Robert arrived in Antigua, where he ran into some of our friends from Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa that were also down there to race.  Darlene flew down with Neil Harvey, the Harken representative whom we met and raced with at the Heineken Cup.  Harv had agreed to race in Antigua with us and provide some much needed (and appreciated) local knowledge; he’s raced here many years.  Our long-time friends George Smith, Loren Potts and Jamey Rabbitt came down to race, as did Bob Glaser from DIYC.  We had met with Bob while still in Tampa and he had decided he wanted to do the trans-Atlantic crossing with us, so he came down for Antigua Sailing Week for some fun and sun and to get to know the boat before our departure.

ANTIGUA SAILING WEEK

Antigua Sailing Week is five days of serious racing and nights of major partying.  And what a wonderful time we had!  There is a place we called “Chicken Town” on the way to the regatta headquarters; many evenings would find us grabbing a bite to eat there.  The locals set up barbecues and cook chicken, lobster, burgers, and all the fixings.  Our crew consisted of Robert as the captain & at the helm, Loren handling the main, Harv in charge of navigation/logistics, and Jamey, George, Bob and Darlene doing all the pit and sail work.  Darlene had purchased a Wench Buddy, nicknamed Wendy, and Wendy quickly became the guys best girlfriend.  I had to remember to charge her up each evening, as they wore her out each day helping on the grinding!  We raced in the Catamaran Cruising Division, and we were the last start of each day, which meant our start was usually around 11 a.m.  This was sweet for two reasons:  We got to sleep in each morning, and we got to wait for the wind to kick in before our start (which it faithfully did each day).  We had five days of fabulous race conditions, with winds in the 15-20 kt. range consistently.  We won each and every one of our races in our division, and at the end of each day, we also saw where we had corrected out over our entire fleet.  We managed to do this in every race!  Needless to stay, we were all ecstatic and couldn’t have dreamed of a better way to spend our final days before crossing over to the Mediterranean.  On the final day of racing, we all took turns at the helm, with Jamey driving at the start and Darlene on the helm across the finish line.

End of Day 2
Just a quick note to let you know we are having a great time at Antigua Sailing Week.  We finished first in our class yesterday, correcting out almost 30 minutes ahead of the second place boat.  We had another good day today, despite the fact that the head tore out of our head sail, resulting in it falling down into the water.  We recovered it and got up another sail.  We finished awhile ago, but won’t find out until we go to the event village whether we got 1st or 2nd today.  We know we at least finished 2nd.  There’s one other USA entry — an 80′ catamaran from Jupiter, Florida.
The weather’s great.  Rain showers kind of roll through, lasting about a minute is all.  We’ve had good breeze and everyone is enjoying themselves.  We were up at Dickinson Bay last night (near the finish).  Today we’re back at Falmouth Harbour.  Wednesday will be a ‘lay day’, which means we get to play as opposed to race.  We may take the boat out and go fishing.  We have friends on two other sailboats here and may take them with us.
Day 4
We’re about to head out for day 4 of sailing.  We ended up getting 1st place every day for the first three days.  We did so well on Tuesday that we corrected out over the entire B fleet.  They don’t let the multihulls “count” for overall, though (this is the first year they have allowed multihulls in the regatta), but at least we know that we basically ’spanked’ and beat over 100 boats.  There is a French couple racing against us in a 48′ multihull.  We saw them at a party last night and they congratulated us on our racing and then told us they want to buy our boat!!  Too funny.  I told them it wasn’t for sale; the wife got this rather sour look on her face.  They are coming over after racing today to look at the boat.  We have really been whomping on them, but then we do better in heavy air and that’s what we’ve had so far.  Today looks to be lighter, so we’ll have a harder time.
The editor of Cruising World interviewed Robert and me for an upcoming article.  He doesn’t know if it’ll appear in the magazine or their online edition at some future time.  I didn’t know he’d want photos, so we went over straight from racing and I looked like hell no doubt.  Oh, well . . .   (Editor’s note:  See link at top of webpage to view article or also find it here: http://www.cruisingworld.com/under-way/systems/racing-the-house-cruising-the-world-52777.html)
A Sweet End to Antigua Sailing Week
We had a guy show up at the boat today that wanted to talk to us.  He came aboard and asked us how we managed to sail the boat so well and so fast. He was racing on a monohull, but he owns a multihull and was very impressed by what we did.
We are cleaning up the boat today and will top up the fuel and water tanks.  Tomorrow we’ll provision and on Monday we’ll clear customs and head up to St. Barts.  Bob, the guy going with us overseas, has a friend that is there and wants to stop and see him.  We’ll visit for a day and then head across.
It was a good regatta and we all had a great time.  The awards are tonight and then it’s officially ‘over’.  I’m glad we came down for it and we couldn’t have asked for better weather and wind conditions for us. We won several trophies and drank a lot of champagne at the awards ceremony.

"Tides" at anchor
George relaxing after the race
Captain George

Jamey, Robert, Loren and George
Jamey looks down
Jamey loving life

A beautiful afternoon after racing
The Winning Team!
Shadow roughs it during racing

Shirley Heights, Antigua
Bob & Robert with the mahi

7-8 May

After bidding our buddies farewell, we headed to the grocery store to stock up for our crossing, then headed to St. Barthélemy to visit a friend of Bob Glaser’s.

We caught two mahi yesterday on the way up from Antigua to St. Barts.  We left about 5:30 am from Jolly Harbour and arrived in St. Barts around 4 pm.  About 8:45 am we had two fish on the line.  Robert got his to the boat, but with Bob fighting the other and me steering the boat, Robert lost his when it was on the back steps and he gigged it.  The fish jumped and wrapped the line around the gig, which broke the line.  We managed to get the other fish on the boat, though.  Measured it and it was 5′2″ long!  Got some great fillets out of it.

We are at a friend of Bob’s home right now and in the process of doing laundry.  All of the stores, etc. are closed today for a holiday (something to do with the end of WWII).  We’ll get fuel and do the last of our provisioning tomorrow and then head to the Azores.

9 May

After a day spent doing laundry, having a fabulous French lunch on the beach, and a night with friends, we topped off our fuel tanks and headed northeast towards the Azores.  We kept a loose schedule during the day, taking turns being on watch with no real timeframe for it, then going into 2-hour shifts at night.  Each evening at 2000 UTC we would listen in and try talking to Herb Hilgenberg on SouthBound II.  For the past 20+ years, he has provided a weather forecasting service for sailors heading to Bermuda and/or the Azores.  Most nights he could hear our check-in and we would then wait (usually a couple hours) before he got around to us and discussing our location and upcoming weather.

12 May

Just a quick note to let everyone know that all is well.  Seas are not too bad, winds are steady and fair, we’re making good progress.

Had a brief moment of panic yesterday morning when I went inside, while Robert was in bed and Bob was on watch, and heard water sloshing around the port hull.  I thought Bob had perhaps left his sink plug open and water had splashed in.  But I immediately realized it sounded like too much water.  I went over and down the steps in the hull and saw that water was coming in through the escape hatch.  Egads!  I called for Robert and we got both the sails down, effectively stopping the boat (and thus the waves hitting the escape hatch).  A small part of the gasket had come unseated.  Robert got it back in and it sealed again.  We were all glad it had happened during daylight as opposed to the middle of the night.  While we were stopped, Robert and I took advantage of it and hopped into the ocean for a quick dip.  Water felt great — around 76 degrees, which was only a couple degrees cooler than in the Caribbean.  Got the sails back up and continued on our merry way.

We’ve covered 628 miles since we set off mid-day on Wednesday — still a good pace.  Current position is N 24 28.02, W 055 23.84.  The electric plug on my computer has decided to quit working, so I won’t have power for more than another day or two unless we can fix it.  As such, we may not send emails or report in again.  But don’t worry.  It’s not that we aren’t OK; it’s just my computer acting up!

14 May

It’s very easy to lose track of days when you’re out to sea.  Of course, we have the same problem when we’re up at our place in BC!

Today is overcast with calm seas.  A lazy day good for reading and relaxing.  Of course, what else is there to do?!  Oh, that’s right — Robert is repairing our gennaker, which tore in the early morning hours.  Little old sailmaker he!

We are hoping to reach the halfway point to the Azores sometime tomorrow.  At some point we need to adjust our timepieces, as presently the sunrise starts around 3:45 a.m.!

Shadow enjoys our new bimini/enclosure, which allows him to be on the side decks of the cockpit yet still within the enclosure.  I feel much better about it, as he used to walk outside the cockpit and along the hulls.  I just know he eventually would have fallen overboard when the boat shifted.  Anyway, we are all doing well and eating well.  The guys grilled some of the mahi last night that we’d frozen after catching it last week.  Tonight I’ll make chili with ground veal.

15 May

We are having overcast skies and light wind, so not moving too quickly. We were surrounded by rain yesterday, and finally got a short, heavy downpour in the early afternoon.  This washed the boat down nicely.  We got soaked as well, since we had a sail problem and thus were out in the middle of it.  But it just made my hair softer, so no big deal.  At least there was no lightning associated with it. Winds have clocked around and lightened up.  Current position N 27 45 35, W 050 15 14. Robert got to ‘watch’ through another rainstorm from about 4:30 to 5:30 am today.  Now it’s just overcast.  The good thing about rain is it tends to flatten out the seas somewhat, so we continue to have peaceful conditions and all is well.

Bob went to use our satellite phone yesterday and it didn’t work.  I’m not sure if he pushed a button in error or not, but I now have what looks like a padlock icon on the phone display.

22 May

Not much to report for the past couple days.  We have been motoring due to the lack of wind. We are hoping for some favorable winds to find us, as I don’t think our fuel will get us all of the way. At least the seas are calm so it’s a relaxing journey. But the continuous drone of the engine and smell of the diesel fuel gets annoying. . .

We are seeing more boats as we get closer to the Azores. Most are larger and motoring more quickly.

I am reading about a book a day; I have a large lot ready to ‘trade’ at the next port! Robert has been working his way through Michener’s ‘Caribbean’ and enjoying it.

Bob is definitely leaving us in the Azores. Guess that gives us more time to spend there should we so choose. Our friend Keith has informed us that BMW Oracle is ‘out’ of the Louis Vuitton Cup, so I guess it’ll be New Zealand and Italy vying for the right to go against Alinghi. We know two of the people on the NZ boat and one on Alinghi, so we will hope the match will come down to those two teams. We aren’t going to make it to Valencia in time for any of the Louis Vuitton Cup, so that gives us more time to work our way there. We may sail over to Lisbon and then work our way down the coast as opposed to sailing straight for Gibraltar. It’s a shorter distance to Lisbon for only two people onboard, and then we would have a ’safe harbor’ every night should we so choose. If anyone looks at a map and has any great places for us to visit should we head to Lisbon and then on down, be our ‘eyes’ and give us a sightseeing itinerary!

Everyone, including Shadow, is doing fine. We’re all just anxious (except Shadow, who doesn’t know the difference) to get to an island and not be traveling nonstop for awhile.

Current position N 38 37.279, W 035 06.464

24 May

After 30+ hours of being tossed and bounced around this washing machine called the Atlantic, at dawn today there was land in sight. We have had two long nights and one long day with winds 30+ knots and big, sloppy seas of 10+ feet with waves breaking over the top of the boat. Bob spent all of yesterday seasick. Robert and I both spent the day reading. We all spent the day listening to the boat crashing against the waves. I thought of my ancestors and their trips from Ireland, Scotland, England, Germany and Switzerland across this huge ocean so many, many years ago, and I realize what strong, determined people they were to make this journey on those ancient ships with no conveniences. Today is our 15th day at sea without seeing land, yet they spent twice that time (or more) making the crossing. Here we are eating spinach fettuccine with veal bolognese sauce and garlic bread and taking warm showers. Obviously there is no room for complaining!

It was wonderful spotting a big mound of dirt, and it IS big!  There is a large mountain/volcano with the tip peeking out of the top of the clouds. Made me think of Bali Hai. At first it seemed like a mirage and that it was only a pointy cloud. But a closer look and you could make out the faint bit of land along the horizon. There are clouds near shore, so we haven’t yet gotten a good view of the island, which I believe is Pico. We are currently motorsailing to attempt to get upwind to Horta, Faial, which is west of Pico. Winds are up to 40 knots directly where we want to go. Story of our lives!

We’ve seen many dolphins, and they always seem so happy to see a boat.  They swim over and stay alongside the boat, jumping occasionally out of the waves. The weather has been much better lately for dolphins than sailboats!

Current position is N 38 16.35, W 028 39.21.

29 May

Well, finally I get around to writing and catching you up on our activities.  We got into Horta, Faial, Azores last Thursday, fifteen days after departing St. Bartholomew.  We dropped anchor, got checked into customs & immigration, then headed to Peter’s to ‘keep with tradition’.  Almost everyone we’d met that was headed for the Azores said you had to go to Peter’s when you got to Horta.  As it happened, it was at the top of the stairs above where we docked our dinghy. It’s a cafe/bar where all of the sailors hang out.  We immediately met three guys that had just come across from St. Martin, two Irishmen and a South African. They invited us to share their table. What a lively lot they were! Tom, who owns the boat they came on (a Gunboat 62), owns a restaurant/pub in Galway. I told him my family had been one of the original Tribes of Galway. Well, he was impressed and we hit it off right away. We all decided later to have dinner together, so walked up to something they called ‘hot rocks’ and dined. Tom said I looked like a Celtic princess, and that’s what he called me from that point forward.

Friday we slept in and then spent the remainder of the day doing ‘necessities’ (Bob getting a flight to Tampa on Monday) and then sightseeing. Climbed Monte de Guia to view the town and surrounding area. Saturday we caught the first ferry to the island of Pico, only about a 25 minute ferry ride. We rented a car and headed to the ‘montanha’ (aka mountain) to climb the dormant volcano. About an hour into the hike, I said I’d had enough and headed back down. The guys continued the hike, which took them another 2-1/2 hours to reach the summit. Meanwhile I took the car and toured the island. Once they made it down, we drove around and ate dinner in a quaint town with a whaling musuem, then headed back towards Madalena, exploring until time to catch the 8:45 pm ferry.

Sunday we again rented a car and toured Faial, visiting the caldeira (volcano crater) and the Vulcao dos Capelinhos (erupted 50 years ago). Had a great BBQ chicken lunch at an oceanside place, then drove almost the entire island.

These islands are beautiful and the flowers are amazing. The predominant ones are hydrangeas; you’ve never seen so many in your life. They are almost continuous along the entire roadway — just beautiful. They grow grapes on Pico, and we had three different local wines. They were all nice; the food, though, leaves something to be desired. They serve french fries with everything. Which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, except they don’t know to have the oil very hot and so you are served soggy fries! The standard fare is fish or meat with fries and a salad. The salad consists of a small portion of bibb lettuce with a few small bits of carrot and a couple olives. Usually no dressing, although they’ll bring you vinegar and oil upon request. Never any vegetables or starch — just the fries & bites of lettuce. Oh, yes, and bread. Bread is both good and cheap.

Yesterday (happy anniversary to us!) we took Bob to the airport, went grocery shopping, then left our ‘mark’ along the wall/walkway in the marina (supposed to be good luck if you paint something there), checked out of customs, and sailed over to Sao Jorge. Spent the night at Velas and enjoyed our first night alone in way too many weeks/months. This afternoon we sailed about ten miles east down the coast to Calheta. Will spend the night here and then sail to the island of Terceira tomorrow.

The weather here is very nice, although cooler than the Caribbean. Mornings start out cloudy, sometimes a touch of rain, but by mid-day it’s usually mostly sunny. The wind has lessened since we arrived, but there’s supposed to be a gale coming in the next day or so. We’ll see what happens and plan accordingly. Plan is to only stay in Terceira one day and then sail to Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel. It’s the most populated island, with about 130,000 residents (Faial & Pico each have about 15,000). That will probably be our ‘jump off’ point to head to Spain or Portugal. Depending on the wind, we are considering sailing over to Lisbon, Portugal and then working our way down the coast to Gibraltar. We’ll decide once we get the forecast in a few days.