Last night and today have been much less eventful than the previous 24 hours.
~
Jens is still hanging in the galley, sandwiches for lunch, roasted potatoes, carrots and soy marinated seared pork medallions for dinner last night, yeah, food wise, we are not suffering.
~
During my first watch last night with light wind and flat seas we motor throughout it. The biggest excitement was seeing two fishing boats on the AIS system (Automatic Information System). We could see the lights from one of them, when they came within 1.6 miles of us. I read on my Kindle, looking around, at all of the instruments and the horizon between each chapter. I think John was able to get about 2 hours of sleep, which was great, he has been going strong since long before our departure.
I crashed from 12:45 until 3:45 when I got up to relieve Dennis and Jens for my second watch. When John and I came on deck there was another fishing boat passing 1.2 miles in front of us. Before sunrise, just after 7AM, it was much the same. I read, looked around, John slept, I read some more and looked around.
Even with full foul weather gear I was surprisingly chilled to the bone. I’m sure the temps were in the low fifties, however, being stagnant, just sitting in one place for several hours, the chill creeps in.
At sun up we shook out the reefs in the main, going from double reefed to full main. Avocet is equipped with the ability to put three reefs in the main, making it smaller or larger to adjust for different wind conditions. With a little bit more wind in the air, we also pulled out the jib. There was enough wind to fill the sails, but not enough to power Avocet more than 3 knots, so we kept the motor running, pushing us along at close to 6 knots.
John enjoying his morning coffee.
Dennis arrived on deck at around 8:30AM with coffee for us. After coffee, we deployed the Whisker Pole, a 5” diameter aluminum pole used to keep the clew of the jib, the lower aft point of a sail, where you want it to be. It is attached to the mast on an up-down adjustable car. At the jib clew there are lines used to adjust the clew of the jib, up, down, forward and aft. The idea is to set it in a position, whereas, even with the pitch and yaw of the boat the jib will remain in a position to best capture the wind.
Sunrise with the whisker pole rigged and ready.
~
While John, Dennis and I were busy on deck Jens prepared breakfast, scrambled eggs with sauteed green peppers and onions, toast, seared leftover meatballs and some jarred Spanish Verde sauce, along with a hit of guava juice.
~
After brushing, flossing and medicating, I hit the V-berth for a needed nap. I woke to the quiet of no engine, the wind had picked up enough for us to be doing better than 5 knots. I also woke to a dressed lunch salad of lettuce, tomatoes, croutons, smoked sockeye salmon, thanks Jens.
A lot has happened since yesterday’s entry. We departed Puerto Calero, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain at 3:41PM into 10 foot swells, not breaking, with about 20 knots of wind. Steve and Victor were there to see us off, there was even a band playing on the opposite shore, which I will tell myself that they were there to send us off in style, most likely it was a wedding reception.
A dream boat with a band playing on the patio behind them as we departed Puerta Calero.
Just before departing, I called Colleen and the kids. I was able to talk to them individually, it was great. We talked about how I am quite “nervecited”, It’s a long trip, a lot could go wrong, as well as I will probably have many exciting experiences to share. At the same time, it’s a long trip and I am going to (already do) miss them very much. We also talked about the “nor’easter” that they were dealing with, expected 18 inches of snow. I’m somewhat glad I don’t have to deal with that, at the same time I wish I was there to enjoy the experience of a couple of snow days with them, shoveling, a fire in the fireplace, some great food, a nice bottle (or two) of wine and my pretty awesome family, I’d be digging that too.
Nor’easter that hit the Boston area with upwards of 24″ of snow on January 30, 2022
~
After a bit of shaking down, getting acclimated, we were sailing a very respectable average of 6.5 knots. Unfortunately as the day progressed the wind regressed.
~
About an hour into the sail John checked on the seals on the starboard midship diesel tank which he had the boat yard in Puerto Calero replace. They were leaking like a sieve, copious amounts of diesel were flowing into the bilge. Below decks smelled like a fuel spill. Not the way I was hoping the trip would start.
The leaking new seals on the fuel tanks.
As usual, John jumped into action doing dealing with initial clean-up, while figuring out the best way to deal with the situation. He found a tube of Flex-Seal (thanks Phil Swift) and with some effort, by globbing a ton of Phil’s black sealant around in the area where the new seals were supposed to be working, he was able to turn the flow into a dribble. Keep in mind we filled the tanks just before departure, so they were full, to the point of expanding, which will hopefully mean that as we use fuel the likelihood of leaking will diminish to nil.
Phil Swift
John and Jens syphoned and sponged out the bilge while Dennis and I sailed the boat.
~
It was pushing 8PM when they finished cleaning up the diesel mess, I’m sure it will have to be done again later today, as well as another application of Flex-Seal. That combined with running the engine for a few hours in an effort to empty the tank a bit, will hopefully keep this problem to a minimum and John can address it in Guadeloupe.
~
Jens, who had been below breathing the fumes for the past several hours decided it was time for dinner. At this point I would have passed up a few bags of chips and said “have at it guys”. Not Jens, amongst the cloud of diesel mist Jens cooked us meatballs with curry powder, Basmati rice and sliced dressed cucumbers. His effort was very appreciated.
~
We started our watch schedule Dennis and Jens went from 8PM to 12PM, John and I from Midnight to 4AM and then back to Dennis and Jens from 4AM to 8AM. I was able to sleep for most of the 4 hour break between watches. I’m sure we will switch watch times tonight and after a while switch watch partners.
With a gentle nudge, Jens wook me up for my watch at 11:55PM. I had set my alarm, which went off at 11:45PM as it was set to. I was just sluggish getting my ass out of my bunk (diesel fumes?), currently, the V-berth that I have been “hot-bunking” with Dennis. Don’t get the wrong idea, Dennis and I are sharing a bunk only when the other has vacated it. I love my little brother, but not like that.
~
During the first hour of our watch John decided to start the engine so that we could charge the battery. It started right up and ran perfectly for about 5 minutes before it sputtered to a stop. FUCK!!! It sounded like a fuel issue, with tank seals being replaced, I was thinking what could have possibly gotten into the fuel to cause the engine to stop? Can we drain, clean or replace the filters? I didn’t know. John had just gotten a bunch of work done to the engine at the same Puerto Calero boatyard that did the faulty repairs to the fuel tank. Which made me think, what else did they mess up?
Meanwhile, the GPS display starts flashing on and off. Double FUCK!!!
John and I sat in the cockpit contemplating our options, to start making repairs right then, even though we didn’t know what we were doing, head towards Grand Canary Island and abort our trip or keep going without an engine? Going without an engine would be difficult, not only because of the obvious- during the times that you need to propel the boat through the water without sails, you were out of luck. Also, it’s the main power source for the boat, sure Avocet is equipped with solar panels, a wind vane and even an auxiliary gas powered generator. The wind and solar by themselves don’t produce the energy needed to run all of the boat’s systems. The biggest draws of power being the refrigerator, if needed the water maker and also the much needed and lauded autopilot.
Adding the generator would help, but the generator is not a built in unit, we would have to pull it out of the “pit”, the large stowage area beneath the port cockpit seat. We would have to lash down the generator, pull start it and attach it to the boat’s electrical system. This of course would be a royal pain in the ass, not only could it only be done weather permitting. We would have to run it for about an hour, charge the batteries that power the electrical systems for the boat, we would have to do it twice a day, and to top it all off we would have to stow it back in the pit after each use. Otherwise it would be in the way and there would be a chance of swamping it with seawater.
~
While we were sitting there stressed to the gills, John said, “I think I know what it is” and he did. When he was swabbing out the bilge cleaning up he had to shut off the valve leading from the fuel tank to the engine. Remember that he did this. John went below and opened the valve, we were back in business.
As for the GPS display, we don’t know the cause of the blinking, but it seems to only happen right after shutting down the engine. I’m guessing that it’s some sort of change in voltage problem that settles down after a few minutes.
~
The rest of the watch was uneventful, serene, there was a beautiful star lit sky somewhat hidden behind the Sahara dust fog.
During the night we could see a distant lighthouse on the east coast of Fuerteventura, another one of the Canary Islands. It may be the last land based light we see until we arrive in the Caribbean.
Fuerteventura Lighthouse.
~
At watch change Jens made a pot of coffee for us, he used some of the Guatemalan coffee that Steve brought for us, it was really good. Breakfast was more of Steve’s coffee and a store-bought premade Spanish Omelette, it was also quite good.
Spanish Omlette (Tortilla Esponola)
Hopefully we will settle into some smooth sailing tomorrow.
After another round of Steve’s coffee (this time Guatemalan), on the veranda Dennis and I met with John and Jens at the cafe in the marina. Dennis and I had the assignment of getting bottled water for the trip. Avocet already had, according to John’s notes, more than 180 liters stashed on board. It was determined we should get an additional 160 liters. We went to the little market at the marina, which, not surprisingly, because the Canary Islands are a jumping point for transatlantic crossings, had plenty of large jugs of water. The staff there seemed to think it was totally normal for someone to come in and buy 30 each 6ltr jugs of water, for those of you quick with math, yes, we went with 180 additional liters, instead of the predetermined 160 liters; too much fresh water would not be a problem.
~
Earlier in the day Jens returned John’s rental car to the airport, Steve would return ours when he went to the airport for his and Victor’s return flight home to Madrid.
~
Back on Avocet, we stashed the water, most of it went under the dropped down salon table.
~
James, the mechanic, met with John and went through the autopilot stuff. Things are looking good for an afternoon departure.
~
Dennis and I took one of the coolers to Villa Azul and loaded it with the bags of food that we prepared and froze. Fortunately everything was frozen solid, there was some concern, it did take full 2 days for it to all freeze. With the cooler filled, we grabbed our bags, gave the villa a once over and headed to Avocet.
Villa Azule
Steve and Victor came with us, helped load the last of the goods on board.
~
In the mayhem of the last minute preparations, Dennis and I forgot to get more ice. We didn’t have much room for more ice, but we did have some and we should have gotten more. We were going to get it when we got the marina, but we figured there would be plenty of time to get it later, at the last minute…we didn’t, we forgot. Jens didn’t say anything, but you could tell he wasn’t too happy with our forgetfulness. He was right though, we should have prioritized the ice.
~
Steve and Victor joined us on the trip to the fuel dock. Victor even got to drive the boat, which I think he enjoyed. The plan was to fill the onboard fuel and water tanks as well as all of the auxiliary tanks that are attached to the lifelines along Avocet’s gunwales. The yellow jugs are for diesel, red for gasoline (generator, dinghy outboard) and clear are for water. Once the tanks were full we would depart.
Full diesel containers and one of our three very full external coolers.
Steve and Victor helped us cast off from the dock at 3:41PM. Our sailing trip of an expected 3100 miles and a time frame of 21 to 26 days has begun.
Our staring point, the fuel dock at Puerta Calero Marina.
We had a busy day today, starting on the veranda with some more of the Ethiopian coffee that Steve brought with him.
Ethiopian coffee beans.
~
At 10:30AM we headed to Arrecife to find the Customs Office. Someone had told John where to go, so we followed him there. John and Jens in John’s rental, Dennis and I in ours.
~
Arrecife police station.
We ended up at the Arrecife Police Station, where no one was of much help. Not much English spoken, along with the typical cop attitude, we were sent in circles. We eventually took it amongst ourselves to go to the marina, which was in close walking distance, to ask around there where we needed to go for customs. First stop was the “Information” kiosk, not much information was found there. On we went, subsequently John asked an obvious boater if they knew where we should go, she directed us to the Marina Office. The people in the office were very helpful, sending us about 5 miles by land or 200 meters by sea, to the shipping port, where the customs office was. John also was able to get the same address from the marina manager in Puerto de Calero, which we were able to put into our phones for GPS directions.
Arrecife Marina
~
Eventually we found the right office in the right building, and we got our passports stamped and off we went.
~
Dennis and I headed to Avocet to organize whatever we coud. John and Jens went in search of a new third cooler and a gaff for fishing. We planned on meeting at the boat later. I dropped the car off at Villa Azule for Steve and Victor to use and Dennis and I headed to the marina.
Fishing gaff.
We went through a lot of the provisions already on the boat, throwing out some obviously bad items, opened out-of-date products, small black bug riddled pasta and rice, and rancid oil. No real surprise, the boat has been sitting for months.
~
John and Jens soon returned with the cooler and gaff. It was decided that John and I would stay on Avocet, cleaning and organizing, while Dennis and Jens would go to the supermarket for provisions.
Lidl supermarket in Puerta de Carmen
~
James, one of the mechanics from the marina, with John, changed the filters and went through the operations of the watermaker. It was running late, for James, so John and James agreed to meet in the morning to test and calibrate the operation of the autopilot.
When James left John and I got a lot done- we cleared the decks of all unneeded items. The big plastic jugs filled with diesel from Avocet’s tanks, which had to be emptied before the seals were replaced, needed to be poured back into the tanks. We took the anchor from the bow and put it into the pit along with the gas generator, duffle bags, linens, excess lines, amongst a whole lot of other stuff.
Diesel jugs and one of the three coolers.
~
Dennis and Jens filled their car with an absurd amount of food. It took well over an hour to find homes for all the food on Avocet. With every little cubby, hanging net hammocks were filled. It was getting late and we were hungry.
~
The Upper Deck closes at 10PM and it was 10PM, fortunately over the 2 weeks that John was in Puerta Calero he had forged a great relationship with the staff there and were well taken care of even though it was past there normal hours. Steve and Victor met us there. We finished our night with some food, beer and talk of tomorrow’s anticipated departure.
The crew with Steve and Victor at The Upper Deck Restaurant.
Our hope is to depart tomorrow afternoon. There are some final systems checks to be done, as well as topping off our tanks, getting bottled water and ice.
For the best reading experience, read the chapters in order.
This is a short chapter about our planning to get to the starting point of our trip across the Atlantic, Puerta Calero, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain.
Sunday, January 2, 2022
Dennis and I booked our flights to Lanzarote. We will fly out of Boston on Monday, January 24 at 9PM, arriving in Lanzarote on Tuesday the 25th at 1:05PM with a short layover in Madrid. The plan is to meet up with John, who will arrive in Lanzarote on the 20th and do whatever needs doing to ready Avocet for departure. Avocet is on the hard awaiting John’s arrival. He has an insurance survey scheduled, he wants to test out the autopilot and the watermaker, I’m not sure if they are new, re-built or he just wants to test them after sitting on the hard for a few months. We also will use the time to provision the boat.
Saturday, January 8, 2022
Our Brother Steve and his son Victor are meeting us in Lanzarote. Steve and Victor live in Madrid and are making the trip to see us off. Because of COVID, I haven’t seen Victor in almost 3 years. Steve, I saw in October for the unfortunate occasion of our father’s funeral. Steve booked us a 3 bedroom villa in Puerto Calero, Lanzarote, a short walk from the marina where Avocet will be moored. Steve and Victor will be arriving on Wednesday the 26th and departing the following Sunday. So, we should be able to help provision AVOCET and have some quality family time.
Dennis, Steve and I, in Boston
Sunday, January 9, 2022
I am having my daughter, Caitlin, set up a Zoom meeting for tonight to go through any questions, concerns and expectations that we may have for our upcoming trip. I hope to get a grip on what we need to pack, answer questions on expected weather, ascertain what gear and safety equipment we may need as well as get John’s opinion on whether or not I should buy an In-Reach personal SOS communication device.
Monday, January 10, 2022
Dennis, John and I had a ZOOM meeting last night and reviewed the trip. It was a productive meeting, we talked about provisioning, gear, packing and other expectations. John informed us that he has tested positive for COVID. Jens did not take part in the Zoom meeting, John said he was unsure of his status, and he wanted to be sure that Dennis and I were okay with just the three of us doing the crossing. We are.
Update: John texted that Jens is a go, which is great.
2 weeks until our flights to the Canary Islands. The countdown has begun.
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
I am thinking about using the trip as an excuse to get a small laptop. I can use it to write this journal as well as storing movies and music for the trip. I first thought that I would look into a Chromebook, but my son Shane shut me down on that- “they suck, they are like a large tablet with a keyboard”. I thought, well that seems like exactly what I want. After a bit more thought, I do want something with a Windows operating system, not google OS. So the search begins.
12 days until departure.
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
Less than a week until we head out. I am now writing this on my new Lenovo 14” laptop. I’ve downloaded a couple of movies and plan on doing a few more. Music will follow.
I started a list of stuff to bring with me, it’s not too bad, about 70 items, including everything from socks, underwear, foul weather gear, Man Overboard (MOB) device, toiletries, medications, passport, towel, sunblock to proof of vaccination. It all has to fit into a medium sized duffle bag and a large-ish waterproof backpack, I think it will.
I also bought a vacuum sealer. The first couple of days in Lanzarote we are planning on making and freezing as much food as possible. A vacuum sealer will be great, we make, chill, bag, vacuum seal and freeze the food. The sealed bags will take up a lot less space than foil pans, and, unlike the foil pans they won’t leak all over the cooler as they slowly thaw; hopefully this plan works out.
Yesterday I took a Personal Float Plan that Chip Gavin, a longtime sailor friend, sent me to use as a template, and I made it my own. I also sent it to Dennis to do the same. It was a great help, all that information in one easy to read and understand place. Thanks Chip, it was extremely helpful. I printed a copy and emailed Colleen a copy of mine.
6 days until departure and counting.
Thursday, January 20, 2022
John is in Lanzarote, I saw a Facebook post that he has already befriended a couple from another boat. It looks like they are going to delay their departure a couple of days so that we can sail in tandem.
I rented a car that I will pick up at the airport in Lanzarote on Tuesday afternoon and Steve will return it on Sunday morning.
4 days until departure.
Monday, January 24, 2022
The day is here. I’m meeting Dennis at the airport at around 7PM for our 9PM flight.
I’m almost packed, I still have to put my clothes together and put them into my, not so fancy, new, quite large L.L. Bean duffle bag that I bought yesterday. The medium one I was planning on using may have worked, but it would be like putting 50 lbs of stuff into a 30lb bag.
Hopefully the day goes without a hitch. I spent way too much time last night getting the needed COVID QR code from the airline. Just a couple of words on Iberia Airlines’ website, it sucks. There is no excuse for how bad it is. This is not a new revelation, I have been traveling to Spain regularly for 30 years, my brother Steve and his family live there and we have been fortunate enough to have visited him often. Their website is very difficult to manage, I was allowed to go on their site to pick my seats, and do an online check in. After spending 20 minutes filling out all of the forms, passport info etc, you are then told that you have to check in at the airport. This pisses me off, not only because of time lost, but, I paid extra to be able to choose my seats ahead of time. In addition to that, some of the online forms, though translated to English, the drop down multiple choice answers were in Spanish. Fortunately, after many years of DuoLingo, I could muddle through with my rudimentary Spanish.
This is the first chapter in a multi-part blog about me fulfilling one of my life’s ambitions- sailing across the Atlantic Ocean.
I wrote this journal as things unfolded, I started writing at home soon after Captain John’s initial email. I continued writing throughout the planning, while on planes, at the house we rented in Lanzarote, daily on Avocet as we sailed across the Atlantic, in Guadeloupe, and finally at back at home again. I wrote this because I wanted an unedited fresh as-it-happened memory of one of my life long ambitions- to sail an ocean. Read along, I hope you enjoy reading about my experience, parts of which are thrilling, some are boring, many are exhausting and a couple of them are even a bit scary.
Any of several large shorebirds belonging to the genus Recurvirostra, family Recurvirostridae. Avocets have boldly contrasting plumage, long bluish legs, and a long black bill upturned at the tip.
The four species of avocets are a genus, Recurvirostra, of waders in the same avian family as the stilts. The genus name comes from Latin recurvus, ‘curved backwards’ and rostrum, ‘bill’. The common name is thought to derive from the Italian word avosetta.
John Slingerland’s Avocet is a 1988 Oyster 41 Sailing Yacht-
According to the Oyster Yachts website there were 27 of these Stephen Jones designed yachts made from 1980 through 1987. Which is not quite accurate, the placard on Avocet claims that she was built in 1988, a year after the production dates stated on their website. The placard also states that Avocet is hull #23 (of 27), built by Landamores Yacht Builders in Norfolk, England.
Saturday, January 1, 2022
Last week I got an unexpected email from John Slingerland, owner and captain of the sailing vessel Avocet, a 1988 Oyster 41, “I may have a spot open departing Canaries 1/15 to Guadeloupe”. Which I responded- “I will run it by the boss, get a feel for how she feels about it. I will try to get back to you tomorrow”. I did talk to Colleen and kids about it, and they felt, as I did, the timing was perfect. EVOO one of our restaurants was, due to COVID, still closed, we were well staffed and there was nothing too important that I would miss at home. I didn’t have too much going on, I could make this work. I was very excited and hopeful to get the opportunity to cross the Atlantic, WHOOP, WHOOP!
Fuck yeah, I was available! Crossing the Atlantic has always been a dream of mine. I would even call it- as my wife Colleen gives me a “what the fuck are you talking about” eye roll- a “bucket list” item. I, like every other sailor, has dreamed of crossing an ocean.
A couple of days later I received another email from John- “In regard to the January 15 planned departure, one of the other planned crew had to bow out, and another is only 50/50, and in a watch and see mode. All understandable, all COVID related issues. This is a tidal wave that is lifting (or sinking) all boats in hopefully only the short term”.
I thought- Sucks for them, great for me!
With the all of the previously planned crew bowing out, John needed to shore up his crew for the longest leg of his “North Atlantic – Western Mediterranean circumnavigation”. He reached out to Jens Bergen, a longtime Avocet crew member, who had already done several of the other “circumnavigation” legs with John. He also asked me to see if my brother Dennis was available; which I did. Jens was in as long as we left after January 24. Dennis, after work and family consultations, was also available. I am elated to not only do this trip, but to have the opportunity to do it with my brother and long-time sailing partner Dennis will make this trip even more special.
Before we got to 4 committed crew members, John had floated the idea of going with 3, we were all so amped about crossing the Atlantic that we readily and ignorantly agreed, if that was the case, to go with it.
Now with the crew set, we now had just over three weeks to mentally and physically prepare for the trip.
~
John is in the process of bringing Avocet back to the U.S. after a stint of sailing and exploring the northern Mediterranean; Portugal, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Albania, Italy and Spain were some of his ports-of-call. Avocet spent a year “on the hard” in Montenegro due to COVID-19. As soon as the travel restrictions were lifted John spent the summer and fall re-fitting Avocet. And with the help of various crew, including his wife Marcia and Jens Bergen, he began the trip from Montenegro back to his home port in Boothbay, Maine. He made stops in Sicily, Sardinia, Mallorca and Gibraltar before, in October, Avocet made it to Lanzarote, where she is once again “on the hard” getting a few minor repairs and an insurance survey.
~
I have sailed with John before, a delivery from Blue Hill, Maine, to Beverly, Massachusetts, in 2015. The Marblehead – Halifax Ocean Race in 2017, as well as the first and probably shortest leg of his trip to the Mediterranean in 2017 from Beverly, Massachusetts to Newport, Rhode Island. I have found John to be a very knowledgeable, passionate sailor, a solid captain, an affable watch companion and an inspiration to my sailing aspirations.
In my opinion Avocet is a gem, she is well laid out- with wide teak decks, a solidly built typical ’80s racer/cruiser hull design- wide beam, small transom, shortish waterline and a low free-board. Below decks she is all class, teak everywhere, a sea-berth, handholds where they are needed, 2 heads, ample storage and a feeling of seaworthiness. All in all, Avocet was made to do exactly what John was using here for- long distance ocean passages, with some coastal cruising to quiet anchorages or to hip lively marinas.
~
When John sent out emails looking for crew for all of the different legs of his Mediterranean excursion, I tried to join in. Unfortunately, for my sailing life, I was way too busy with the other aspects of my non-sailing life to be able to figure out how I could get some time onboard during the first half of the trip from Maine to the Mediterranean. I did get myself on as part of the crew for the last leg of his trip from Bermuda to Maine. That trip is still scheduled for May, 2022; hopefully I will still be able to make that happen.
~
When I got John’s email, because of COVID 19, my current work situation is very different than it was 3 years ago when John was initially looking for crew members. I, with the help of my wife and business partner, Colleen, own and operate 3 restaurants, Which due to the pandemic we have temporarily closed one of them and drastically changed how we do business in the other 2. These actions, though they suck in many ways, have given me more free time than I have ever had as a working adult, and it’s blissful; I hope to never go back to 70 hour work weeks again. In my free(r) time I have not only spent more time with my wonderful family, which I would never give back, we have had a great couple of years. I also have upped my sailing, this past summer I sailed quite a bit on my friends’ and neighbors’- Tom and Mary Mitri’s boat, Glory, a 1988 Mason 44, which like Avocet, is a well built, ocean capable, late 1980’s boat. We sailed around Buzzards bay a few times and did a delivery up to Camden, Maine. I also Sailed on Alliance, a J-122 out of Newport, Rhode Island, doing several practice sails as well as the Stamford-Vineyard race, a 240 mile race from Stamford Connecticut to Martha’s Vineyard and back. So, John’s email came at the right time, I can take the time off. Colleen, knowing my love of sailing and my ocean crossing dreams, quickly gave me her blessings to do it. Keep in mind she and our kids will lovingly give me shit for abandoning them for a month for the rest of my life; I’m thinking it will be worth it.
Pete's Blog 