May 21, 2011 Departure Day
18.08 N latitude, 62.11 W longitude (at 2100)

Hello Everybody,

After a week’s work, almost everything on the long list of prepratory chores has been completed, meals have been prepared and frozen, fresh produce collected and stowed, and ice cream novelties are tucked away in the freezer.  Our crew assembled over the last couple of days, and today made final phone calls to family and (girl) friends as we headed out of the harbor before we lost internet contact.  We untied the dock lines just after 1000.

As Jake has studied the weather for this trip the single defining element seems to be light wind.  The prediction is that we will have winds primarily from northerly quadrants at 10 knots (15 if we’re lucky).  We may have periods with no wind.  Fortunately we carry about 270 gallons of fuel, which will allow us to motor about 800 miles, but that won’t get us to Bermuda, the closest fueling stop. It is 965 miles away on the rhumb line, but in point of fact we never sail in a straight line, so we’ll really need to find wind for 200+ miles.  Today we are off to a good start;  we left Antigua in 20 knots with some gusts closer to 30, which allowed us to put miles under our keel.  During the day the sky brightened with patches of blue as the wind gradually dropped to around 16 knots.  We were still able to make good speed with the computer reporting that our average speed was 8 knots, max 10.2 and min 5.3.  We’ve covered 82 miles in 11 hours!

We have a wonderful excuse for the 5.3 minimum speed:  2 tuna!  Our first fish was a Marlin that shook off the hook.  Then shortly before dinner we caught a yellow fin tuna, followed quickly by a second.  Those of you who have sailed with us, whether on board or vicariously through the web site, know that we have a fishing contest each year.  This year the opposing sides are the Americans vs the West Indians.  (You’ll understand when I introduce our crew.)  The Marlin bit on the W.I. lure.  The first tuna on the U.S. lure, the second on the W.I.  Leo Bontiff actually reeled both fish in.  So at the end of the first day the fishing score is U.S. 1, W.I. 1, fish 1.

We have a wonderful fun crew of bright experienced young men this year, all in their 30′s.  In addition to Jake and me we have Leo Bontiff making his 9th trip, Chris Adams making his 3rd trip, and 2 first timers:  Ashley Rhodes and Kenmore Henville.  Leo comes from Dominica, and he has been looking after our boat in Antigua for 5 or 6 years.  Chris Adams is from Newport, RI.  He, too, has helped us care for avalanche the last couple of years.  (Both Leo and Chris have biographies listed on the web site.  I hope I will get biographies posted for Ashley and Kenmore during the trip.) Ashley is an Antiguan citizen, who owns his own rigging company in Antigua. He has been inspecting our rig each spring and doing whatever rigging has been required when avalanche is in Antigua.  Kenmore is from Bequia, a part of St.Vincent and the Granadines.  He is a professional photographer specializing in taking action photos of yachts.  He heads out to sea standing in a small inflatable dinghy, driving with one hand while shooting photos with the other.  He has taken wonderful photos of avalanche whenever we’ve been in Bequia.  Kenmore is this year’s “rookie” because Ashley has spent more time working on avalanche.  And now you know why one of the fishing teams is the West Indians–they are an Antiguan, a Dominican, and a Bequian!  The U.S. team is Chris and Jake (I just report the scores and help eat the results).

We are happy to have you aboard this trip.

All the best from the crew of avalanche, settling in for our first night at sea with the loom of light over St. Martin disappearing astern and a few stars in the sky.

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