Just got a call tonight (9:15pm eastern). They’re at 33.03N 66.46W. They’re 115 miles “mostly west” of Bermuda. They’re headed that way to get the best crossing of the stream. They’ve got ~25kt of wind aft of the beam and Jake’s having a great time driving. They reported 9s SOG currently. Mom said she’d try to email a post in using the phone tomorrow, but I figured I’d add something so everyone would know they’ve left Bermuda.

Late Monday night, May 25, 2009, Day 6 Antigua to Jamestown
News from on board Avalanche

30.46 N latitude, 65.08 W longitude, 100 miles south of Bermuda

A quick apology to all those we invited to read about the tales of our adventure, whom we have disappointed by not producing the promised daily reports. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to send emails to the web site due to a glitch in our satellite data system. We have tried to keep you up to date by phoning information to our son Ben who has been passing it along via blogs, a difficult process because the satellite cell phone is only infrequently and briefly available. A big thank you to Ben for keeping you up to date for us.

We discovered the problem with the data system shortly after leaving Antigua, so we detoured to St. Martin, where we hoped the electronics service people there would be able to solder a wire and fix the problem. We did a fine job of sailing the boat into the anchorage at 7:30 a.m. precisely, so Jake could go to Customs & Immigration and immediately to the electronics company. Unfortunately, the repair never got made. Thursday, May 21st was a holiday in St. Martin. So Jake had the pleasure of spending 3 hours and $47 to check us into and out of St. Martin, and all we got to show for it was a couple hundred flies!

Since then we have had wonderful sailing. The first two days were overcast as we worked our way through a trough, but that kept the heat down somewhat. Once we passed 23 degrees N latitude the sun came out and since then the weather has been delightful. The winds have been steady between 8 and 18 knots day and night. We’ve had a few fair weather clouds, lots of stars and shooting stars. Only 4 of us have gotten wet, and then in only a light rain or sprinkle. So far no squalls but that will change with the passage north of Bermuda. The seas have been almost calm. We’ve been sailing except for 13 hours. Two of those were getting into and out of harbors, and the rest was motorsailing. This has been an incredibly fine trip. The whole crew takes a bath and shower on the back deck each day. The water in the “pool” on the back deck has gradually dropped from 83 degrees to 75, but during the day the sun brings temperatures in the 90s. The nights are cooler–mid 70s, but clear.

We’ve finally had some success with our fishing. Early on a brown booby tried to attack Jake’s lure at least a dozen times before finally succeeding, and later he caught a barracuda. Yesterday Peter caught an amber jack, and today Ruleo (on Jake’s team) caught a Mahi Mahi, which we’ll eat for dinner tomorrow in Bermuda. We’ve had 2 Marlin take the hooks, but lost them and 4 others. So the score is Peter 1, Jake 2 (plus a bird), fish 6.

The first day out we spotted a large turtle, and Jake saw a king mackeral jump as high as our first spreader, about 20 feet above the water; at first he thought it was a bird. The fish jumped 3 more times to the delight of those who saw it. Today the a.m. watch counted 56 Portugese men o’ war. Otherwise it’s a big barren ocean. We haven’t seen another boat or ship in two days, but saw 3 or 4 ships before that.

All the best from the crew of Avalanche looking forward to a weather and fuel stop in Bermuda tomorrow afternoon & overnight followed by a dash home.

Just got the call from Mom. They sound like they’re having a blast! They’ve gone 173 miles in the last 24 hours. They’ve got the whomper, staysail and main out (usually the whomper goes to bed at night unless it’s perfect sailing).  They’ve got starry skies and wonderful temps.  They’ve, and I quote, “never had such wonderful weather”!  They’ve had 10~18kts of wind the entire trip.  They’ve still aimed at Bermuda until they know otherwise.  It sounded like they might be planning on going to Bermuda because Mom commented on how she’ll make a post via WiFi when there.  That and they also were seeing more power getting to the handset, so they might try email posting tomorrow.  So you might not be stuck with me for much longer!

Their current position is 30.30N 65.13W.

Just got the call from the boat for the morning update. The sat phone hasn’t had great reception so they weren’t able to call back last night. They also weren’t able to get a weather update from Chris Parker this morning because his gear was struck by lightning (I have no idea where his gear is). They’re hearing there might be a low forming north of Bermuda in the next few days, so they’re headed that way now in case they have to stop and wait. They should know in the next 24 hours whether or not they’re stopping, but basically it’s smart to head that way now just in case. So far they’ve only motored for 13 hours total, and those were motorsailing, so they’ve got the fuel to make it w/o the stop. Right now they’re ~180 miles from Bermuda.

Yesterday’s fish was a Amber Jack. That’s something new to the fishing tally (I doubt they even have a flag for it) so Jake said they were trying to sort out how to cook it today. The fish now have 6 points on the board officially, so it’s 1-1-6 then -1 for the birds team. Marnie also said they’ve seen ~60 Portuguese man of wars today.

I’ve also been meaning to mention the crew for this trip. Actually, I’ve been meaning to photoshop a picture of them together using old crew photos, but haven’t had the time (I’ve been building a deck at my house with any/all spare time I have). But the crew is Marnie and Jake, Peter (the usual) then Leo for his 5th trip, Nancy B Frank (mom’s sister, my Aunt) and Ruleo Camacho! This is Ruleo’s first trip, but from what I’ve heard he’s doing great and not getting into too much trouble with “the Admiral”.

They still seem to be having a wonderful time sailing. They’ve got the whomper out in 13kt of wind doing 8.14kt through the water and 7.5 over the ground. The water temp is down to 75, the air temp in the day is in the high 90s and low 80s at night. Their current position is 29.30N, 65.30W.

Well, it’ll be a short post today. Pete called in around to say he had tied up the score, then…. CLICK! That sat phone is the only phone in the world you never have to hang up. I’ll post tomorrow as soon as they call in.

Edit: OK, got the co-ordinates from their call today, they were at 27.15N 65.25W.