Friday 31 July
Lat 37*-33'N, Long 042*-02'W
We had six days of really rotten weather, and now, yesterday and today have been some of the best sailing I have ever done. The wind is 15-20 kts and from exactly the right direction to press us on. In addition to that there has been more than a knot of positive current. If the boat is sailing at 6 knots the speed over ground shows as 7 knots, and that is really good for moral.
Yesterday, last night, today, the boat just sails herself, just about straight downwind. People think of sailing as being quiet, but sailing at more than a slow walking speed is really noisy. Right now we are going wing 'n wing downwind. That means the mainsail is out to stbd and the genoa is out to port. When both sails are on the same side the boat leans over and does not roll from side to side. But wing 'n wing the boat rolls, over this way, then over that way, then over this way,then over that way, faster than I can write it, and everything in the boat that is not tied down flops from side to side; hanging clothes, flashlight, flyswatter, safety harness, trash bag, a can of something and a pot in a locker. As the boat goes through the water there is a buzz of a sympatric vibration somewhere, the same in the rigging. But the loudest noise is the bow ploughing through the water, the water swirling down the side and the water foaming over the stern platform. It all blends together in a cacophony that is loud enough so we have to raise our voices to talk. And when the wind blows hare it really gets loud.
The alternative is when there is no wind, no roll, no rushing water sounds, nothing but the engine throbbing slowly, not really very loud at slow speeds.
I like the sailing sounds better.
Friday, July 31, 2015
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Thursday 30 July
Thursday 30 July
Lat 37*-04'N, Long 045*23'W
Beautiful sailing in about 15kts of wind on the stbd beam. Boat speed is in the high 6's, but alas, we have a contra-currentso the speed over ground is down in the low 5's. But it is still a beautiful day, and we are going nicely towards where we want to go.
Automatic Identification System, or AIS - All ships are required to use the system. It is a radio that every few seconds sends out the ship's name, position, speed, course over ground, etc. Any other ships, or sailboats that are within about 20 miles can now know what that conglomerate of lights is coming over the horizon. What a change it is from the old days when you had no idea if you were in the way or not. We also have the system. The ships out there know that a 36' sailboat named Advent II (so they can call us on the VHF radio) at a certain position, going this fast in that direction. In addition, if the boats are converging, the computer can tell me how close the boats will come and when. It is a beautiful system. We have not seen many ships. A few fishing boats when we first started, now maybe one a day on the AIS but too far to see, and we have seen three. It is real easy to get complacent. Last night about 02:00 I saw a target on the screen, the m/v ERIK OUSSA, a 750' tanker, about 15nm away, headed straight at us. (A ship comes up over the horizon about 10nm away) I started watching it carefully. The calculated Closest Point of Approach, CPA, was .02, .1, .05 nautical miles ahead, the behind, then ahead. It was a true collision situation. At 8 miles I saw his lights, which means he could see ours. At 6 miles I whistled into the VHF microphone to wake up the watchstander. was no change in his course. At 5 miles I called him by name: m/v Erik Oussa, saying I was 5 miles on his bow. I got an immediate response saying he was going to alter course to starboard, to pass one whistle port to port. He did alter course by 10 degrees, and passed 0.7 nm from us, and took up the entire horizon as he went by. Thank you, Keith, for introducing me to this amazing system.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Later, 19:00
Wow! What a ride! Broad reach 6.8 kts right down the line!
Lat 37*-04'N, Long 045*23'W
Beautiful sailing in about 15kts of wind on the stbd beam. Boat speed is in the high 6's, but alas, we have a contra-currentso the speed over ground is down in the low 5's. But it is still a beautiful day, and we are going nicely towards where we want to go.
Automatic Identification System, or AIS - All ships are required to use the system. It is a radio that every few seconds sends out the ship's name, position, speed, course over ground, etc. Any other ships, or sailboats that are within about 20 miles can now know what that conglomerate of lights is coming over the horizon. What a change it is from the old days when you had no idea if you were in the way or not. We also have the system. The ships out there know that a 36' sailboat named Advent II (so they can call us on the VHF radio) at a certain position, going this fast in that direction. In addition, if the boats are converging, the computer can tell me how close the boats will come and when. It is a beautiful system. We have not seen many ships. A few fishing boats when we first started, now maybe one a day on the AIS but too far to see, and we have seen three. It is real easy to get complacent. Last night about 02:00 I saw a target on the screen, the m/v ERIK OUSSA, a 750' tanker, about 15nm away, headed straight at us. (A ship comes up over the horizon about 10nm away) I started watching it carefully. The calculated Closest Point of Approach, CPA, was .02, .1, .05 nautical miles ahead, the behind, then ahead. It was a true collision situation. At 8 miles I saw his lights, which means he could see ours. At 6 miles I whistled into the VHF microphone to wake up the watchstander. was no change in his course. At 5 miles I called him by name: m/v Erik Oussa, saying I was 5 miles on his bow. I got an immediate response saying he was going to alter course to starboard, to pass one whistle port to port. He did alter course by 10 degrees, and passed 0.7 nm from us, and took up the entire horizon as he went by. Thank you, Keith, for introducing me to this amazing system.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Later, 19:00
Wow! What a ride! Broad reach 6.8 kts right down the line!
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Wednesday 29 July
Wednesday 29 July
All day yeatertday the wind came from the north-east, and we sailed south-east through that pesky stationary front, and into a beautiful summer day, blue skies and light south-west wind. Enough wind to sail east at five knots, an occasional sail flog notwithstanding. But light as it is, it is beautiful sailing towards where we want to go without having to deal with a weather feature that has to be dealt with. And good south-west wind is in the forecast for the next few days.
I have been occupied, and pre-occupied with the weather for the past few days. I don't wax eloquent about the beauty of the sea and one with nature when I am dealing with unpleasant weather situations.
But it has been several days, long enough for us to establish a routine. I guess our day starts at 20:00, just as darkness is falling, when I go to bed and Adnaan takes the watch Until midnight. That is a beautiful time of day, You get to watch the stars come out as the sky darkens. It is surprising how long the sky is light after everything below the horizon is black dark. At 00:00 I take the watch until 04:00. And I like that watch. The boat, the world is mine. A blaze of stars overhead, well not so much now. The full moon lightens the sky so that only the brightest, the navigation stars can be seen. At 04:00 I awaken Adnaan by ringing eight bells on the ship's bell. Many times conditions have changed since the previous night, and the two of us will make a sail change. There is a standing order that, at night, the person on watch can not leave the cockpit unless the off watch is awake. So at change of watch the two of us make changes and set the boat up for daytime sailing. Adnaan go on watch and I go back to sleep, until maybe 07:00. Then things get informal. Adnaan may go back to sleep directly or he may take an extended nap in the afternoon. I have been sprnding much of the day with the computer and short wave gathering weather information. I will fix up some things, and I am reading the O'Brian book Master and Commander. It has been so long I am starting at the beginning again. I hope to get more reading done now that the weather has cleared up. Adnaan has been doing all the cooking, and he is a master at rice-'n-stuff. We have a good filling meal once a day with left overs for more when hunger calls. And he has read several books, like maybe four. He is looking forward to traveling to northern Africa and is studying the culture and language, listening to the music on the computer, etc.(I didn't know that someone from Tangiers is a Tangerine) And right now he is reading Blue Latitude, a book about Capt Cook. The day is whiled by until sunset, when we usually sit in the cockpit and talk, and as it gets dark the next day starts.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
All day yeatertday the wind came from the north-east, and we sailed south-east through that pesky stationary front, and into a beautiful summer day, blue skies and light south-west wind. Enough wind to sail east at five knots, an occasional sail flog notwithstanding. But light as it is, it is beautiful sailing towards where we want to go without having to deal with a weather feature that has to be dealt with. And good south-west wind is in the forecast for the next few days.
I have been occupied, and pre-occupied with the weather for the past few days. I don't wax eloquent about the beauty of the sea and one with nature when I am dealing with unpleasant weather situations.
But it has been several days, long enough for us to establish a routine. I guess our day starts at 20:00, just as darkness is falling, when I go to bed and Adnaan takes the watch Until midnight. That is a beautiful time of day, You get to watch the stars come out as the sky darkens. It is surprising how long the sky is light after everything below the horizon is black dark. At 00:00 I take the watch until 04:00. And I like that watch. The boat, the world is mine. A blaze of stars overhead, well not so much now. The full moon lightens the sky so that only the brightest, the navigation stars can be seen. At 04:00 I awaken Adnaan by ringing eight bells on the ship's bell. Many times conditions have changed since the previous night, and the two of us will make a sail change. There is a standing order that, at night, the person on watch can not leave the cockpit unless the off watch is awake. So at change of watch the two of us make changes and set the boat up for daytime sailing. Adnaan go on watch and I go back to sleep, until maybe 07:00. Then things get informal. Adnaan may go back to sleep directly or he may take an extended nap in the afternoon. I have been sprnding much of the day with the computer and short wave gathering weather information. I will fix up some things, and I am reading the O'Brian book Master and Commander. It has been so long I am starting at the beginning again. I hope to get more reading done now that the weather has cleared up. Adnaan has been doing all the cooking, and he is a master at rice-'n-stuff. We have a good filling meal once a day with left overs for more when hunger calls. And he has read several books, like maybe four. He is looking forward to traveling to northern Africa and is studying the culture and language, listening to the music on the computer, etc.(I didn't know that someone from Tangiers is a Tangerine) And right now he is reading Blue Latitude, a book about Capt Cook. The day is whiled by until sunset, when we usually sit in the cockpit and talk, and as it gets dark the next day starts.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Tuesday 28 July
Tuesday 28 July
Position: Lat 37*-01'N, Long 048*-54'W
The calm winds of yeaterday have given way to east wind, 15-20 kts. Of course we are trying to go east. In the east wind we can go either north or south. North of us is more east wind, only stronger. So we go south at about 140 degrees. There is west wind south of us. Someday we will find it.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Position: Lat 37*-01'N, Long 048*-54'W
The calm winds of yeaterday have given way to east wind, 15-20 kts. Of course we are trying to go east. In the east wind we can go either north or south. North of us is more east wind, only stronger. So we go south at about 140 degrees. There is west wind south of us. Someday we will find it.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Tuesday 28 July
Tuesday 28 July
Position: Lat 37*-01'N, Long 048*-54'W
The calm winds of yeaterday have given way to east wind, 15-20 kts. Of course we are trying to go east. In the east wind we can go either north or south. North of us is more east wind, only stronger. So we go south at about 140 degrees. There is west wind south of us. Someday we will find it.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Position: Lat 37*-01'N, Long 048*-54'W
The calm winds of yeaterday have given way to east wind, 15-20 kts. Of course we are trying to go east. In the east wind we can go either north or south. North of us is more east wind, only stronger. So we go south at about 140 degrees. There is west wind south of us. Someday we will find it.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Monday, July 27, 2015
Monday 27 July
Monday 27 July
The wind is about 10kts from behind us. If the seas were calm we could be slowly sailing, but the boat is pitching and rolling so the sails flog, so the trisail is tied in tight to minimize the roll and we motor slowly
Below is what Adnaan wrote home to his folks. (Reprinted by permission)
Hey Mom and Tor and Dad,
It's been an interesting ride so far. The weather has kept us ducking and diving around low pressure systems and fronts, as you know. In everyday life, that just means lots of course changes, which means slow going. Bill says he get's over the "are we there yet" mentality in the first 3 days or so. I wasn't able to shake it until a couple of days back. Part of the blame lies with Tim Mackintosh-Smith, author of Travels with a Tangerine. He had me riveted, daydreaming about North Africa and the Arab World, for all of the 4 days it took me to digest his book. I couldn't wait to get there and see things for myself. The last couple days have involved so much motoring and slow sailing, however, that I've pretty much resigned myself to whatever fate has in store. Life at sea always demands adjustments in attitude, and the truth that being out of the world for a while - just reading, writing, and watching the world pass by - is something that most people don't get enough of. Like vitamin D. It's interesting, Bill and I were talking just yesterday (or was it a few days ago) about how the world doesn't actually pass by out here. There are no landmarks or mile signs. Sure, we have the coordinates on the GPS, and each noon Bill marks our position on the small-scale chart. But it's all really abstract. The sea is ever-changing, but not based on our position or progress. I've been enjoying the days out here. And the fact of it is we're not yet even halfway. To wherever it is we're going.
Love,
Adnaan
The wind is about 10kts from behind us. If the seas were calm we could be slowly sailing, but the boat is pitching and rolling so the sails flog, so the trisail is tied in tight to minimize the roll and we motor slowly
Below is what Adnaan wrote home to his folks. (Reprinted by permission)
Hey Mom and Tor and Dad,
It's been an interesting ride so far. The weather has kept us ducking and diving around low pressure systems and fronts, as you know. In everyday life, that just means lots of course changes, which means slow going. Bill says he get's over the "are we there yet" mentality in the first 3 days or so. I wasn't able to shake it until a couple of days back. Part of the blame lies with Tim Mackintosh-Smith, author of Travels with a Tangerine. He had me riveted, daydreaming about North Africa and the Arab World, for all of the 4 days it took me to digest his book. I couldn't wait to get there and see things for myself. The last couple days have involved so much motoring and slow sailing, however, that I've pretty much resigned myself to whatever fate has in store. Life at sea always demands adjustments in attitude, and the truth that being out of the world for a while - just reading, writing, and watching the world pass by - is something that most people don't get enough of. Like vitamin D. It's interesting, Bill and I were talking just yesterday (or was it a few days ago) about how the world doesn't actually pass by out here. There are no landmarks or mile signs. Sure, we have the coordinates on the GPS, and each noon Bill marks our position on the small-scale chart. But it's all really abstract. The sea is ever-changing, but not based on our position or progress. I've been enjoying the days out here. And the fact of it is we're not yet even halfway. To wherever it is we're going.
Love,
Adnaan
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Sunday 26 July
Sunday 26 July
We are caught between a series of low pressure systems that are passing by just north of us and a frontal boundary just to the south. I feared that it would be stormy, but instead for three days now it has just been frustratingly sloppy. Overcast, passing showers, light wind, and choppy seas. So we motor, and hang on because the boat continues to bounce around, and try to read or do things on a computer, and I check the weatherfax, and see that the low is forecasted to pass right over us tonight with more slop. It is better than stormy seas, but still it is frustrating. And our eastward progress is quite slow. These low pressure systems have counter-clockwise wind. All the wind north of them is blowing from the east. We don't want that, and the east wind is forecasted to drop down to where we are. So we are making our way south in order to stay south of the east wind. I hope that our track is showing up on Adventtwo.blogspot.com, and I hope the wind shows on Passage Weather. We are sailing south-east to try to get down to where the westerly winds are. Make that motoring south east. Bump, jerk,roll, pitch, These lows turn to gales just north of us and that must be the reason the ocean is so rough.I hope that if We just continue going south-east, that someday, someday we will come out the other side and get away from these lows, and that pesky front.
But for now we are dry, well fed, and well rested. Motor, motor, motor, drippy rain, pitch 'n roll.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Lat 37*-52'N, Long 052*-22'W
We are caught between a series of low pressure systems that are passing by just north of us and a frontal boundary just to the south. I feared that it would be stormy, but instead for three days now it has just been frustratingly sloppy. Overcast, passing showers, light wind, and choppy seas. So we motor, and hang on because the boat continues to bounce around, and try to read or do things on a computer, and I check the weatherfax, and see that the low is forecasted to pass right over us tonight with more slop. It is better than stormy seas, but still it is frustrating. And our eastward progress is quite slow. These low pressure systems have counter-clockwise wind. All the wind north of them is blowing from the east. We don't want that, and the east wind is forecasted to drop down to where we are. So we are making our way south in order to stay south of the east wind. I hope that our track is showing up on Adventtwo.blogspot.com, and I hope the wind shows on Passage Weather. We are sailing south-east to try to get down to where the westerly winds are. Make that motoring south east. Bump, jerk,roll, pitch, These lows turn to gales just north of us and that must be the reason the ocean is so rough.I hope that if We just continue going south-east, that someday, someday we will come out the other side and get away from these lows, and that pesky front.
But for now we are dry, well fed, and well rested. Motor, motor, motor, drippy rain, pitch 'n roll.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Lat 37*-52'N, Long 052*-22'W
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Sat 25 July
Sat 25 July
For the past two days I have been occupied with trying to minimize the bad weather associated with frontal boundaries and low pressure systems. We ran all night to cross in front of a low system, and today the concern is another low coming up the frontal boundary from North Carolina. Both of these are forecasted to become gales just about the time they get here, and hopefully both will be about 100nm farther north. There have been many "concerned" messages today from me to Normandie, and almost as many reassuring messages from her back to me. And all this time there has been no wind, and calm seas. We are just chugging along about 4 knots, right now going just a little south of due east. The hope is that this clump of bad weather will pass by ahead of us. I think all the weather in the North Atlantic Ocean is coming together right here, and when we get past here we will have smooth sailing the rest of the way. (Dream on, Bill,)
Reef Early,
Bill Doar,
s/v Advent II
830 nm east of Block Island
For the past two days I have been occupied with trying to minimize the bad weather associated with frontal boundaries and low pressure systems. We ran all night to cross in front of a low system, and today the concern is another low coming up the frontal boundary from North Carolina. Both of these are forecasted to become gales just about the time they get here, and hopefully both will be about 100nm farther north. There have been many "concerned" messages today from me to Normandie, and almost as many reassuring messages from her back to me. And all this time there has been no wind, and calm seas. We are just chugging along about 4 knots, right now going just a little south of due east. The hope is that this clump of bad weather will pass by ahead of us. I think all the weather in the North Atlantic Ocean is coming together right here, and when we get past here we will have smooth sailing the rest of the way. (Dream on, Bill,)
Reef Early,
Bill Doar,
s/v Advent II
830 nm east of Block Island
Cross over
05:00
Ugly clouds behind us, some blue showing ahead. The wind now has some west in it. I think we made it across ahead of the low. Time to put some sail up and stop motoring.
Ugly clouds behind us, some blue showing ahead. The wind now has some west in it. I think we made it across ahead of the low. Time to put some sail up and stop motoring.
Friday, July 24, 2015
Friday 24 July
Friday 24 July
I received the 15:00 weatherfax for the 24 hour forecast. It showed the low at 40 degrees north, 55 degrees south, exactly where we were. We immediately stopped sailing comfortably south-east and started motoring hard straight south. The effort is to get south of the bad weather, and to where the wind will be from the south-west instead of from the east like it will north of the low.
If you want to look at the general wind patterns, google Passage Weather.
So now we are motoring south, loud and uncomfortable.
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
I received the 15:00 weatherfax for the 24 hour forecast. It showed the low at 40 degrees north, 55 degrees south, exactly where we were. We immediately stopped sailing comfortably south-east and started motoring hard straight south. The effort is to get south of the bad weather, and to where the wind will be from the south-west instead of from the east like it will north of the low.
If you want to look at the general wind patterns, google Passage Weather.
So now we are motoring south, loud and uncomfortable.
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Msg from Normandie
Message from Normandie:
Recommend heading S and overall SE track starting NOW, including motoring during low wind tomorrow. Overall SE track as much as you can over weekend, although you will have wind shift;. Next week, all the favorable wind is south of 38N. Love, N
Recommend heading S and overall SE track starting NOW, including motoring during low wind tomorrow. Overall SE track as much as you can over weekend, although you will have wind shift;. Next week, all the favorable wind is south of 38N. Love, N
Thank you
Normandie
Thank you for the inReach and the email about wind next week. I think what will happen is that I will head SE until the low catches up with me. Then ride the east and north east wind south until I come out the south side behind the low. I have about 200 miles to go south to find the good wind. Please let me know if you have any thoughts.
For your information I am looking at weatherfax 24 and 48 hour surface forecast, found on the web I think at http://weather.noaa.gov/fax/marine.shtml
Thank you for the inReach and the email about wind next week. I think what will happen is that I will head SE until the low catches up with me. Then ride the east and north east wind south until I come out the south side behind the low. I have about 200 miles to go south to find the good wind. Please let me know if you have any thoughts.
For your information I am looking at weatherfax 24 and 48 hour surface forecast, found on the web I think at http://weather.noaa.gov/fax/marine.shtml
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Thursday 23 July
Thursday 23 July
620 nm east of Block Island
Weather- We get weather forecasts from three sources. There is something called GRIBS (don't worry about what that stands for)that I can request by email. It shows the forecasted winds by showing arrows that indicate the wind direction and speed over a grid in an area I define by latitude and longitude. All it shows is windspeed, and because of the amount of data that needs to be downloaded for a large area all I request is for where I am. A second source is weatherfax maps which I receive on the shortwave radio and computer. That is a weather map of the entire North Atlantic, showing fronts and low pressure storms. And last but best is Normandie, who can refer to several sourced to tell me what is going on.
For the past two weeks there has been a front going from Cape Hatteras all the way across the ocean to the British Isles. Lows form on that front, travel up and over, and become gales about when they cross 40 degrees latitude. They seem to come every three days. One is at Hatteras now, and will be just south of us in two days, and a gale just east of us in three days. Another will leave North Caroling in four days and come this way. Normandie can tell me whether to move north or south a few miles to utilize the winds from these systems, or to move away from them.
Our day today was one of fast travel. The wind is directly behind us at about 15-25 knots, and we have 1.5 knot positive current. We have been in the 7's and 8's all day. And compared to yesterday, very comfortable. But then, as that low approaches south of us, the counter-clockwise wind around the low will be in our face. That is when I ask Normandie should we go north, or go south, until the winds are again more favorable.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
620 nm east of Block Island
Weather- We get weather forecasts from three sources. There is something called GRIBS (don't worry about what that stands for)that I can request by email. It shows the forecasted winds by showing arrows that indicate the wind direction and speed over a grid in an area I define by latitude and longitude. All it shows is windspeed, and because of the amount of data that needs to be downloaded for a large area all I request is for where I am. A second source is weatherfax maps which I receive on the shortwave radio and computer. That is a weather map of the entire North Atlantic, showing fronts and low pressure storms. And last but best is Normandie, who can refer to several sourced to tell me what is going on.
For the past two weeks there has been a front going from Cape Hatteras all the way across the ocean to the British Isles. Lows form on that front, travel up and over, and become gales about when they cross 40 degrees latitude. They seem to come every three days. One is at Hatteras now, and will be just south of us in two days, and a gale just east of us in three days. Another will leave North Caroling in four days and come this way. Normandie can tell me whether to move north or south a few miles to utilize the winds from these systems, or to move away from them.
Our day today was one of fast travel. The wind is directly behind us at about 15-25 knots, and we have 1.5 knot positive current. We have been in the 7's and 8's all day. And compared to yesterday, very comfortable. But then, as that low approaches south of us, the counter-clockwise wind around the low will be in our face. That is when I ask Normandie should we go north, or go south, until the winds are again more favorable.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Wednesday 22 July
Wednesday 22 July
520 nm east of Block Island
The Weather - It started yesterday with a terrific thunderstorm. Then the day came and went. Sunny for a bit, cloud up and another squall, clear up, etc. but it wasn't too bad. Then last night the pattern developed with a series of squalls, some with wind and some with rain. We didn't seem to get both strong wind and heavy rain in the same squall. We tracked them on the radar so we knew when to take in the genoa, leaving the trisail up for stability. Basically the procedure.. was to take in the genoa, sheet the trisail tight, and go below and on the radar watch the squall go by. After you go out, get the boat going east, deploy the genoa, reset the windvane, and wait for the next one. The last one to come was not much rain but a torrential deluge of rain. It past, I looked out, and the sky was clean and blue, beautiful and calm. Obviously a cold front. Now we are dealing with the aftermath; rough seas and light wind. We are sailing about 3 knots, rolling gunnel to gunnel with the sails tight to reduce the flogging. A beautiful day, but really, really uncomfortable. Hard to just sit here, braced in three directions, trying to catch the keyboard as it slides back and forth.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
520 nm east of Block Island
The Weather - It started yesterday with a terrific thunderstorm. Then the day came and went. Sunny for a bit, cloud up and another squall, clear up, etc. but it wasn't too bad. Then last night the pattern developed with a series of squalls, some with wind and some with rain. We didn't seem to get both strong wind and heavy rain in the same squall. We tracked them on the radar so we knew when to take in the genoa, leaving the trisail up for stability. Basically the procedure.. was to take in the genoa, sheet the trisail tight, and go below and on the radar watch the squall go by. After you go out, get the boat going east, deploy the genoa, reset the windvane, and wait for the next one. The last one to come was not much rain but a torrential deluge of rain. It past, I looked out, and the sky was clean and blue, beautiful and calm. Obviously a cold front. Now we are dealing with the aftermath; rough seas and light wind. We are sailing about 3 knots, rolling gunnel to gunnel with the sails tight to reduce the flogging. A beautiful day, but really, really uncomfortable. Hard to just sit here, braced in three directions, trying to catch the keyboard as it slides back and forth.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Tuesday 21 July
Tuesday 21 July
At noon we were 415 nm east of Block Island.
The only thing the least bit interesting today was a series of thunderstorms starting about daylight. This is a steel boat. Steel boats require maintenance (rust repair) and may not be as "pretty" as some other boats. But when lightning is sizzling the water around you, you really appreciate a steel boat. And the lightning did sizzle. I kept on remembering my daddy's words,"If you hear the thunder, you are OK." And the wind would blow quite hard for a few minutes, then it would go away. We had three storms over about four hours. We could watch them approach on the radar. When they got two miles away we drop the mainsail and put up the storm trisail and furl the genoa. After the storm put the mainsail back up. Over and over again. But in mid morning summer returned. Light wind and warm, almost hot temperatures. Is this normal? or are we getting set up for a viscous cold front to move in?
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
At noon we were 415 nm east of Block Island.
The only thing the least bit interesting today was a series of thunderstorms starting about daylight. This is a steel boat. Steel boats require maintenance (rust repair) and may not be as "pretty" as some other boats. But when lightning is sizzling the water around you, you really appreciate a steel boat. And the lightning did sizzle. I kept on remembering my daddy's words,"If you hear the thunder, you are OK." And the wind would blow quite hard for a few minutes, then it would go away. We had three storms over about four hours. We could watch them approach on the radar. When they got two miles away we drop the mainsail and put up the storm trisail and furl the genoa. After the storm put the mainsail back up. Over and over again. But in mid morning summer returned. Light wind and warm, almost hot temperatures. Is this normal? or are we getting set up for a viscous cold front to move in?
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Monday, July 20, 2015
Monday 20 July
Monday 20 July
340 nm east of Block Island
What happened? I got up last night for the mid-watch 0000-0400 and put on my coat for warmth for the first time. It had been so cold the night before. I relieved Adnaan and went on deck. Within minutes I took off the coat. It was actually warm, in the middle of the night! Today we have been in summer attire, single short sleeve shirt, shorts. Cockpit shower. Air temp 84 degrees, water temp 76 degrees. What happened?
Beautiful sailing today, some of it up in the 6's. Now we are sailing with poled out genoa very comfortably at 5.0 knots. Sailing is so peaceful. . . .
Reef early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
340 nm east of Block Island
What happened? I got up last night for the mid-watch 0000-0400 and put on my coat for warmth for the first time. It had been so cold the night before. I relieved Adnaan and went on deck. Within minutes I took off the coat. It was actually warm, in the middle of the night! Today we have been in summer attire, single short sleeve shirt, shorts. Cockpit shower. Air temp 84 degrees, water temp 76 degrees. What happened?
Beautiful sailing today, some of it up in the 6's. Now we are sailing with poled out genoa very comfortably at 5.0 knots. Sailing is so peaceful. . . .
Reef early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Sunday19July
Sunday 19 July
The middle of July. I measured the air temp in the daytime as 62 degrees and the water temp as 56. At night the air temp goes to the water temp, and at 02:00 I believe it. Something else here is the current. We are getting a 1.5 knot boost, sailing at 6.5 knots and the GPS reads 8.0. That really helps. Thank you Normandie for the south wind. We motored for about an hour this morning when it died away, but it has been really good sailing since. BNut the south wind has its disadvantages. The warm moist south wind blows across the cold Labrador Current and makes fog. I looked around this morning and the horizon looked hazy. Then the haze was closer, then we were enveloped in fog. Still sailing well. I thought that fog was only when there was no wind. For maybe an hour I used the radar, then the fog cleared. I was really happy to have the radar.
From s/v Advent II sailing east at 8 knots -
Bill Doar
Reef Early
The middle of July. I measured the air temp in the daytime as 62 degrees and the water temp as 56. At night the air temp goes to the water temp, and at 02:00 I believe it. Something else here is the current. We are getting a 1.5 knot boost, sailing at 6.5 knots and the GPS reads 8.0. That really helps. Thank you Normandie for the south wind. We motored for about an hour this morning when it died away, but it has been really good sailing since. BNut the south wind has its disadvantages. The warm moist south wind blows across the cold Labrador Current and makes fog. I looked around this morning and the horizon looked hazy. Then the haze was closer, then we were enveloped in fog. Still sailing well. I thought that fog was only when there was no wind. For maybe an hour I used the radar, then the fog cleared. I was really happy to have the radar.
From s/v Advent II sailing east at 8 knots -
Bill Doar
Reef Early
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Sat18July
My sailing partner is Adnaan (add as in addition, nan as a short form of Nancy) Stumo. Mother from Lebanon, father from Iowa. I stole him from a tourist beach in Puerto Rico where he was giving tourists rides on sailboats. He also has worked as a commercial fisherman offshore Alaska, and sailed with Richard Hudson. Adnaan arrived in New Bedford with his family about 0930 Friday. Mother, father and brother. They were kind enough to take me to get the propane tank filled, then to the groc, and then a special treat of anything I wanted in a little coffee house. That was good. Back at the boat Adnaan and I took everything out to the boat, then circled around and landed on the face dock where the family waited. They came on board, we showed them the boat, then they had to leave, and us too. They are good folks.
This morning the order of business was to buy 10 gallons of diesel fuel. We upped anchor and drove to the fuel dock, to find it swarmed with small boats, three on the dock and many others milling around waiting their turn. There was a big sailboat regatta today and at 0800 all the support boats were gassing up. No hope for us. We anchored, built the dinghy, and got in line for our fuel. That done we re-stowed the dinghy (in a swarm of small sailboats going out to the racing area) and got underway just as all the small boats go out to where they were going to race. They were cluster in three groups of maybe 75 boats in each group. It was obvious that they had left the main channel area open for passing boats, so I went for the open channel area. I got right in the middle when I realized that the reason the area where I was was free of racing boats, was because I was on the racing side of the starting line, and the starting gun had just sounded. one hundred racing sailboats were coming on us, fast. There was no hope of going through them so we turned and tried to stay ahead of them. We couldn't, but it gave us enough time for the fleet to spread out some, we picked an opening between four of them, and cut through. Whew!
My other learning experience today has to do with currents. The currents are manageable, but have to be dealt with. It may look like you are in the middle of a vast expanse of water, but there is always current. And then, to my surprize, when you leave Martha's Vinyard and sail past Nantucket, there are shoals similar to Ocracoke inlet. I was being lazy; suddenly it got my attention. There were 10 miles of channels to negotiate before we got to the open ocean. And a surprize of a different sort. I have been adding layers all day. This morning I was in shorts and a summer shirt. Now I am in four layers. It is really chilly out there.
We are now about 15nm off Nantucket now in the open ocean. Good (chilly) wind and mild seas. We look forward to a pleasant first night out.
Bill and Adnaan
s/v Advent II
You may find it interesting to go to Adventtwo.blogspot.com and look at our track.
Plans
My trip up from Wilmington was another trip that would be wonderful to share. The first day was offshore sailing from Wrightsville Beach to Beaufort. Then up to Oriental for the night. Oriental up to Alligator River. Lordy it was hot. The Alligator River Pungo River canal seemed to go on for ever. About half way the engine overheated. I drifted to the side to fix it and a boat traveling behind me asked on the radio if he could help. I was OK by then so he went on by. Then, just at the end of the canal a terrific thunderstorm hit. I was right behind the other boat, and we both went to the anchor as fast as we could. Terrific thunderstorm. After the storm went away I went over to say hello to the other boat. He and I spent several hours that evening and the next day. It was a treat for me to meet the real Indiana Jones in the headwaters of the Alligator River. He was an Australian geologist who explored for gold in Africa. And between jobs he sailed all over the world. Normandie and I met in the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean. He has sailed to Chagos three times. We had a lot to talk about. The next day I sailed up the Alligator River, then across the Albermarle Sound. It was a great day of sailing, and I stopped just after the Albermarle behind Buck Island. That is where the second thunderstorm hit, in the middle of the night. The next day was when I met my nephew, John, at Pungo Ferry. John, Emily and the new baby Daisy Mae came from Virginia Beach with John's stuff for a five day sail up to New England. John and Emily went back home and I stayed on the boat at Pungo Ferry. The next day John came back, and he and I took the boat up to Great Bridge. And yes, I really enjoyed being able to share the experience. It is many times more fun when I can share it. We stopped at a terrific little marina/boatyard at Great Bridge. I loved it there. Especially the people on the other boats. Just walking down the pier you meet people and start talking. But good things have to end, and other good things start. John and I took the boat out to Hampton Roads to Willoughby Bay and anchored for the night. The next morning we sailed for New England. The most interesting thing about the trip was what did not happen. We crossed across the entrance to New York City and did not see a single ship. I was expecting to have to dodge traffic for two days. The first place we got to was Block Island. It has a lake much like Silver Lake in Ocracoke, except ten times larger. We anchored nearest to the entrance (with 500 of our closest friends on 4th July weekend) and it really looked like Silver Lake if you looked towards the entrance, except the Coast Guard Station was on the left instead of the right. If you looked the other way all you saw was boats. The next day up to New Bedford, the whaling port which brings me to now.
For about two months Normandie and I have been trying to find suitable crew to sail with me. We finally found Ken, from Houston. He was to meet me in Boston on 07July. We got here Friday 03 July, the same day I got word from Ken that his mother had a heart attack and he couldn't sail with me. So Normandie and I went back to work to find someone else.
We found a young man who wants to sail to North Africa, and I can take him close, so we shook hands (over the phone) and he is going to fly here (Boston) in the next few days. We should sail soon. This is going to be a real adventure.
Bill
For about two months Normandie and I have been trying to find suitable crew to sail with me. We finally found Ken, from Houston. He was to meet me in Boston on 07July. We got here Friday 03 July, the same day I got word from Ken that his mother had a heart attack and he couldn't sail with me. So Normandie and I went back to work to find someone else.
We found a young man who wants to sail to North Africa, and I can take him close, so we shook hands (over the phone) and he is going to fly here (Boston) in the next few days. We should sail soon. This is going to be a real adventure.
Bill
William Doar is sharing their location
I'm starting my trip, follow along at my MapShare!
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Thursday, July 9, 2015
inReach message from William Doar
Nice anchorage
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