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 traveled (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 traveling (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 ice 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 iceberg 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 iceberg 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 iceberg. 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 traveled (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. 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 to 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, zigzagging, 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 traveled (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 :-). 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 traveled (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 Footprint's 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 tweak 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 times were 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 in which we find ourselves, 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 pre-made 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 traveled (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 there 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 traveled (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

Day 6 - Bermuda to Ireland

Weather: Colder, gray, overcast, big but smooth seas

General Comments: Still no seasickness, so hopefully we are good for the crossing (who am I kidding?).  We found stowaways aboard yesterday - weevils (?) in the pasta.  I'd purchased a couple of different large 8lb bags of pasta in the BVI (when I had a car) and re-bagged them into separate smaller portion "baggies" once I got them home. One of those giant bags of pasta must have come from the store with extra protein, as now the insects had all hatched out and were having a jolly time (until we threw them overboard, that is).  Luckily, we have plenty of other pastas to last the journey and all have been thoroughly inspected and reported clear of infestation.

We've had a chain plate leak for some time. I re-bed it before we left, but the leak is now worse than ever and we've determined that it is NOT coming from the chain plate, but from the hatch beside it, and trickling down via the ceiling and then the chain plate.  Kyle won't let me remove the hatch while we are at sea so I guess we're stuck with it for the next few weeks - we are working hard to make sure that the wood of the bulkhead doesn't get (or stay) wet. Grrr.

It is clear that my book supplies will NOT last the journey, I've already completed 4 books, and am half way through a 200 Suduko puzzle book.  It turns out that I'm sloppy at Suduko and keep finding a box or line with 2 of the same number in.... plenty of time to practice.  To entertain myself and try and stretch my books to last a bit longer, I've tried singing sea shanties and folk songs learned in my youth - but it turns out I can hardly remember anything except a line or two of the odd chorus, so even I'm getting fed up of asking "what shall we do with a drunken sailor?"

One of the books I finally got to reading was "Do Dolphins Ever Sleep?" a book of ocean facts that our friend JD lent us.  Here, I learned that in the open ocean it is almost impossible to be struck by lightning (whew), but that (although figures are NOT published) there are estimated between 2000 and 10000 containers lost from container ships each year... many take 6 months to sink, and some never sink due to the insulation included in them.  I think I preferred the dolphin facts! (Apparently they sleep with half their brain at a time).

We send mail AND download the weather at the same time, so when I write this we have yet to see our latest weather report.  The last two days though have mentioned TROPICAL STORM 1 (downgraded to depression) to the North of us.  Although we are "in the box" we are expecting it to pass well (150 miles) to the North of us, and even it we get it, winds are reported to be gusts up to 30 kt - so not terrible.  At the same time we want to push north to avoid the calmer winds forecast in our current latitudes, and help keep us moving.  We like to get at least 5kt (120 miles a day) and with light winds, this won't be possible, so we want to pick up some better winds for the most of the passage.

[Kyle] We've just past north of the latitude of Ocean Marine in Norfolk VA - where we spent nearly 5 years planning and saving for this trip - ah the memories!  Our nearest land at the moment is Sable Island off the coast of Newfoundland (more of a shoal).  Halifax (Canada) is probably our nearest "real" land - 540nm.  The strange thing is that although we are so far away from anything much, since we brought our home with us, and are used to passages with no land in sight, we just don't feel like we are out in the middle of nowhere.  Everything is the same, same sheets, dishes, sails, same walk to the bathroom as we've been used to for a long time.  Only the instruments and the lack of any traffic or radio chatter betrays that we are so remote. I suppose if we had crewed on someone else's boat, while normally living in an apartment, the entire environment would seem unusual and there would be more of a sense of something special going on.  I suspect for us it is really going to be more like flying through the clouds; the full realization of where we are will hit us once we are walking around in Ireland and soaking up some of that Irishness.  For now, it seems strangely like we could be sailing anywhere just out of sight of land, and lets hope it stays that way, we are not looking for too much adventure here.

Food:  Pasta (the non-infested kind) for dinner last night, just fruit for lunch yesterday, after a simple breakfast of toast... Getting dull.  I started some sprouts going yesterday so they should be ready tomorrow.

Progress: Yesterday we made 110 nm (sigh), So far on this trip we have traveled (through the water) 585 nm, and have 2148 nm (straight line) to go.

Day 5 - Bermuda to Ireland

Weather: Rain stopped, still overcast but looks like it should be a nice day.  Seas also calmed to around 2-3', nice sail, wing on wing.

General Comments:  Yesterday was quite miserable with heavy rain, no sunshine for the solar panel, and rough seas (10' waves).  This morning the world has changed again and all is gentle, we've been sailing with the light wind screacher since sunset.  Since Kyle returned from work last, he has developed what he tells me in a neuroma (something like a trapped nerve, in his foot, and from time to time as he puts weight on it, his whole leg collapses to release the pain in his foot and he follows with yelps).  Of course, being no Florence Nightingale, I simply laugh, as I have misheard his foot has "A Neuroma" as "An Aroma", so I'm acting like a 7 year old and holding my nose around him (poor Kyle).   Kyle wants to stress for the record his feet DO NOT STINK, but I'm having fun.

No boats sighted, nor radio traffic heard.  Yesterday, despite the rough seas, there were plenty of sea birds (Petrels) and they were managing to look remarkably graceful and comfortable as they swept low, adjusting their height with the ever changing waves - they are magical to watch. This morning we seem to be alone with the sea.

Food: For lunch we had the last of a curry Lentil Spread/dip that I had made from a recipe from a fellow Gemini Owner (thanks Penny on TailWinds & SunSets) - Yummy. By dinnertime Kyle decided he was not hungry, so we just had some cheese and crackers, but I suspect he simply didn't want to wash up as I've woken up to his request for a "big breakfast"

Progress: Yesterday we made 149 nm, So far on this trip we have traveled (through the water) 466 nm, and have 2242 nm (straight line) to go.
\

Day 4 - Bermuda to Ireland

Weather: Drizzly, overcast, cooler.  Enclosure is invaluable

General Comments:  Wind and waves have built (6-8').  We are currently travelling between 7-8 kts.  We have reefs in both sails now.  Ride now quite choppy and we need to ensure we keep a hand for the boat.  So far no sign of seasickness (and long may that last).  Kyle's first breakfast was lost in the cockpit as the boat rolled unexpectedly, we are expecting these conditions to last for another few days.  Yesterday we saw dolphins again in the early afternoon; you just can't help but be excited.  We still get regular visits from storm petrels.  We are keeping a good course just where we want to go, so no tacking or gybing required so far.

Food: Kyle has put a moratorium on my using the pressure cooker for a day at least..  He does the washing up and it does not fit well in the sink, making washing up much more difficult.  I need to keep him sweet, so it will be pasta for a couple of days now.  Yesterday we had an egg and turkey bacon wrap for lunch, and a nice "fried" free-range chicken dinner with lots of our fresh vegetables from Bermuda.

Progress: Yesterday we made 149 nm, So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 335.3 nm, and have 2375 nm (straight line) to go.

Day 3 - Bermuda to Ireland

Weather: Cooler, but still dry, wind increased (as expected), and expecting a wind shift to SW today (looking forward to that) -
currently more S, SSE.

General Comments: With the wind speed increase we are now moving at more suitable speeds (5-7kt). Chop is also starting to build,
but so far we are both fine. We are sailing on a beam reach. Yesterday was hazy but with a clear night. Today already overcast.
2 boats sighted overnight, and we still have seabirds visiting from time to time. We are no longer hearing Bermuda Radio, so it
feels like we are a lot further along now. Sunrises both mornings have been stunning

Food: Open sandwiches of cheese, tomatoes and salad for lunch, a chicken curry (Rogan Josh) for dinner. The last of the brownies
have vanished (thanks Mary)

Progress: Yesterday we made 103 nm, So far on this trip we have travelled (through the water) 182 nm, and have 2510 nm (straight
line) to go.

Day 2 - Bermuda to Eire

Leaving Bermuda Via Town Cut, Maryanne at the Helm.
Weather: Clear, Fine, Warm, low winds (3-7kt)

General Comments: We set off around 11:00am Bermuda time, a little delayed by some (welcome) last minute visitors to the boat. The boat however, is running on GMT so by log we left at 14:01, making for a 10 hour day. The winds were light, as expected, and the sea has a very low, with long swell. In some ways, the sailing is more comfortable than being at anchor... Oh my, now I know why there is a book titled "Gentlemen don't sail to weather". Very soon into our passage we had a pod of Dolphins come to inspect us. They didn't stay long as we were going so slowly, but Kyle and I hadn't sighted dolphins in months (since just before Antigua, 6 months ago) and it was wonderful to see them again. The winds have been between 3 and 7kt and we are sailing between 60 and 120 degrees apparent, moving along between 1 and 4 kt with screacher and full main sail - very slowly, but as expected and (so far) not concerned. It WAS a little frustrating to have a seabird SWIM past us, and then take off, return and do it again.. Interestingly, the seabird was seeking out and eating the smaller Portuguese Men o'war. 

This is the first time we can recall being on  passage without being seasick the first day.  So far with the light conditions it is very comfortable.  There was a lot of traffic as we left Bermuda - the Cruise ship Norwegian Majesty inbound, a few fishing boats just off Bermuda and a couple of sail boats headed over the horizon in the same direction. Since yesterday afternoon we've not seen any other vessels. Our last sighting of Bermuda was just before sunset, but we can still hear Bermuda Radio.  The new moon was just a couple of days ago. so the starts and the bioluminescence have been brilliant.

Progress: Yesterday (in our 10 hour day) we made 24.7 nm, So far on this trip we have traveled (through the water) 52 nm, and have 2634 nm (straight line) to go.

Off to the Emerald Isle

[Maryanne]OK - we are off at 10am local time today, and both excited to be starting our longest journey yet. Winds are going to be relatively light for the start, which should (possibly) ensure no seasickness (Yay!). We'll try to update our daily position on Yotreps and provided the technology all works and we don't drop a phone overboard or anything breaks, you should be able to see our progress across. Thanks for all the good wishes by email and more, and we understand a certain little girl is now getting an real life bedtime story - we hope we can keep her interested.



Bermuda Day Fitted Dinghy races
[Kyle]One last thing before we go. I wanted to mention the Fitted Dinghy races. It was hard to tell if we were just watching a practice or a real race (I suspect the real race was on Monday). This looks like loads of fun. The Fitted Dinghies race has a few interesting rules that make it especially entertaining: Each boat is allowed to carry up to 1000 square feet of sail, which is about half again what Footprint carries for working sail. Each of these sails is quite a bit bigger than our beloved Screacher. This makes the dinghies obscenely overpowered in all but the lightest winds. They compensate for this by hiking out large crews on planks that are moved from side to side as necessary. The most amusing rule, I think, is that, in order to win, the Captain AND the boat must cross the finish line (there is actually a race in the Caribbean where only the boat must cross). This means that, in desperate circumstances, crews will jump (or be pushed) overboard to lighten the load. I suppose it also has the added benefit, popular in movies, of creating obstructions for your opponent so you can make a clean getaway.