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.

November 17, 2011, Jamestown, RI

Any voyaging sailor will tell you that the most difficult part of any trip is untying the dock lines.  For this trip the even more difficult task has been finding an acceptable weather window.  We have been ready to untie those dock lines at least half a dozen times, but each time there has been a weather issue.  For the most part we’ve been plagued by lovely warm southwesterly winds, which have kept Jamestown in the 60′s for the last 2 weeks.  Unfortunately as nice as that warm weather is, our trip takes us southwest and the last thing we want to do is beat into the wind for 4 days.  Earlier this week we  had to sit tight as tropical storm Shawn marched up the coast and out to Bermuda, and yesterday’s departure was delayed by several lows forming along a cold front, one of which could have storm force winds.  Finally it looks as if tomorrow will be the day to conquer “the hardest part of heading to sea”.  We plan to untie the dock lines at 8 a.m.  We should have NW winds about 20-25, gradually decreasing during the day.  Unfortunately the air temperature will be around freezing, so it will be a cold start.  The weather should moderate, however, and warm up as we go.

Wish us luck.  I’ll try to post to the web site every day as we head for Myrtle Beach, S.C.  It’s 635 miles, about the same distance as Bermuda, 3-4 days (if we don’t have to beat).

All the best from the crew of avalanche, hoping for fair winds at our back!

November 13, 2011

Hello Everybody!

We’re preparing for our annual trip south; but this year, while the preparations are much the same as ever, the route will be far different.

Perhaps I should back up and start at the beginning.  This year we have become serious about selling avalanche.  As much as we have enjoyed our 13 years sailing her throughout the Caribbean during the winters and trekking to the exact same spot at Block Island every weekend all summer, it is time to move on.  At 65  Jake has some health issues and we both want to slow down.   We also have 2 precious grandchildren, whose childhood we would like to share.   And, frankly, the thrill of changing the generator oil has lost its allure for me.   We have a new broker, John Osetek from David Walter Yachts, who showed avalanche at the Newport Brokerage Show and has suggested that we take her to the Miami Boat Show in mid February.  That is the reason for the title:  Three Stops to Antigua.

This week we plan to depart for Myrtle Beach,SC, (stop one) where Jake’s Mom lives, to spend Thanksgiving and a couple of weeks in that area with her.  About the middle of December we will head for the Bahamas (stop two) for 6 weeks.  We transited through the Bahamas in the spring of 2007, but the weather was unusually windy, and we had a deadline, so we didn’t have an opportunity to appreciate anything more than the incredibly beautiful clean water and the many shades of blue.  We’d like to have a chance to explore a bit.  We also expect lots of visitors.  Then we’ll head to Miami (stop 3) for the boat show.  After the boat show we’ll head for Antigua.  Our plan is to keep avalanche in Antigua permanently until she sells.  We’ll visit her during the winter and continue to explore the Caribbean, but during the summer she’ll be in a metal cradle in Antigua and we’ll be enjoying our new (to us) Wasquiez 32 for fishing and family outings including the occasional overnight.

Today’s weather predictions make it appear that we will be able to leave Jamestown on Wednesday after the passage of a cold front.  We should be able to leave after the rain stops with winds from the north and west for a couple of days.  We’ll be heading southwest down the coast, so we really want to avoid the southwest winds that have been bringing us unseasonably warm weather for the last couple of weeks.

Keep checking our website for the next few days.  We’ll try to post daily underway.  This trip is only about 620 miles, about the same distance as Bermuda, but we won’t cross the Gulf Stream into warmer water, so it will be a chilly trip.

All the best from the crew of avalanche, preparing the boat, packing bags with layers of warm clothing, filling the ‘fridge and freezer, and preparing to make a 60′ boat our home for 4 days.

June 1, 2011, Day 11

Jamestown, RI

Hello Everybody,

We arrived at the fuel dock at Conanicut Marina just after 8:00 pm, 2 hours beyond the usual 3.5 days from Bermuda to Jamestown.  It took that long to boat the 40# tuna, so it was worth it.  We had a lovely last day on the water, we had haze but no real fog, we had wind aft of the beam for a great sail.  Heading into Narragansett Bay we had tornado and storm watches, so we slowed our speed and let the storms pass ahead of us before heading in to Jamestown.  We did get hit by some rain as we came to the dock, so everybody got all their foul weather gear wet in the last hour–ugh.

Customs & Immigration cleared us and with the exception of Chris, who went home, we all moved up to the condo.  Tomorrow we’ll clean up the boat and put her on the mooring and then try to have some fun in Rhode Island with our W.I. crew members.

Final score of the International Fishing Contest:  U.S. 6, W.I. 1, fish 2.  We didn’t catch anything today, but we did have a wonderful performance by about 100 dolphins this morning.

I’ll try to post a final blog tomorrow, but I am notorious for not getting it done promptly, so please watch the web site for the next week.  We have a great video of the 40# tuna and photos we’d like to share.

All the best from the crew of avalanche, happy to be on dry land with good internet connections.