Hello Fans! I was glad to receive a SPOT "OK" message last night at 7:22 EDT after having waited in vain for the Skipper's 7:00 PM weather update/progress report via SATPhone. I deduced that they were either too preocuppied to make the call or had problems with the phone. As it turns out, it was both.
Yesterday's departure from Norfolk was uneventful under cloudy skies and brisk South winds. A thunderstorm struck sometime in the afternoon that brought heavy gusts, a heeling boat, and confused seas. It also brought all hands to the rail at least once for the time-honored, first-day ritualistic fish feeding. Sleep was hard to come by as the waves (of water or nausea, I'm not sure) continued into the evening.
By tonight the one thing Don could say about the winds was that they were consistent: 15-25 knots out of the South. They're sailing on a close reach most of the time (not the most comfortable point of sail, but not terrible, either), making an average 5.8 knots over the past 36 hours. At this rate, they'll be in Bermuda at sunset on Friday.
There have been some minor mechanical problems (broken boom vang, broken lens on a navigation light), but nothing they can't handle. The crew has slept intermittently, but nobody is too interested in eating just yet, preferring instead to enjoy the view above above decks.
The only excitement so far in the trip was a surprise visit from a navy picket boat shortly after the aformentioned thunderstorm. They hailed Brain Waves to ask if everything was okay. Since there were no outward sign of distress according to the skipper, I am left to believe the schools of well-fed sea creatures trailing the boat must have tipped off the navy boys.
With each contact, we're keeping a list of supplies to bring to Bermuda when we go there next week. The weather is for continued brisk southerly winds and seas of 6-8 feet with general improvement as they sail further East. I'll keep you posted.
Tom T.
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