I’m happy to report that tonight avalanche is tied to the dock in Jamestown!   The beautiful sail I reported at 0400 ended at 0630 when we reached Newport, where we tied up to wait for Customs & Immigration.  The officer was late, but we made good use of the time, first with the huge breakfast we had been looking forward to.  (Anything we eat I don’t have to carry to the refrigerator at home.)  Then everyone pitched in to clean the boat.  All 6 of us worked until 1130 and made a major dent in getting rid of the salt.  The deck and hull look sparkling clean, and the interior has been wiped down and polished.  The adage “Many hands make light work.” couldn’t be more apt.  It was another example of teamwork.  After a quick lunch everyone dispersed for home.

I will write a summary of the trip, incidentals and whatever comes to mind sometime within the next week or so.  Please keep checking the web site, and please send us your comments.

All the best from the now disbanded crew of avalanche.

As dawn came today we had multiple wind shifts, and wind velocity changes.
I was in on about 5 sail changes during my 4 hour watch. In the end we
started the engine. We have finally just finished a seemingly endless
battle with the Gulf Stream! It’s 1245 and we’ve just now been released by
the awful current that was keeping our speed over the ground at 4.2 knots.
Aaargh! Now we’re motoring directly toward home with our SOG increased to
6.5 knots (still not the 7.5 or better that we’re accustomed to).

We have a bright clear sunny day. The water temperature has dropped to 61
degrees (as we exited the Gulf Stream), but the air temp is 73 degrees.
During the afternoon all the guys have had a rousing card game going. We’re
finishing up all the produce on board (we’re not allowed to bring foreign
produce into the U.S.). We’ve been eating fruit all day. There’s a huge
salad planned for dinner, a big breakfast for tomorrow morning with fried
potatoes, and I’ll make onion soup for lunch. Anything else we’ll have to
throw overboard.

This period approaching and coming up on the shelf is when we have seen most
of the wildlife in the past. Unfortunately, because we were delayed so long
by the foul current, we will come up on the shelf about 2000-dark.
However, ever the optimists we’re all keeping our eyes peeled for something
exciting. The Rookie had the first sighting: a humpback whale about 30′
away from the boat. Everyone on deck had a good look at him. Unfortunately
he didn’t perform by breaching or slapping his tail. He merely sank out of
sight. Next were 2 sightings of Atlantic spotted dolphins in the distance,
followed by an ocean sunfish about 50 yards away. Next came 2 different
pods of common dolphins dancing through our bow wave. One pod stayed for
about 15 minutes and Rookie took lots of photos. Later we saw another large
pod of dolphins about half a mile away, but they didn’t come close. And
finally we saw a pod of about a dozen pilot whales surfacing and swimming
about 200 yards away.

As for fish, the score remains the same: Jake 0, Peter 1, Fish 5. The
fishermen are disgusted and discouraged. They only caught one fish, and it
was that barracuda just off Antigua.

I’m writing this at 0400. It’s a beautiful clear starry night with a light
breeze. It’s not too cold. (But perhaps I say that because I am wearing so
many layers that I look like the Michelin man!) We’re flying the main,
Yankee and staysail and motoring, making 8.5 knots. We can see the lights
of the Newport Bridge, we’re picking up the light on Beavertail. This is a
lovely way to make landfall. The computer predicts that we’ll be in
Jamestown between 0630 and 0700 in the morning, and then we’ll have to clear
customs.

All the best from the crew of avalanche, looking forward to our big
breakfast and being home!

Monday June 2 Latitude 39 37.72 N Longitude 70 28.92 W (111 miles)

.

We have had a beautiful vacation day, unless of course we wanted to sail:
blue sky, calm wind, flat seas. The overnight temps have been in the high
60s, the daytime temps in the mid 80s. That’s a big change from the weather
south of Bermuda, when it was in the high 90s, even 100, during the day and
80s at night.

We’ve been visited by lots of wildlife. We had a couple of dolphins on the
bow just after dawn. Leo and I saw a bottle nosed dolphin mid morning, and
later in the day we had about a dozen dolphins feeding nearby. We think
they were feeding because they paid no attention to us, but circled and
surfaced together as if chasing lunch. There have also been many many
Portugese man-o-war. But no fish, and the fishermen have tried every trick
they know.

Saturday May 31 Latitude 34 29.9 N Longitude 67 36.0 W

Sunday June 1, 2008

We’ve had a long day. Ever growing seas began in the middle of the night.
When Leo and I were on watch at 0400 we had to furl the Yankee and set the
smaller staysail and then roll in some main as the winds crept up to 30
knots. As the morning passed the wind intensified and the seas grew. When
I left the deck the winds were gusting to 40 knots Jake saw a steady 40
knots with gusts to 50. The seas were enormous: 15-20′. We reefed down,
used the motor for additional control and had to hand steer through the
waves. Rookie (Pete L) did a fine job of steering and really seemed to
enjoy it. Finally after 5 hours the wind began to decrease to about 35
knots, so we could roll out some sail. Gradually the seas lessened and we
turned off the engine and begin to sail. It was wet and a lot of work, but
we made our way through it. Apparently it was a precursor to a low.
Definitely it wasn’t much fun.

The question now is where is the Gulf Stream? We’ve been through part of
it. We were swept 30 degrees right and the water temp went up to 80
degrees. We’re now able to make our course good, and the water temp is down
to 70. Herb tells us we have to cross another branch of the stream before
we’re done. So we have our work cut out for us tonight.

We’re 250 miles from Jamestown and the computer predicts arrival at 0600 on
Tuesday June 3. Of course the computer assumes we’ll be doing a constant
speed, and that can vary wildly, especially with the Gulf Stream in the
picture.

Sunday June 1 Latitude 37 39.18 N Longitude 69 23.62W (at 2000 instead of
1600) (175 miles)

All the best from the wet and tired crew of avalanche, looking forward to
our arrival in Jamestown.

.

It had been our hope and plan to refuel in Bermuda and head directly back to
sea. In order to be as efficient as possible in our effort to get back to
sea, we each had assignments to complete as soon as we cleared customs:
Jake, Leo and Peter V fueled the boat and listened to Herb. I headed
quickly to the grocery store to replenish our most popular items: tomatoes,
fruit and yogurt. The 2 rookies (Jeff and Peter L) took the semi-annual
case of Heineken to Bermuda Radio. (We have done this every trip as thanks
for their help with a problem we had on our very first trip south.) Two
years ago another rookie, Michael Coddington, carried the beer up the hill
to BR and set the record: 7 minutes 34.87 seconds. Peter L took that as a
personal challenge, certain he could shatter the record. He talked of
hydrating himself ahead of time. He warmed up with stretches on the dock
before heading out. He and Jeff were given directions to the liquor store
and general directions to BR. (How hard can it be? It’s on the highest
point of land. You can see it from the entire harbor.) They took a wrong
turn up some steps and into a private yard. They retraced their path and
cut across another yard. They found stairs that led to a dead end and had
to go back. Finally, while Pete was retracing his path, Jeff found the
right way and arrived first, saying “I’m from avalanche, but the rookie with
the beer is lost. He’ll be here soon.” Their time: 13+++ minutes.
Needless to say, the rookie is getting a good-natured razzing. For their
effort they got a full tour of the facility with all the radar, GPS, radio
and monitoring equipment. Jeff, an electronics pro, was like a kid in a
candy store. The view is pretty spectacular, too.

We all got back to the boat to learn that Herb’s weather report was holding
us overnight. So we went out to anchor, launched the dinghy and pulled the
engine out of the sail locker. With 6 people it was just a minor project.
Peter V went ashore to buy renowned Bermuda fish chowder and red wine to go
with his dinner of lasagna, as well as some cold beer and ice. I had a
shower and holed up with my Clive Cussler novel after dinner while the guys
all told stories.

After a good night’s sleep we woke up to a gray drizzly day. We had a huge
breakfast and then all but Jake and I went ashore to do some exploring and
shopping. The guys hiked across the island to a really pretty little beach
where Jeff swam. Then they returned to town for a successful shopping trip.
Jake checked out with customs, we hauled the dinghy and had lunch. We
radioed BR for permission to leave, pulled the anchor and departed. The
heavy overcast was thinning and the drizzle had stopped. Within an hour we
had glimpses of blue sky and by sunset the bad weather had cleared out.

We had 2 fish on our lines not far out of Bermuda, one right after the
other. Pete L a.k.a. Rookie, grabbed the first rod and began reeling it in,
but lost the fish. As the 2nd fish struck he quickly grabbed that rod and
began reeling, losing that fish as well. To quote the 1800 log entry:
“Rookie farms 2 fish.” It’s a given that the rookie has a lot to learn and
will make mistakes, but when it comes to the fish that we all want to eat
and that count in the contest, it’s really hard to overlook those errors.
So.Rookie is taking a double dose of razzing: for getting lost trying to
find BR and then losing 2 precious fish.

Fishing contest score: Jake 0, Peter 1, Fish 6.

We learned about a couple of tragic incidents while we were in Bermuda.
Apparently in the week or 2 weeks before we arrived Bermuda had some awful
weather: high winds for days as storm after storm blew through the area.
During that time 2 sailboats were dismasted, one 30′, the other 35′. Each
boat was abandoned during the bad weather and is currently drifting, a
hazard to navigation, one 130 miles NNE of Bermuda, the other about 100
miles SW of Bermuda. The boat to the north had 5 crew aboard, who
desperately wanted to abandon ship. The Coast Guard strongly recommended
that they stay aboard for 24 hours at which point the storm would pass ,the
waters would be calm and a rescue would be easy and safe. Instead the crew
insisted that they get off the boat. A passing cargo ship threw a climbing
net over the side of their ship for the crew to climb up. Only 3 crew
members made it. The other 2 perished. I repeat this story because it has
made us appreciate our efforts to keep the crew and boat safe, our rule
about only abandoning ship if it is sinking out from under us, and our
opportunity to avoid sailing in stormy weather, thanks to Herb.

All the best from the crew of avalanche, who will be frantically fishing all
day tomorrow.

Thursday May 29, 2008 Latitude 32 22.4 N Longitude 64 40.8W (170 miles)

Friday May 30, 2008 Latitude 32 36.365 N Longitude 64 49.71W (19 miles)

.

On the fishing front we have no news. We’ve had the lines out from dawn to
dusk, but haven’t had even a bite. The fishermen are hoping we’ll catch
something as we come up on soundings near Bermuda tomorrow morning.

It looks as if we’ll get to Bermuda sometime Thursday afternoon, sooner if
the wind comes in from the SW as predicted and we can throw some sails up.
A little later if we can only motor. We’d love to get there before the fuel
dock closes in order to depart again immediately for home. We’ll see.

The last item is a wonderful dinner prepared by the rookie, as we have taken
to calling Pete L. (He is, after all, the rookie this trip.) Peter V
coached him in preparing pork tenderloin with red potatoes and a huge salad,
and the rookie did himself proud!

All the best from the crew of avalanche looking forward to Bermuda tomorrow.

May 28 1600 Latitude 29 38.200N Longitude 63 46.800W (miles in 24 hours:
191)

.

The rest of the afternoon has been spent with Jake and the 2 Peters going down to sleep. Jeff has now joined them, Leo and I are on watch, but I’ve been permitted to do all my watching inside out of the weather, and Jake has gotten up again to go on deck and to talk to Herb. We’re waiting for Herb to tell us what we just went through and what to expect next, then it will be a
turkey dinner. It’s supposed to be Jake’s turn to cook, but since he’s out sailing the boat again, and I’m inside, I’ll do my best to get dinner together.

Unfortunately the propagation was miserable, so we couldn’t ask Herb what we had gone through, whether it was a front or merely an extended squall or squalls. We were able to learn that we won’t have much wind between here and Bermuda. But the best news is that the clouds have thinned and we have big patches of starry sky around.

Leo and I were both commenting on how quickly the sea can change. During the storm the seas were big, yet at midnight when we were on watch together the sea was practically calm in the moonlight. I had thought of describing the sea at some point, and this is a good opportunity. If you watched George Clooney in The Perfect Storm, it might be easy to imagine the ocean as wild with huge scary waves. Since we are able to select our weather window when we are out here with input from Herb, we don’t experience anything like those conditions. We are more likely to see 5-6′ swells with 10-20 knot winds and the accompanying white caps. In a squall like today the wind driven waves are whipped up, the water blows off the tops and it’s hard to see very far in the rain-just like at home on Narragansett Bay. When we have light winds and are motoring we are apt to have small swells, and when there is no wind it can be glassy calm. That’s when we have swim call!

Also of note is that the ocean is like a desert. We see very little life. We’ve had the barracuda and 2 marlin, but haven’t seen any other fish except flying fish. We’ve seen Bermuda longtails and shearwaters, but that’s about it for birds. I’ve spotted a couple of loose fishing floats, and someone saw a piece of lumber. Otherwise we see Sargasso weed. (We have a dip net to scoop up some weed to see all the life it carries, but it hasn’t been calm enough to use it yet.)

I have to apologize for forgetting to include our latitude and longitude in each day’s blog. I’ll include the 1600 position (that’s when we talk to Herb) for today, and append the preceding 3 days as well. All the best from the crew of avalanche, looking for a dull ordinary unexciting day tomorrow, perhaps some fish!

Tuesday May 27 Latitude 26 30.65 N Longitude 63 08.99W (miles in 24 hours:
178)

Monday May 26 Latitude 23 38.100N Longitude 62 22.6W (miles in 24 hours:
180)

Sunday May 25 Latitude 20 45.669N Longitude 61 52.174W (miles in 24 hours:
185)

Saturday May 24 Latitude 17 35.800N Longitude 61 39.111W

.

The winds are light and variable, so we are motor sailing. That means we’re
motoring, but whenever possible we put up sails to increase our speed. We
took down the poles this morning, so we can use the jibs in their normal
configuration.

The most exciting thing that happened today was the sighting of another
really big marlin. This time it was Leo who saw it swim past the boat on
its way to take a look at our lures. It gave each one a little nibble, but
didn’t bite, before going on its way. Leo’s eyes were huge as he described
its size and proximity, and he’s seen some impressive fish.

The final item of note is Herb’s birthday-71st, we think. We wished him
birthday greetings over the airways when he discussed the weather forecast
with Jake, and we’ve sent him and his wife, Brigitte, out for a birthday
dinner tonight. All the best for another happy and healthy year, Herb! For
those of you who don’t know yet who Herb is and how important he is to our
program, please check the link on the website. You can read about what Herb
does, and how he has helped yachties in trouble.

All the best from the relaxed crew of avalanche.

.

We can hardly believe the day we’ve had. We got up to another bright, sunny, really really hot day, with a light breeze blowing. With 6 of us in the watch schedule we get 8 hours of sleep every night, plus another 6 hours off during the day to do as we please. Since we are so well rested, despite it being only our first day at sea, everyone was up and looking forward to a bath in the pool, some reading and cards as we sailed along at a respectable 8 knots. Well, that isn’t exactly how it worked out…

In the early morning we had a huge fish on. I got a look at him when he jumped way way behind the boat. (He took off so fast that Jake had only 6 wraps of line left on his reel.) He must have been easily 6′ long. The span of the tail was equal to the span of my arms, and the tail looked like that of a marlin. He shook himself free of the hook, which was a darned good thing. What would we have done with such a huge fish once we got him to the boat? Shortly thereafter we had 3 strikes on the lines (2 were probably the same fish hitting each line), but we weren’t quick enough to set the hooks, so we lost them. That is the extent of the fishing for today, so the score is now Jake 0, Peter 1, Fish 4.

During that part of the morning when we were not catching fish, we wanted to make a little water to replace what we had used. As Jake started the watermaker he discovered a growing leak. (In Antigua the same leak had been proclaimed innocent by the watermaker guru there: just expansion due to the extreme heat.) Well, apparently the rusted out part on the back of the gauge that was allowing water to flow out was not all that innocent after all.  Fortunately we have an extremely talented crew. Peter V offered advice from the helm and I fetched paper towels and parts. Meanwhile Jake, who had previously taken the gauge and panel apart, and Jeff, who is an engineer at heart, pulled the panel open,  solated the leak, and determined that they could cap off the line to the gauge and still make water. The only question was how to determine when we had 850 PSI without a gauge. Too much pressure would blow the various pressure fittings off the membranes. Well, they calibrated the turns on the leaking gauge before removing it and we proceeded to make about 125 gallons of water! Not a bad morning’s work.

The next event came immediately after a slightly delayed but no less delicious BLT lunch prepared by Pete Largess, and even before Peter Vaiciulis could get the dishes washed. Jake had been watching the wind drop and the direction go aft and was itching to try sailing wing & wing. Wing & wing means fastening both spinnaker poles to the mast and positioning them at right angles to the boat, then rolling out the 2 jibs (Whomper and Yankee) to the poles, one on each side. Now that was an all hands evolution! (Except Leo, who was off watch and slept through the first half. Some of the rest of us were also off watch, but up and about and couldn’t resist the challenge.) The first step was to locate the appropriate lines and turning blocks. Then it took all the guys to lift both poles in place and secure each one with a topping lift, foreguy, and afterguy, and run the sheet through the forward end of the pole. (If you were counting, that’s 4 lines per pole.) Then all those lines had to be run and sometimes rerun to get a fair lead. While the guys did the heavy lifting I was trimming all these lines as they came back to the cockpit. Jake and Peter V had done this all before (albeit usually under Ben Jacobsen’s tutelage), so they led the project. Pete L has done lots of foredeck work on small boats, so he knew what needed to happen, but had no idea of the loads on a boat as big as avalanche. Jeff had delivered and raced many miles so he, too was totally conversant with the requirements. It probably took a couple of hours under the hot sun to get the job done, but once done we were so proud! Once done we took photos and will try to post one near this blog.

Not long after completing the wing & wing evolution it was time to talk to Herb and get the weather report: little or no wind through Wednesday. So we rolled up the jibs, but left the poles strapped in place and turned on the engine-except that it wasn’t getting any water. Since burning up the engine or any part thereof wouldn’t be good, Jake and Leo (who had to step away from final preparations of his shrimp scampi for dinner) opened the sea strainer and impeller to create and verify water flow. They managed to get water flowing and the engine going, and Leo served up a fine dinner!

We can credit a successful day (instead of a disaster) to our fine crew, who reacted positively to the good and the bad. We really acted as a team. People who could fix stuff fixed it. People who weren’t on watch stood watch so the watch standers could make repairs. Pete L delayed his lunch until the watermaker project was under control. Dishes got washed by crew who had the day off from KP duty. The entire crew rose to the challenge of rigging a system we had little specific experience with and did a fine job. Someone kept Leo’s dinner on schedule while he crawled in the bilge. Teamwork. It was great! And afterward there was a line for the pool and shower!

So maybe tomorrow we’ll have that quiet day of reading, bathing, playing cards and telling stories!

All the best from the crew of Avalanche, most of whom didn’t get a nap today.

As we like to say, we have accomplished the most difficult part of the trip!
That is preparing the boat, chasing all the details and casting off the dock
lines. This morning, according to plan, we untied the dock lines at 10:30,
which wasn’t bad considering the customs officer came into work 1? hours
late, thereby delaying our checkout.

Our weather forecasts early in the week did not call for much wind, so it
looked like we would have to motor most of the 950 miles to Bermuda.
Nevertheless, ever hopeful, we motored for the first hour and a half around
the south end of Antigua with high hopes. And, indeed, there was more wind
this morning than predicted and we are sailing straight at Bermuda at 8.5
knots in winds of 13-14 knots. We are enjoying a lovely sail with the
Whomper, the staysail, and the full main.

As Jake was talking to Herb and I was enjoying a salt water bath on the back
deck to cool off, we had our first of what we hope will be many fishing
evolutions. The drag on Peter’s reel went crazy and we all scrambled to
respond: furl the Whomper to slow the boat down, reel in the second line
and get me out of the pool, while Peter reeled in a nice barracuda.
Unfortunately we can’t eat barracuda here, but Leo skillfully slipped the
gaff into the gill of the fish, unhooked it and released it. So at this
point, the score is Peter 1, Jake 0, Fish 0. (Jake has not caught a fish
since Block Island last September!) As for me, I have always had a nagging
worry about the guys catching a fish while I was having a bath, because the
back deck is where all the action takes place. I had to quickly scramble up
the steps and over the rail and hand the harness over to Leo so he could
climb down to the back deck to gaff the fish, wearing the wet harness that I
had just removed.

We have a super crew on this trip. It is composed of Jake and me, Peter
Vaiciulis, Leo Bontiff, Jeff Frazer, and Pete Largess. Peter has done many
trips with us and it is always delightful to have him on board. He is very
familiar with the boat and the sailing, is a wonderful cook, and usually a
good loser in the fishing contest. (Except for times like last fall, when
he beat Jake soundly.) You may remember that Peter cut his finger on that
trip; and we had to return to Bermuda so Peter could get medical attention
and eventually fly home. His finger has healed nicely in large part thanks
to Kim Hapgood, the crewmember who did such a great job closing the wound
with the steri-strips. Peter’s scar looks as good as if a surgeon had done
the work.

Leo has helped us by looking after the boat in Antigua for the last three
seasons, made last year’s trip north, and this year’s trip south. Leo has
really made a difference in the condition of the boat, is a terrific friend,
a great fisherman (his first job was fishing off Dominica with his
grandfather), and even a super cook. He is looking forward to his third
visit to the USA, where he will spend a week with us upon arrival and a week
in New York with a friend before he returns to Antigua. We were really
lucky last fall when Leo got a 10 year visa. He is even thinking about
joining us for a vacation in the U.S. this summer.

Jeff Frazer is delivering on the boat for the first time, but this is by no
means his first time on the boat. Jeff is in the marine electronic
business and has installed and serviced most of avalanche’s electronics.
Additionally, he has done many deliveries on other vessels, so he is no
rookie! Unfortunately Jeff was in a terrible auto accident last fall and we
almost lost him. But the really good news is that he is back, better than
ever and a real treat to have on board.

Pete Largess is from Jamestown. He has raced with Ben and Jake on Tuesday
nights for the last 3 years. He also sailed for his high school and
college. This is his first trip offshore and he is eagerly trying to soak up
all the new things he has to learn about offshore voyaging. (And there is a
lot to learn, just ask him.)

A crew of this size allows us to have much more rest than our usual crew of
5. After every night watch, each crew is off for 8 hours. After every day
watch, we are off for 6 hours. Each of us takes turns cooking and cleaning
up the galley. Tonight Jeff is cooking dinner and Leo will have the clean
up duties. We are having Mahi Mahi, which we bought in Antigua from the
local charter boat operator who had a good day on Thursday. We had it for
dinner on Thursday, lunch on Friday, and again tonight. Each meal received
rave reviews from the diners.

So we are off. With winds we didn’t expect, a flat sea, and lovely weather.
As Jake and Leo like to say “We’d rather be lucky than good!” We will try
to add to the blog on a daily basis, so please stay tuned for our adventures
on avalanche.

All the best from the crew of avalanche, already 170 miles north of
Falmouth Harbor, Antigua.

.

There is a possibility we might write something as we make our preparations.  That will be a function of how well organized we are.  If not, we will definitely be writing each day as we make our way north.  We hope you will join us.