As we crossed the Atlantic all of the crew members posted
log entries on the ARC website and sent numerous emails to family and friends
supporting us from shore. All of these have
been repeated below for those of you who have real lives and did not follow our
every move as we made the crossing but may be curious about it. It was a trip of a lifetime for three of the
four crew members. We had a great time
and enjoyed the challenges and camaraderie a long sea voyage brings. As for the fourth . . . “I have stories to tell”
16 Nov – Replacing
the Running light
Spent the day trying to replace the forward LED running
light which failed on the trip from Gibraltar.
Managed to break the messenger wire while running the new power line and
spent the rest of the afternoon drilling pilot holes and fishinging a new
messenger line. As the sun set I was
right back where I started this morning.
Not a very good day but tomorrow will be better.
The Captain Morgan really tastes good.
Craig
18 Nov – Final Shipmate Arrives
Finished installing the new running light, so the last
critical boat job is done. Our meat
order arrived in the afternoon and looks great.
Today our produce, cheese and drinks will be delivered.
Looking forward to a low key day taking care of any last
minute items.
Craig
19 – Nov – Checking Out and Skipper’s Briefing
Skipper and crew reported first to ARC headquarters to check
out officially, and then to the Port
Immigration and Customs to have passports stamped and process out. The local authority in all cases has been
very friendly and courteous, and helpful as best they can considering some
language difficulties. We then walked to town center to complete
provisioning for the passage. Afterward,
the Skipper and First Mate, Ron Horton attended the final Skipper's Briefing
for final instructions and weather information.
The rest of the day was spent with final procedures, such as placing our
passports and wallets in waterproof ziploc bags, and then into the "ditch"
bag [which will be grabbed and tossed into the liferaft as we abandon ship in
the event of uncontrollable fire or sinking].
Skipper and crew are ready, physically and psychologically, for the
departure tomorrow. The evening ended with a final Sunset Rendezvous at the
marina dinghy park. Final goodbyes and
well wishes were made with the many new [and some old] friends made during the run-up, with plans
forl reunification in St. Lucia. Let
the wind blow, but not too much.
Ed
20 Nov – Day 1 –
Today was the Day
Today was the day! We
started our Atlantic adventure at 10:30am when we left the dock in Las Palmas.
There was some crazy German music blaring from the loud speakers and the docks
and jetties were packed with waving and cheering spectators. All the boats were all dressed out in their
flags and banners and it made for a spectacular sight. Next came the start. Imagine 250 boats all jockeying for the best
position to cross the line 1st. There were some exciting moments/near
misses. We crossed the starting line at
1pm as our captain timed the start perfectly.
We are now off the southern end of Grand Canary enjoying black bean
stew, 25 - 29 knot winds, flying along at 9 plus knots! We could not have asked for a better start to
the crossing. As the sun sets in the
west we are settling into our watch schedule .We are looking forward to
greeting the sun raise well on our way to St. Lucia. Stay tuned, more to come.
Drew
21 Nov – Day 2 –
Where did the wind go?
Went off watch last night when we were doing 8 to 9 knots
with 20 to 23 knots of wind. This
morning the wind had dropped to 8 knots and we were doing 3 knots. Spent about an hour getting the poles rigged
for the double head sail downwind configuration and hope we don't need to take
them down until we get to St. Lucia.
After getting the double head sails rigged and flying the
wind continued to drop and our ETA got as late as February 19th. Now the wind has come back up to 15 knots and
we are going about 7 knots with an ETA of December 9th. Expect to arrive earlier than that because of
all the extra fuel we brought abort for the crossing.
Craig
22 Nov – Day 3 –
Fishing
After losing two
lures and all the line off two rods this
morning from a couple of large strikes we pulled out more line and the hand
line with 100 pound test on it and went back to give it another go. Then, while we re rigged another fish took
our teaser. This is an octagonally
shaped tube with mirrored sides that moves like a fish in distress. I suspect the fish that took it is now in
distress. Alas, not to be too
discouraged the hand line and a new lure on one of the rods went into the water
and we slowly forgot about them. 
Craig
23 Nov – Day 4 – Good
Downwind Sailing
This is for Jan the skippers wife watching and coaching from
Texas. The day started off overcast and
cloudy but with steady winds of 18 to 22 knots. This is giving us good boat
speed. Our SOG's are between 9 and 10 knots this morning. The skies have
cleared and we are still doing well. We have a double head sail rig set up with
poles port and starboard. Since we are an Amel 54 we have to call this
rig an Amel head-sail with a ballooner. It is really a great set up for our
downwind sail.
This is my 17th rally, my 2nd trans-atlantic, and has been
absolutely great. I am glad I came in early to participate in all of the
activities. I missed not doing the Caribbean 1500 this year and seeing all my
old cruising friends but this trip has be great. I have met old friends and
made new friends. Sailing is the common bound of all that ply the waters, no
matter where you are from in this vast world we live in.
Ron
26 Nov – Day 7 Sail
Repairs and Sail Changes
After spending the day after Thanksgiving lamenting the
Aggies last second loss to Texas in what may be the last game in a 100 plus
year American football rivalry we gorged ourselves on left over turkey
sandwiches. After a short break to consider why we ate so much food Ron and
Drew started the task of repairing the Ballooner sail we use with our double
pole downwind system. We managed to tear
an eight meter strip on the luff of the sail when we were raising the device
used to unhook the sail from the jib
furler (the pooch) when we lower the sail.
Now I know what NOT to do the next time we drop the sail.
The good news with this story is the wind direction change
that occurred. The wind direction
changed from the East to the ESE and that
required a different sail combination.
As a result we ran our Mizzen Ballooner (spinnaker) and it really helped
us on the 24th and 25th. Last night the wind diminished to single
digits and the direction was from the south east. This resulted on our dropping the Mizzen
Ballooner and going with the Jib, Main and Mizzen sails. This was our third sail change and we began
to compare ourselves to Luke (aboard Texas T) who participated in 467 sail
changes during one of the Volvo races.
Only 463 to go and we will be in the same category.
Fair winds to all,
Craig
PS Right now we are using the Iron Spinnaker. It is pushing us along at 8.5 knots in 4
knots of wind. If you are reading this
log you will be able to see where we are heading. Hope it shows there is
actually some wind where we are. If our
guess is right we should be in 15 to 20 knots of wind tomorrow.
Craig
26 Nov - Day 7 –
Fishing and Sail Repairs
During the last twenty four hours we had two significant
activities, fishing and sail repairs.
Each one had a certain amount of success.
On the fishing front we caught a Mahi Mahi that was a little
over a meter in length and weighed a lot.
Got it on to the swim platform on the transom and the darned fish
managed to spit out the hook and flopped back into the water. It looked like
Drew and the fish were in a wrestling match and, for a moment, I thought Drew
might go into the water with the fish.
Drew and Ron looked like a couple of lost puppy dogs when realization
set in that we lost a magnificent fish and would have to settle for grilled
steaks instead of fish for dinner.
The process of repairing our Ballooner sail is almost
complete. Drew and Ron have spent more
than 15 hours hand sewing the luff strip back on. Ed even put in a couple of hours with the
needle. It looks to me like the
combination of hand sewing and sail repair tape will hold and we hope to fly it
again tomorrow (26 Nov). We will probably
furl it and the jib one revolution to put less strain on the repaired Ballooner
if the wind starts to increase.
Just another day in paradise. Beautiful clear skies, gently
rolling seas and great shipmates. What
more could you ask for? Well have no fear because here comes Captain Ron; woops
I meant Captain Craig. I, a lowly deck
hand, had no idea what wonderful opportunities awaited on this most anticipated
of voyages. Let’s see, bed making 101.
I’m doing pretty well with that one. Or how about the fine art of sail
mending. Sail mending is what happens
when the pooch decides to get intimate with the head sail. Any more about the
pooch and the censors would have a problem.
The sail mending however was successful and we are proudly flying our double
headsail. Then there’s cooking. I have a long way to go on that one but I’m
trying. Finally no relaxing Atlantic
crossing would be complete without the time honored traditions of swabbing of
the decks and cleaning of the heads. All kidding aside even though Captain Bligh; woops there I go
again, I meant Captain Craig; is a tough task master, he is very fair, a great
teacher and runs a very tight ship. As
we approach our half way point this is really just another day in paradise.
Drew
29 Nov – Day 10 – Mid
Passage Evaluation of the Crew
Since the beginning of marine exploration every Captain has
learned how important it is to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of his
crew so he can best utilize them for the good of the ship. Even today, with all the modern conveniences
on board a cruising sailboat, it’s important to continue this practice. Therefore, with this in mind I present my mid
passage evaluation of the crew of Lone Star.
Drew Verret, has sailed with me many times before so I knew
what I was getting. What I didn’t know,
however, was that he has been bragging to his wife about his new skills. Unfortunately for Drew, the Captain knows all
and I learned this when I caught him chuckling about an email he received from
Sherry. After threatening him with a
swim he shared part of an email she sent which stated “Very confusing!
Stitching and sewing and cooking! This
is too much to comprehend! Craig can
work miracles it seems!” Upon further
inquiry I learned he does not do a lot of these types of tasks at home, unlike
your humble Captain. (Alas, I hope my lovely Admiral, Jan, does not read this.)
I am conflicted to offer to all that he has also cleaned heads for fear I will
ruin thirty eight years of domestic tranquility and Drew will find himself much
busier back at home.
Ron Horton, what can one say in a public forum about this
dude? We only sailed once together, the
Caribbean 1500 in 2006 when he served as crew.
I was impressed then and we have kept in contact ever since. Captain RON!
He is the mate on this voyage and has logged more offshore miles than
the rest of us combined. In spite of the
fact that he is a Yankee or are you a Midwesterner if you’re from Ohio? He has stepped aboard this southern boat and
helped to bring order to the chaos. Now
if he could only teach as all to cook as well as he does. We all look forward to every fourth night
when Ron amazes us with his culinary skills.
Then it’s back to canned tuna fish sandwiches for the other nights. Maybe not that bad, but definitely not up to
his caliber of cooking. And yes he also
cleans the heads. I think Gayle already
knows that so his forty years of marriage are safe.
Ed “Tex” Robeau is the final member of the crew and a French
name with Tex as a nickname says it all.
Ed likes to give me advice and I embrace the ideas I like and ignore the
rest. Ed has logged years of sailing the
waters of Maine and more recently Washington State. This is Ed’s first passage and he is learning
what long distance cruising is all about.
I’m not too sure how much he likes it but I am glad that he is learning
a little more about what it takes to be a good crew mate and hopefully the
learning curve continues to accelerate.
As Jimmy Buffet says, “Only time will tell”!
Fair winds,
Craig
30 Nov – Day 11 – A
Note of Encouragement
Those of you who read our sailing blog might find the note
of encouragement received from “Stick” interesting. He sent it after I complained about not
getting enough support from him. Stick
and his lovely wife Ms. P spent a week with us in Croatia in June
"Blabby,
That hurts. I am
giving all kinda shore support. I go to
the Longhorn Tavern down the block from the office, and give a daily report to
the landlubbers. We are all cheering for
you. Of course, I am constantly telling
them the reasons you are not in first place.
Not sure they are buying my reasons.
All I know is we are all pulling for you and they await my daily report
and explanation of why you are not in first.
Mostly I have been explaining it is a strategic decision,
lay back, and rush to the finish, knowing your boat and crew and the other
boats and crews. I also tell them they
are not pulling hard enough and questioning my authority on the race is not
conducive to victory. Anyway, tell your
crew the Brenham Armchair Sailors are with them in spirit and grog.
To make it a little more dramatic, I have advised them you
have crossed the point of no return (half-way mark). They like the sound of my term. Now, they
know you’re committed to a victory. That
half-way stuff makes for arguments of the ocean being half empty or half full.
This morning they still have you listed in 6th and I look at
the map you look like 5th, an improvement over yesterday. The Longhorn crew will be happy to hear that.
You need to kick a little ass here, you are gaining on the leaders in Class A;
don't look over your shoulder, there are several sniffing your stern. Just go for the leader.”
30 Nov – Day 11 –
Night Watches
Night watches have become one of our favorite times during
the passage. When fellow crew members
are snoozing, the lone helmsman has special time to observe and “connect” with
the cosmos; to contemplate what we are
doing, what is important, and what meaning there is to our lives. The following poem by Eugene O’Neill reflects
this for me; and perhaps for all of us on this passage:
“Long Day’s Journey Into Night
I lay on the bowsprit, facing astern, with the water foaming
into spume under me, the mast with every sail white in the moonlight, towering
above me.
I became drunk with the beauty and singing rhythm of it, and
for a moment I lost myself –actually seemed to lose my life.
I was set free!
I dissolved into the sea, became white sails and flying
spray, became beauty and rhythm, became moonlight and the ship and the high
dim-starred sky!
I belonged, without past or future, within peace and unity
and wild joy, within something greater than my own life, or the life of Man, to
Life itself!
To God, if you want to put it that way.”
In addition, the billions of phosphorescent phyto-plankton
react to the disturbance of the hull passing through their micro-environment,
with flashes of luminescence. Clouds
dance among the stars and occasionally generate erratic wind gusts that can
throw the auto-helm into spasms.
Meteors, the couriers of the building blocks for life on this planet for
15 billion years, flash across the sky in random directions as they combust
from friction in the atmosphere. As this 23-ton vessel dances over the
waves, I move and imagine dancing in the
arms of Beverly, who will meet me at the end of this voyage. One night, I
witnessed a huge ball of greenish fire, a hundred times larger than a meteor,
light up the sky and clouds brighter than any flare. [I assume it was space debris, perhaps an old
satellite, falling into the atmosphere.] The night watches are one of the rare times,
on such a passage, that one can call “my own.”
Ed
1 Dec – Day 12 –
Double Head Sail
The skipper said I had to write something. So I shall. Lone
Sar, an Amel 54 is flying a double head sail.
The genoa is on one side and the other sail, called a ballooner, is on
the other slot track. The ballooner sail is cut to almost match the genoa in
size to give us a good balance of pulling power on both sides of the forestay.
Both sails are set to poles mounted at the base of the mast. This for me is an
unusual set up. The poles employ fore and aft guys, double down hauls and the
traditional topping lifts. The poles can be set and left in place while the two
head sails can be reefed together on the head stay. Looks like a shrimp boat
when the sails are furled. I have come to appreciate this sail plan for it has
given us a great downwind ride with minimum role. The skipper said this is
called the Amel Ballooner sail plan. It does require the two poles though. Most
American cruising boats usually carry only one spinnaker pole in the usual set
up plan. This is my first adventure on an Amel and it has been a great ride
with a great skipper and crew.
Capt Ron
2 Dec – Day 13 – A
200 Mile Day for Lone Star
We just finished our noon log entry and calculated the
distance traveled in the last 24 hours.
The calculation, using the trip log on our instruments, was 1,007 minus
808 which was 199 miles traveled. This
was not what we were hoping for so I thought about using outcome based math
which is quite popular these days. This
means that no answer is really wrong. So
the "new math" answer could be a 200 mile day. I kind of like that.
I also reflected on the time a CEO was interviewing
candidates to be his new head accountant. In order to select the best candidate he
provided each with a math problem to solve.
Although entirely coincidental the problem he gave them was what is
1,007 minus 808. The first candidate
pulls out his calculator, enters the numbers and responds promptly and
professionally "the answer is 199".
The second candidate looks the CEO in the eye, says he calculated the
answer in his head and it was 199. The
final candidate asked the CEO why he was asking such a simple question. The CEO said in order to fairly evaluate all
the candidates. After hearing this he
promptly replied, "I'm an accountant and I can make the answer anything
you want it to be and I think you want it to be 200". You will never guess who was hired.
Therefore, I want it to be a 200 mile day so we just had a
200 mile day!
Craig
3 Dec – Day 14 – A
Night Watch Moment
As you know from previous posts the Captain of Lone Star is
all knowing and all seeing. Because of
this omnipotent power I have identified a member of the crew that is starting
to show a little too much of his feminine side.
In order to prepare our shore support team for this change in feelings,
I present you with the note he sent his wife.
"Hi Babe. You
know how Craig talks about 98% boredom and 2% terror, well I had a 2% moment
last night. I was on watch from midnight
till 2am and a line of squalls came up behind us. Before I knew it I was doing the dodge the
squalls dance. You can see the squalls
coming on the radar. They look very
ominous. For about 45 minutes I was
steering in 25 - 30 knots winds with heavier gusts. The strongest gust was over 35 knots. We were really flying! Almost 12kts.
There was rain and waves and loud screaming wind. But white knuckled I managed to keep the boat
pointed in the right direction and avoid blowing out our repaired head sail
(ballooner). You will know we survived
by the receipt of this email. I did have
our captain down below giving me moral support.
At one point because of the rain blowing into the boat he closed the door. Very lonely feeling. Anyway I wanted to give you a sense of life
in the mid Atlantic. I am having a great
time and look forward to seeing you on the 8th.
Love you!
Drew"
4 Dec – Day 15 – Rock
and Roll on the Night Watch
Once again I am on the 0200-0400 night watch alone in the
cockpit with my iPod playing the golden oldies of rock and roll. The squalls
are behind us now for the night and the clear and starry sky is shining
brightly. I stand beside the mizzen mast
and look up at all the stars swaying to the rhythm of the music and the boat.
It seems to me that the boat is listening to the music also and that the rock
and roll of Lone Star is in concert with the music as the top of the mizzen
mast moves to conduct the stars to the music on my iPod. Oh, what a night, all is well on Lone Star, my
watch and on my little spot of the world.
Capt Ron
5 Dec – Day 16 –
Revealing the Secret Weapon
Many of you are familiar with the infamous "Stick"
who visited Lone Star in Croatia and has been leading the central Texas support
team. In a private email to him I
revealed the secret weapon I intended to employ at the right time in order to
zip past the competitors of our racing class at the last minute. I have now employed the secret weapon and we
are cruising along comfortably at 8.5 to 9 knots and are on target for an
arrival in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia around 0800 on the 6th of December.
Lone Star will be in full fishing mode tomorrow. We hope to land a medium size tuna so we can
finish off the crossing with another fantastic fresh fish dinner. Everybody on board is doing well and looking
forward to completing a successful crossing.
Craig
PS It wouldn't be a
secret anymore if I told you what the secret weapon was. I will give one hint. The wind is blowing 4 knots right now.
7 Dec – Final Log
Entry
Sorry about the delay in providing a final log update on our
Atlantic passage. Our passage time was
15 days, 18 hours, 42 minutes and 30 seconds.
We had excellent weather for the crossing with most of the wind being of
the traditional trade winds blowing from the east at speeds from 15 to 25
knots. When we encountered a squall the
winds increased some, but the highest wind we encountered was only 35 knots. The double head sail system did an excellent
job of spilling wind off the top during the gusts and all the crew except for
one enjoyed the thrill of the higher winds and Lone Star surfing down the waves
at speeds as high as 11.5 knots.
The passage was not without incident. We encountered a number of issues with the boat, but were able to overcome each one. From what I have been able to pick up along the dock, we had fewer problems than many of the boats. We are also very fortunate that Amel’s Caribbean maintenance facility is only 25 miles away on Martinique so I spent some time compiling an A to Z laundry list of items I want to discuss with them. It has been over two years since Lone Star has been seen by an Amel technician and I am looking forward to having the experts help me sort out some of the issues.
Lone Star also had its own human drama while underway. One of our crew mates seemed to think he
could ignore safety procedures and I had to explain, on more than one occasion,
that rules related to Personal Flotation Devices are not to be ignored. I also listened to numerous excuses for his
behavior and marveled that not once during the 16 days we were at sea did he
initiate any breakfast or lunch time meal.
He did begrudging cook every fourth day because I insisted that all of the
crew (including myself) participate as cooks for the evening meal. Finally, an interesting item was found
during the boat clean up activities after the disgruntled crew mate left Lone
Star for a hotel on land. We found an
empty bottle of Grand Canarias Licor de Moras in the cubby by his bunk. I don't know what the story is with it and
will probably never find out. I find it disturbing, however, that one of
the crew may have been drinking in his bunk and then going out to stand a night
watch. This was the first time as
skipper I have had to deal with a less than cooperative ship mate and at times
found it challenging. However with the
help of my other two crew members who were nothing short of fantastic, we were
able to overcome the problems of the 4th and formed a tight cohesive unit of
three.Yesterday (December 6th) was a day of celebration. Not many people can say they crossed the Atlantic in a sailboat and we are proud to now be a part of this group. We are off to Martinique tomorrow to take Lone Star in the Amel maintenance facility in Le Marin and then everybody heads home for the holidays.
Fair winds,
Craig
