Hello Everybody!

As we sit at anchor in Falmouth Harbour looking back at our delivery from Miami, we can’t believe our good luck.  Right now, and for the forseable future the winds in the Bahamas and here in the Caribbean are predicted to be east at 20-25 knots.  During the boat show and the days leading up to it, the wind was east.  Antigua lies 20 degrees or a little over 1000 miles east (and 9 degrees south) of Miami.  We could not have begun our trip with a prediction of east winds because it would have meant beating most of the trip.  We were very lucky because our departure, a mere 36 hours after the close of the boat show, coincided with the only weather window in a month’s time that would allow us to make the trip as we did.  Other weather scenarios would have had us waiting in Miami or possibly getting to the Bahamas and waiting.  If the wind had gone E the last 2 days of our trip we would have had a miserable final leg into Antigua or we would have had to put in to St. Martin to wait for the winds to shift.  Somehow we got very very lucky.

We are also very amazed and proud of what avalanche has just done for us.  She housed us and our guests comfortably for 6 weeks, allowing us to explore the Abacos; carried us through squally weather to Miami, where she was spotlessly clean and shining for prospective buyers; and then accepted crew and provisions aboard  just a day before sailing brilliantly for 7 days and 17 hours. This trip 50% of our crew was over 62 and half of us were women! We caught 3 fish on this portion of the trip, 13 since we left Jamestown.  We arrived in Antigua with just under half our fuel.  The crew had an absolutely exhilarating sail, finishing the trip with 25 knots of breeze in small seas under the lee of Barbuda and then Antigua.  (Aside from the nagging worry that the wind would shift and make our course difficult), it was a totally fantastic trip.  As Jake has said:  ”Our first trip back in 1998, with 60 knot winds and 20′ seas, was probably our worst experience; this final trip from Miami to Antigua was probably our best!”

All the best from Jake & Marnie and thanks to all the many wonderful  people who have helped make avalanche’s deliveries possible through the years.

Miles gone:  all of them

Miles to go:  none

Miles in 24 hours:  the rest of them

We’re here.

Hello Everybody!

Jake and the boys got us into Falmouth Harbour, anchor down at 0428 this morning.  I went to bed around 2200, Kim went off watch and to bed about 2400, and Nancy went off watch and to bed at 0200.  That left Jake and Ruleo on watch with Leo coming up.  Those three brought us through squalls (all in the distance) through 9′ waves (slightly smaller because we were in the lee of Barbuda), in 25 knots of wind and dark of night, and safely anchored up without even waking us gals.  Thank you, thank you.

Even more noteworthy, we were up at 0700 cleaning the boat.  Every surface:  interior, exterior, foul weather gear, PFD’s, fishing gear, lines, cushions, hull was washed, rinsed and hung to dry by 1130; and Jake had checked us in with immigration.  Incredible teamwork.  By 1400 the boys had packed their gear and gone home to their own beds.  (Ruleo never went to bed, Leo had about 3 hours of sleep and Jake about 4.)  Kim, Nancy and I hiked over the hills from Pigeon Beach to English Harbour.  The 4 of us have just had a terrific Mahi dinner, prepared by Jake (who didn’t eat any for fear of relapsing with the ciguatura toxin), and we are about to fall into bed.  We will enjoy not heeling 25 degrees, not needing lee cloths and sleeping with our hatches open.  It’s good to be home.

All the best from the crew of avalanche, happy to be in Antigua.

Hello Everybody!

It’s the last night, the end of the last day. We are surrounded by
Caribbean islands, but can’t see any of them at the moment. We could see
the hills of St. Barts and St. Martin to the west this afternoon. Now that
it’s dark, we don’t see any lights……yet.

Today the wind direction stayed favorable, NE 20-25, so we could stay on
course for Antigua. We’ve continued to have huge waves. Kim got hit by two
this morning immediately after she had had a fresh water shower on the back
deck, and from what she just said: “I swear I’m jinxed.”, I think she was
doused again just now.

The fishing contest has a winner: a second small Mahi was caught today
by……..THE BOYS! So the score is boys 2, Jake and his harem 1, fish 3.
We lost 1 fish and they stole 2 lures, so we gave the fish points for that.
Usually the bet is for a coke, but this year the guys got more serious. The
bet is for beers at Sweet T’s, a favorite lunch/ice cream spot.

A couple of totally random notes: Ruleo, who makes an effort to stay
physically fit, has done his 150 push ups every day, but admits it’s a lot
more difficult when the boat is heeling. One night Kim and I had movie
night (sans popcorn). We watched Roxanne with Steve Martin. Ruleo and Leo
are really excited about finally getting home. Leo’s been gone since last
May and Ruleo joined us 6 weeks ago in the Bahamas.

It looks as if the computer’s prediction for a predawn arrival will be
correct unless we slow down. So if you are in Falmouth Harbour and look out
your window tomorrow there is a good chance that you will see avalanche at
anchor.

All the best from the crew of avalanche, looking for a safe arrival, eager
to live on the horizontal, and looking forward to seeing friends in Antigua!

Hello Everybody!

We’re very proud of our 24 hour mileage: 193 miles and all of it under
sail. More importantly it was sailed overnight in winds that oscillated 45
degrees, moving ever increasingly on the bow, and with the added attraction
of squalls. The entire crew did a fabulous job of holding 168 degrees
Course Over the Ground, our course for Antigua; and in order to do that they
constantly had to shift from close hauled to close reaching, adjusting
course and sails as the squalls and wind shifts came through. It was a lot
of work overnight and in the rain, heeling and banging into the waves.

This afternoon was a different story. We had more squalls, but as they came
through with SE wind shifts we could only hold a close-hauled course of 190,
which wouldn’t even get us to St. Marten, let alone Antigua. In the middle
of the afternoon Jake made the decision to motor sail through the squalls
and the SE windshifts, getting us back on course for Antigua. That worked
wonders! And now, after dinner, the radar is clear and the stars are coming
out. The wind is back to NE and we are back to sailing on course for
Antigua. We’re no longer close hauled, no longer heeling 15-25 degrees, and
no longer banging into the 9′ (and bigger) waves. Personally, I hope this
current weather pattern holds for another 36 hours.

Ever since we left Miami our computer has been consistently predicting
arrival in Antigua either late tomorrow night or very early Thursday
morning. When we were making SOGs of above 8.5 that seemed easily
accomplished. However, we know that we have benefited from favorable
currents for the past several days, and we’re equally certain that those
currents will change soon and work against us. As a result, we think (and
hope) that we will sail into Falmouth Harbour sometime before lunch on
Thursday.

Unfortunately both personal hygiene and fishing have suffered from the
recent unpleasant weather. Today the only showers were rain showers while
wearing foul weather gear, and the fishing lures have not been deployed
today. Everyone hopes that the weather will provide an opportunity to fish
tomorrow. After all, if the score remains tied we’ll just have to stay out
here until someone catches a fish! Certainly we can’t end the trip with a
tied score.

All the best from avalanche, hoping to see either a Caribbean island or the
loom of light over an island in the next 24 hours.

Hello Everybody,

This morning brought a final rain shower on Kim and Leo, followed by
sunshine and another beautiful day. We still have about 20 knots of wind,
so we’re sailing, although the wind angle is a little tighter than we might
wish for.

The cause of our excitement today was discovered by Kim when she was bathing
on the back deck. (It’s a good thing we have such a clean crew.) As she
was sitting in the saltwater pool, cooling off, she looked down and saw
something trailing from under the boat. Naturally she called everyone to
come look. The consensus was that it might be a rope (although it seemed
more like shredded fabric) that was caught on either the rudder or the prop.
All that weed we’ve been sailing through has obviously had other stuff
caught in it too. Once Kim had finished bathing, Leo and Ruleo harnessed up
and went to the back deck for a look. As the boat heeled Ruleo was able to
see a piece of 3-4 “strap (like a lifting strap) hooked on the rudder.
About 2′ hanging back on one side, 6′ on the other. First they tried to
push it down with the boathook, but the boathook wasn’t solid enough to take
the pressure. The next attempt was made by turning the rudder sharply, and
that worked, the strap slid away! That’s the first time in 14 years that
we’ve seen that problem. We’re all thanking our lucky stars that it didn’t
get caught in the prop while we were motoring, or when we needed to start
the engine.

Unfortunately that was the only thing we caught today. We had the fishing
lines out for a while (long enough for them to get tangled when we turned
the rudder sharply), but there was so much weed that we had to reel them in
for the day. The score remains: boys 1, Jake and his harem 1, fish 0.

All the best from the crew of avalanche, hoping the wind direction will stay
north of east, looking forward to another beautiful day tomorrow, and hoping
that henceforth we catch nothing but fish!

Hello Everybody,

Today we have changes: changes in the weather, changes in our strategy,
and,therefore, changes in the total distance of the trip.

First the weather. Whoever was on watch during the night waited and watched
and watched and waited for the predicted cold front to materialize. We were
motoring through flat seas with little wind, just watching and waiting. We
expected squalls with the front, and avalanche’s correllary to Murphy’s Law
tells us that squalls and fronts always come through at night. Not last
night, however. The front came through about 0900, with winds from the NE
at about 25 and a couple of gusts to 30. Ruleo took all the rain. He was a
gentleman, and told Jake, who was just coming on deck, that he should stay
under the dodger and stay dry. The rain only lasted about an hour, but the
wind has been up and down around 25 knots all day, so we are sailing under
staysail and partially furled main until conditions stabilize. The winds
have brought seas which occasionally crash against the hull and soak the
watch standers. Although we had some breaks in the clouds and blue sky
during the morning, as the day progressed it became gray and cloudy. Today
all showers on deck were involuntary and salty.

We have also changed our strategy with the new wind direction and strength.
Since the prediction is for this wind to hold for 2 days, we think we can
get another 360 miles toward Antigua before we have a wind shift and the
predicted drop to 15 knots. For that reason we have decided to sail
straight and fast directly toward Antigua.

And that brings us to the change in the distance. Initially I reported 1515
miles from Miami to Antigua. That route was a long easterly leg with a
curve to the south. We have now shortened the easterly leg and begun the
southerly curve earlier. Therefore, if you add our miles gone and to go
above you see that currently the total miles are 1409, a savings of 106 or
about 15 hours. The computer is saying we will arrive sometime Thursday,
March 1.

Jake measured the fuel again the morning and found 51% remiaining and we
have less than half the distance to go, so that’s good news.

All the best from the crew of avalanche, looking for lots of fast miles
toward Antigua, the sun to come out tomorrow, and perhaps the resumption of
fishing.

Hello Everybody,

Same old, same old thing. Today was just like yesterday: sunny, bright,
warm, and lovely, light winds allowing us to sail most of the day, and we
are enjoying every minute! Unfortunately, once again there was so much weed
that we couldn’t fish, so the score remains tied at one fish each.

If you are keeping track of our distance, you might note that nothing adds
up. It’s not me, honest. We track our daily miles at noon, but I write 8
or 9 hours later, so at 7 knots that’s an extra 60 miles or so by the time I
report.

Our plan has been to head east as far as the wind will allow us. So far
we’ve successfully made about 550 miles due east with SW winds, but the
winds are predicted to shift to the NE tomorrow. At that point we will have
to begin heading more southeast toward Antigua. What we want to avoid is
sailing south too early and picking up the trade winds from the east while
we are still well west of Antigua.

All the best from the crew of avalanche, wondering how our windshift will
affect us, hoping for continued clear skies, and an opportunity to fish.

180 miles in 24 hours

Hello Everybody,

The big news today is that Nancy Frank is a year older. I don’t know
whether she wants the world to know how old she is, so I will merely remark
that she is my younger sister. We had a cake and a candle, which wouldn’t
stay lighted in the cockpit, but that’s good news because it means we were
sailing. Fortunately for Nancy, we did not sing Happy Birthday.

The next news flash is that the fishing teams are tied: boys 1, Jake and
his harem 1, fish 0. We caught a Mahi Mahi first thing this morning.
Pretty much right afterward we had to quit fishing because we were going
through huge amounts of weed.

We have put another 179.6 miles behind us today in the 24 hour period from
noon to noon. Jake calculated our fuel today and learned that we have 70%
left and 71% of the trip to go. Our current weather predictions are for
wind through next Wednesday, which would be a huge help.

Otherwise, all the comments in the log and at mealtimes are what wonderful
sunny weather we have, how nice the sunshine is, what a treat it is to bathe
on the back deck, how beautiful the stars and quarter moon are. Basically a
wonderful trip. We haven’t had much wildlife except flying fish. Although
Jake and Nancy said that yesterday they saw a magnificent frigate bird.

All the best from the crew of avalanche, hoping for continued great weather
and good wind.

212 miles noon to noon

Hello Everybody!

We can hardly believe our speed! We had 4 hours yesterday afternoon when
our average SOG (Speed Over the Ground) was 10.7 knots, and most of the rest
of the day we averaged over 9 knots. Thanks to the Gulf Stream we got a
major push from a 2-3 knot current. We’ll take all the help we can get.
Thanks to our great speed, we logged 212 miles in our first 24 hours. (Our
usual average is 190.)

As anyone who follows our blog knows, we (almost) always have a fishing
competition. On leg 1, Jamestown to Myrtle Beach, we didn’t get much
opportunity to fish, so I can’t tell you about teams or winners. I can,
however, report that every man aboard caught a tuna! So that was 5 fish for
avalanche. On leg 2, Myrtle Beach to the Bahamas, it was the ‘geezers’
against the ‘young pups’. Ben and Leo caught the enormous 80# Mahi plus
another fish for 2, but the Jake and Peter caught 3 fish total, so the
‘geezers’ won. We didn’t fish on the trip from the Bahamas to Miami. And
that brings us to this trip, leg 4. The teams are Ruleo and Leo vs Jake,
Nancy and Kim. Yesterday the boys caught a Skip Jack tuna, so the score is
boys 1, Jake and his harem 0, fish 0. We haven’t been able to fish today
because we have been going too fast. Ruleo, Kim, Nancy and I have all
enjoyed tuna sashimi as an appetizer. Jake and Leo are foregoing that
pleasure for fear of elevating their ciguatura toxin level and experiencing
symptoms again.

We’re enjoying life aboard as we’re settling into a routine. I’m the chef.
We’ve found that it is a great relief to everyone–the crew doesn’t have to
break off to prepare and clean up a meal, and I don’t have to sit on deck
when I need to be doing something else below. The others are rotating
through 4 hours on watch, 6 hours off. Everyone was pretty much exhausted
when we left Miami, so as a result everyone pretty much goes to bed as soon
as they are off watch. (Every year I marvel at 20- and 30- something young
men going off to bed at 6:45 pm.) Tomorrow or the next day, as they get
rested, people should begin appearing on deck before watch and staying
afterward. They are all making a point of showering on the back deck, and
everyone has music on an ipod, so they can listen to their favorites.

Our weather has been lovely. Mid 80′s during the day and low to mid 70′s at
night. We’ve had blue sky with a few clouds. There was lightning off in
the distance as we turned east around the north end of the Bahamas, but it
stayed there and didn’t affect us.

Yesterday afternoon and last night there was a lot of traffic. We saw motor
yachts, a tramp steamer, a few large freighters or container ships, several
cruise ships and a tug with a tow. The tug and tow posed a problem–they
would come too close to us for comfort, so Leo made his first ever call to a
ship. He and the captain had a lengthy conversation about course, speed and
avoidance. Later the tug captain called again and talked to Kim. In the
end he altered course to go behind us.

We had to motor sail during the day yesterday and we began motor sailing
again tonight at dinner time. The rule of thumb is that if we can’t make 6
knots under sail we turn on the engine to help. We have to conserve fuel
because we can only cover about 880 miles of the 1515 total trip motoring.
Herb Hilgenberg, our weather guru, has encouraged us with predictions of
southwest winds through Sunday, when they will shift NE for the next few
days. We are hoping Herb’s right and we can continue to sail (without the
motor).

All the best from the crew of avalanche, settling into a routine, enjoying
sunshine and starlight and looking forward to what tomorrow brings.