Starting the (external) Chores

[Kyle]Once we got situated in a slip at Salve Marine in Crosshaven, we went in with our list to see what they could help us with. The owner, a Dutch man with a hint of an Irish accent mingling with his Dutch, told us his name but we never got it. It was something Dutch starting in W that sounded as if it had no consonants. For the sake of discussion, we’ll call him William, which he most certainly isn’t. Maryanne: Actually Kyle never got it, the guy's name is Wietse.

His only employee was a South African man of few words whose name really was Ronnie. The place looked completely ramshackle but the two could not have been more patient or helpful. We asked where we could get propane filled (our first in Europe). William said to just leave it outside and he would take care of it. American fittings were no problem. The place he took it had adapters for pretty much every kind of fitting. As for the broken rail, he came and looked at it and said if we got it off, Ronnie could do it on the premises. It was pretty much the same with the rest of the list.

Tired from our early start to get the tide, Maryanne and I snuck in an hour nap before tackling all of the work we had to do. Once we got done, we were surprised to see our two propane bottles had already been filled! We got the rail off and Ronnie had it done in less than an hour – sort of. He said he wasn’t done and went home for the night.

Later that evening, Maryanne’s parents arrived from England to congratulate us on our passage and came over for dinner and a catch-up before the evening was over.

Moving on to Crosshaven (Cork area)

Misty coastline of Southern Ireland, County Cork
[Kyle]We got up before sunrise to catch the morning tide out of Kinsale in a thick, windless fog. Not since leaving Maine have Maryanne and I left a harbour without being able to see anything at all along the way. The fog thinned out further from the coast and for just a minute, I thought there was enough wind to sail but 30 minutes after putting everything out, the slatting started to drive me crazy and the sails were furled again for the rest of the journey.


Boats moored at every bend in Owenboy River
We arrived in Cork Harbour and took a quick tour up the Owenboy River, which was packed with moorings for its entire navigable portion, before stopping at Salve Marina in Crosshaven, where we intended to get through the rest of the repair list from our Atlantic crossing.

Salve has a huge, well equipped machine shop on the premises and the guys were great. We got our propane filled pretty much immediately, even though we had crazy U.S. fittings. We pulled the rail off the stern and had the thing done within an hour or so (we’ll reinstall it tomorrow). This left us with enough time to go into the village for a quick look around. Everybody there was also nice and helpful.
Kyle feeds the swan that visits us as we arrive at Salve Marine
Now we feel rich again. We have full fuel, full water, full propane, and things are getting fixed. The only down side is that laundromats are almost unheard of in Ireland, so we have to have it done for us. It looks like it’ll be about the price of a decent meal in Kinsale.

Kinsale

Castle Desmond in the center of Kinsale
[Kyle]We woke up in the morning in Kinsale to windy conditions and dreary, Seattle style rain. This pretty much killed our motivation to get out and see one of County Cork’s most popular tourist areas bright and early. Eventually, after a nice hot breakfast, we made the cold row into town. The guidebooks all gush about this place as if it were Sausalito or Venice. Frankly, I didn’t see it. Perhaps the gloom was bringing me down but Kinsale just seemed like many other tourist destinations. There was a continuous snarl of traffic and all of the businesses seemed determined to cash in on the tourists by charging double for everything. We went to a local supermarket to get some walking around food and then headed for our first stop at the International Museum of Wine at Desmond Castle. Desmond Castle was used as a residence, Customs House and a Jail during its 500 year history but now is home of the museum. The museum was primarily dedicated to the story of the “Wine Geese” – Irish people who emigrated in large numbers to become instrumental in the wine industry worldwide.

Fort Charles
From there, we walked for about an hour along the River Bandon to get to Charles’s Fort. The fort was built beginning in 1678 and was used by the British military until the Irish Civil War in 1922, when it was burned down and fell into ruin. It was briefly occupied by a colony of hippies in the late 1960s. The Office of Public Works has since restored a few of the buildings and put in some nice exhibits about life there and the history of the fort. Like Fort Berkeley in Bermuda, it was almost never used for any real warfare and stands mostly as a monument to the British paranoia at the time about being invaded.
Kinsale - Scilly Walk
We had a lovely walk back along a pretty paved path back into town that tunnelled through the foliage at the river’s edge through the village of Scilly and then back into Kinsale.
Kinsale Town View - lots of places to eat - the Gourmet capital of Ireland
Once back in town, we started looking for a nice pub to have a light meal and a pint. Kinsale has a large selection of gourmet restaurants, but perusing the menus posted outside, it quickly became clear that, particularly with the exchange rate, a pretty ordinary meal would have cost us around $100. Even a couple of sandwiches in a pub would run us almost $50. Not gonna do it. We really didn’t want to go to the trouble of cooking and cleaning up at home, though, so we had this depressing, drizzly slog all over town looking at menus and hoping to find something reasonable. Eventually, we just gave up and ended up at a gourmet pizza place, where we were able to split one and have a drink each for $40. It was nothing special. Well, at least we were fed, which did take some of the sting off the cold, drizzly row back to Footprint.

Castletownshend to Kinsale

[Kyle]After Castletownshend, we upped anchor around noon (for the tide) for the 27NM trip to our next destination: Courtmacsherry. The wind had calmed down quite a bit since the day before and was now mostly just below 10 knots from the SE. This put us close hauled to the wind for the whole way, but since the seas were flat, it wasn’t bad at all. The wind was just a little bit too close to our destination for us to go directly and we did have to tack back and forth a bit, spending a couple of hours on one tack and then as we gradually got too near shore, we’d spend half an hour on the other one until we were out far enough to repeat.

I had been really looking forward to Courtmacsherry. Our sailing guide has directions for navigating the tricky harbour entrance and said a couple of sentences about it being a nice village – pretty much the same it says about most places. Our other travel guides don’t mention it at all, which I took to be a good sign. I like discovering things off the beaten path.

The main difficulty with Courtmacsherry Harbour is that almost all of it dries out completely at low tide, leaving very little of the harbour where boats could remain afloat for the entire tidal cycle. Since Footprint is not a tippy boat, we should be able to take the ground better than most others but, being unfamiliar with the harbour, we didn’t want to risk being set down upon an errant rock so we were keen to remain afloat ourselves. We arrived right at high tide near sunset, which gave us lots of maneuvering room to find a suitable spot. As in lots of places, nearly every bit of useable space was packed with moorings. After much searching around and a few failed attempts (as it started to rain), we did just manage to squeeze in between a couple of moorings far from the town quay. We would not be going ashore. Once the tide started going out, huge mats of smelly seaweed came zinging by the boat in a fast current, piling up on everything exposed. The prevailing wind also brought in the smell from a nearby stockyard. Lovely! I suppose we’ll be sleeping with the hatches closed, then.

CourtMacSherry
The next morning, at slack tide (no seaweed), in the sunshine, I began to feel a little guilty about thinking all of the unflattering things that I had the previous night about the place. There were kids launching their sailing dinghies, people fishing and even one guy taking his pony for a walk along the beach. Still, we needed to get moving as the tide waits for no one. Pulling up the anchor also pulled up hundreds of pounds of seaweed that had to be stabbed at with the boat hook and then clawed at with bare hands in order to let the chain come aboard freely, leaving the deck covered in ‘lettuce’. So I guess I’m back to not liking the place again.
We had a repeat of the previous day’s sailing conditions for the 20 mile trip to Kinsale.
Old Head of Kinsale Lighthouse with its distinctive black and white stripes
We were able to get up very close to the beautiful lighthouse at The Old Head of Kinsale (before tacking and getting out of there) on the way and were surprised to see two guys out fishing in a small inflatable right off the rocky point.

Dinghy fishing Waaaay out to sea!!, and more traditional fishing and farming in Irish waters
We had one more surprise waiting for us, though. After we furled the sails and were heading into the harbour at Kinsale, we came upon a virtual raft of seagulls. Scanning the area, I noticed a large fin in the water. I took Footprint out of gear and we coasted up to see two huge (10’-12’) sharks among the birds. They seemed pretty unconcerned with us and we were able to get right up next to one of them. It turned out to be a Basking Shark. These big fish swim around with their huge mouths open and just scoop up whatever is in their path. The water here was full of jellyfish and several schools of smaller fish (explaining the seagulls). We spent a long time trying to get a good picture but eventually gave up as the light was from a bad angle and the reflection/distortion from the water was bad.


Basking Shark on Entrance to Kinsale - For a much better shark picture - see this one from Wikipedia
Once we got up the river to Kinsale, we found the same problem with the moorings. Eventually, we found a nice, pretty spot just up the river from the town but it took us five tries on the anchor before we could get it stick adequately in the hard clay. Maryanne, at the bow for the first, second, third and fifth tries just took it in stride and kept hauling and setting, hauling and setting without complaint as she always does. She says she prefers that I find the spot and keep from hitting things while she’s up there working. I suspect it also has something to do with all of the sympathy she gets when we meet other people. On most other boats, the person at the bow actually has the easy job because all they have to do is operate the button for the electric windlass.

Nevermind, change of plan

[Kyle]We’d originally intended to “leave Ireland” to go to Sherkin Island for a look around, but by the time we raised the anchor and made the short trip across the harbour, the wind was in the upper 20’s and the anchorage on an exposed lee shore. The anchorage was also very small, and very deep, full of mooring balls and with a high tidal range (3.5m). Try as we might we could not find anywhere that was shallow enough to anchor (and close enough for the row to land) that we’d consider comfortably distant from the gnashing rocks at low tide. I tried to find a spot behind a little finger of a breakwater amidst some moorings, but again was unable to assure enough swinging room. Maryanne finally said what we were both thinking – “let’s just skip here and move on to our next planned stop”.

So off we motored directly into the wind, out of Baltimore Harbour, and into the short steep chop of the Celtic Sea for the 12 nm bash to Castletownshend. The ride was horrible, we hadn’t been prepared for sailing as we’d expected s a short 1nm hop across the bay, and in any event I doubt we’d have made much progress under sail. So we motored; directly into the wind and seas where we were only able to make about 2-3kt with spray flying everywhere. The weather had also turned decidedly dreary, and although it never did, it looked and felt as though it were going to start raining any minute, all day long.


Castletownshend - what a beautiful village
When we finally got inside Castletownshend Harbour, away from the swell, we were rewarded with picturesque views of a beautiful, quaint, stone village, tumbling down into the harbour.

The town consists of basically one road down a very steep hill, ending in a castle (now used as a hotel/b&b and with a clear KEEP OUT signs for non-guests) and then the harbour with a small fishing fleet and green hills on either side.

After getting settled in (anchor secure, anchor ball up) we went ashore for a look around. The guidebooks pretty much say there is a castle and then you’re done, but probably about right, EXCEPT that the castle itself is surrounded by signs making it quite clear non-residents are not welcome. There is a beautiful Church of Ireland (Anglican) church, perched on a hill behind the castle and lots of picturesque stone houses.

[Maryanne]We arrived ashore at Castletownshend at the rowing club; an ancient looking boat shed, clearly well cared for, and well used, but at the time closed up. Leaving here we climbed the narrow road and eventually made it to the main road of town. There is no through road, Castletown is a dead end, not on the way to anywhere. We fully explored the street and found pubs closed down, restaurants not open, and were unsure if this was a sign of an abandoned village, or just too early in the season to be viable businesses. The highlight of the town for me was the shop. Marked outside with a lit sign that simply says “Shop”, it provides the bottled butane for the village, has a petrol pump in the street, and supplies newspapers and basic provisions in a cramped hodgepodge of a room – just perfect village stuff.

Castletownshend's Shop
[Kyle]The one open pub/restaurant in town called Mary Ann’s where we naturally decided to stop for a bite to eat and a pint. To our surprise as we entered the pub in this otherwise sleepy hamlet, we found standing room only and a waiting list to eat (on a Thursday evening!). Our walk around town had been very quiet so we could only assume that this one pub is renowned, and the whole town (and surrounding residents) used it. Places like this always amaze me. The town otherwise looks like it is clinging on for dear life, and yet we find these occasional businesses that no matter what have all the business they could want. The rumor about Mary Ann’s was its great food, and seafood in particular. We waited patiently our turn for a tiny table and eventually were rewarded with a delicious meal. Maryanne had Thai Fish cakes with a chili jam/sauce and I had a salmon with pesto mash and several sides of vegetables that appeared with that (chips, potatoes-au-gratin, carrots, cauliflower and beans). Even though we’d intended to only stop by for an appetizer (budget cuts), and therefore ended up spending more than we’d intended, it was well worth the cost. One of the things I found most amusing was on the wall, a plaque, awarding them the James Joyce award for an authentic Irish pub; it seems to me that in an ancient village like Castletownshend, just about as far from the tourist source of Dublin Airport as you can get, and not even on the beaten path, that a pub, in Ireland, at least 169 years old, would naturally be an “authentic Irish pub”, and no plaque would be necessary. Technically it seems to me that anyplace where someone with a name such as Fergus, who hands out a beer from their garage window, would be an authentic Irish pub, but I digress.

Mary Anns pub/restaurant in Castletownshend
Feeling all satisfied from a delicious meal and a lovely walk around a beautiful village, we returned to the dingy for the row back to Footprint. As I reached down to pull in the painter (line that connects the dinghy to shore) our camera slipped out of my pocket, bounced on the gunwale of the dinghy, it landed on a mat of seaweed floating beside the dingy. I screamed at Maryanne to grab it but she was not quite fast enough (nor keen enough to get wet) and we had to watch as it slowly sunk into the harbour depths. I felt just terrible. Maryanne however was very understanding and although upset at losing the camera, she was not upset with me “accidents happen”. After I dropped her off at Footprint, I returned to the scene with a fish net to try an recover the camera (maybe we could salvage the memory chip?). No such luck, even when I returned the next morning; all I pulled up was nets full of seaweed. That made for an extra expensive dinner out. Oh well, at least we have a spare camera.

[Maryanne]It had taken me a full year of whinging to get that little camera (eventually I justified it as a birthday present to me, from Kyle), with a great zoom, and a small pocket size, we had a 10gig chip in there too… Grrr how frustrating to lose something that we use and value so much, and worse still to see it lost in such slow motion. I daren’t be mad with Kyle, as I’m just as likely to do something equally silly tomorrow and have certainly done so in the past. We’ll just have to suck it up and purchase a new camera. In the mean time we are at least not without a camera, but the one we have is a big bulky tourist/”look at me” type camera, not the kind you slip in your pocket “just in case”, but the kind you take out to a photo shoot. We’ve also discovered our back up GPS that also acts as our road route finder is broken, and we need to send that away for repairs, we seem to have a growing to do list that hits the bank account – grrrr indeed.

[Kyle]The following morning, just before we left, I retraced my steps with the Camera, while Maryanne scrubbed the bottom of the dinghy and gathering a few supplies from her current favorite shop. At least the light was better 2nd time around.

Maryanne cleans the Dinghy bottom

Footprint Ship Shape (almost)

[Kyle] We spent most of today finally finishing up our various jobs, at least the critical ones. I installed the starboard centerboard line at the expense of most of the skin on my hands and forearms. I eventually learned that it was much easier and quicker to use our butane hot knife to cut away the old line than it was to try and get a regular knife down in there and saw away while the fiberglass edges eat through my arms. I did get the second one done in about half the time. That's experience, I guess.

After that, we tore apart the port hull so that we could get to the 'bouyancy' tank on that side. It wasn't too bad - about 3" water inside. The real benefit of all this is that the process of pulling everything out and putting it back in gave us a chance to give Footprint a much needed Spring cleaning. We still have a few non-critical jobs to do, most notably the stern rail, but now the boat is recovered from the rough passage and ready to move on. The inside is all nice and tidy, perhaps not ready to represent PCI at a boat show, but not looking too bad for a 10,000 mile boat. This is a huge relief for me as I hate having a mess hanging over my head. I can't even leave dishes overnight.

That all done and feeling chuffed with ourselves, we headed to the center of Baltimore Yachting, Bushe's Bar, for refreshing showers, a light lunch and a steady wifi (so I can do this). We also loaded up at the local market on some of the stuff we've been getting short on, such as eggs and fresh bread.

Since we're finished with everything we can get done here, we're looking forward to a nice evening of loafing and looking out at beautiful Baltimore Harbour. Tomorrow, we're looking forward to anchoring at Sherkin Island, just a couple of miles away, still within Baltimore Harbour. It looks really pretty there and it's just a little out of dinghy reach. One of the guys we met keeps saying you have to leave Ireland to go to Sherkin Island.

[Maryanne]Kyle has had to do most of the work over the last 2 days, since I managed to take a seat in the dingy, only to find the seat was not where I expected - I slammed my back onto the edge of the seat and landed hard on the floor... That left me with a really bruised and stiff back and could hardly move, let alone lift and clean for 2 days... Whatever it takes I generally find a way to get out of too much hard work :-)

Together we are currently reading a book by Shane Acton about the boat "Shrimpy" an 18' boat that sailed around the world in the 70's, and I'm reading a book "No Place for a Woman" by Marie-Christine Ridgway. Both of these are making our adventures look like nothing more than a trip to the local park for a picnic.... Just as we are basking in the completion of our own little adventure these books are putting us in our place - heck, we ONLY crossed the Atlantic.

TLC for Footprint

With no late morning start, nor extra naps, first order was some tidying up, then a quick look at the list to prioritize the chores ahead. That seemed like work enough and we soon found ourselves taking a nap. It was NOT supposed to be like this. Eventually we surfaced for dinner, and got distracted by email and blogs, but the boat at least looked tidy and livable; we even put clean sheets on the bed. We were determined to do better the following day.

The solstice (here at 51.5 degrees North) makes for a very long day indeed; the sun came up at 5:20am and set at 9:58pm, and the twilight is so prolonged it never actually gets fully dark – even at midnight there is a thin line of blue to the North. This combined with clear blue skies had made our time off so pleasurable. The weather has calmed down too… With our messed up (and excessive) sleep, and with the long days, we never seem to know exactly what time it is.

The following morning we got up bright and early (oh around 9:30am), and immediately started into our chores.. And for the most part this meant tearing the boat apart and undoing all the tidying we’d done the previous day, in order to access all the things on our list. We pulled everything out of the Starboard berth to access the buoyancy tank and the Espar heater – we pumped water, fixed a loose connection, and aired the room. Kyle then went up the mast to check over things there: replaced the masthead light bulb and inspected the sheaves (main halyard sheave looks fine but no longer works under compression – to replace that we’ll have to remove the mast cap, so we’ll make do for the rest of the year). I re-affixed the enclosure track and some of the missing snap fitting that had pulled from the fiberglass. Kyle then attempted replacement of the centerboard control ropes. I think he did well to complete one today, the other will now be much quicker. This rope replacement is one of those horrible and frustrating boat jobs that requires cramming an arm into a space designed to shred an arm and then doing detail work with the tips of your longest fingers. A frustrating job, but the centerboard lift and lower mechanism is eventually working again, and Kyle will leave me to put the rest of it together as he fixes the other side of the boat tomorrow.

The boat is still a mess, but we need it that way for tomorrow, and since it is almost dark we know it must be very late so we are off to bed before picking up on a few more chores in the morning. I think we will do the remainder of the chores as we move around Ireland so it won’t seem as if we are ONLY doing chores. All the critical things have been done (or we need expert help for, and have to wait for an area with better services).

Passage Review

[Kyle]First the stats. St George’s, Bermuda to Baltimore, Ireland.

• Distance travelled (through the water):2800nm
  
• Ideal route distance from start to finish 2691nm
  
• Time under motor 6.1 hours (4 for battery charging, one for in and one for out of port). Approx 4 gallons of fuel
  
• Total passage time: 22 days 23 hours 50 minutes.
  
• Average miles per day - 121 nm
  
• Average speed approx 5kt.
  
• Max distance covered in one hour 8.31 (day 15, 27kt of wind). Maximum instantaneous speed we noted 13.2kts, which I can verify as I was at the helm and hand steering at the time. The boat showed no tendency to swerve during this speed and was very stable.
  
• Min distance travelled in one 1 hour period: 0.09 miles (day 9, 1.6kt wind) – We were still moving!
  
• Min distance travelled in one day: 73.23nm (day 9)
  
• Ships sighted (approx, from memory): 5.
  
• Propane usage: 1.5 tanks (approx 30lb), used for cooking and refrigeration.
  
• Water usage: We left with 180L in the tanks plus 150 in jugs. We’d intended to use the jugs for drinking water and the tanks for washing/cooking, but the jugs ended up being too cumbersome for easy access/pouring, so Maryanne tended to use tank water for her drinks. In the end we used 38L out of the jugs (for drinking) and arrived with about 60L remaining in the tanks (used 120L from tanks). We also used an additional 12L from the solar showers. We used our seawater tap at the galley for washing up (saving the freshwater for a final rinse only) so this helped reduce our water usage. Water usage was higher during the first few days due to the heat (drinking more cold drinks). Average use 7L a day (we think this is quite low). So we arrived in Ireland with much spare water, but this also saves us rushing around looking to get our tanks filled.

Achievements / highlights

• Broke 8, 9 and then 10,000 miles on Footprint – amazing one passage equates to a ¼ of all the miles we’ve done with Footprint.
  
• Seabird swims by us, several times.
  
• Dolphins! So many times.

Key moments of stupidity

• Not cleating the main halyard before I cut it! This caused hours of “fun” trying to recover it.

Items to repair/replace

• Autopilot Motor – we really should have had a spare, but we misunderstood the manufacturer phrase “no user serviceable parts” and somehow interpreted it as we had to replace the WHOLE autopilot and could not replace parts. I’m not sure how we made that leap, of course you can purchase spare motors and one would definitely be aboard in the future.
  
• Sticking drive leg, tight control lines causing resistance on steering – to resolve.
  
• WHAM radio remote mic (fails to recharge or work with rechargeable batteries)
  
• Centerboard control lines (chafed through, most likely during times being hove to after autopilot failure).
  
• Masthead light (still to verify, but may be same failure as on way to Antigua where the bulb broke from its bayonet fitting – not sure why this should happen).
  
• One handrail to fix/replace, and a thorough inspection of davits and mount required.
  
• Oven brackets rusting and screws not biting well – to replace/secure.
  
• Galley cupboard sliding doors – Perspex/plexiglass broken – to replace
  
• Enclosure snaps, chafe, and bolt rope bracket to repair/replace.
  
• Helm seat attachment fittings (holes enlarging and weld breaking from rocking back and forth).
  
• Speed wheel plug to find / replace (it floated somewhere in the hull during our flooding, and is not yet recovered/found).
  
• Leaks on all 4 hatches
  
• Main halyard sheave – suspect broken, it is no longer running smoothly.
  
• Espar heater – fuse replacement required
  
• Identify / seal leaks from stern lockers/rudder lockers into boat
  
• Identify /seal leaks from forward (hull deck joints?).
  
• Master Berth locker latches

I’m paraphrasing of course, but I remember Tony Smith saying something about how he did his North Atlantic crossing as he knew some idiot would try it sooner or later. While admitting that it could be done, he did not necessarily recommend it should be done. I think, having done a similar route ourselves I would share the same sentiment. The boat seems to be a very stable design and even in conditions that were terrifying both hulls seemed solidly glued to the water surface (possibly helped by our high loads since we live aboard). I boat also took several pretty bad hits from big waves and seemed to be able to just brush it off. However an Atlantic crossing is definitely not for the faint of heart and I would echo Tony’s recommendation not to attempt it without getting very familiar with the boat, and making necessary modifications prior to leaving. Some of the things we did that I consider invaluable were line control traveler/genoa tracks, and preventer. The enclosure and the helm seat were essential, as are jack lines and tethers. I also believe we would have had a real power consumption issue and would have to run the engine more (limiting range for emergencies) if we had not switched our incandescent lights to LEDs. We had also sailed the boat considerably before we left, and exposed ourselves to longer passages and rough weather. By the time we set off we knew exactly where to place our hands and feet, and had a good muscle memory for all the activities needed to sail the boat, essentially single handed.

I do believe that in 80% of the conditions in which a mono-hull would be uncomfortable a Gemini remains stable and livable. However the other 20% conditions are also awful aboard the Gemini (possibly worse in a mono-hull). Movement is so bad at times that nothing can be achieved without holding on constantly and there are too many open spaces with no decent hand holds – especially when crossing from one side of the boat to the other (cockpit, foredeck and inside between hulls). Loose items are readily thrown around. Another disconcerting issue in rough conditions is the noise and motion; with the two hulls, on slightly different wave patterns, there is a lot of bending, flexing and creaking, along with wave pounding, all of which can be nerve wracking. It is such a complicated shaped structure that although not concerned about the boat stability as a unit, I did spend several sleepless nights worrying about how much stress the parts working against each other could take.

I was hoping when we set off that we would be able to enjoy the days of solitude, with reflection, but since conditions turned out to be so rough (always a possibility we had to be prepared for) this really amounted to an exercise in endurance. The seemingly constant cloud cover prevented reflection on the constellations. The forced hand steering towards the end of the trip removed any remaining opportunity to reflect on the passage.

Overall, I feel pretty satisfied with the voyage. It is incredible to be here in Ireland and to look out from the pub and see our boat anchored in the harbour. Because of the conditions on route, I feel like we earned it well and have no sense that we got away with anything by having an unusually easy passage; although I fully realized things could have been much worse. In fact here is an excerpt from an email from our friend JD, “Dave and I have been following the blog and also plotting your position on ww.passageweather.com to evaluate the upcoming weather and sea conditions. I'm sure it’s no news, but you had your very own major low pressure system in tow for most of the trip. I looked all over the world and even in the Southern Ocean, the weather was not as severe as your conditions! How fitting that the first land you would see is Fastnet Rock (from the famous disastrous race in the 70's).”

Because I can’t know what would have happened if conditions had been worse or if something more critical had failed, I’m reluctant to recommend it to anyone else. I think anyone planning to make an eastbound temperate passage in a Gemini would need to be prepared to make an ocean crossing regardless of the boat type. It is almost inevitable that at least a few days (or more) rough weather is going to be encountered. I have no way of being sure, of course, but I have to assume for the sake of prudence that we got lucky to a degree with regard to breakdowns, etc. Even so, it still required a good bit of creativity and ingenuity (as well as a good stock of tools and spare parts on hand) to keep things from turning much worse for us. Our main philosophy is to inspect everything as often as practical in order to catch things early. This has saved us on numerous occasions, most often from things that start off as minor, such as seizing wire, cable ties or split pins breaking, of which we have tons of spares.

Maryanne and I have been planning this crossing for a long time and it feels strange to have suddenly put it behind us. The passage itself in many ways felt like a series of 30 mile sails between naps. Our furthest point from land was when we were 575NM from the Azores and Ireland, respectively but since we are so used to sailing the boat out of sight of land, it never really felt like we were out that far. Once we wake up from our off watch, it’s a new (half) day and everything begins anew, so we keep sailing. What else are we going to do? The weather also provides a means of reducing the apparent size of the Ocean. Even though the whole thing is just a huge expanse of water at sea level, I keep a constant mental map of the weather patterns, which causes me to mentally subdivide the entire ocean into regions of wind and wave and high and low pressure systems so that our ‘region’ only feels like it’s 100 or 200 miles across.

I certainly could not have done it without Maryanne (nor her without me, I hope). Maryanne is not in any way someone who was dragged along for the ride but has been a full and valuable partner in the entire endeavor. She has a childlike wonder about the world and has a fun and cheery demeanor but she takes her job as seriously as an old sea captain when things get dicey. I can leave her at the helm at night in frightening conditions knowing that she understands the responsibility of having our very lives in her hands and that she has the skill and knowledge for the job. She has always been right there in any kind of emergency putting the full force of her considerable intellect and talent into solving or helping me solve the problem. I sleep better knowing she’s out there with me, keeping an eye on things

It really wasn’t until enough of Ireland was in view that I could see it constantly and clearly that it began to dawn on me the magnitude of what we’ve done. I was able to gaze at the hills and realize that, somehow, after all those years of thinking about it and planning for it, we had made it happen. They looked like any old hills but there was something fundamentally different about them that I understood intellectually. These hills were not merely far away, they were on the other side of the ocean. Once we finally got ashore, it seemed like we’d come a long way indeed. The climate was different, the geology was different and everybody’s accent was different. At the pub in this sailor’s town, when even the salty sailors would buy us a round and introduce us to yet more people who congratulated us with pats on the back and warm handshakes, we started to get a real feeling for what we had done. Then, of course, we had checked our email and saw all of the good wishes and support we received, and began to feel like we had Mission Control behind us the whole way.

Baltimore, Ireland

Baltimore Scenes
Baltimore is a small village, almost at the southern tip of Ireland, with a large proportion of holiday / second homes, and a large proportion of B&Bs, pubs and eateries, all centered into a very small waterfront area. There is just one small convenience store, no bank, no petrol station, and at least 3 sailing clubs/schools. The focus is the water front, there is an active fishing fleet (although clearly smaller than it used to be historically), and several ferries and eco-tour type boats leaving the small town harbour all day. On the water itself we see a constant stream of sailors (with all size boats), and even wind surfers and jet skiers. For us the water seems way too cold to get that close to it. Seals frolic around, and the sea birds follow the fishing boats. It seems everyone owns a boat of some sort here. It also seems very international here, where daily, French sail boats arrive to visit, along with British and Irish from further afield.

Baltimore's historical and unusual claim to fame is it was the site of a visit from Algerian pirates in 1631 who kidnapped a number of Baltimore citizens and took them away into slavery (it is assumed, they were never seen again).

After dreaming for days of a hot bath, and a comfy bed (and without the need for laundry, and cleaning before hand) when we arrived in Baltimore, we’d found and booked a B&B before we even left the boat (Thank Mom).

The morning after we arrived we slept like teenagers, just getting out of bed long enough to eat Breakfast at 9am before returning for more sleep – I guess we must have been very tired. Eventually we surfaced, and made it all the way next door to the 1215 O'Driscoll clan castle, Dún na Séad ("Fort of the Jewels"), recently renovated from stone ruins into a beautiful home. The castle was lovely inside and out, and had a roof top walk with great views of the harbour.

Dún na Séad Castle
We then found ourselves back at Bushe’s bar for a quick bite to eat which turned into several hours (we abused their WiFi). Determined to find somewhere different to eat for dinner, we walked out of town towards Casey’s hotel, however when we asked for a menu, they just verbally offered us chicken, lamb, beef or fish and chips (no price list given). We ordered fish and chips and were none too impressed with the fish, the chips, or the price. Casey’s restaurant/hotel is in some beautiful grounds and has some stunning views into Church Strand Bay (just off Baltimore harbour) and a ruined church with the sun setting to add to the ambiance.

Church Strand Bay
Eventually we walked home for another 12 hours of sleep.

Again we surfaced for our Breakfast and returned to bed. What luxury! Determined to so SOME activity in the early afternoon we walked just out of town in the other direction, back towards the bay entrance to see the Beacon known as Lot’s Wife. It was a very pretty walk passed the water front, and a smaller bay, winding along with wild flower borders on the road (dominated by beautiful, tall, purple foxgloves). Eventually we left the road for the moorland trail, and this provided yet more stunning views of inlets and amazing sea cliff formations. There were plenty of wild birds on the cliff, and plenty of evidence on the ground of cattle having been around.


Baltimore Area Countryside and cliffs

Despite being a weekend, we shared Lot's Wife with just two other couples, each sat enjoying the views and seeming to enjoy each other with dreamy smiles all around.

Baltimore Beacon - Lot's Wife, guiding boaters into the harbour
The beacon itself is set atop huge jagged lichen encrusted cliffs (the pictures, as usual, don’t do it justice). The area is a geologists' Heaven, plenty of different materials, and lots of exposed layering.

We returned back off road for as far as we could manage (with no idea if we were on public trails or private property) but eventually had to climb a gate to get back to the road. Here we were stopped by a distressed lady on a bicycle – looking for her cows. Had we seen any? Now we think of it we did see two black cows over by the beacon, but way down on the cliffs – was she looking for two black cows? Yes she was, she seemed relieved to know where they were and that she would now not be cycling around the moors all day.

Back into town, Baltimore was now very different on a weekend than during the week. We came across a handful of vintage cars – the Rolls Royce and Bentley club were having a tour of the area, and had stopped in Baltimore for a bite to eat we assume. Their cars were highly photographed by the many tourists (and Kyle). From there we found ourselves back into Bushe’s but this time for the end of the BIG rugby match (Lions against Springboks). (Lions are a joint British/Irish team, and the Springboks a South African team). It seems we joined the game at the best possible time. The Lions were expected to lose badly, but had just started to turn the game around for a big come back. Although they didn’t win, it made the local crowd happy to see that they just might have.

Kyle, being used to American Football, kept making the big mistake of looking away every time the ball hit the ground, or a play ended; he was expecting this to be “safe” as play would stop (as it does in American Football), and he assumed he had 30 seconds at least to concentrate on his soup before any new action, but in rugby they just keep playing. He kept missing all the great action.

Being mid afternoon, we were now ready for more rest. We nipped to the only store, picked up some snacks and a DVD and returned to our B&B for a hot bath and more rest. Late we left the house again, looking for Pizza, and bumped into our new friend Len, we were sidetracked into sharing more beer, and eventually joined Len again at his house for sunset and cocktails, along with dinner; what a great night, spent with meandering conversations in great company, and a beautiful setting – thank you Len. Len returned us home, but with a stop for drinks and live traditional Irish music at Casey’s en route. We could not last as long as our new friend Len, we decided to turn down the next pub, and retired to bed. We thought we might watch our movie, but that never worked out (I think we managed 5 minutes before we were both sound asleep).

Maryanne and Len share a beer outside Bushe's Bar in Baltimore
The next morning, Kyle would never allow me to forget, was the Summer Solstice. We got up early, knowing we would be returning to Footprint and starting on the big clean up and fix up. But first we had to watch that movie. Eventually Kyle performed his solstice ritual, and along with his head of hair, he also removed his beard of 26 days. The beard had been driving him crazy! When we finally made it to breakfast Kyle shocked the landlady, who could no longer be sure if Kyle had hair the day before…

We packed up and headed back to Footprint, and yet again we bumped into Len, now dressed in foul weather gear, and with Kyle’s new lack of hair, he didn’t recognize us at first. Even for me, Kyle’s new image was quite a change, very white.

When we made it back to the dinghy we found the actual harbour master at his post, and we checked in with him if we were here legally.. He kindly assured us, called customs again for us, and assured us we were all official we were in the records, and we could remove our Q flag.

Kyle removes the Q flag and raises the Irish courtesy flag - with his new hair free look
So now we are back aboard Footprint, about to give her the love and attention she deserves now we are fully rested.

Solstice Sunset from Footprint

Photos added

[Kyle/Maryanne] We've added a few photos to the previous posts since leaving Bermuda. Enjoy!

Holed up and Resting

Baltimore Beacon guides all sailors safely to harbour
Kyle and Maryanne Toast their arrival with a Guinness and a Murphy's at Bushe's Bar in Baltimore
Baltimore Village

[Maryanne]Whew, we are in a hotel/B&B and back on a reasonably normal (for a teenager) sleep pattern. We've had hot baths and plenty of beers and good food. All is well with the world. Our hotel provides forced relaxation, there is not even any internet available there. We're currently in the local boat friendly pub (they even offer free showers) for lunch and WiFi. The boat is out there at anchor, looking after itself until we are "ready" for the big clean up involved and to start fixing things.

We've finally caught up with reading (but not replying to) emails, and our blog comments. We'll catch up properly with emails in a week or two. We'll get around to posting some video too.

A BIG Thank you to all of you that commented in any way and those that have followed our progress with such obvious concern and support.

TO Scott on Split Decision - GREAT Job on the widget that shows the world where we are on our blog page - I wasn't expecting the Europe map to be visible - it looks great. I know how disappointed you are in our lack of fishing, and we've had a good chuckle at your frustration on our part. No TVP for you eh? LOL. For the most part Kyle and I are vegetarians, but we will eat Free range/organic produce where we can find and trust it. TVP really is great boat food (no refrigeration, easy); honest, really perfect boat food, but I see we'll not convert you. Thanks again for the Widget, and great to hear you got some sailing done now spring/summer is here.

We arrived in Baltimore to a rough wave-filled Harbour filled with pre-assigned mooring balls and no response from anyone on the various VHF radio channels. We eventually anchored and then rowed ashore in big waves and lots of wind. We checked in with the Harbour master office to find his son decorating - assuring us we didn't need to worry about customs/immigration. Eventually he called his Dad for us, who just asked for our details and said not to worry.. We found the local Guarda (Police) at the dockside hanging out in their car. We told them we'd just arrived and were looking for Customs/Immigration... "OH, don't worry, you'll be fine" was the response, which when we pressed they just sent us to the local pub for more info. YES - you hear me right, the police sent us to the pub for legal info.. Freaking Hilarious! You gotta love Ireland. We've left several messages and aren't 100% sure if we are here legally or not, but the beer is helping us discount any worries.

Once we gave up with the formalities we checked in to our local hotel (Thanks Mom).. had a really long hot bath, and a short nap, then headed out to the pub. There we toasted our arrival officially and Kyle made a beautiful romantic speech telling me what a great first mate he has. (Naturally). At the bar we met Len a local Dr who took us under his wing, bought us more beers than we planned to drink and then took us back to his house to watch the sunset and share some wine; this was great company and a wonderful welcome to Ireland; Thanks Len. His sunset views really must be one of the greatest in Ireland.
Stunning sunset from Len's house in Baltimore - WOW, our first night in Ireland
Today we slept again for hours (Surfacing for a BIG breakfast, before returning to bed), and now find ourselves back in the pub (Bushes) :-) What a terrible life we lead eh?

We expect to move on to Cork to get laundry and boat repairs done, and to meet up with Family visiting and we'll take our time to get there.
A Hot Bath is really welcome after so long at sea!

Arrived in Baltimore

Hi All, just a quick note to say we've arrived. Could not get anyone on the radio so we've anchored out... Looks like a rough row
to shore to find Customs and Immigration and start our R&R.

Current Position: 51° 29.052 N, 009° 22.608 W

Thanks for keeping an eye on us :-)

Day 24 - Bermuda to Ireland

Fastnet Lighthouse

Weather: Gray, overcast. Big seas as water shallows and channels around Ireland.

General Comments: LAND HO! Kyle shouted around 0521 (GMT) this morning (at this latitude, by then, the sun had already been up for an hour). Finally we could see Ireland (well he could, I'm afraid I acknowledged him, rolled over, and went back to sleep; Kyle says I'm dead inside).  When I finally awoke it was to the cry of seabirds, and a gray sliver of land filling the horizon (Ireland is definitely not the Emerald Isle today).  Fastnet light is ahead of us, but still a tiny stick right now.  We are all set to arrive and clear in by early afternoon.  Very few ships around, but we are getting lots of Irish Coast Guard chatter (weather and basics) but not much else on the Radio. 

[Kyle]We are getting into shallower water, and the seas are building. Although winds are only 15-20kt but the wave overtaking us are 15-20'. It is not a good day for a day sail, and we are glad to be headed downwind and not into this mess. We are both very excited.

Food: I wanted to use the last of our Bermuda Free Range/Organic chicken so made Pasta with parmesan chicken... Tonight should be a pub food (with a Guinness perhaps?) if we can find an ATM, or the pub takes cards.

Progress: Yesterday we made 136nm, So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 2783nm, and have 16nm (plotted direct course) to go.

Day 23 - Bermuda to Ireland

[Kyle]Yesterday the wind finally did abate as the storm left.  In its place came fog and cold drizzly rain, the wind also shifted to the side no longer protected by the enclosure (brrrrr) so it made for some cold and miserable watches indeed.  We did have a dead air spell after the frontal system passed, putting more pressure on our (hoped for) arrival time - certainly not by first thing in the morning.  We expect to see Fastnet light sometime tonight, probably during Maryanne's night watch (ends at 3am GMT).

Weather: I awoke this morning to actual blue sky peaking out between the clouds and shadows in the cockpit - will the sun stay?  I hope so.

General Comments: After some fitful sleeping, convinced the boat was falling apart it was a huge relief to find all well aboard Footprint.  The fix we put in place yesterday is holding strong on that rear rail (whew).  Of course not all is perfect.  Our masthead light has failed so we are sailing at night with steaming lights and an anchor light just to be sure we can be seen - once we get into harbor we can fix that with the spare bulb we have aboard (I assume).  Not surprisingly that centerboard is now failing to lift & raise, and the other board looks like it won't work for too many more tries - the line that controls it has chafed through - presumably(?) from when we hove to?  We have plenty of little leaks to tend to - but the worst is one we assume is coming from the hatch but that finds a path and drains down the chain plates where they attach to the wooden bulkhead.  (Chain plates are the critical metal fittings that hold the shrouds, that support the mast at the sides).

Sailing conditions have been good and we even have the screacher back out.

Food: I experimented yesterday and made a delicious SOY/TVP Cottage pie... I was worried it wouldn't be spicy enough for Kyle (who loves chilis and curries, and adds Tabasco sauce to everything) but he loved it too; it is now on the regular list.  To help save washing up I made it with just cans and dried food - it took maybe 10 minutes max of prep and cooking.  It was so cold, it was perfect to have such a homely dish.

Progress: Yesterday we made 115 nm, So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 2646 nm, and have 146 nm (straight line) to go.

We know so many of you are following our progress and it is really comforting from our end.  We obviously don't check our standard email when offshore (we have a secret offshore account that only special people are told), and once we arrive it will probably take us weeks to catch up - so if you have sent us something, don't worry if you don't hear from us for a while.  Today I wanted to send a quick thank you to Kyle's Aunt Linda so managed to get a message to us here at sea; she tells us she is following (with mixed feelings) but also many in her office are following our progress - so Hi to Linda's office colleagues

Day 22 - Bermuda to Ireland

Weather: Mixed 1.5m seas, fog - cold; not the Caribbean.

General Comments:  Did I mention how were were enjoying the relative calm yesterday morning? After 7 days of storms that interlude was wonderful.. Just after we'd sent our emails and Kyle was getting ready for his rig check I heard a TWANG (???) something under tension had just given way - gulp.  The noise came from the back of the boat,  I took a quick look and was relieved find the back stays connected - Kyle went to do his full rig check and immediately found the solar panel leaning down on one side - the cause? -  one of our hand rails had sheared.  The starboard step, inboard "n" shaped handrail just broke cleanly as if cut about 3" up from the deck at the forward attachment point (and 1/4 above the welding for the clip on point).  Connected also to the hand rail is the love seat and some of the dinghy davit hardware (and of course the solar panel).  The main part of the hand rail had been pulled up and back (presumably by the forces from the davits?).  Clearly it would be crazy to continue sailing like this, but we still have a long way to go and it would also be crazy to tow the dinghy - we had to find some kind of temporary fix.  We spent some time with tackle and lines until we could pull the rail back in alignment - we put the two pieces back together with some 1/2" PVC pipe inside to help guide that position and we've cinched it down with some good line and a Spanish windlass.  So far it seems to be holding.  I have no idea why it would break in such a way.  The dinghy is not that heavy (well within the limits for the davits) and it has a cover to prevent water getting in, but even if water gets in, the drain hole is open - so no extra weight should be in it.  And this happened in our calmest moments.  I'm not sure if there was some inherent fault in that rail, or if somehow, some unexpected/unknown forces have broken it - for now it is a mystery and we'll have to seek help once we get back to land.  Of all the problems we've had on this passage, this is the one that I expect to be the most expensive and time consuming out of our "fun" schedule to solve.  Grrrr.

Broken Handrail and Temporary Fix

Kyle adds: that we managed to pull the rail back into place using our windward preventer tackle with its 5:1 purchase and quick release clips on either end.  We'd rigged it like this to help in recovering items (people) aboard, but it came in perfectly for this need - with a block clipped to each end of the hand rail and the tail line cleated once at the right tension we were able to then bring the parts together and then tie separate lines and a Spanish windlass securely before removing the "preventer" tackle.  We've added a vice grip at the base to hold the two parts in alignment too (secured separately to the boat in case it falls off).  The fix seems pretty secure, but the real test was that we had another 24 storm forecast: we are (hopefully) in the last hours of that now and so far all is well.    Yesterday the weather started to get rough again during dinner (we were expecting that 24 hour storm), and it was pretty bad through the night (it is really hard to steer in these seas).  On my off watch each time the boat pounded, slewed or rolled I was convinced the dinghy was hanging off the boat by one increasingly bendy davit; I kept calling out to Maryanne to check on things, and she would assure me that every thing was fine.  We are also on a really fast point of sail (Broad Reach) surfing down waves, it is hard to keep the boat speed below 8 or 9 knots.  This is great for getting to Ireland, but from the bed it sounds and feels as though the boat is way too overpowered, so apart from worrying about the dinghy I was now also concerned we needed to reef more than we already had (we were sailing with reefed main and gib, and winds were around 21kt - so all was just fine for the conditions).  In the end I got maybe a fitful hour of sleep during my off-watch.  By the time I came on watch, of course everything was fine, I had a fast night of tearing a grove in the ocean towards our destination.  It looks as if our arrival time is most likely dead of night.  We want to avoid this (not just because of entering the harbour - although it looks quite safe, but), because we will have to clear customs and immigration and there is no benefit to arriving when they are closed (then we'd have to anchor and dinghy ashore in the morning) - We are hoping if we arrive in work hours, the Marina will let us tie up there to clear customs - much easier.  Plus we've come all this way - it would be nice to enjoy the views on our arrival in Ireland and the entrance to Baltimore in particular.  To make sure we arrive in the day time we'll eventually have to slow down and coast slowly in; for now we are making the most of the storm winds to get us as far as possible before they die off.  We've just now managed to get full sail up (in 15kt of wind).

The good news is that neither of us has yet to be seasick on this passage.  Given it hasn't happened yet, I assume we are set for the rest of the passage. The secret must be to set out on a calm day; I'll make sure Kyle takes note of that concept.

Kyle actually woke me up on my off watch to tell me he spotted a regular old seagull yesterday.... He was very excited.

Food: Mexican: Burritos

Progress: Yesterday we made 114 nm, So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 2537 nm, and have 258 nm (straight line) to go.

Day 21 - Bermuda to Ireland

Weather: Ahhh, at last, calm... Seas are down to around 3' waves and gentle, winds are calmer (low teens, dropping less from time to time) - we even had full main and genoa flying for much of yesterday evening.  Still overcast and cold (so wrapped up) but it is nice to be able to enjoy this calm; Kyle predicts it is just a brief lull before the next pressure system but he really is NOT complaining about the low winds, AMAZING.  Finally we can leave the helm to tend for itself for 30 seconds, life is much better.

General Comments: In yesterday's rig check I discovered a hole in my welly (where the boot meets the leg) and we saw 2 ships yesterday.  After one of many large waves hitting us, the rudder indicator stopped working and when Kyle went to inspect, luckily, it had just popped off it's ball joint so an easy fix. (Kyle complained about this last sentence - he says "the weather in the last few days has been just horrible.  As we've mentioned.  Yesterday we had a particularly large number of breaking seas that came over and into the boat, probably an interaction with the slight current but very frightening none-the-less.  Every time one would hit the boat there was an explosion of water and the boat would slew sideways 30-40 degrees before ending the skid.  One managed to permanently stretch the life lines (most likely the same one that ripped off the enclosure track). The wave that broke the rudder indicator.  Usually the only warning we would get is about 1/2 second of loud hissing before it hit, not enough time to turn the boat to a better angle.  Every time I heard that hiss, my stomach would be up in my throat wondering what was about to come.  Most of the rest of the time the waves were both impressive and frightening.  It is not so much the peaks as the troughs that cause the effect as the boat rides to the top of the wave and you look down into the next trough from atop the helm seat on the boat, it feels as if you are sitting on a lawn chair on someone's roof and about to slide off onto their lawn.  Then of course immediately behind that is another steep wall of water, just as high again.  It is always a surprise to both of us when a particularly large and menacing waves, that  the boat just floats over uneventfully.  Of course the worst is when you can see the top 5 or 10' of water folding over into a breaker and you know the boat can't get out of the way in time - if feels as though we've been dealing with this for too many days now.  Maryanne slept so well on her off watch repeated yelling didn't wake her, I actually had to go into the bedroom to wake her.  Today seems like a huge relief.".

Last night on my watch, I spotted a sailboat flying it's illuminated spinnaker, I was just analyzing to determine if we were on a collision course and who had right of way, when the clouds moved and I discovered it was the moon I was trying to avoid!!! 

Aboard Footprint we have a large pump action thermos to allow us to have hot drinks throughout the day without having to keep boiling the kettle; we've not used it at all while in the Carribbean, where we mostly have cold drinks at the ready, but need it now.  For the most part we've had a traditional glass/vacuum thermos but after several breakages I recently purchased a fancy stainless steel one... We'll after 4 hours in the pot the water is room temperature - terrible.  I'm not sure if it is the model, or simply the nature of the non-glass thermos but it certainly is NOT doing the job.

Kyle won't let me catch any of the rain water that keeps landing on us as he is seriously monitoring our water usage (we have way more than we'll need for the trip).... I'm tempted to mess with him but he checks so often there is no way I can sneak some in the tank without him knowing.


Food:  We kept it simple yesterday and for lunch we had mini-pizzas (bread rolls: split, covered and grilled) and for lunch some carton soup that I had left over from the USA (It expires June '09 so we'll have to have more of that on this trip).

Progress: Yesterday we made 130, So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 2409nm, and have 395 (straight line) to go.
Our arrival destination is Baltimore, Ireland and we are secretly hoping to get there sometime on Thursday (18th), where we plan to seriously deplete the hot water supplies of one of the local hotels, sleep, rest up, and get our body clocks back on the same schedule.

Day 20 - Bermuda to Ireland

Weather:  Gray, very mixed and big seas (5.5m), winds still in upper 20's constantly, with occasional sustained gusts in the 30's; miserable.  Worst of all it is very cold.  We each sit watch with at least 5 layers of clothing, and chemical pocket/glove warmers, and are very pleased when our respective watches are over.  Kyle takes the worst of it, and I love him dearly for that.  Based on yesterday's forecast we are expecting calm conditions by Monday Night... and Kyle promises not to complain if there is no wind (We'll see).  A wave last night smashed into the side wall of the enclosure and pulled it's track (that the bolt rope slides on) off - so now even colder to sit watch; and there is no hiding inside to warm up since we have to be at the wheel with no autopilot and in these conditions.

General Comments: Leak resolved (it was just me leaving the rudder compartment door ajar (it caught on the swim ladder as I closed it and so did not fully close down).  Of course water in the rudder compartment should not find its way into the boat, but on the Gemini it does, and we have been living with the trickle for some time while frantically working out how to locate and stop it... This job now seriously moves up the priority list but we need to be hauled out for it (decent access to this area is only really available from standing about waist high in water otherwise.  It took us around 4 hours to clean up after the leak, and to empty out the buoyancy compartment that was also filled with water (despite also having empty water bottles in there too).  All this did not help our progress towards Ireland.   Aghhhh.

Food: More weevils found in another batch of Pasta - Must remember not to use that store in the BVI again (Or was it St Maarten?)!

Progress: Yesterday we made 100 nm, So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 2295 nm, and have 506 nm (straight line) to go.

Day 19 - Bermuda to Ireland

Weather: I woke up around 8:45 boat time to a blue sky above and the sun shining through the window... I stepped down from my bed and into a puddle of water - we have a leak somewhere in the Starboard hull and we've just finished pumping out the water, now Kyle is trying to source the leak while I get this update sent out. I'm pretty sure we'll find it, and then we'll have to work out what to do about it.. We pump out the bilges regularly (using the manual pump) and I did it around 3am this morning to clear the couple of quarts that pool at the bottom - but this is quite different.  Kyle would have found the water much earlier if we were not having to hand steer - for now we are hove to.  Since we are strong winds the wind generator more than compensated for the electric bilge pumps/sump pump.

NOTE. although we have a leak, we are in no danger of sinking.

*UPDATE I think we've found the reason for the extra water (I'd left open the rudder compartment locker door last night) so we're cleaning up and keeping an eye on things... This has been an existing leak that we've never been able to source - and we're waiting for our next time on the hard to really solve it, leaving the door open means that a LOT more water is pushed through this existing leak.

In the mean time Kyle got thrown off his feet and smashed into his glasses - lost his needed lens overboard, but at least we had a spare pair for him aboard to use.... In the middle of all this, our VHF suddenly started reporting "BATTERY HIGH"... a quick check of the system shows our solar controller is wet and has stopped working preventing the batteries from overcharging.. we have a spare, but for now this is not a priority so we've just tilted the solar panel away from the sun...,. For now (10:30 GMT) we're are cleaning up the mess from the leak. Nothing for you guys to worry about.. For us, it's not a fun morning so far, but I guess nobody said it would be easy right?

General Comments: Sick of the weather, although things do seem to be calming down we now have this leak to occupy us. Apart from that, the other news of the last 24 hours is we saw a BIG ship... actually it seemed to come over to check us out.  It was just passing at its closest as Kyle woke me for my watch - oh and that Rainbow leading to Ireland keeps on appearing just before sunset.

Oh, and we've crossed the mid-Atlantic ridge.

Food: Indian Curry and we broke out the jelly beans from the goody tub!

Progress: Yesterday we made 126nm, So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 2192nm, and have 605nm (straight line) to go.

Day 18 - Bermuda to Ireland

Weather / Sea State:  For the record - I don't like it.  The sun occasionally peaks out from behind a cloud, it rains from time to time, but the worst are the seas - they are a real mess, and the winds are strong.  Each time we think we've broken out of the system we are right back into it - it seems to be hovering over us and not letting us out of its grasp.  We are sailing nearly constantly with double reefed main, downwind, in winds of mid 20's, with gusts into the 30's and the very odd 40 (Kyle saw 46.7kt last night, that is 54mph)... I'm about ready for an anchorage and some calm; actually I'm overdue for all that in my book and I'm already talking about splashing out for a hotel for a day or two once we arrive in Ireland. 

Our pilot chart (with the probability of weather and seas for the month of June) suggests typical winds for this area are force 4 (11-16kts), where we've been experiencing force 7 and 8, and for the area we should apparently expect only a 10% chance of seas over 12' - we are clearly in an exceptional month (unfortunately for us).  When you plan a journey of this length there are no forecasts that can predict your weather for the full expected journey duration - all you can do is set off in a good weather forecast and work with the pilot charts for the longer range planning.  Here we are complaining about too much wind and too big seas, there is probably a bunch of boats elsewhere complaining about the opposite problems.

General Comments: I awoke from my morning off watch thinking someone was knocking on the hull (common in an anchorage, if you have a visitor) I got up to find out what was going on and found Kyle "fixing" the helm seat.  The metal attachment point has broken (weld released half way) and the seat was rocking back and forth with the motion of the boat.  Kyle's put in a temporary fix for now, but we sure hope it lasts the journey.  It is hard enough to be at the wheel all watch without also having to stand there (and If I stand at the wheel, I'm so short, I can't even see where I'm going without a step of some kind; that would not work in these seas).   The enclosure is protecting us from the worst of the weather and the waves, but it is also suffering - chafe from the main sheet is causing wear in some patches, and loss of zipper teeth, and the occasional snap too.

It finally feels as if we are on the home stretch now - with (hopefully) no more than a week to go, we'd love to see this weather system leave soon.  In "normal" wind and sea conditions it is easy to leave the helm for a few minutes even without the autopilot, but we've not been able to do that for days now; I'd trade a slower home stretch for some kind weather and seas right now.

The galley centerboard lifting line has broken - we can put the board down, or we can release it so it floats up, but we can't fully raise it at the moment - something else for the "to fix" list once things calm down - most likely once we've arrived in Ireland (and taken a few days of R&R).

By the end of the day we'll have been at sea for our longest time ever, we've already broken our distance record for a single journey. 

Remember the shearwaters I'd been admiring on this journey? I've taken to disliking them now... flying around like this weather and seas are just wonderful, they use little effort to just keep above the ever changing sea surface and seem to taunt us "what a great day at sea".. NO, it ISN'T I want to yell back at them.

[Kyle]Gaining experience sailing is a process of gradually increasing your exposure/tolerance/understanding to/of a wider range of conditions; with the storm of the last few days we've finally got to the point where the weather is now simply more irritating than scary (most of the time, anyway).  Now when we hand over watches if the report is 40kt gusts, 20' seas we just thing "oh the usual then".  The boat is handling well, but I'm getting sick of it.  I need a good night of sleep, and I'd like to be able to take 3 steps in any direction without being lurched into something.

Food: Keeping it simple, just cereal, snacks and pasta with pesto yesterday

Progress: Yesterday we made 108nm (going fast, but heaving to so often cancels that out big time), So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 2052nm, and have 736 nm (straight line) to go.

Day 17 - Bermuda to Ireland

Weather: Rain on and off yesterday, but now dry, sun peaking through gaps in clouds, still cold

General Comments: Kyle has lots to say, so I'll be brief: Things are definitely feeling colder (16C feels cold to us, and there are big winds to make it feel even colder), Kyle added a 2nd quilt to the bed for us.  I had a hint of an ear infection (not sure how/where from) and decided to self medicate before things got painful (all is better already); we have a huge medical kit put together after a LOT of research and with help from our Dr too.  We have a few catch phrases in regular use on this trip.  Before Kyle goes to bed on his off watch he'll say "don't hit that ship" and I'll reply "which one"....Of course we haven't seen a ship in days (weeks?).  After yesterday's storm (not too bad) passed, Kyle assured me that was it, we should have winds in the teens now all the way to Ireland (as long as we didn't get delayed and got caught up in yet another predicted front coming later.  That was a huge relief to hear.  So when Kyle went to bed last night and I find myself putting a second reef in the main (already the genoa was furled) and then deciding that even that was too much sail (regular 35 knot winds and 42 kt gusts), I was not happy with the weather forecasters.  I was happy however to hand over my watch to Kyle at 3am GMT this morning.  Amazingly I slept really well too.  We are still (obviously) hand steering and waves and wind are such that we dare not spare a moments inattention of the helm.  During yesterday's calm, when we thought we had easy sailing the rest of the way, a full rainbow appeared with one end clearly set over Ireland - a good omen (we hoped).
Rainbow ahead - setting the path to Ireland - oh and a big ship...
[Kyle]Yesterday's storm was short lived with lots of rain but it did clear up just as Maryanne came on watch, and the wind shifted to a nice tail wind with following seas for dinner.  The skies cleared up and a rainbow came out - lovely - bad weather - Done :-).  After dinner the seas started to build and got quite large (but manageable and I handed over the watch to Maryanne.  Later last night at what I thought was 15 minutes before my watch was due, but was actually 2 hours prior, I woke up to a strange boat motion and the sound of a howling wind over the boat - even louder than the usual stuff.  At first I thought, I'll wait, she'll call me in 15 minutes anyway, but when I realized my error on the time I got up to see what was going on.  Maryanne was concentrating INTENTLY on the instruments trying to keep the boat straight in what had built to about 20' seas and 40kt winds.  We both agreed it was time to switch tactics (probably over time) and heave to instead, and I went back to bed.  Maryanne had wanted to pull down the sail and run under bare poles and after a few minutes I decided that was probably better to protect our main.  Poor Maryanne - up she went to wrestle the sail down and lash it to the boom, while I lay in bed comfy and cozy under two quilts (I only felt a bit guilty).  The boat is very stable, keeping the wind to one side under bare poles, but Maryanne was not able to get the boat to steer to get us to run down wind (but we drifted in the right direction anyway).  {Maryanne: I didn't like this much either as it left us beam to the waves}. [Kyle]The boat was comfortable and stable ahull, but we did take one big wave which rocked us and left us each checking the other was OK (and then that the boat was OK).  We left the boat that way until Maryanne handed over to my watch at which point the winds were still gusting in the 40's and I decided to try steering under bare poles - it occurred to me that If I put a board down it may give a pivot point to help steering and while having coffee I was able to sail the boat under bare poles at about 4-6kt. 

By then the wind was starting to die down further and I was considering putting the main up (double reefed) and attempt to steer/drive the boat. But before I did I decided to round the boat back up into the wind to take the time to do the coffee dishes, tidy up, etc.  I put on some warm clothes and went out into the cockpit to pump the bilges with the manual pump; about a minute later I heard a loud hiss, and I had just enough time to jump up to the far corner step as a BIG wave broke over the boat.  It popped the snaps off the side enclosure and filled the cockpit to about 12" high.   The water rolled over to my side of the cockpit and drenched me below the waist: so now all the nice warm clothes I was planning to wear under my foul weather gear was wet - I needed a complete change of wardrobe.  Once I had on the full Earnest Shackleton head to toe foul weather gear (properly dressed this time) I crawled up to the mast to raise the sail (leaving it double reefed).  As I was about to hoist, I noticed the cover on the halyard line had chafed through (where it passes through the sheave at the top of the mast)... I spent some time checking over the length of line visible and it seemed OK otherwise; I was able to shorten the halyard by a foot and as I went to reattach it to the shackle to the top of the main sail I noticed the halyard was missing.

Usually when we put the sail down we pass the halyard over a lower horn on one of the cleats so that pulling on the halyard pulls the sail further down, and prevents it from accidentally raising itself.  Even though I knew this from 100's of times, for some reason I had thought it was cleated as I cut the line, and It didn't occur to me until I could not find the halyard; I looked to the top of the mast .... Oh... I said as I watched it streaming downwind - "that ain't good".   The halyard streamed practically horizontally and 40' up in the air, but since the waves were so huge (luckily?) when the boat would  get rolled by a wave, and with a slight temporary lull wind the wind,  the halyard would whip back towards the boat and temporarily wrap around some of the rigging.  After several comic attempts, at catching hold of it (including one time when it hit me on my hat),  an hour later I was finally able to recover it with one foot on the mast winch, one on the boom, one arm clutching the mast tightly and the other waving a boat hook around.  {Maryanne: This is the first I've heard of this, I was sound asleep, and would not have been too happy.... the best solution I've ever seen to recover a lost halyard is a slingshot type mechanism.  There is no way I could have watched Kyle do this in those seas/conditions, but he is busy assuring me he was clipped in at 2 points, and is very proud of himself}.

Having recovered the halyard I then only had the slightly less complicated task of unwrapping it from all the rigging which involved me crawling all over the boat moving my various attachment points.  By now the wind was down to low-mid 30's and I got the double reefed main up, and was finally able to drive the boat in the right direction, with some fast surfing down big some waves.  At one point 12.2 kt.  It was like cresting the hill on a roller coaster, the boat kept just pitching down and accelerating.  By the time Maryanne came on for the morning chores, the waves were around 20' and some 25-30' (and all close together - a very mixed sea).  When Maryanne popped her head out to see how I was doing she had dinner plate eyes as she watched one of the waves behind bear over us (it passed with no impact).  Hopefully now the last forecast will be true from now on... The barometer is slowly starting to climb, and seas do seem calmer - wind currently 28kt from the west and we are sailing about 120 degrees at about 6kt with 2 reefs in the main.  (Max winds last night were 46kt)

Food: During the relative calm yesterday I made Potato soup for us, the weather started to build as we ate it, and Kyle lost most of his seconds (he was not happy)

Progress: Yesterday we made 122nm, So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 1934nm, and have 856 nm (straight line) to go.

Day 16 - Bermuda to Ireland

Weather: It's been overcast for days now with the occasional peak of sun.  Last night, the barometer finally started climbing, tentatively, and the waves slightly subsiding around 9pm - by 9am this morning conditions are almost "fine"; but that is a momentary reprieve as we can already see the next system headed our way... Still, its nice to have a little calm around here however short lived.  The good news with all this wind is that our batteries are all topped up; I guess not using the autopilot helps too.

[Kyle] The waves yesterday were really horrible, very large,  a couple even broke completely over the boat.  In spite of the fact of a few hard hits, the boat just slipped sideways and showed no tendency to flip.  [Maryanne] Often a particularly large wave would approach and the person on watch would shout down "hold on", but that nasty looking wave would then just gently lift and lower the boat without the slightest knock.  It seemed impossible to predict which waves would impact us the most.

General Comments:  In the crazy motion yesterday I got up in the middle of my off watch to use the bathroom, and somehow (while crossing from one hull to the other) managed to fall badly and hard into the shelf by the door - grazing my leg and badly bruising it on a fire extinguisher spout.  It looks impressive enough for Kyle to feel very sorry for me this  morning, and I can hardly sit on that side - it's going to make for a very uncomfortable watch for a few days..

Despite my initial fear I managed fine on my night watch, and by the 2nd night of rough weather had stopped imagining each dark shadow in the water was a shark waiting for dinner.  Crossing the Atlantic on a sail boat was my one item, by bucket list item, that I was perhaps the least likely to achieve - thanks to Kyle I've (almost) done that now.  I'm glad, but I can't say I not prefer a 757 generally.

Amazingly in all that chaos we had 3 separate visits from a new (to this passage) species of dolphin yesterday; these were especially playful, jumping out of the water and surfing in the waves all around us.  [Kyle] During all these big waves and crazed seas, the dolphins would show up surfing down faces that were 10-15' high.  We could see whole pods of them tracing down the wave front at the same angle a surfer would use.  Once they'd reach the bows they would use the crest to help launch them from the water and over to the other bow, where they would make a quick turn and zig zag back and forth in the bow wave before heading off for another round.  We ourselves were surfing between 9-12kt at times, so there was plenty of bow wave for them to play with - at least someone was having fun.

With one reason and another (mostly procrastinating) we've not even attempted fishing, but once we are through these storm systems I think it is time; the fridge is getting emptied out so there is space now.

Food: We finished the last of the big batch of chili yesterday (with cous cous), I was really hungry and ready for food.

Progress: Yesterday we made 137nm, So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 1825 nm, and have 983 nm (straight line) to go.

GEMINI OWNERS:  Kyle and I believe that the damage to the autopilot motor was not necessarily caused by lots of use, but by a point of strong resistance as the wheel is turned - this point coincides with the point the steering lines become taught and we are now also trying to turn the (lifted) drive leg.  It take quite a bit of "welly" even when hand steering to get over this resistance.  We are not sure why this is happening: Have the lines shrunk?  Has a groove been warn causing the drive leg to drop further than normal?  Either way this has to be resolved before we put in a new motor.  I suggest other owners look out for that; a stitch in time......  Kyle says he's pretty sure a grove has been worn on the metal/metal contact where the drive leg falls to one side. He says (but it not yet sharing) he has a simple solution and will share it once he's installed it (proved it) on Footprint

Day 15 - Bermuda to Ireland

Position: 42° 36.364 N, 033° 38.186 W

Weather: Overcast, cold (we are both spending watches bundled up, with pocket warmers and Elmer Fudd hats - the enclosure at least stops us getting wet too.

General Comments: Oh my, that hint of a climb on the barometer yesterday - was just a game, it has stayed low, see-sawing slightly up, then back down since then. The seas continued to build with at least 5m waves for a significant time, really not very pleasant.

On top of that the Autopilot failed again. We hove too and took it apart (thankfully we are now experts at removing the wheel - just two whacks with the hammer), cleaned what we could and put it back together again, but 10 minutes later it was broken again. Basically the motor is fried, it keeps trying to work but cannot be trusted so we are now hand steering. This totally changes life aboard - we have to heave to if we want to use the bathroom, or update on the log, and we spend much less time together (while one is cooking or washing up, the other MUST be at the wheel at all times, so no easy chatter to help the day pass). With the prospect of big seas, and hand steering all night, and now totally distrusting of a forecast that had it all over by now, I wanted to heave to. We have a number of heavy weather sailing and oceanography books aboard, and one phrase I read that keeps springing to mind is "Big waves don't capsize boats - breaking waves do", it is hard enough to predict/avoid breaking waves in daylight I was not looking forward to doing it all night. I even had a big girly sob about it, but Kyle calmed me down gave me a good hug, and before long I was at the wheel as if 5m seas and 35kt gusts were perfectly normal... We've had a few scary gusts (43kt), but mostly we've been sailing in winds of high 20's with gusts in the low-mid 30's - and it is constant. We are still sailing downwind so that helps reduce the effectiveness of the gusts, but every so often a BIG wave likes to slam into us and douse the boat. The breaking waves this morning have dramatically reduced (Kyle says none around in the last hour) - and this is a huge relief. We both wish were were somewhere else right now, I guess. In the middle of all this chaos at sea, the shearwaters glide around us like this is standard fare, they seem happy, and remain graceful - amazing.

Today seems much easier than yesterday, seas are only 3m, and winds around 25kt gusting in the higher 20's.

Food: You're kidding me right? we did have some cereal and some cheese and crackers.

Progress: Yesterday we made 125nm (we had expected much more, but were hove to for much of the time), So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 1690nm, and have 1125nm (straight line) to go.

Day 14 - Bermuda to Ireland

We are sailing downwind with following seas (and this looks set for a while). The Barometer has just started to climb following
yesterday's storm; we are currently on 29.53 n Mg) after dropping all night, bottoming at 29.50. The sun is finally peaking
through, last night was raining and dreary. The storm did not turn out as bad as we thought, mostly because we were travelling with
it, which reduced the effective speeds of the wind we actually experienced, and had the seas with us (Autopilot managed well, as
long as we didn't head directly down wind, and bore off 15-20 degrees either side). In the wee hours, a 2nd wave train from the
West interfered with the one following us (from the SW) giving us steep and nasty waves, which slew us around and caused the boat to
roll - the most threatening risk being from an accidental gybe from a sudden heading change. With the sun now peaking through,
things seem much calmer (although that could be an illusion). Waves are currently 3.5 m high (10-11') and with the occasional
bigger (15' one). From time to time one comes and rolls under the boat just slightly faster than boat speed, breaking and bubbling
as it passes, it seems to take an age to pass under us; the noise and the motion is very peculiar. IF this storm is finally
subsiding (we are not yet 100% sure), then there is still another in a couple of days - I should get some time for some more cooking
in between.

A preventer does not come with the boat but is essential in these conditions to stop the boom accidentally flying across the boat as
the wind or boat direction changes unintentionally (an accidental gybe) and potentially damaging the boom or the rigging. For all
points of sail we set our preventer out of habit, but downwind it is the most important. Our preventers are rigged one on each
side, and all we have to do is tighten/loosen the relevant sides from within the cockpit. The connection point forward of the mast
is the same point where the life lines terminate at the bows (other end is at the end of the boom). Yesterday afternoon an
accidental gybe tugged so hard on the preventer that it actually broke one of the lifeline fittings (half of which was lost
overboard) - so we had to repair that yesterday to ensure we had good lifelines.

The good news is we are finally actually pointing and sailing directly towards Ireland. For a while it looked as though we were
trying to head to the Azores which at one point were only 250 miles away.

Yikes, is it ONLY day 14? It seems like we've been out here a month already. I've moved onto my next book (by Emile Zola - new to
me but a Penguin Classic).

Despite the weather and sea state, Dolphins still came and visited again yesterday - although it was hard to fully enjoy them given
the conditions, they certainly help the mood of the day.

Food: Chili with cous cous (Surprised?).

Progress: Yesterday we made 111nm, today already (9am GMT) we've made 52 nm; things are definitely speeding up. So far on this trip
we have travelled (through the water) 1575 nm, and have 1235nm (straight line) to go.

Day 13 - Bermuda to Ireland

Weather: Very overcast, drizzly - getting much colder, down to around 16 C.

General Comments: Too many overcast and low wind days again, so another 2 hours of engine running last night to top up the batteries. Kyle actually spotted a large commercial fishing boat out here too last night, and yesterday morning we had spotted a small orange fishing buoy with a radio antenna (not sure if the two are related). Yesterday as we changed watch we had a large pod of especially playful dolphins visit. They were a different species and a quick check in our guide book has our best guess at Clymene Dolphins - but My guidebook is for N. America / Caribbean only - so we could still be wrong.

Yesterday after Kyle checked the weather and found our best route, we prepared for a storm. I cooked up a big batch of chili so that if either of us feel like eating we only have to heat things up, and we tidied the boat to reduce the number of things that might fall in the bigger seas. We took down the screacher and stowed it, and as Kyle left for his off watch, we expected a lull before the storm, but so far it has not arrived, we've been moving steadily East at a reasonable pace. As I went to bed the seas we're still pretty calm, but they are much more choppy now (but still not even bad). We'll be keeping an eye on the weather, and get the latest grib file (grib is a special format for weather files) as we go on line to send this update.

Food: Quesadillas for lunch and an orange/honey/ginger glazed chicken on cous cous for dinner. Generally we eat dinner sat at the table on plates with a glass of wine or a beer - but when on a passage that image changes somewhat - no alcohol, no table, and no plates - we eat out of bowls, and everything that can be served (and even things that should not be served) in a bowl is. Cous Cous is the perfect passage food, it is a very small pasta (about the size of course sand grains) - I just pop 1/4 cup in the bowl, add 1/4 cup of boiling water and leave it for 3-5 minutes, pile whatever else we are having on top - easy. And I have no qualms about using chili, indian, or any other nationality food with cous cous. It makes for a one pot dinner (no extra pans or dishes, so Kyle especially loves it).

Progress: Yesterday we made 126nm, So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 1446nm, and have 1375nm (straight line) to go.

Day 12 - Bermuda to Ireland

Weather:  Dry, mixed clouds, still relatively smooth seas (long swells, little chop), sailing mostly down wind (currently on a broad reach).

General Comments:  After all that heading North, we are now heading SE, S to get away from (well, through a more comfortable path through) two low pressure systems in our path.  Kyle does a FANTASTIC job of analyzing the weather using our daily grib files, and the seas and wind conditions on our initial route are forecast to be quite rough ahead - so a change of course - it won't change the route to a nice smooth sail, Kyle says we are still expecting 30kt winds and 15-20' seas - but the alternative is 40kt winds and even higher seas.... Although (if the forecast doesn't change) we won't see those conditions until Sunday-Tuesday. 

** CORRECTION ** While confessing to my plotting snafu yesterday, I made yet another silly mistake in my math(s).  One degree is 60 nautical miles (nm) - so 2 degrees is 120nm  - I Had us almost 120 nm North of where we actually were, and hence was worrying about ice bergs that most likely were not going to be there (although that still doesn't rule them out completely). - I assume many reading the blog spotted it - I wonder who/how many actually wrote to correct my math(s).

During yesterday's rig check we decided we should replace the split pin on the gooseneck - the connection of the boom (at the bottom of the sail) to the mast.  It was starting to look a little worn - and that pin that the split pin secures is something we don't have any spares for (note for future!).

We've seen no ships for possibly a week now, but I did hear a little radio crackle yesterday, indicating someone was not far over the horizon.

Kyle had dolphins visit him again at Sunrise, but they didn't stay long - just checking us out.  He thought since we were going at a good speed they might stay longer, they are said to favor 7kts - exactly the speed we were going - but they only made a couple of passes before moving on.

Food: An easy food day yesterday - cereal, egg fried rice for lunch and by special request, for Kyle, Macaroni Cheese (out of a packet).  I had sworn Kyle NEVER to let his mother know I feed him such junk food, but I guess the cat is out the bag now!  I refused and just boiled up some extra pasta and had that with a pesto sauce.  However I still couldn't resist a few spoons of Kyle's Mac Cheese.

Progress: Yesterday we made 120nm, So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 1340nm, and have 1455nm (straight line) to go.

Day 11 - Bermuda to Ireland

Weather: Dry, clouds come and go constantly but we do get some sunshine, seas currently a gentle roll.

General Comments: We've spent most of the last 2 days now wing on wing with the screacher and main.  Kyle estimates 80% of our
journey so far has been on the screacher (Our light wind sail).

Kyle and I generally each have a book on the go, but we also have a book that we read to each other when we get time together on a
passage.  Currently we are reading 'An embarrassment of Mangoes' a story of a Canadian couple who take 2 years off 'real life' to go
cruising in the Caribbean.  It is beautifully written and we've enjoyed reading how this couple discovered some of the very same
treasures as we did - 'ti punch, rum distilleries Presedente beer, etc.  They too had a case of Old Milwaukee that they struggled to
drink (In my defense I'd never heard of it, didn't know it was so bad, and it does say on the can "America's best beer" - I was
duped by the marketing) - Kyle was none to impressed when he saw what I'd bought for him.  I'm reading Obama's "The Audacity of
Hope" and Kyle has Richard Dawkins "The God Delusion" he's re-reading, generally a page at a watch - just before he goes to sleep on
his off watch.

The clearer skies have allowed us to use the sextant.  We don't really need it to find out where we are (we have at least 3 GPS's
aboard that can tell us that) but we like to know we could use it if we had to - actually we have 2 sextants aboard).  Kyle
discovered his first few attempts were "within 5-6 miles" of our GPS position (Kyle wanted to ask what was wrong with the GPS), then
he realized there was an index error (so the angle reading on the sextant was slightly off).  The sextant should be checked on each
use, but we hadn't calibrated it since our Antigua passage - he corrected that and now can get a line within 0.25 miles of our known
GPS position.  Kyle says he's happy the GPS is working better now.  Despite using it many times, I'm suddenly having problems with
sun sights and the use of the shades, but I've plenty of time to practice.

Currents in the open ocean act in a rotary manner; throughout the day they basically swing through all points, although they are not
the same strength in every direction.   We often find we are going with or against a 1 kt current.  Then we find ourselves in the
gulf stream and this is giving us a bit more of an advantage as it is always in the direction we are travelling (currently we have a
1.7kt advantage - which is good since we are not going too fast through the water (currently between .5 and 1.5 kt).

I spent my night watch staring intently out to sea on look out for ice bergs.  Kyle carefully plotted a course that would keep us
clear of the area, but when I check our position on the pilot chart we were well into one area and I didn't want to risk anything.
Unfortunately it was NIGHT watch, and the clouds kept the moon obscured so there was very little light, oh, and a mist/light fog
added to the event - I had to either stand half outside, or keep cleaning the windows of the water droplets that accumulated.  I
took down the screacher to give me better visibility (and it was a bit rolly for the point of sail anyway).  I had no idea what size
ice bergs I might expect, the only plus was the water was relatively smooth so if there was something out there, I expected the
waves breaking on it would show.  For a whole watch I had "horror movie tension music" in my head, and a real feeling of
anxiousness.  If there was something out there we could NOT afford to hit.  When I woke Kyle to hand over the watch to him, he
scoffed at me; went over to the pilot chart and said we're no where near the ice berg line!  I'd made a really elementary navigation
error and while we were at 40 degrees and 2 minutes North, I'd plotted 42 degrees off the chart, putting us 60 miles north of where
we actually were.  Actually Kyle is complaining as I read this back to him, that I mentioned we were in the Ice berg zone while he
was off watch, causing him a very disturbed night of sleep.  Oh, he wants to dictate "it went like this - she comes in sort of
nervously mentions she is in an ice berg zone, she can't see well, it's getting foggy, and then says 'Ok Honey, get some good sleep'
which of course I didn't; I tossed and turned wondering what it would be like to have the boat grind against an ice berg.  This is
one of Maryanne's favorite things - she just plants a seed of a thought and then disappears to leave you to ruminate on it".
Anyway, keeping a good watch didn't do us any harm, and there was no Titanic incident.

Food: Breakfast was oatmeal, but made with some of the coconut milk I had.  I loved it, but Kyle found it too sweet - strange coming
from a guy that basically always has sugar coated cereal (practically candy) for breakfast.  A light lunch of nibbles and then a
Chinese Chicken and Pineapple with rice for dinner (made from scratch and using our great free range chicken find from Bermuda.

Progress: Yesterday we made 128 nm, So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 1201 nm, and have 1543 nm (straight
line) to go.

Day 10 - Bermda to Ireland

Weather: SUNSHINE AT LAST! Not a cloud in the sky.  After so many overcast days we celebrated with a solar shower... still not hot enough for me (fine for Kyle) but we smell better.  Yesterday was frustratingly slow, and in one particular 3 hour period we only moved (through the water) 1/4nm.

General Comments: We spent yesterday keeping South of a line - the line indicating June max mean iceberg limit on our Pilot Chart (the Pilot Charts show average wind and sea conditions and other related issues over 100s of years of observation for each month of the year).. Even so we were keeping a good lookout for possible Icebergs.  We are also using the June chart to plot our course as we move towards Ireland.  And the  little orange highlights now stretch over a 1/3 of the way

Given the boat wasn't moving fast for most of yesterday, we took some time for some additional reading, and things.  We read our Ireland guides and now have a good idea of what things we might want to do as tourists once we get there.  I wanted to try and fish, but doubted there would be anything to catch.  During my 5pm rig check however I found 2 fish (a small, 12" black thing, and a 18" parrot fish?!!!) hanging out (swimming) in the boat's shadow.  I was quite surprised; Parrot fish are normally considered dangerous to eat as they are toxic, but away from the reefs, in the open ocean that is not the case (so I read)... Hmm easy catch, but Kyle, having seen the the fish,  now considered them wards of Footprint, almost pets, and would not consider any attempt to catch them and eat them.  Oh well, we have plenty of other food aboard.

We were visited again  by Dolphins; for what appears to be an empty ocean there sure are plenty of dolphins.  They visited at sunset last night and again at sunrise this morning.  Kyle suspects they are the same pod, watching over us (he is such a romantic).  When they came yesterday we were hardly moving through the water and could have been no fun for them (our bow wave was not going to allow them to surf), but they played up there anyway as if to say "come on, get a move on, this way". Today the boat is moving again and they were much impressed with our progress, and enjoyed the bow waves - they streaked back and forth, zig-zaging, across the bows.

This morning we found 4" of water in our forward starboard "buoyancy" tank, and pumped it out (around 9 gallons), the port one is dry, but we'll need to keep an eye on the stb one and source the leak once we are back to land.  This is the first time we've ever had water in this particular tank.

The good news is that our email send/receive yesterday was back down to 6-7 minutes, rather than the 14-20 it has been taking... since we budget 10 minutes a day this is a huge relief.  I'd assumed we had a weaker satellite signal out at sea and had been grumbling about Iridium but it turns out it was simply SKYPE on my computer competing for internet access.

Food: With the lack of progress we decided a treat was in order and had a big fry up for Breakfast, a light snack for lunch and then pasta (can sauce) for Dinner - all basic stuff.   I also made yogurt yesterday and so we had yogurt layered with fresh kiwi fruit and granola for desert (sweetened with Bermuda honey) - Yummy.

Progress: Yesterday we made 73 nm, So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 1080 nm, and have 1673 nm (straight line) to go.

Day 9 - Bermuda to Ireland

Weather: Finally, last night the clouds cleared, just in time for sunset.  We had a clear, star filled night and I awoke this morning to blue skies with a few puffy clouds to keep me company  - Yay for the solar shower... Oh, and the wind practically died, so sorry for the wind generator (and our sailing speed - currently down to around 3kt).  Last night sunset was on my watch, and I got to see the "green flash" a phenomenon that for years I thought was imagined, about as real as fairies and other human invented beings.  But I researched, and discovered it true; you need clear skies and a good unobstructed view of the horizon (so being at sea is perfect).  Last night was indeed the perfect conditions and there it was.  I woke this morning all chufffed, and shared this with Kyle - oh, he said, I saw one at sun rise too - so we both got a little mini green treat now the sky has cleared.

General Comments:  Sending and receiving email yesterday took several attempts (and many precious sat phone minutes).  Each day the email exchange has been taking longer than expected, and we are eating through our minutes so fast we'll run out before we get there (we have setup a system to top up from offshore if necessary, luckily).  I think I finally realized the problem - SKYPE was still active.  Before an offshore passage I spend considerable time setting up the computer for off shore mode; making sure it won't try and update windows, removing any virus checkers, etc , so hopefully the ONLY internet activity should be my sending and receiving emails for 6 minutes a day.  I completely overlooked a skype session that was active and hidden... Grrrr... So I guess I pay the stupid tax.  Hopefully our future email exchanges will be back to normal now, and our minutes will last.

A relatively uneventful day (a relief over the previous day).  We spotted a barn swallow way out here and don't expect his fate to be a good one.  At first he looked as though he wanted to land on Footprint, but he eventually flew off, hopefully to another boat.  In the middle of our evening meal, we were visited by dolphins again :-), and Kyle and I both watched them from the bow for the 20 minutes they played there.

Food: We are snacking more than eating properly (which probably explains why we don't loose weight on a passage like the rest of the world seems to), but last night I made a favorite of Kyle's - potato soup.

Progress: Yesterday we made 152 nm, So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 989 nm, and have 1759 nm (straight line) to go.

Day 8 - Bermuda to Ireland

Weather:  Still dull and gray with occasional showers, winds stronger than expected, and Kyle getting excited at the odd (surf induced) 9 and 10 knots. For the most part we are averaging 7 kt this morning, but the waves are big and any exit from the cockpit results in a drenching.

General Comments: We ran the engine for 2 hours yesterday, expecting sun shine "any minute" that never came... Hopefully later today.  At 12:07 Footprints odometer passed over 8000nm, and it was fun to think of all the places we've taken her over those miles.

But yesterday was also a day of problems. The Autopilot decided it would not longer steer properly, and moved over 120 degrees in each direction trying to find the right point of sail - that is WAY too big a swing and I had to disengage and hand steer (a job on that particular point of sail and sea conditions that only took a small tweek every 3-4 minutes).  The error seems to have started when we turned off the engine, and the last time this happened we had to send of the unit for repair, this time it was resolved by turning everything off and on again (we don't like to do this as it also resets our trip log, but we like hand steering even less).

On Kyle's early morning rig check he found the split pin and washer that hold our forestay in place, out and on the deck.... So we had to address that IMMEDIATELY before the forestay became disconnected from the deck.  This caused horrible déjà vu from our last time (This is the same problem that caused the loss of our forestay on route from Antigua) once again Maryanne was a hero showing up on deck with just the right parts and tools to fix it properly, and once again we had to disconnect the forestay hundreds of miles from anywhere in order to resolve the problem.  Since this was the morning rig check (14 hours after our previous check), I shudder to think how long those pieces had been waiting to come apart.  It could so easily (in our minds) have been a middle of the night rig failure, just like last time. Our Gemini Guru (R. Roscoe) suggested replacing the whole thing with a nut and bolt (one where the threads only start towards the end), but when we suggested this to Selden (makers of the forestay roller furler) they said not to do this, so we were cautious, and decided to just "keep an eye on things".  What would our insurance company say if we replaced a part specifically not recommended by the manufacturer and then had a problem?  Well now I don't give much of a care - we had that pin out and replaced with a bolt, self locking nut, and a split pin to be triple sure.   Once the fix was in place, I was left feeling quite anxious - what is going on at the TOP of the furler?  Is a split pin going to break/back out there too?  Kyle assures me that all is fine up there (he has spent some time with the binoculars).  To Gemini owners there are 2 pins that hold the furler in place beneath the furler drum - one is in line with the boat (fore and aft) - this is the one that has twice now managed to lose itself and risk our rig while out at sea.  The other also seems to be a weak point - the toggle fitting is too wide and the forestay rides on one side, and as the motion of the boat causes some slack and tightening of the forestay it works itself over to one side, pulling the pin with it - eventually putting a lot of force on the split pin - this we had already replaced with a nut/bolt system as Mr Roscoe suggested (we put stainless washers in the middle to stop the movement to one side too).  After our last forestay came detached we ended up spending around $3000 in repairs - the bolts (and paying for a machine shop to drill holes for the split pin) cost under $20.  After taking a good look at the circumstances of losing that split pin twice -  both time was when sailing downwind with the screacher - we think perhaps )even with some tension on the backstays) the screacher pulls the mast forward more, slackens the forestay more, and allows this working of the forestay pin to either break or work out the split pin.  This may also explain why other Gemini owners aren't generally reporting the same issue (combination of miles we have sailed, rougher sea conditions we find ourselves in, and the installation of the screacher)

Food: I made veggie burgers yesterday, with some of the last few of our Bermuda Tomatoes - not bad (nor terribly great) as far as veggie burgers go - I found them premade in a can and you just slice the thickness you want, maybe a little thinner next time.

Progress: Yesterday we made 141 nm, So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 871 nm, and have 1921 nm (straight line) to go.

Day 7 - Bermuda to Ireland

Weather: Gray, dull, occasional drizzle

General Comments: Winds still relatively light, and not helped by the fact we are sailing almost down wind (so the speed of the boat
away from the wind makes the wind speed at the boat even less). Total cloud cover for days now, the lack of wind and sun means we
are not maintaining our battery levels, so we are reducing the amount of time we spend using the autopilot, we have to hand steer
more often. Eventually we'll have to start the motor (in about 2 hours), but Kyle is holding out for sunshine and says he "has a
plan"... Hmmm....

Kyle did find a working solution for our geyser cockpit drains - he has covered each with a flip flop so we no longer get sprayed
from time to time if we find ourselves anywhere near them... I keep forgetting why they are their and tidying up, and then learning
the hard way, I think I've finally got it.

Food: Both of us are felling less hungry, perhaps not surprisingly since we are leading quite a sedentary existence; so yesterday
was mostly snacks, but with a Tofu Thai curry for dinner, and although I made plenty, we each had seconds and so there were no
leftovers. Included in the snacks is some Oreo pudding with crumble/cookie base - a packet mix. I decided to treat Kyle to a
chocolaty treat yesterday and dug in my cupboard for some packet mixes that I knew were there. I found 3 different mixes, but only
one with instructions... It seems I've taken the sailors caution of avoiding cardboard on the boat (to keep away the cockroaches) a
bit too carefully and thrown the boxes away.. So now I have two mystery mixes. I think one is a brownie mix and the other a pudding
(instant whip type desert) - but I'm not sure how much of what to add to each, nor how long (nor if) to bake. Oops.

Progress: Yesterday we made 135 nm, So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 720 nm, and have 2053 nm (straight
line) to go.

Note: any comments posted on our passage blogs are welcomed as always, but we won't be able to ready any of them until we eventually
make landfall