December 18, 2011 Day 2
30 10 N latitude, 77 01 W longitude
255 miles from Myrtle Beach, SC
206 miles to Marsh Harbor, Bahamas

Hello Everybody,

About 0630 this morning Jake and I turned off the engine, and we have been
sailing ever since. The wind has built during the day and at one point
during my watch our SOG was over 10 knots, helped by about a half a knot of
favorable current. The wind is aft so the ride is comfortable, sleeping is
great and the cockpit is comfortable. We haven’t caught any fish today, in
fact we havent’t even had a strike. The reasons are two: we were going too
fast and our lines collected masses of Sargasso weed. We finally just gave
up and
reeled in the lines. You should not, however, feel the least bit sorry for
us. We have had fresh
tuna sashimi for dinner last night and for lunch today. Jake will prepare
more for dinner tonight. It is delicious!

I have learned the details and now can tell you the fishing
contest score: Pete and Jake, aka the geezers or old guys or old men, have
caught 2; Ben and Leo, aka the boys or young pups or thirty-somethings,
have caught 0. Unfortunately Leo has to take credit (or is that blame) for
losing their only hit. He got the fish to the boat, but it got away befoe
he could land it. So the score is Geezers 2, young pups 0, fish 1.

Since I wrote those first paraagraphs the wind has gotten crazy! It
oscillates from 345 to 30 degrees with the wind from 18 to 30 knots. It’s
an adventure to steer, an even greater adventure to make a salad in the
galley as the boat careens from wave to wave. But good! The weather is
warm and the sky is clear. Pete was the only taker for a shower on the back
deck. He is always upbeat and positive, so when he admitted that although
the sea water was lovely and the shower water was hot, it was quite chilly
when the wind hit his wet skin.

Once again I must say goodnight since I have to be up from midnight until
0400.

All the best from the crew of avalanche looking forward to catching fish
again tomorrow, bathing on the back deck, and getting closser to the
Bahamas.

December 16, 2011 Day 1
32 33 N latitude, 77 59 W longitude
93 miles from Myrtle Beach,SC
351 miles to go to Marsh Harbor, Bahamas

Hello Everybody!

Our goal was to leave the dock this morning as the sun came up, and I guess you could say we did if you believe that sunrise is at 1010.

As we turned from the Myrtle Beach Yacht Club into the Intracoastal Waterway we were greeted by several dolphin, who swam by to bid us farewell. Another mile down the ICW a bald eagle flew over, perhaps the
same one we saw when we arrived a month ago. Our trip out to the ocean was uneventful but very scenic: beautiful golf courses along the waterfront, lots of condominiums, several large plantation-type homes,
marshlands, and shallow bays. We retraced our route in, following the same line on the chart.

Yesterday I was still in Jamestown, Jake was in Minnesota, and Leo was on the boat. I had done the bulk of
the provisioning previously, but needed produce, dairy, bread and some meat. Fortunately, Ben Jacobsen and Peter Vaiciulis, who are sailing with us on this leg, were able to get to Myrtle Beach by noon and willingly
provisioned from my list. They did an outstanding job. They found everything we needed and even had it all unpacked, repackaged and stowed! (I’ll have to ask for help more often. After all, how bad would it
be if there were mistakes, it’s only dinner.)

Unlike the trip around Cape Hatteras when we had 3 knots of foul current, on this leg we’ve had the current with us and are making wonderful SOGs of about 8 knots, even 8.5. We should get to the Gulf Stream within the next hour or so. The water is currently 75.9 degrees and the air is 60. The entire trip to Marsh Harbor is 442 miles,so we should be there on Tuesday.

The fishing contest has begun. I’ve been told that it’s the men against the boys, but we won’t know which is which until we learn who wins. Currently the ‘geezers’ (that would be Jake and Pete) have 2 black fin tuna reeled in by Jake and by Ben. (We’ve already had sashimi beautifully prepared by Peter) There have been other hits and some lost fish, but I don’t have good details, so you’ll have to wait for tomorrow’s update.

Because we are only 5 I am standing watch in the rotation this trip. That means I stand watch 4 hours, sleep 6 and do it again. (Just like everyone else) But right now I’m 45 minutes into my 6 hours of sleep and I have to get up at 0330. So, please excuse me for tonight. I’m going to bed!

All the best from the crew of avalanche looking for warm water, sunny skies, lots of good fishing, and baths on the back deck tomorrow.

November 26, 2011

The photos are divided into 4 sections, although you won’t know it by looking at them. I tried to include descriptions of each photo, but they didn’t appear in the blog. So…. first is the beginning of the trip: leaving Jamestown and Jake’s safety lecture on deck. Then comes fishing: Leo, Pete and Ted are shown fighting their fish and proudly showing them off. The third section is entering and navigating the ICW. The final photo with the lighthouse has the fin of a dolphin swimming between us and the lighthouse. And the final photo of all is of the crew at MBYC just before the crew left for home: Jake, Marnie, Dave Riel, Ted Green, Leo Bontiff and Pete Largess.

November 25, 2011
Myrtle Beach Yacht Club
North Myrtle Beach, S.C

Hello Everybody and Happy Black Friday!

I apologize for taking 3 days to get the final word posted, but we’ve been busy!

We arrived at the Little River Inlet (into the Intracoastal Waterway) at 0600 Tuesday morning. The crew had done a fantastic job overnight, steering a course over Frying Pan Shoals, never deviating from the safe course. (There are areas on that shoal that are only 2 and 5 feet deep. Since we draw 6 feet, we wouldn’t want to go near those areas.) When we arrived, it was still dark, but the wind was calm and the seas were flat. We had a dolphin swimming alongside, as if welcoming us. At 0630 there was enough light to see the day markers so we could head in. The passage was well marked, if shallow in places, and we had been in there 4 years ago, so it was familiar. The guys on deck helped Jake with depth, markers and interesting information. I was below watching the chart plotter. Once we felt comfortable with the passage I was on deck as well to see the beautiful homes, the golf clubs right on the waterway, the marinas and gambling boats. A bald eagle flew overhead as we neared the yacht club. A dolphin literaly lead us into the marina. We got to the fuel dock at 0830–4 days and 22 minutes dock to dock. The crew quickly showered, packed their gear, helped us move the boat from the fuel dock, and got into their rental truck for a departure at about 1030. The poor guys didn’t get home until about 0400 the next morning. Dave had the worst watch on arrival, coming up at 0200 and then staying up. I hope he got a little sleep before it was his turn to drive.

It was a fine trip in many ways: we had sunshine the entire way, only a few drops of rain. We caught 1 Bonita and 4 Black fin tuna, so we (almost) all had sushi onboard and the crew all had a hearty portion to take home with them. The sailing the first day was exhilarating and fun. As usual, we had very experienced and competent crew who cared about doing the job properly and safely. On the other hand, having the wind on the nose for all but the first 10 hours was unpleasant. The only good news there was that the velocity was 10-15 knots so we could motor into the wind, something we regretably had to do because of the timing of the Thanksgiving holiday. Of course, carrying enough fuel to be able to motor all that way was a big help!

Leo, Jake and I spent all day Tuesday and Wednesday morning cleaning up the boat, doing laundry and reorganizing it into a living/cruising yacht instead of a delivery yacht. Wednesday afternoon we picked up our daughter, Jessica, and her husband, Ben, at the airport and went to Grandma’s house for the Thanksgiving holiday. Jessica prepared a full blown and truly outstanding Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, our first on dry land in many years. We usually eat our Thanksgiving meal out of plastic bowls on avalanche underway to Antigua.

Until we get under way about December 18th for the Bahamas and our next stop, all the best from the crew of avalanche enjoying our “turkey coma” and the company of family. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Check back over the weekend for photos.