Sailing to Bermuda

May 17, 2009 – Sunday
The seas are still calm and the winds very light. We continued to motor along and maintain a good speed. There are still large swells and the clouds are beginning to build, yet it remains sunny at times and the temperatures are starting to rise. There are lots of Portuguese man-o-wars floating by, some large and some as small as your thumbnail. I saw a dolphin roll at the surface about 40-50 yards off the port side this morning just a few minutes after six am. Don sat in the stern and soaked his scooter road rash. We figured he would make good shark bait. We had pancakes for breakfast as cooking is relatively easy with the current conditions. The grill is acting up so Don took it apart and cleaned it thoroughly. It seems to work better so we hoping to be able to continue grilling some meals. We’ve seen very little life, including birds, which is surprising to me. Two tern-looking birds went by at a distance and a moderate size soaring bird came by close, but it was not big enough to be an albatross. A Bermuda long-tail followed by some other darker bird flew low and right over us. It’s 9:30 am now and everything is very calm, just rolling swells and the hum of the engine. Don, “Doc” John and Tom are all reading, John starts his watch in 20 minutes, so he is just up and making himself some eggs. We left out all the makings for the pancakes, but he woke up with eggs on his mind - so he made himself some eggs. A good breakfast for all and a good start for the day.

Don organized a game of Euchre and because Tom doesn’t play, he took the helm. And because Tom doesn’t play he made lunch, grilling hot dogs and making sauerkraut. And because Tom doesn’t play and we had to do a rubber match, he also did the dishes. Go Tom! During lunch Tom thought he saw “a whale or something” and we all jumped up and watched over the port side. Soon a dolphin rolled at the surface and then for the next five minutes we saw three and maybe four of them. They appeared to have found something and circled an area out away from the boat and then they were gone. After lunch and our close game of Euchre (the Halls were victorious) we all decided to take a swim. We slowed the boat to a craw and prepared to jump in. Apparently a million Portuguese man-o-wars decided to swim with us. They were everywhere, big and tiny. So, we motored ahead and watch them drift pass in groups. Finally there seemed to be a break and into the ocean we went. It was a cool refreshing plunge at first and then it felt just great. Obviously one of us always stayed on board. We washed our hair and enjoy jumping and diving in the water. John spotted a small turtle swimming nearby. Tom gave chase but he’s just a tad bit slower than a turtle underwater. (On land he might have had a better chance.) After the swim we used the “sun deck” shower to rinse the salt water off us. We had to lay on the edge of the boat to get the gravity feed to work as we had no way of getting the bag off the top of the deck. The water was very warm and it worked quite well. Don and young John stripped down for their final rinse. Don looked like he’d been in bad fight and lost with all his bruises and abrasions from the scooter crash. The swim was a refreshing break and something that would have been inconceivable during our first leg of the trip going to Bermuda.

It’s now just after 5 pm and the winds continue to be light. We are still motoring and expect to do so tonight as well. Don and I added 8 gallons of diesel fuel to top off the tank. We have been motoring about 20 hours total so far on the trip since we left Bermuda. The winds are expected to shift, but remain light tonight. Tom is planning on tacos for supper, so that will be a nice change to our menu.

As Tom slept, John and Doc made a great hardy soup for supper. It was delicious and nearly everyone had seconds. Tom got up in time to eat with us – but he still owes us a taco dinner and we won’t forget it!