5:22pm Friday June 18
Diane land-line telephoned. I could hear her. We finished about 2pm, landed and… In the background the start of the “pour” was announced and Diane promptly rang off. Nick and Diane are currently splicing the mainbrace.
6:30am Friday June 18
Diane sat-phoned, very briefly before coverage was lost: We had an awesome night. We had our biggest spinnaker, the blue one, up all night. The knot meter was reading 8 knots or better, with peaks of 12, but the GPS…static… crackle… silence: satellite connection was lost.
Tim doing a bit of math: at 11pm last night, they were 103 miles from Bermuda. This morning at 6am, 55 miles out. 48 nautical miles closer to the finish. The overnight average VMG (velocity made good) of 7 kts.
The 7am position update: they made 7 miles in the last hour, with 48 to the finish, and a 9pm time limit. Follow the excitement on the fleet tracker and watch them pull into St. George’s harbour with spot tracker.
Thursday a.m. June 17
Diane sat-phoned in again this morning. Actually she called Wednesday, that was about some logistics and getting weather information from NOAA. I expect communications will be upgraded. This morning she reports:
The past two days have been nice – not as much rain. Good breeze last night, under a starry sky – which contrasts with wet and drifting. We made decent progress with a working jib in 15 knots of apparent wind all through the night. We are lifting into Bermuda. Expect the wind to continue to clock, and would love to get our spinnaker up.
We are working to comply with Sailing Instruction 14. That is the 9pm (Toronto) Friday time limit for the race. Conceivably, with the race a couple hours late to start, one could protest for an extension, but just want to get finished.
Nick is surviving just fine. It is part of a mutual outlook. Neither of us have showered in a week. With the early rain and a steady supply of baby wipes, we are doing just fine.
The Bermuda Ocean Race web site has a daily update and links to weather. Personally I like the Bermuda Weather Service. As well as iBoat’s fleet tracking, they also have a discussion board.
11am Tuesday June 15
Diane telephoned about 10:30am this morning: Monday evening was pretty slow slogging, at right angles to the current. But, we successfully made it into the cold water eddy we were seeking. [See garbled sat-phone message of Sunday]. As the night wore on, the wind got light. Midnight, no wind. And we found ourselves in the biggest hole.
Then, the fog rolled in. Then an odd noise. What’s that noise? Can’t see any freighters. With the chop, no wind, bobbing in a back eddy, the sail plan was flapping and banging, most distracting and very annoying. Down came the sails. Turns out, the noise was coming from our rig and sail plan. All night, the fog was thick, wet and just gross, everything was too sickly to deal with.
But Monday, we had made it into the cold water eddy. Through the night, from about midnight to 5:30am, with no sails, we rode the hard won, cold eddy, to drift south east directly to Bermuda. All the while, Nick & I got caught up on our sleep. If you’re going to be in a hole for a few hours, get one with two knots of current going in the right direction.
This morning, the sun came up, bringing some breeze. We have a white sail plan up. The code zero [huge headsail] is on deck in anticipation that the wind will continue deeper, and we will be able to hoist. We are sailing 4.8 to 5 kts through the water. Add in the favourable current from our cold eddy and we are progressing to Bermuda at 6 to 7 kts.
It’s a beautiful sea this morning. Lots of Man Of War (a type of jelly fish) and Sargasso (a thick seaweed). We are frequently checking we are not dragging any seaweed. That would be very slow.
Diane mentioned the race communications restrictions, and a competitor and… the satellite passed ending the telephone call. They are in good spirits – sleep helps with that – and I could hear Nick in the background, and some laughter.
You can follow them along using the Bermuda Ocean Race’s iBoat fleet tracker or the One Girl’s Ocean Challenge’s Spot Tracker.
11am Monday June 14 (posted about 5pm)
Diane telephoned to report:
Warming up on Sunday, we made some tea, but then got racing and by the time we could enjoy a nice cuppa, the tea was too strong to enjoy and had cooled so much, it didn’t warm us up. Rain again last night. With stuff drying on deck again today. The freeze dried food is working out better than we expected. Peanut butter sandwiches continue to be our on board favorite.
Tim again, checking in with the Bermuda Ocean Race fleet tracking, iBoat at 4:10pm today, they were sailing south east at 5.3 knots, in north west winds of 13 knots, with lots of short choppy four foot waves setting to the south west. 447 nautical miles to Bermuda.
Tim again. Found two articles about the race starting.
The Capital, being the local Annapolis news had a piece about the start under the headline Belatedly Bermuda Bound.
As well, BERNEWS, Bermuda’s news and culture magazine’s piece used the headline
Maryland To Us: Bermuda Ocean Race underway.
10:30am Sunday June 13
Tim again. Diane sat-phoned in voice mail update: Got out under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and into the [Atlantic ocean] about 3:30am. We are south of the rhumb line as part of our great plan. [Static…. “south”…. “cold”…] to sling shot us into Bermuda.
We’ve been wet all night long. Just trying to dry out and warm up a bit.
Indeed it was raining throughout the Chesapeake yesterday. NOAA’s 11am forecast is, warmer, overcast with isolated of showers. But… with a tail wind: south to south west winds, 15 to 20 knots, becoming west to southwest late in the day. Seas 2 to 4 feet. Check NOAA directly for the latest forecast.
According to the 10:04am iBoat fleet tracking report, they were heading south east at 6.6 knots, 604 nautical miles to Bermuda.
The spot tracker last reported just after midnight, bright and early this morning. Not sure why it has not reported since. The unit must be manually re-set it to broadcast each day. That said, the Sport Tracker does show them tacking down the Chesapeake on Saturday, which is pretty cool.
Chatting with Paul, the fearless ground crew, Diane’s mom telephoned and was excited they’d entered the ocean. Paul’s work is never done, he’s off to west end of town to pick up some gear.
2pm Friday June 11th
Tim commenting here. The race started at 1pm. You can track Diane & Nick on OGOC through their onboard spot tracker.
Alternatively pop over to the race organizer’s iBoat, where you can track any and all of the fleet. Using the “Pick by division” on the right, I’ve selected the two divisions: “Mini 6.5” and “D.H.” OGOC is the only mini and there are two boats in the double handed division. Razor’s Edge is a Saber 363 and Quicksilver is a C+C 37R. Their water length alone will give them a huge speed advantage, not to mention the creature comforts.
They're off! iBoat Tracking of OGOC (green) and the Double Handed fleet.
NOAA’s marine forecastt from noon today is calling for: this afternoon: east winds, 5 kt, waves less than 1 foot. Tonight: south winds, 5-10 kt, waves 1 foot. Check the link to keep up to date. Hmmm five knots of breeze.
Friday a.m. June 11
Well today certainly is the day. Nick is gone to do the laundry and grab some fresh rations. I’m at the boat doing the final list of things to be squared away.
I'm at the boat doing the final list of things to be squared away.
Yesterday was a great day. We got the boat off the dock and sailed around the bay. The rig tune looks really good for the weather forecast.
The skipper’s meeting last night had a very good gulf stream and weather briefing. Then there was the Cotillion party sponsored by Goslings. We actually got a bottle of goslings in each of our skipper’s bags!
I’m feeling really good about things and honestly we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the support of some amazing people. Our sponsors of course with Competition Yachts and their Archambault boats, UK Halsey, and Lori Mason’s Chandlery.
Of course there’s always our amazing shore team. My husband Paul has been wonderful. Driving us down here and then really mucking in with whatever needed doing!
The folks here at Eastport Yacht Club have also been incredibly helpful and great to get to know! BTW, if you’re ever in Annapolis looking for breakfast goto the Chick and Ruth’s Delly. Not only will Nancy and the rest of the gang fix you up with the best breakfast, but they will tell you where to go for laundry, groceries, cabs or whatever you need.
Finally that guy who I mentioned has gone off to do the laundry. Nick is a great team mate. Truly a piece of the puzzle that fits! Together we’re going to make OGOC scream all the way to Bermuda.
Finally that guy who I mentioned has gone off to do the laundry. Nick is a great team mate.
Well I have to get a few last things done so I’ll sign off, but make sure you follow the race and the spot tracker and the iboat tracker from the race organizers!
Enjoy the sunshine in your life!
Diane
Wednesday June 9
Well our fantastic shorecrew has headed home. Paul left about 10am this morning. We couldn’t have gotten everything together without him. There have been a few trips to the chandlery and lots of gear chasing around Annapolis.
For those of you who don’t know, Nick Sellars is doing the race double handed with me. He’s a great team mate. Between the two of us we have a great compliment of knowledge and a fantastic tolerance for each other! As for the boat, we’ve got the rig tuned, the running rigging well in place and the gear stowed in great fashion for stacking. Not only that but we had our safety inspection today and passed with flying colours. We do have a couple of things to simply square away, but nothing too drastic.
The plan is tonight (Wednesday evening) to look at the tides and currents and blend that in with our local knowledge we’ve been gathering, and start to build a plan.
Thursday morning we will go sailing and see what the rig tuning looks like, then it’s the skipper’s meeting tomorrow afternoon and a little bit of a party in the evening.
Hope everyone at home is having a great time! Send you a note tomorrow after we go sailing.
Diane
