Tag Archives: Oyster Yachts

Doing the Atlantic, Chapter 27, Heading Home.

In the immortal words of another famous explorer, Dora… “We did it, we did it, we really really did it”.

To start reading about my transatlantic adventure from the beginning (highly recommended) follow this link.

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

16’16.13N 61’31.50W 3537km made good.

With a desire to check out Guadeloupe, as well as the need of a few restful days. Dennis and I decided that we would get flights home on Thursday. So we extended our hotel reservations for 2 more nights.

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Of course we extended our stay before looking at flights. When we looked for flights, this was our choices: Wednesday- 1 layover, $360. Thursday- 3 layovers, $570, 15hr flight time. Friday- $1300. We obviously went with Wednesday. I would have liked to spent more time on Guadeloupe, however, a Wednesday departure made the most sense. The hotel was very accommodating and changed our reservations to fit our Wednesday departure.

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John and Jens rented a car so we could tool around the island checking out the local sights.

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Dennis and I had to go to the airport to get our obligatory COVID tests, which ended up being a pain-in-the-ass. We were sent to the wrong place twice before getting the correct information. $50 later, with negative in hand, we were good to go.

We drove to the Botanical Gardens, about a 45 minute mountainous curvy roads ride. We checked them out, they were really cool. Honestly though, the best thing was that we were able to walk more than 40 feet in one direction for a long period of time.

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We stopped at an oceanside restaurant/bar and had a bit of food and a couple of beers before heading back to the hotel to clean up and eat again. 

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We went to the hotel’s dinner buffet, it really sucked! I mean it was gawd-awful. I was belching up the mystery meat, which they called veal, for hours. I just don’t know what they could have done to this meat to make it taste like this, I can’t think of a way to describe it except that it tasted like death, which I suppose it was.

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We finished off the night at the beach bar, which is where we should have eaten, instead of at the buffet. Jens turned us onto some Taiwanese Whiskey, which was damn good, almost good enough to rid my mouth of the flavor of the veal.

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Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Same spot, we haven’t moved.

Breakfast was at the same buffet as last night’s debacle of a meal, and it was adequate. 

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I chilled on the beach for an hour, deleting thousands of emails, reading the 3 emails I found of interest.

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We checked out of the hotel and John and Jens drove us to the airport.

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We’re explorers, just like Dora.
The banner that Shane and Cate made for us, Yup I am very lucky!

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Thanks for reading about my journey, I enjoyed writing it as it happened in 2022 and now finally presenting it in this format. Since our transatlantic I have continued to sail on Avocet regularly, as well as on my friends Tom and Mary Mitri’s boat Glory. I even charted a catamaran in the British Virgin Islands for 12 days in 2023, for a memorable family vacation.

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The fun doesn’t end there though, this year I have planned in June, a 1000+ mile trip from A Coruna, Spain to The Azores. In August, I will sail with John and my brother Dennis on Avocet from St. Pierre, a French Island territory located just off Newfoundland to Halifax, Nova Scotia. And, In November I am planning on sailing on Glory from Norfolk Virginia, first to Bermuda and then on to Antigua. I don’t know if I will write about these upcoming adventures or not, if I do I will share the stories on this blog. Thanks for reading!

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If you enjoyed reading about my transatlantic adventure, please Like, Follow and Share.

Doing the Atlantic, Chapter 26, Land Ho!

Jens and I saw land just after sunrise at 6:00AM. Guadalupe we’re here!

To start reading about my transatlantic adventure from the beginning (highly recommended) follow this link.

Day 24,

Monday, February 21, 2022, 7:00AM

16’09.92N 61’02.21W 3510km made good.

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SOG 7.2 kts

Jens was holding out. He saved some of the best for the last Cocktail Hour, Smoked Sockeye Salmon (I have no idea where he stashed that), olives stuffed with anchovies, crab salad, coppa and crackers. We finished Jens’ supply of Irish Whiskey, also stashed somewhere, a generous pour for each of us. 

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I cooked, yup, you guessed it, Mahi Mahi for dinner. Seared with Basmati Rice and Coconut-Lime Sauce. I do love Mahi Mahi, however I think I will be laying off it for the foreseeable future.

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Jens and I had the double watch shifts last night. We had a visitor in the form of a black bird who hung with us for about 6 hours spending most of the time on the solar panel, where of course it pooped several times on the solar panel as well as on the whisker pole’s after guy line (another one of the impressive amount of ropes that we need to not only know the the name of, but also what they do). 

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Dennis noted seeing lights off to our starboard bow at 3:30AM. Our first sight of anything land based in 22 days, we later determined that these lights were on wind turbines on an island adjacent to Guadeloupe.  Jens and I saw land just after sunrise at 6:00AM. Guadalupe we’re here!

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We were still about 20 miles from our waypoint at the entrance to the harbor and we needed to prep the boat for our no engine arrival. We put the dock lines and fenders in place. John ran through the plan with us, we were ready.

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Since we didn’t have the option of motoring into the harbor, John thought we should enter the outer harbor under reefed mainsail; which we did. We also raised the staysail for a few minutes in an effort to gain enough speed for the needed sharp right turn into the marina, and then directly into the wind, so that we would have the speed needed to carry us through the wind and back to a sailable course.

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John called the marina on the VHF radio, which, not surprisingly, there were problems- the 2 handheld units had battery issues, the redundant wired extension in the cockpit had no sound. After a few attempts and some broken communications, John had me go below to the primary VHF at the Nav Station and talk to them, which I did. I was able to confirm that the marina knew we were coming, what our situation was and that they were sending a boat out to help us. 

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We ended up being seconds away from dropping the anchor; our plan to have enough speed to power around the sharp corner into the entrance of the marina didn’t pan out. Jean-Marc, an employee of the marina in a small skiff with his expert boat handling, got to us and towed us with little effort, perfectly stern first onto the dock. 

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Avocet, after 24 days crossing the Atlantic Ocean on the dock in Guadeloupe.

We all made phone calls letting our loved ones know that we made it, no life insurance benefits for them.

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We did a quick initial clean up of the boat, folded and stowed the staysail, flaked and covered the mainsail, looked for and eventually found the pump to pump up the dingy.

An approximate representation of our trip using Windy, an excellent app for us laymen to get up-to-date weather information.

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The dock we were at was a 1 minute dingy ride or a 30 minute walk to the marina office and their customs computers. We opted for the dingy ride. We all went to the office, filled out our obligatory customs forms and went in search of food and beer. Close by we found some burgers and beers that fit the bill. 

A chipper crew after 24 days at sea. Jens, me, Dennis and Captain John.

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On to finding a hotel, after some deliberation, it was decided, upon Jens’ suggestion, that we would ask a taxi driver about the best, most convenient, inexpensive places to stay. Antionette, the first local cabby we ran into, we thought was going to come through for us. She drove us about 3 miles from the marina to a hotel, near the Casino. 

We went through the pain-in-the-ass process of checking in. Which included using an ATM type machine for check in. This should have been a dead give away that we were not where we should be, we soldiered on. The ATM thing wasn’t giving us what we needed, so Antionette chased down an employee to help us out. With his help, we thought we were all set. 2 rooms, 2 beds each room, great. 

We dragged our oversized bags up the 3 flights of stairs to our rooms only to discover that there was only one bed in each room. Not gonna work, I love my brother, but I gave up sharing a bed with him about 45 years ago. Back down the 3 flights of stairs to try talking to the employee, who speaks no English. He, the employee, somehow had Antoinette’s number and called her back to the scene. 

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While they were trying to figure out our options, which I believe was 1 room with 3 beds and the other with 1; we just spent 24 days in a confined space with each other and we wanted our own space. I asked John for his phone, his was the only phone amongst us with any juice left in it. I looked online and found a place, Hotel Fleur D’épée, it was on the beach and closer to the marina. I called them and confirmed that they had rooms available and what they would cost. 

So, we begged off, hopefully I don’t have to put a hold on the payment for the tenement.

Antionette drove us to the other hotel, which was fine, a tourist hotel, not special. 4 rooms and the potential to sleep for more than 3 hours without having to get up to man the wheel, I’m in.

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The arrival at Guadalupe waypoint, our predetermined official end of the crossing, was made at  11:30AM local time, John won the “time of arrival” bet, the rest of us would be buying his dinner and drinks. 

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Doing the Atlantic, Chapter 25, Spinnaker Troubles and Arrival Preparations.

With only about 250 miles to Guadeloupe, we are preparing Avocet for arrival.

To start reading about my transatlantic adventure from the beginning (highly recommended) follow this link.

Day 23,

Sunday, February 20, 2022, 10:10AM

16’17.63N 59’20.36W 3342km made good.

SOG 5.3

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Sailing wing on wing, light winds, light seas equals a slow boat, 5ish knots.

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I made Mahi Mahi Chowder for lunch today: butter, flour, garlic, chicken bouillon cubes (yup, I used them), water, potatoes, canned corn, canned mushrooms, dry thyme, black pepper, salt, canned evaporated milk and a lot of diced up Mahi Mahi. It came out really good, surprisingly John had three bowls, he is usually a light weight. Jens and Dennis each had 2 and I had 1.

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Yesterday at dusk we were flying the spinnaker, it was the beginning of our Cocktail Hour, when the wind picked up to be a bit too much for the spinny. We decided to take it down. Well, that was not an easy task. The spinnaker is an asymmetrical spinnaker which means that it is shaped in a way that it doesn’t need a pole to hold the sails clew, aft most triangle, in place. It basically flies free, attached to the boat at the top with a halyard to lift and lower the sail. A line at the tack, the forward most triangle at the bow of the boat and a line at the clew. We adjust these lines based on wind speed, wind direction and boat direction. An asymmetrical spinnaker will often come with a “sock”, when you pull up the sail it is conveniently covered in this sock, the sock’s opening is at the bottom of the sail with just the clew and tack sticking out of the sock, attached to their respective lines and ultimately the boat. There is a continuous line going the full length of the sock that when you pull it one way it pulls the sock up exposing the sail to the full force of the wind. Conversely when you pull it the other way it lowers the sock pulling the sail into the lowering sock, making it no longer open to the wind, forming a long thin sausage looking thing. Well, this didn’t work. The spinnaker was stuck open, with the wind continuing to pick up, this was not good. We needed to get the spinnaker down before it tore or worse, fouled something in the standing rigging or went under the boat. The sock was not an option so we needed to lower the sail onto the deck, this is not easy when the wind is strong, as you lower the sail the wind just pushes it away from the boat. Heading up into the wind will alleviate this, but, if you go too far into the wind it can be disastrous, almost definitely tearing the sail. John, as usual, steered the boat into the perfect position for us to get the sail onto the deck with no damage. Once on the deck Dennis and I manually stuffed the spinnaker into the sock, hoping that tomorrow will bring lighter wind conditions for us to raise the sail again and figure out what went wrong with the sock.

A properly working spinnaker sock.

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When the spinnaker was bagged and tied to the deck. We reefed the mainsail and raised the staysail. We were once again sailing with the right sail plan, so we got back to enjoying Cocktail Hour. We purposely went light on today’s fixings for Cocktail Hour- pistachios. John and I had some white wine, Jens and Dennis had a bit of Irish Whiskey for their daily libations, I did spill Jens’ drink while we were reefing the main. It was dark and he did leave it wrapped amongst the reef lines, which when he put it there we didn’t know that we were going to reef the main. I felt bad, especially because of the dwindling supply of grog, but I got over it quickly.

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During the day we got the boat ready for our arrival, clearing the deck of all extraneous crap, organizing the trash and recycling, retrieving the anchor from the “pit” and reattaching it to its’ chain and securing it to the bowsprit. We placed the anchor in the “pit” before departure for several reasons: too much weight on the bow, it could become dislodged from its cradle in rough weather, which could cause huge problems. The anchor chain comes out of a hole at the top of the chain locker that we wanted to stuff and duct tape it, blocking any water coming over the bow from swamping the chain locker, adding even more weight to the bow and possibly seeping into the boat. As well as when you’re in thousands of feet of water there is really no need for an anchor with 200 ft of chain, it won’t do you much good.

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I went to grab John a Coke from one of the coolers on deck and was surprised to find most of the cans in the cooler had split from so much jostling around, making quite a sticky syrupy mess. Dennis and I cleaned it out, throwing away about three-quarters of the cans in the cooler.

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Doing the Atlantic, Chapter 24, A Memorable Catch and Slacking On My Watch

Last night’s first watch was far and away my most difficult yet.

To start reading about my transatlantic adventure from the beginning (highly recommended) follow this link.

Day 22

Saturday February 19, 2022, 12:50PM

16’12.13N 57’21.39W 3188km made good.

SOG 6.0kts 

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The wind and seas are pretty calm, we have been flying the spinnaker with a reefed mainsail. Our speed has been ok.

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Dinner last night was pasta with a tuna tomato sauce that Jens made, it was quite good.

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Just after dinner last night we realized that the fishing line was still out. Dennis reeled it in, noticing as he was pulling the last of the line that there was a fish on the line. It was about 3 ft long with an eel like dark body, a regular fish tail, not an eel tail, huge eyes, and a set of pointy sharp teeth that would make any yippy rat-dog owner proud. None of us knew what it was, so we didn’t want to eat it. Since it was already dead we just left it at the toe-rail until this morning, at which point I took some photos and set it back into the sea from which it came.

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Cocktail hour was a single glass of red wine for me, we are seriously down on alcohol.  Only a bottle of Jameson and a bottle of red wine left. 

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Last night’s first watch was far and away my most difficult yet, only because of how tired I was. I was totally spent. Weird sleep schedules, V-berth barely habitable and constant movement have made for an exhausted me. Just after dinner, I was already on deck anticipating my upcoming watch, Dennis was on the wheel. My 8PM watch start time, came and went, I slept through it. Dennis passed the watch off to Jens, who was my watch partner. I woke up 30 minutes later just in time to take my (Jens’) turn at the helm. 

I stood behind the pedestal, glaze eyed, with my head no further than a foot from the compass, staring at it with drool running down my chin, literally drool running down my chin onto the compass. I was snapping my head up and down, nodding off for seconds at a time. I barely made it through my ½ hour at the helm before Jens, thankfully, took over for me. I then proceeded to sleep in the cockpit through my next shift on the helm, waking with about 5 minutes left in it. At first I thought “cool I woke up just in time” then I realized I screwed up, I slept through most of my watch. Jens said that he tried to wake me a couple of times, but I didn’t budge. I Will try to make up the time to him as we proceed through our last couple of days.

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Once relieved from our shift I brushed my teeth and went straight into the moist nest and crashed. Dennis had to shake me awake, which should never happen, I was so spent. I felt a lot better during our second watch, it was pleasant, sunrise, tea, biscotti followed by some coffee and more biscotti.

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We caught a mother of a Mahi Mahi, the thing was huge, easily 30 lbs.

We were sitting around debating whether we should have the last of the beer then or save it for later, when the fishing reel screamed WzzzzzzzzzzWzzzzWzzzz and the rod bent signifying we either caught another round of seaweed or we got us a fish. Our predetermined positions were taken, Dennis grabbed the rod, John on the helm, Jens with gaff and me helping wherever needed. We rolled in the jib, John steered a slower course, Dennis reeled whenever the fish would allow, it was a back and forth battle that we were going to win. Yesterday, after losing 2 lures to fish that got away I switched the line from an unknown test to a 60lb test. Dennis kept reeling and we were able to get a glimpse of the fish, determining that it was indeed a Mahi Mahi and a big one at that. Dennis got the fish to the stern of the boat, Jens gaffed it through its gut and with my help we lifted it over the lifelines and right into the cockpit, behind the wheel right at John’s feet. John jumped up onto the seat, while the giant Mahi thrashed about, somehow getting through and in front of the wheel where I had the unenviable task of stabbing the fish through the eye with my handy dandy sailing knife. We won this battle.

When the Mahi Mahi was in the water and while it was quickly dying, the fish was an incredible blue color, which faded as the fish died. It was really something to see and something to think about…Food for thought.

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Time to have the last round of beers, warm but celebratory.

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After several buckets of saltwater to give the cockpit a quick rinse of all the blood we took some photos and put the fish up onto the gunwale for me to butcher, which I made quick work of. At least 15lbs fillets, and incredible catch. Too bad we didn’t catch the fish earlier in the adventure, when we had refrigeration and more time to eat it.

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Once the Mahi Mahi was filleted and put away, within an hour of landing the behemoth, I made blackened Mahi Mahi sandwiches with coleslaw on my homemade focaccia.

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For dinner Jens made, you guessed it Mahi Mahi, he served it with Basmati rice.

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We set the spinnaker, which is easy once it’s up and flying however it can be a beast to set up.

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We are all stuffed with Mahi Mahi and a bit worn after a long day.

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I finished reading Beasts of a Little Land, by Juhea Kim, quite good.

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Doing the Atlantic, Chapter 23, Less Than 400 miles to go.

As this adventure winds down and the seas have for the most part calmed down, I am getting the chance to reflect on the trip, the opportunity it has been for me, as well as its experiences……

To start reading about my transatlantic adventure from the beginning (highly recommended) follow this link.

Day 21

Friday, February 18, 2022, 9:15AM

15’46.22N 54’42.89W 3003km made good.

SOG 7.2kts

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Sailing wing to wing again, triple reefed main and a bit of the jib.

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Dennis and John sailed through a squall this morning, 30 knots winds and heavy rain, I slept through it, there has been nothing but blue skies since.

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Shane, my son, finally got back to me about the Super Bowl, claiming he won our bet, we’ll see about that.

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We just had a visit from a pod of about 8 dolphins, they are always cool to see. With the rough seas it’s been about a week since we last saw them.

It’s comforting to be seeing dolphins again.

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Dinner last night was a collaborative mediocre effort. Soy marinated Seared Pork Medallions. When I made some sauce for them, using the marinade, I used too much of it. I could have used ¼ the amount and double the amount of butter which I used to finish the sauce, it would have been a lot better. Roasted potatoes, very good.  Needed a vegetable, considering we have about 20 cans of corn on board we should have used that.

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Cocktail hour was Parmigiano-Reggiano and spicy Lomo with more of Jens’ homemade crackers. It was another single beer Cocktail hour.

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We are seeing a lot of flying fish, occasionally picking them up off the deck, out of the cockpit and we even had one land on top of the dodger.

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I have the dreaded double watch tonight, hopefully the second to last double watch. 

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We haven’t seen another boat/ship in at least 10 days, probably more like 14.

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Bruises on my bruises, we are all getting banged around on the boat, both below deck and on deck. We have all ended up with many, many little bruises up and down our legs and arms.

Avocet’s galley, the culprit to many of my bruises.

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I’m looking forward to talking to Colleen and kids, taking a long hot shower and sleeping for more than three hours at one stretch.

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V-berth is hot, humid and dank, it’s where Dennis and I have been trading off the bunk, there is no ventilation there because we have Avocet’s dingy and a bunch of gear strapped to the deck right on top of the V-berth hatch. It was so hot in there last night that I ended up sleeping for 2 hours on the salon sole (floor).

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I made coleslaw with the rest of the cabbage, raisins and apples today.

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The only fresh food left at this point is 2 bulbs of garlic, 15 potatoes and 10 limes.

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Charging system for the batteries is not working properly- no more refrigerator.

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Doing the Atlantic, Chapter 22, Making Great Progress.

Sailing is still pretty spectacular. 20 knots on our starboard aft quarter with 6-9 ft seas.

To start reading about my transatlantic adventure from the beginning (highly recommended) follow this link.

Day 20

Thursday, February, 17, 2022, 1:01PM

15’28.133N 51’51.311W 2858nm made good.

SOG 7.2kts 

Still major issues with charging boat batteries, the wind generator may not be putting enough energy into the batteries or it may be an issue with the charging unit itself. We did not run the refrigerator all last night, there are concerns that it is drawing too much power for the batteries to charge. This morning the charge was up to 83%, which is good, so the refrigerator was turned back on again for a few hours. Ice for cocktail hour is doubtful.

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This photo was taken right before I went below and wrote todays entry. 20kts of wind, 6-9ft seas.

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After a night of hanging on the lifelines, most of my laundry is dry, smelling fresh and clean.

Socks and undies are still out there, they are hung on the leeward side, closest to the water and getting splashed whenever they are almost dry. I will move them to the windward side later today.

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Going through our stores yesterday we realized that we still have several bottles of mayonnaise, which is great.  We thought we were almost out of it and have been rationing it for several days. Now tuna salad and coleslaw will be vastly improved with the addition of mayo.

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With the less aggressive conditions we are once again letting out the fishing line during daylight hours.

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Another single beer cocktail hour last night, more because we are getting low on alcohol than for any other reason, the conditions are good. We had crab salad, deviled ham, peanuts and crackers to go with it.

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As of right now, as the crow flies, we have 560 miles to go to get to Guadeloupe, less than a Newport – Bermuda Race, which is 636 miles, leaving us with 4.5ish days until arrival.

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Chip Gavin, we’re calling him “our Portland office representative”. Chip and I have sailed together several times, mostly on Beausoliel, a Beneteau 456 owned by Richard Parent. Doing at least 1 Yarmouth Cup Race as well as the 2017 Marblehead – Halifax Race on Avocet. Chip introduced me to John when John needed crew to deliver Avocet from Boothbay, ME to Beverly MA, I think that was in September of 2016.

Chip was called into action, using John’s Garmin InReach satellite communicator, to inform the marina in Guadeloupe that we will be arriving, probably on Monday, with no engine and possible electrical/communications issues. Chip found us a tow service that would tow us into the harbor, $750 for the first hour, that will not be happening. He followed up with the harbormaster who said he could tow us from the breakwater to the dock for 80 euros, that probably won’t happen either. The current plan is to “sail to the dock” which I have complete confidence in John and the crew’s ability to do this. If it becomes too hairy we will have the anchor ready to go.

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Our weather updates are all promising, decent wind with the possibility of isolated squalls throughout the remainder of the trip, the max predicted winds in the squalls is 30 knots, nothing to sneeze at, but nothing to over-react about either. Keep a moderate sail plan and deal with it.

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Dinner last night was once again Bolognese, from Villa Azul, still pretty darn good. Canned peaches for dessert, which were surprisingly good, albeit quite sweet, but they were still firm and actually tasted like peaches.

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I am making another loaf of bread today. I doubled the dough recipe so that Jens could have a bunch of dough to make more crackers.

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Sailing under double reefed main, stay sail and a bit of the jib. Making great progress.

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Doing the Atlantic, Chapter 21, Spectacular Sailing!

Wind and seas have finally calmed a bit, wind is at 15-20kts and seas have settled to 7-12ft. Still rough, but not crazy.

To start reading about my transatlantic adventure from the beginning (highly recommended) follow this link.

With the increased wind and seas, photos of the next few days were lacking. I will try to add some visual content with stock photos and some of my own photos that were not taken at the time. In addition, my writing time was clipped to mostly short snip-its that I hope still convey the nuances of our adventure.

Days 18 and 19

Tuesday, February 15, 2022, 12:45PM

14’11.045N 46.56.521W 2522nm made good.

6.2kts SOG

Dennis enjoying some light work on the helm.

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It started calming down last night during my first watch, before midnight. Sailing has been very good since then. It is a huge relief to be out of those conditions, the boat and crew handled it extremely well.

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Another one beer cocktail hour last night, olives, hard salami, Manchego cheese and crackers were last night’s hors d’oeuvres selections. Dinner was a bowl of the too thick, underwhelming chili that I made at Villa Azul.

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We are almost out of all of the fresh food. Lots of food still in the cupboards, though.

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We are starting to get excited about landfall in Guadeloupe; 6ish more days. I am looking forward to being able to talk with Colleen, Shane and Cate; as well as checking out the island. I have to see if Guadalupe is someplace that I would want to drag Colleen to in the future.

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I need to do laundry and have a quick boat shower.

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Bilge is still getting water in it, John is bailing it out 2-3 times per day. 

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We changed the ship’s clock back an hour today, we were supposed to do it at longitude 37’5, we are now at 46’5, oh well we’re on our own time.

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Day 19

Wednesday, February 16, 2022, 4:40 PM

15’75.099N 49’37.342W 2683nm made good.

SOG 6.5kts 

Seas are still quite high, high enough that if the weeknight ‘round the buoy racers were out in this, they would wish that they were at their Yacht Club’s bar drinking god-awful Dark ‘n’ Stormies while clad in their Nantucket red shorts, collar turned up Polo shirt and loafers while talking about their masculine escapades that they have partaken in behind their third wife’s back. 

The only good thing about Dark ‘n’ Stormies is the after race schwag handed out at large races by the rum distilleries.

One of my many Rum Race Hats

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The storm jib and trysail down, triple reefed main, staysail are up, with a bit of the jib out, just because we can. 

Dennis under the dodger, hiding from the sun.

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Cocktail hour, olives, tuna jerky (blah), smoked gouda and Jens’ crackers.

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Jens made crackers from some focaccia dough that he asked me to put aside for him. They were great; crispy, olive oily and salty.

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Dinner was Chicken-Coconut soup, for the third or fourth time, a crew favorite. The recipe is in chapter 4.

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I did laundry by hanging the dirty laundry, pants and t-shirts off the stern of the rapidly moving, for a sailboat, boat. No detergent, no fresh water, just salt water. For the underwear and socks I did use detergent and salt water in a bucket, rinsed a few times and then hung them out. The clothes are still drying. I will report back tomorrow on how things worked out. 

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Sailing today and yesterday has been spectacular, moderate winds 15-20kts, and moderate, comparatively speaking, seas of 7-10ft.

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Still no motor, wind is our power source, providing just enough power for the fridge and little else..

Avocet on a mooring at Damariscove Island, Maine, in August of ’22,
the wind generator is attached to the stern.

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We have moved on to some gawd-awful coffee, something John has had on board since somewhere in the Mediterranean, it’s possibly two years old. The grind is for espresso and we are using a percolator. So, not only does the coffee taste like ass, it has a lot of chunks (well…grinds) in it. I keep drinking as much as I can handle at a time, maybe three ounces, before dumping out the remaining dregs. 

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Doing the Atlantic, Chapter 20, Battling the Elements.

To start reading about my transatlantic adventure from the beginning (highly recommended) follow this link.

With the increased wind and seas, photos of the next few days were lacking. I will try to add some visual content with stock photos and some of my own photos that were not taken at the time. In addition, my writing time was clipped to mostly short snip-its that I hope still convey the nuances of our adventure.

Day 17

Monday, February 14, 2022, 4:15PM

14’11.827 44’32.653 2363nm made good.

SOG 7.3kts 

I’ve been strapping myself in at the nav-station to write in this journal each day.

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The waves are mountainous! The ride is precarious! 

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A typical roller coaster is 2 minutes long, this ride has been going on since dusk Friday. 

Comet, Paragon Park’s (Nantasket Beach, Hull, MA) wooden coaster in 1974.

Keep the car on the tracks, go around the corners on two wheels, crawl up and speed down the hills, don’t forget- you’re driving.

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Look at the compass. Yaw to port, turn the wheel to right. Look at the compass. Keep on track, turn the wheel 3 feet left, 5 feet right, spin back left, 6 inches right, a foot left. Look at surroundings, look at the compass. Pitch down the front of the wave, boat yaws hard to the right, wants to breach, can’t let that happen, with all your might turn the wheel hard left, boat rights it course; 3 seconds of reprieve. Sliding down the back side of the wave, feel the keel catch the water under the boat, sliding to port, turn to starboard. Wave breaks over the starboard aft quarter, cockpit fills, everything is wet. Look at the compass, stay on course. Pitch down and to the left, turn to the right. Yaw to the right, turn to the left… That’s about a minute of steering the boat, we will each steer the boat for about 6 hours each day. My hands, arms, shoulders, hips and legs ache. 

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I got soaked on the helm this morning, I am trying to dry out before doing it all over again. 

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Winds are in the upper 20’s, gusting well into the 30’s. Seas are really big, predicted 14 ft, we’ve surpassed that easily. No doubt there have been some 20 plus footers mixed in. Waves are still sporadic, it’s like you’re steering the boat through angry, frothing, 5000 sf McMansion sized moguls that are chasing after you, while they’re trying to knock you down.

Moguls and McMansions.

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Rough weather predicted through tomorrow, Tuesday. Followed by “moderate” seas and winds. 7-12 foot seas and 17-22 knot winds.

I’m looking a bit bedraggled at this point.

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We had a cocktail hour last night. A beer, Serrano ham, smoked gouda, smoked sablefish that Jens brought and crackers.

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Dinner was Villa Azul Tagine with Couscous.

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Finished another book, Code Thief, by Justin Anthony Conboy, don’t bother reading it, lousy plot, not well written.

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Coffee and grinds spilled throughout the galley, somehow finding their way into the refrigerator, a royal fucking mess. While being tossed around in the galley I emptied the fridge, cleaned its interior, and cleaned each item before returning it back to the fridge. The grinds got into every little crack, nook and cranny, we will be cleaning them up throughout the rest of the trip.

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Doing the Atlantic, Chapter 19, Riding Out Some High Seas.

To start reading about my transatlantic adventure from the beginning (highly recommended) follow this link.

With the increased wind and seas, photos of the next few days were lacking. I will try to add some visual content with stock photos and some of my own photos that were not taken at the time. In addition, my writing time was clipped to mostly short snip-its that I hope still convey the nuances of our adventure. PM 4/22/25

Day 16

Sunday, February 13, 2022, 2:37PM

13’59.987N 41’53.504W 2216nm made good.

SOG 6.0kts

The winds are in the low to mid 20’s, seas- many over 10ft. Still sailing with just the storm jib and trysail, yesterday from about noon until 11pm we also pulled out several feet of the furling jib giving us a little bit more speed without overpowering the boat.

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Today’s winds and seas are what was predicted by Chris Parker. We are still trying to stay a bit south to avoid the highest of the forecasted wind and seas. 

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We should be through the shit on Tuesday with favorable wind conditions for the remainder of the trip.

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Jens’ bunk with Jens in it, got swamped. Jens had just gotten off his watch and was in desperate need of some rest, he had just settled into his bunk. In an effort to let some of the dank out of the now shuttered for days sweatbox of belowdecks, the hatch just above his bunk was open, only about a half inch. The wind and seas are following us, so the chances of a wave breaking over the bow into Jens’ hatch were minimal, still existing though. He and all of his bedding got soaked. He closed the hatch, changed his clothes, dried off and moved around his bedding and climbed back into his bunk when we got hit by another wave. Even with the hatch closed and secured, he got sprayed again. The 34 year old hatch seals are the culprit, another item for John to add to his upcoming repair list. Jens went through the process of drying out himself and his bunk again. 

One of Avocet’s hatches in the foreground, not the culprit hatch, that one is difficult to see, located between the mast and life raft. Jens at the helm in the background. This photo is from Boothbay Harbor Races in July 2023.

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We did have a Cocktail Hour last night- Serrano Ham, olives, nasty smoked dried tuna, smoked gouda and crackers. A bit of red wine for John and I, whiskey for Jens and Dennis. Villa Azul Bolognese for dinner.

Serrano Ham, a staple of our Cocktail Hour refreshments.

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All of this hand steering is making my shoulders feel the pain, only about 1100 more miles with no autopilot to go.

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These seas are the kind that would even have Erik Aanderaa of the YouTube channel “No Bullshit Just Sailing” fame appreciate them. They are relentless.

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John is still pumping/sponging out the bilge a couple of times a day. He believes that the engine’s raw water intake through-hull fitting is leaking and being exacerbated by the sea conditions; another item to add to his growing list.

An example of thru hull fittings.

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Dennis threw out some of the chicken breasts we cooked at Villa Azul in Lanzarote, this is an indicator for us to keep a close eye on the remaining Villa Azul food. Fortunately the bottom of the fridge is very cold, keeping a fair amount of that food frozen.

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If you are enjoying reading about my transatlantic adventure, pleas Like and Share.

Doing the Atlantic, Chapter 18, When the shit hits the fan, shit goes everywhere.

To start reading about my transatlantic adventure from the beginning (highly recommended) follow this link.

With the increased wind and seas, photos of the next few days were lacking. I will try to add some visual content with stock photos and some of my own photos that were not taken at the time. In addition, my writing time was clipped to mostly short snip-its that I hope still convey the nuances of our adventure. PM 4/22/25

Day 15

Saturday, February 12, 2022, 1:50PM

13’45.90N 39’21.21W 2067nm made good.

SOG 6+kts

When the shit hits the fan, shit goes everywhere.

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No engine, with heavy wind, the wind generator was kicking in some amps, so we have been able to run the refrigerator, VHF and navigation lights

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Last night was hellish, 40kts of wind, 10-14ft erratic seas. Before dark we lowered the mainsail and pulled up the storm trysail. Until about 9PM we sailed with the trysail staysail combo, at that point Jens and I were called on deck, we were off watch until midnight, to drop the staysail. The plan with the increasing wind and seas was to sail through the night with just the trysail; we were getting battered.

A great picture of John taken after the real shit weather.

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Soon after we started our midnight watch Jens had just strapped himself in at the wheel, and he got swamped. A direct hit with a wall of water square in his back, not only drenching him, but also pushing him forward into the wheel and across the helm seat from starboard to port. Besides being soaked, he was okay. In the immediate aftermath of this ginormous wave, Jens thought we had “gone into irons”, this is when your sails are trapped in the no-go zone, in essence stalling the boat. In reality we weren’t in irons we were in the froth of the wave that broke into our cockpit, the water was so roiled and aerated that it was causing the boat to stall. I had to shine my headlamp onto the sail to show Jens that the sail was full and fine. We were just stuck in the waves’ backwash.

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Did I mention it was a rough ride? I have been in higher seas, easily 20 feet high, on Neil and Ronel’s boat Tiger during a delivery from Bermuda to Antigua. Those waves were rollers, all in the same direction, well spaced apart and we were riding them; more fun than scary. The seas last night were much angrier, no rhythm to them, just bashing us, unsettling. 

Not my photo, but it’s a good representation of the seas we delt with for several days.

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In the wee hours things calmed down a bit, winds 20+ kts, with 7 to 10 foot pissed off waves.

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This morning we unhooked the staysail and replaced it with the storm jib. The storm jib is a very small day-glo orange sail, with the intended use of, you guessed it, sailing in a storm or storm like conditions. To change the sail Dennis and Jens with their harness on, attached to the Jack-lines, crawled to the bow. I manned the halyard from the relative comfort of the cockpit. I lowered the staysail as they gathered it on the deck, unhooked, bagged and sent the sail back to me in the cockpit. I passed up the storm jib and we repeated the process in the opposite order; unbag, hank-on, and pull the sail up, done. This is all done with the boat pitching and yawing erratically and an occasional wave breaking on to the deck. 

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The good news is today, tonight and tomorrow morning the winds are predicted to remain reasonable. The bad news is that last night’s drama is predicted to only be a prelude to what tomorrow night through Tuesday is expected to bring us. 25kts of winds with higher gusts and 10-14 foot seas for 2 days. Argh!!!

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Jens is a galley god, during the early part of last night’s mayhem he made some rice and heated up some chicken-coconut soup.

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I haven’t showered or changed my clothes since Wednesday, Yuck!! I am planning on making that a priority later this afternoon.

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Cocktail Hour was postponed yesterday, due to foul weather.

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Food stores are still plentiful, fresh items remaining include a few apples, 3 bulbs of garlic, ½ a head of cabbage, 5lbs of potatoes, 6 tangerines and a dozen limes. With the wind generator going strong, it should keep the remaining Villa Azul vacuum sealed items fresh for a few more days. We also have a vacuum sealed pork loin that Jens is going to cook soon, weather permitting. After that we do have lots of canned and dry goods, I won’t be making any bread until at least Wednesday.

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It may be windy and cool on deck, however with the wind and sea conditions we have to keep all of the ports shut making it a musty sweatbox below deck.

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