Hello Everybody!

Today Leo and I had the best watch.  Just after 6 am we were joined by a lone dolphin followed by two more cavorting at the bow.  Shortly thereafter came a beautiful sunrise: yellow & orange coming through scattered clouds. It was as if the Caribbean was welcoming us home with sunshine, blue sky, fair winds and a smile!

Yesterday while charting our course for Antigua we had noticed a 59′ pinnacle rising up from the 17,000′ seabed 26 miles northeast of St. Barts. Fisherman’s heaven. Hoping they would hit the jackpot, the fishermen plotted a course that would take us directly over the pinnacle, and ordered that we maintain a speed overnight that would put arrival at 0800 for optimal fishing.  Between 0700 and 0800 Jake, Pete and Pierre wandered up to the deck to begin catching fish.  We rolled up the jibs and centered the main for easy maneuvering.  We motorsailed within 49′ of the pinnacle and turned to circle back, this time within 52′, with no result.  Discouraged at not seeing even a slight deviation in the depth we eased out the main, unfurled the jibs and turned for Antigua.  Not 15 minutes later:  zzzzzz, “fish on”, we had a fish.  As we reeled in the empty line we hooked a second fish–two Mahi.  Peter reeled in his fish, Jake did the honors with the gaf, and Leo began reeling in the 2nd fish…..until the crank handle broke!  Well, Leo comes from a long line of Dominican fishermen, having fished with his grandfather since he was 9;  so a mere broken handle couldn’t stop Leo.  He simply put on the Kevlar gloves, grabbed the line and began pulling it in, just as he had when fishing with his grandfather.  His comment:  ”Now I feel like I’m fishing!”.  Current and final score:  Peter 3, Jake 3, fish 1.

Now were are motorsailing with the whomper between the islands.  We are 16 miles off Barbuda, but its highest point is 250′, so we wont’ be able to see it.  We saw the loom of light over Anguilla and St. Martin before dawn, and have seen Saba on horizon.  We can now see Statia, St. Kitts & Nevis, Montserrat and Antigua.

Later…We are turning the SW corner of Antigua as the sun sets.  We’ll be anchored up in another couple of hours.  We’ve consolidated the fish flags on the halyards: a Mahi flag with a 5 and a Wahoo flag to port; to starboard we are flying the quarantine flag, reguired until we check in with customs and immigration.  We plan to have dinner once anchored (Mahi, what else?) with a cold beer or perhaps a rum.  We’ll drop the dinghy so we can swim and/or shower on the back deck.  We feel as if we’ve arrived at our home away from home and look forward to seeing all our Antiguan friends again.

Tomorrow after a big celebratory breakfast we have a full day of work. Jake will check us all in and we will go to the dock to fuel and wash the salt off the  boat.  We’ll have to spend the day getting the inside and outside of the boat cleaned up, but it should go quickly with 6 people.  Peter and Pierre plan to stay in Antigua for a well-deserved vacation before departing for home on Tuesday.  Danielle will be remaining in Antigua, Leo has arrived home, and Jake and I will stay a couple of weeks before deciding what to do next.

All the best from the crew of Avalanche, eager to make landfall.

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

We thought Thanksgiving would be a good day to record some the things that the crew of Avalanche is grateful for:

Our families: parents, spouses, significant others, children and grandson!
Good friends who provide strength, love, dependability and concern, as well as baked goods.
Life, love.
Being part of this crew which comes together year after year to make this trip, and has given up 2 weeks to become a team under adverse conditions, making the best of unpleasant situations while still having fun.
A strong boat that took us through the storm with minimal damage to the boat and none to the crew.
Herb Hilgenberg, our weather prognosticator in Toronto, who cared enough to call us specially at 9:00 am at the height of the storm to see how we were faring and offer words of encouragement.
Jamie Freitas, VP of DePaul Diesel, who, with the help of multiple calls on a satellite phone, was able to turn 4 novices without specialized tools into diesel mechanics capable of rebuilding an engine to run while in the middle of the Atlantic.
All those waves that washed off the transom so Pierre wouldn’t have to.
A breeze where none was predicted.
The opportunity to open a hatch, and a fan for when we can’t.
Sunshine and the warm breezes of the Caribbean.
Our arrival Friday night in Antigua.

We have one piece of news: a 100 pound sailfish just spooled us. Leo gave it his best, but when there is no line left on the reel, there isn’t a lot more to do. So the score is Peter 2, Jake 1, fish 1.

Our plan is to have our Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday at anchor in Falmouth Harbour.

All the best for Thanksgiving from the crew of Avalanche.
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Hello Everybody!

I’m pleased to report that the biggest news today is that Pierre caught Mahi #3 on Peter’s side. So the fishing contest score is Peter (and Pierre) 2, Jake (and Leo) 1. As a result of yesterday’s catch we had wonderful mahi sandwiches for lunch and baked Mahi for dinner that drew rave reviews. The third fish is in the freezer so Leo can make “fish water” (fish in a kind of savory broth) for us later.

The only other excitement was the rain Leo and I sat through on our watch; followed by lots of clouds, overcast and squalls keeping pace just east of us, but never hitting us. The good news is that tonight is the first night that we haven’t had to wear foul weather gear to keep either warm or dry (with the exception of this very minute when it is raining on Jake & Pierre).

After a really great effort on the part of the crew yesterday, the engine has been running beatifully! However, as a result of that effort and the long day everybody was pretty tired today. The guys all showered on the back deck, but Danielle and I are still holding out for warmer weather and sunshine. And that is about all the news to report.

As for observations: This trip has been unlike any other we’ve made. The cold temperature and strong winds leaving Jamestown were not unusual, but the rest of the weather has been. Normally we are able to avoid anything like the winds and waves in the storm, but it formed unexpectedly in a location near us. Since then we have had a cold front, which has kept us in foul weather gear to keep out the wind and protect us from the splash of waves until just a day or so ago, when we were able to be on deck off watch during the day without it. Usually once we get south of Bermuda we are able to be in shorts or swim suits all day with only a windbreaker or fleece at night (if that), but not yet this trip. We’re hoping that will be the case tomorrow!

Because of a number of factors, we will be approaching Antigua from a slightly more western angle than usual. That means Pierre will probably get a look at Anguilla, St. Martin, and St. Barts, plus St.Kitts, Nevis and Montserrat. It looks as if we’ll arrive in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua Friday night or in the wee hours of Saturday, so we’ll pass some of the northern islands in the daylight and might even have some good fishing.

All the best from the crew of Avalanche, hoping for sunny skies, warm weather and showers on the back deck for all!

Hello Everybody!

The crew of Avalanche has continued to come together as a team today! It started at dawn and hasn’t finished yet at 9:46 as we prepare dinner. This is what we have accomplished:
Replumbed the watermaker because of a blocked intake.
Tightened a leaking filter to the watermaker.
Tightened loosened screws.
Repaired a towel bar.

Caught 2 Mahi Mahis!!! One on Pete’s side, one on Jake’s. Simultaneously!
And that was before lunch. Then we tried to start the engine.

After lunch we:
Found problems with the engine as a result of the storm.
Suffered light winds in lumpy seas with the windex doing 360′s atop the mast.
At one point the current pushed us backwards because the winds werre so light.
Got the engine running again after 5 hours effort.
Teamwork all around. Everyone was up all day doing every job necessary.

All the best from the crew of avalanche, looking forward to Mahi for dinner tomorrow night!

Good Morning Everybody!

Let’s talk about numbers!  Number of days out of Jamestown:4; number of days we’ve had to wear foul weather gear and winter layers: 4;number of miles traveled: 640; number of miles to go to Antigua: 935.

Wind velocity Wed, Thurs & Friday until 4PM:  20-35 knots; wind velocity as low hit Friday afternoon: 52 knots; highest wind velocity recorded:  60 knots; highest constant velocity 55 knots; length of regular intervals over 50 knots:  5 min;  fastest speed  over ground with postage stamp mainsail recorded:   12.2 knots; length of time average wind velocity exceeded 45 knots: 12 hours.

Number of waves that broke onto boat and filled cockpit:  20;  number of waves that have broken onto boat and filled cockpit in all 20 previous trips combined:  3; number of photographs taken of waves:  we’ll let you know; number of waves surfed with postage stamp mainsail:  hundreds; average wave height: 15′; wave height resulting from harmonic interference:  25′;  height of waves in the middle of the night:  higher than the eye can see!  Number of times boom was in the water:  4.

Number of weather cloths torn asunder:  1; number of stanchions bent or broken:2;  number of autopilot remotes drowned: 1;  number of soaking wet sox with no where to dry: 24;  number of times wet sox had to be put back on:  10;  number of drenched and redrenched men:4;  number of soaked women:1.  (I wasn’t about to go out there.) Number of showers taken as yet:  0!

Don’t you wish you were here?

Number of pods of dolphin seen on first watch out of Jamestown:3;  number of flying fish:  30;  number of purple finches on board:  1;  number of hours Pierre lost to seasickness:  36;  number of stugeron tablets (anti-seasickness medication) ingested by crew:45.

Number of people needed to diagnose, supervise and repair issues with heads and head holding tanks:  6, number with crossed legs:  4.  Number of paper towels needed for clean up:  whole roll;  number of times white bucket has been disinfected:  3.

As for the fishing contest, stay tuned.  We haven’t set up the rods yet.  Number of rods that flew out of the rod holder:  1.

That should give you an idea of why you haven’t heard much from us. We’ve been having a wild time out here.  Additionally, unfortunately, number of blogs missent to the wrong site: 2.

All the best from the adventurous, if slightly aromatic crew, of Avalanche.

We’ve had a stormy night, but the boat is great and holding up just fine with a tiny scrap of mainsail rolled out.  The entire crew is working hard, sharing the load, and making our way to better weather.  It’s very difficult to write because we’re using the computer for navigation & weather, and the keyboard slides all over.  Pierre is feeling 100%, after a day of seasickness.
We’ll write again as soon as the weather settles with all the details.

All the best from avalanche at 34 10N 69 24W

Position 36 04.632 N 69 38.730 W
We have experienced sat com problems.  Just now fixed.  All is well.  The Rookie is much better.  More to follow tonight or early tomorrow.

Jake

Hi Ben.
I had contact this morning at 1400Z with Marnie and Jake at 34:07N, 69:24W, still under heavy weather with strong winds from the NW and large sea over night, now squally…

On Thurs at 2030Z they were at 38:41N, 70:48W in NW 20 -25kt and gusty wind though out the day
Friday was a better day and at 36:01N, 69:34W (2030Z) they had moderate conditions as they had crossed the Gulf stream, with squalls starting to develop as avalanche was getting ready for an approaching cell to pass close and east of them within a few hours as it tracked NE at 30 kts..

All is well, except one autopilot is not working anymore. Conditions will be improving later today. They will stop in Bermuda for a rest, and send a report as soon as condition settle down.

Best Regards

No, that doesn’t sound like fun, but they’ve been in worse. Herb’s awesome as usual, both for the boat regarding weather, and now for me to know what’s going on. Sorry if this all sounds a bit dramatic. Rest assured they’re fine and boat has seen worse.  They just try to avoid it whenever possible.  Be sure to click the waypoint links above or location page at top to see where they are.

Also, I’ve just received an email from M&D saying similar thoughts.  The weather isn’t ideal, but they’re fine.  With one autopilot down and large seas they’re hand steering a lot.   They tried to send a blog post Friday, but for some reason it didn’t make it through.