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7.19.06
Good-by to the Caribbean and hello to the Atlantic Ocean
There are new photos on the website at:
http://www.sailtheblue.com/id27.html
This is a loaded page so it will take a while to download.
It has finally happened, the traveling triumvirate of Cénou, Veto and Liberator split up. After more than a month of
seeing each other everyday, it's a sad event to part ways. Liberator had to go to Florida and Veto towards the US coast on
their way to New England. Veto will be doing their transatlantic via Nova Scotia and Ireland on their way to Norway. Meanwhile
Tom and Naomi brought back Liberator to it's owner unscathed. We were a good traveling group, sharing the same concerns for
weather and lack of tolerance for putting our families through discomfort. So it was easy to travel together.
Our last sail before the transatlantic passage was from Nassau to Marsh Harbor (about 110 miles) It was a steady broad
reach and we kept our main and screacher up all night in about 8 to 12 knots of true wind. With about two thirds of a moon
it was one of the most beautiful sails in a long time.
Now that we are in Marsh Harbor snug in a marina we have been bringing the boat up to snuff for the passage and fixing
the various things that wore out or broke since we left the Virgin Islands. Zia met us here after a two month separation and
our crew has arrived. Zia will be making the crossing to Bermuda with us, but will stop in Bermuda. I hope to have the weather
to keep going to the Azores for a grand total of fifteen to seventeen days at sea, but Rike would rather stop in Bermuda.
Maintenance became a pressing issue as we made our way up the Bahamas with no place to find parts. Indeed, the Bahamas
is very poorly stocked. The reason is that everyone is used to simply importing things from Florida. There is a plethora
of air taxi services flying everything from vacuum cleaners to batteries. So the local stores do not have an incentive to
keep stock.
Our house batteries (4X200 amp AGMS) gave us trouble when we left Puerto Rico over a month ago. They were unable to really
keep a charge, and on a modern boat batteries are essential. We need them for communication, navigation, cooking, and water
not to mention lights. Their early demise (they were only one year old) was most likely due to a regulator failure damaging
our solar controller. All this happened in June of 2005. The last domino to fall came from the failure of the solar controller
allowing the batteries to reach their boiling point for about an hour (40 volts on a 24 volt system). They never came back
to normal after that. No wonder. . .
So, via a very helpful woman at West Marine in Fort Lauderdale named Pam Wall, we ordered four new batteries and had
these 500 pound electric behemoths air shipped . It's a good thing that sailing magazines write about how cheap cruising is,
otherwise I would be wondering where all our money is going.
Then, about two weeks ago we managed to blow the clew of our main and turned the shank of our Spade into a cork screw.
All this happened in one day although not at the same time :-) It must have been something in the air because the next day,
after Erik on Veto had offered me to use their primary anchor, the throttle cable on Veto came loose and they ran into a dock,
also bending their anchor. Somehow Liberator escaped all this good luck.
We bent the anchor when it lodged in a rock and I tried to spin the boat to pull the other way. Next time I will dive
it. That said the new Spade is made of steel rather than aluminum and while twice the weight at 66 pounds it should be more
tolerant. The old spade will get a new shank and it's ability to be split into two piece and light weight will make it a perfect
spare.
The clew failing had nothing to do with us. I am beginning to think that the webbing Ulman used on these sails, which
are less than a year old, was defective. The early failure of our slide webbing back in the Chesapeake Bay and now the clew
leads me to think that this is not normal wear and tear. I told our sail maker, Chuck, at the Sand Diego Ulman loft that
our main is like an Italian car, beautiful but unreliable. We gave the main to a sail maker in Nassau who butchered the clew
repair job and we ended up sending the whole thing to Ulman in Florida for an overhaul and new batten-to-slide attachments.
Another "cruising is cheap" event.
I am grateful that the clew failed here rather than on day 8 of a 16 day passage. After having gone over the engines and
the rig, everything looks good and we are ready to leave as soon as we get our mainsail back.
Our stay in Marsh Harbour has been good overall. It is especially nice not to cover any miles for a while and be able
to relax. We are still early in the season so there is no rush to leave. Rike has been stocking the boat for four adults
and two kids planning for 30 days at sea. That is a lot of food to hand carry. She could have taken taxies but opted for
the foot option trying to get as much exercise as possible before being sequestered . . . again.
Meanwhile the weather has not really settled, and low pressure systems and cold fronts still abound. This makes the timing
of our passage uncertain, but we are currently hoping for a weather window to open up on Tuesday, May 23.
For those who have indicated their interest for our tracking updates we will put your email on the system and if you do
not know about this system, it is provided by Skymate and emails you with a daily Lat and Long update and a link to a map
with our position.
In the meantime we will enjoy the Marsh Harbour hospitality and life at the dock.
Best to everyone
CEline,aNOUck, Rike and Claude
www.sailtheblue.com
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