blue

2010 Single Handed Sailor: Paul Moorey – Swordfish

2010 Race Committee: Blair Magnus – Grand Cru

2010 Safety Race: Wendy, Blair, Peter, Ann Magnus - Grand Cru

2010 Summer Solstice Pursuit Race: Wendy, Blair, Peter, Ann Magnus - Grand Cru

2010 Warroad Race: Ian Kelly, Carol Ann Kjartanson - Raven

2010 Commodore's Cup Pursuit Race: Wendy, Blair, Peter, Ann Magnus - Grand Cru

2010 Rear Commodore's Cup Pursuit Race: Wendy, Blair, Peter, Ann Magnus - Grand Cru

2010 Silver Rear Commodore's Cup Pursuit Race: Lawrence, Heather Brownell - Rapture

2010 Club Championships: Wendy, Blair, Peter, Ann Magnus - Grand Cru

Now Thats Making Progress

The Sonar Fleet at Gimli is up to 5 boats with the addition of the new boat now owned by Chris and Rod from A dock.

Caribbean 1500 Day 3 & 4 - Fogger Sushi Master

Hello, all. It’s been quite a ride thus far. We’ve been having some great winds (25-30knots) but they’ve all been dead behind us. We were able to get quite a bit of “southing” done and now we are working on “easting.” This is all just in time for a big swell and winds coming from a low off of Bermuda. I can’t imagine the seas being any “swellier” than they are now. It’s a rollercoaster with a slant. Everything shifts from side to side as the boat surfs
down the waves. The mattress on our bunk has been sliding back and forth with us on it. Every time I open a cabinet, I have to make sure I’m prepared to tackle anything that comes tumbling out the cabinet. I have to time my steps with the lurches of the boat. These swelly waves are supposed to be with us for the next day or two, in fact they are supposed to get worse tomorrow when we expect 15-20ft seas. Oh, goody.

As I’ve mentioned before, the winds have not been helpful to us. They are pretty much right behind us out of the Northwest, so going Southeast is difficult. Since we don’t have a spinnaker sail, it’s difficult to keep the winds behind us and still make progress safely. So we go a little east then we go a little south. We’ll get there soon enough. (By the way, if I had to guess, I’d say late Sunday night or early Monday morning.)

Howard’s seasickness seemed a little better today, but at some point his patch fell off and he’s now feeling out of sorts again. It’s going to be a long night so everyone is getting shut-eye whenever they can. Everyone is getting a little tired. Even when we sleep, it’s not very restful. There are all sorts of sounds while you’re under way: the hangers rattling around in the closet; the ropes slapping against the hull; the wires in the mast clanging against the inside of the mast; the seas outside the hull slamming against the fiberglass or splashing up on deck; the spices in the spice drawer rattling against each other. The most worrisome sound is that of the safety harness being put on while someone goes to the front deck to change a sail plan. We are getting into a routine so we’ll be more likely to grab shut-eye when we can. But tonight there seems to be squalls surrounding us, so I’m certain will be awake more than we’d like.

Knock on wood, nothing seems to have broken, but we are only half-way through the trip. Which reminds me; we made our offering to Poseidon this afternoon. It’s a tradition (supposedly) that halfway through the trip you’re to take a shot of rum and thank Poseidon for keeping you safe thus far and until you make port. We each took our shot and then gave one to Poseidon overboard. (Sigh, what a waste of rum.) I guess the offering to Poseidon worked, because shortly after that, George landed a Mahi Mahi fish. It was both beautiful and delicious. (See pics) Fish Tacos and Sushi for lunch!

Gotta go. There’s a squall approaching us, according to the radar. Need all hands on deck to shorten the sails and batten things down. More later.

Caribbean 1500 Sunsets Day 1 & 2 - Fogger has been the sail tweeking machine

Hello, all.

Well, it has been a busy couple of days. Right after the 8am Skipper's briefing on Monday, all the boats threw off their lines and headed out to sea. On the docks, you could feel everybody's pent-up anxiety and excitement. We all motored out to start line and then took off sailing, out of the bay and into the ocean. Within a couple hours, there were no boats around us. It's amazing how the fleet can spread out so fast. If it weren't for the SSB chats every morning and night, you could almost convince me that they had called the whole thing off and everyone went home.

We all went south so we could enter the infamous Gulf Stream at place where it would be narrower and hopefully less swelly and choppy than it is up near the coast of Virginia. Half of us aimed at a point near Cape Hatteras and the other half entered via point a little further south near Beaufort. The Gulfstream is a huge swatch of warmer water being pushed from beyond Florida all the way up the east coast where it hangs a right and then goes towards Europe. As you cross the stream, you can see the water temperature change from 45-50degrees to 75-80degrees in a matter of a couple hours. The stream will even develop its own weather systems as the warm water mixes with the cold air of the north. The Gulfstream is dreaded by most sailors because it can be so rough and can have such strong currents that are usually against you. For example, a gale off the coast of New England has been pushing swells of water down the coast. When the southerly flow from the storm meets the northerly flow of the Gulfstream, the walls of water collide you get very rough waters. Thus we chose to enter the stream further south in the hopes that all that energy would be used up by the time it reached us.

We aimed to enter the stream just off Cape Hatteras and by early Tuesday morning, we were full blown into the stream. We took a pounding. The waves were 8-10ft and came from every different direction. The boat spun left to right and surfed up and down the waves. It was more exciting than a roller coaster. It was next to impossible to do much of anything except hold on. Fogger has been the sail tweeking machine. We've all been learning a lot about how and why to do things. He's constantly pulling in something, letting out something, or thinking about pulling in or letting out something. He has had us trimmed and traveling 10+ knots throughout the day and night. There was no doubt about it... we were moving FAST, especially when we coasted down those waves. At one point, we saw 19knots while surfing down a wave!!

Howard, of course, spent the first two days being seasick. Right now, though, he seems over the hump (and the hurling). His "mal de mer' seem to be getting shorter the more times he does this. And I have spent my first two days at sea trying to remember where I stowed everything and obsessing about everything I've forgotten-- can't just run down to the corner store and pick up guacamole or a cucumber. The best I can find is the seagrass on George's fishing rod and a flying fish that landed in the cockpit last night, much to the surprise of Ed and Fogger.

So far, we have not had to run our engine yet. The wind has been strong, though out of the wrong direction. It's out of NW and we want to go SE, so it will be dead behind us. We don't sail well that way since we don't have a spinnaker. But we are making adjustments. But we are SPEEDING along at an average of 10knots. At one point, we saw 19knots as surfed down a huge wave, but that was only for a couple seconds.

The only big concern we have had so far is the 4 inches of water we found in
the salon late Monday night. Don't worry, we weren't drowning. A hose on one of our air-conditioning systems had sheared off. The a/c is water cooled so it pumps seawater through the unit and then discharges it through a port above the waterline. You've probably seen boats at dock just sort of peeing-- that's usually their heat/air system. When the pipe broke, water came in through the discharge port. As I said, this part is normally above water, but when you are heeling over at 45degrees, it's in the water. That water backed through the whole system and into the bottom of the boat (the bilge) which quickly filled up. It was a mess. We're going to just pull the carpeting out and stow it somewhere until we can get to port and properly clean it. (Janel-- any suggestion?)

By the way, boat-foodies:

--Monday morning as we started the race, we had the traditional sausage bake. (Nobody seemed to mind that it was made with hot dog rolls instead of bread.)
--Monday night, we ate the cheesy-chicken casserole that George's wife Paul prepared for us (Mmmmm).
--Last night we had a turkey, stuffing, green bean & gravy casserole

Gotta go. Need to make lunch for the crew. More later.

Kelly & Howard on Sunsets
from N31-34 / W72-22

2008-9 Vendee Globe race on CBC's documentary channel this month

Caribbean 1500 - Update from Sunsets (Fogger)

It occurs to me that I may not have properly introduced our crew to you.

We are quite lucky to have the same 3 men on board today that we had intended to have on 11/1, when the race was officially supposed to start. Quite a few boats had to find new crew members or go without since so many folks could not afford the extra week of vacation time. Our 3 crew members were generous enough with their time and patience to rebook their flights and wait it out with us.

Ed (aka Eddie) is my cousin Mary Jane’s husband. He is a quiet, very thoughtful man. He and Mary Jane live in rural Pennsylvania on a large wooded property. Ed has a framing and art shop. I frequently find him sitting sketching something that he has seen that has moved him.

George (aka George) is a new friend. He volunteered to risk his life with us after we sent out a crew solicitation through the Herrington Harbour Sailing Club. He and his Paula and their 3 kids (Paul, Isabel and Sara) live in Great Falls VA. He too is quiet man, as well as trusting—he actually let Paula make the trip from Herrington Harbour to Hampton with us-- apparently the one sail he had with us did not scare him enough to tell her otherwise.

Jim (aka Fogger) is a friend of Mark and Janel’s of Nana Maria. He is an enthusiastic racing-style sailor with a big bold laugh and a stubborn streak—he has yet to put on his harness.

All of these guys have been great. They’ve helped us get the boat as well equipped and well repaired as possible. They have been totally patient and positive and the delay and the trip itself. We are really, really lucky to have them onboard. And we’re just as grateful to their wives and significant others and business colleagues who have had to do without them and readjust their own schedules because of the delay. I hope they all enjoy the experience. I’ve attached a BEFORE picture of us all. We’ll see if we’re just a chipper in a few days when you get the AFTER picture.

We are currently just south of Virginia Beach, about 5 miles off shore.

More later.

Caribbean 1500

Track Freds progress at http://www.carib1500.com/

Update Nov 8th.
Just to let you know, it is that time of the year again! We are currently in Hampton, VA waiting for the start of our passage. The fleet was scheduled to leave Hampton, VA for Tortola, BVI on November 1,but due to a late season Hurricane named Tomas and a low coming off the coast of Hatteras heading toward Bermuda, we are currently on a weather delay. Just like in the past, I will be sending out daily emails from aboard Sapphire on the leg to Tortola.

This year we have Jim Ross crewing with us for the first time. Jim is an accomplished sailor and will be a great addition to the crew. We are lucky to have him with us. We also have Fred Finlayson joining us for the first time. Fred is also an accomplished sailor and will be a great addition to the crew. Fred has made the passage many, many times on SV Nana Maria. He also brings with him expert fishing skills! We look forward to a great sail down this year.

We are just departing Blue Water Marina on our way to the start of the Caribbean 1500. This will be my last email from our AOL email account. I will send an email out later today from SkyMate!! Let's hope it is working. Don't forget to follow our progress on the Caribbean 1500 website.

It is currently 48 degrees and the wind is out of the NNW at 12 kts. We are expecting large choppy seas to begin with. Will let you know later!!

Wish us a safe voyage,

The Crew of Sapphire
Bill, Linda, Brie, Fred and Jim

Well the big day is just about here. And Sunsets and her crew are ready. After all the preparations and then a week weather delay here in Hampton, we are ready to get this show on the road. Monday should be the day. Just in time-- it is BITTER cold around here. We need to go where it's warm.

Most of you have already been getting updates from us but for the few of you who are new to the "Sailing Sunsets" list, Howard and Kelly are part of the Carib1500 sailboat rally from Virginia to Tortola. This is a fun race amongst almost 70 sailboats of varying sizes and styles. There are catamarans and monohauls, cruisers and racers, sloops and yawls. Sunsets is a 65' MacGregor cutter-rigged sailboat. She is only 11' wide and 6' deep, which is unusual for a boat of that size. Everyone says she is a "fast" boat so I expect that we will be in Tortola within 7 days.

Like most of the ralliers, we feel a great relief knowing that there are 70 other boats out there not too far away experiencing the same sea conditions and weather that we will. The organizers provide the participants with daily weather briefings, on land and during the crossing. Most of the boats will spend anywhere from 7-10 days at sea. Needless to say Hurricane Tomas has garnered a lot of attention from the fleet. We were supposed to leave on Monday 11/1, but the weather folks advised against sailing south into a storm of 80knot winds. NO THANK YOU. I can't see going out there and taking the chance that the storm will go a different direction than everyone is anticipating. Right now, they are anticipating that the Lo Pressure System that recently moved out to see will give us strong Northerly winds and pretty significant waves. Recommendations are to go south along the coast and then turn left. We haven't had a chance to really look at our routing-- we've been so busy with everything else. Like with most things, the more time you have, the more things you'll find to fill that time. We've filled it with repairs and provisioning and what have you. Time to actually start sailing!

Everybody in this rally has a passion for sailing and for learning. The Carib1500 sponsors seminars as well as safety inspections to ensure that we are fully prepared for our trip to the Virgin Islands. There are seminars on overcoming seasickness, on provisioning, on clearing customs, and even on what to do while you're stuck in Hampton. During the extra time here, we've had lots of chances to get to know folks and learn from each other. I learned that you can soak your lines in Downy and water to soften them up and make them easier to work with. I learned that putting a bayleaf in your baking flour will keep the weebles out. (Not that I would have baking flour since I don't know how to bake.) And I learned to keep reading glasses in your lifeboat bag so you can read the instructions if you have to set off the flares. (That is one bit of information I hope we never have to use.)

So tomorrow we put it all to use. I will write more tomorrow. It's late and tomorrow will be a long day. Take care and keep us in your thoughts and we'll be thinking of all of you-- especially those of you in the colder climates. We're off on our great adventure, very soon.

Kelly & Howard (and Crew) aboard Sunsets.

Nov 8th.

Well after a week of fixing things, planning things and waiting on things, we are finally out here in the Channel waiting for the official start at 11am. We've gotten out here about an hour early (not sure why, but this is what everyone does). We will run lazy circles until the start and then we will head out to sea. The penalty for crossing the start line early is buying a round of drinks for the entire fleet once you get to Tortola. The few minutes you gain by crossing early is definitely not worth it with about 70 boats in the fleet.

As we sit hear bobbing along, there are all sorts of container ships passing in and out of this channel. This is one of the busiest ports on the Eastern seaboard, with vessels bringing everything from cars to gravel to containers filled with dishwashers into the Chesapeake Bay to be unloaded in Baltimore and other areas. The big ships are boarded by pilots down here in the Norfolk area and they escort the boats up near Baltimore where they are boarded by a Northern Bay pilot to escort them into the harbour. The big boats stay in the main channel since they can be more than be more than 50+ feet deep. We will stay outside of that channel so we stay out of their way. You will frequently hear them on the VHF radio reminding smaller boats that they are coming into the channel. They won't demand that the small boats to get out of the channel, but they will remind them that they are 500' long and travelling at 25knots. The 30' yacht travelling at 6knots ususally gets the hint.

In addition to the container ships, there are all sorts of Navy Warships coming in and out. They annouce their intentions and then insist that we stay out of their way-- not hinting around there. We are to stay at least 500 feet from them. Right now, there is a submarine coming into the channel so there's a lot of reminders coming over the VHF to telling the fleet to stand clear. I haven't seen the submarine, but I guess I'm not supposed to see it, am I. I always find this the most unnverving part. Putting up the sails in 25knot winds, maneuvering around all the other boats, avoiding the shallows and speeding along a 7kts with just the main up. I'll be much better once we get out of this traffic area and once we are settled into a rhythm.

As soon as we cross out of the bay, we will set our clocks ahead and hour to be on Atlantic Standard time. So when we have our 8am and 7pm chats on the SSB radio, it will be 7am and 6pm back home. (Uncle Jack, if you want to listen, we will be on Channel 4042.0 USB.)

The winds are supposed to be fairly strong and out of the North and Northwest for the first part of the trip. There is a big swell building on the east side of the Gulfstream. So once we exit the bay, we are going to head south and travel down towards North Carolina. From there, we will head east and cross the Gulfstream so that once we get out there, we'll be a bit more comfortable. While heading south, the winds may be pretty far behind us. Our boat does not do as well with a following wind. (In fact, with 20-30knots of wind at 150degrees to our starboard, we are only travelling at 6.5 knots; when we had a beam reach, we were going almost 9 knots). So while the wind is behind us, the "boys" are setting up a rigging called a "preventer." This keeps the boom from swinging around to the other side of the boat by accident.

Despite all the congestion, it's really beautiful out here. I hope I can send you a few pictures. There are all sorts of boats flying all sorts of sails. There's a big beautiful green and white spinnaker WAAAAY up ahead. Might that be Madrugada???

Gotta go get the sausage bake frittata out of the oven. There's a hungry crew to feed. More later.

Nutall Family History

Royal Canadian Navy veteran recalls Second World War Service aboard the HMCS Iroquois
Navy had plans for young recruit who dropped out of school to follow father’s lead into the electrical trades

Reg Clayton for the Enterprise

Posted November 6, 2010

Fred Nutall, was interviewed the other day by Reg Clayton, a writer for Kenora's Enterprise Newspaper, for their Veterans' Day recognition edition. Fred is well known for having participated in a great many LOWISA regattas over the years. You can see the article as posted.

http://www.lotwenterprise.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2833611#

One detail that wasn’t mentioned in the article that I believe that you will find interesting; Fred’s grandfather (on his mother’s side), Moses Gibson, immigrated to Canada in the early 1900s. He settled in Portage La Prairie where he worked as a farmhand on a horse ranch. When he had saved enough, he sent money for his wife and 16 year old daughter (my father’s mother), so they too, could immigrate to Canada. However, Fred’s mother refused to board the ship for their April 10th, 1912 voyage; she refused to board a ship that was about to make her maiden voyage – the Titanic sailed without them. Call it divine intervention, intuition or just plain luck; the world would never have known Fred.

Hmm looks like fun!