Blogging from Eclipse

If you've been visiting my blog to get updates on Eclipse, then you'll probably want to head over to http://perrysmaison.blogspot.com/ where Dave will be keeping up the blogging from the boat tradition now I'm home.

Pictures!

Not many, but I've updated all I took on my camera onto Facebook. See http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38197&l=8477f&id=617551816

Flying with Life Jackets

I had a bit of trouble getting my life jacket checked in on my return flight from Bermuda. It turned out not to be a problem, however the info I had printed off from the CrewSaver website (http://www.crewsaver.co.uk/download.php?id=1215 and http://www.crewsaver.co.uk/download.php?id=1212) was a couple of years out of date, and it took them a while to find the appropriate regulations in their books.

In case you encounter a similar issue, refer the airline to section 2.3.4.2 of the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations 2008 (49th Ed). Basically, it says you can carry up to 4 cartridges (2 in life jackets + 2 spare) per person, either as checked or carry-on baggage

Royalty

Woke up Sunday to a still, calm day. A nice change from the heavy wind that caused us so many problems on Saturday. Motored back to the St George's club to meet Rick and Mike who had flown in from Houston to crew on the next leg. I spent the morning showing them Eclipse's communication systems and packing, then we caught a taxi into Hamilton for a last minute tourist dash.

Being Sunday most of the shops were closed, but we had a decent lunch in a restaurant over looking the harbour, then wandered round the main drag and parks. One thing to note if you're thinking of visiting Bermuda... the Americans in our party found everything very expensive, however due to the strength of the pound against the US dollar (which the Bermuda Dollar is pegged to) prices seemed roughly equivalent to UK prices, so not too bad.

After a wander round we used Greg's RORC membership to get access to the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, a nicely posh yacht club with pictures of the queen and some rather large, expensive looking boats tied up in the marina. Ironically, for a country where the temperature in winter rarely drops below 15 Celsius, they had details on one of the club notice boards about the winter Frostbite series!

After finishing our drinks we jumped into a taxi and went back to the yacht, where I said my goodbyes, loaded up my bags and headed for the airport. Flight left at 8pm local time (midnight UK time) and was fairly smooth. Plane can't have been more than 20% full, so I had a row of seats to myself! I even managed to get some sleep, although not nearly enough. Clare picked me up from the airport, and am now revelling in the luxury of home, (floors that don't move, comfy mattress with head room above, normal English food!).

Strange to be back, but a relief I think after being away for so long.

Piracy

Bit of a rude awakening on Saturday morning... awoke at 5am to find that the anchor had dragged in the night with the rising wind and Eclipse was perilously close to crunching against the dock. Made an emergency exit from the slip with the help of a neighbouring yacht crew, and some fancy driving by Greg and set off for a safer anchor.

Fuelled up at 0830 from a truck on the town quay, then after another fraught manoeuvre in the winds gusting 40 knots on the nose, (again, all credit to Greg for getting us off without gel coat damage) we motored out to a mooring on the other side of the bay away from the lee shore. Spent the morning sun bathing and working on the boat, then in the afternoon, after deciding that the wind didn't look like abating, pulled the heavy anchor, chain and dinghy out of deep storage. Got the heavy anchor deployed, which held us fast, then pumped up the dinghy and Anna and I motored off to find a bar!

A mile or so along the shore we moored up to a jetty, locked the engine and found a small bar, where we chatted to the locals over drinks for a couple of hours. Everyone was friendly, happy to chat about island life, however when we returned to the dinghy at about 2230 we discovered we had been prey to some of the less savoury elements of the population, as someone had nicked the fuel tank (full of petrol), leaving me to have to row the mile back to the yacht against the wind in the dark! We were not amused.

Bermuda Short

Cleared customs Friday morning and headed for our host yacht club - the St. George's Dinghy and Sports Club. Tidied up the boat, then wandered into the local town (St George's) and had a look round. The place looks like hot, dry version of a town in the Lake District, albeit with some slightly more Mediterranean architecture. The stamp of the British governance is very much in evidence... driving on the left, police dressing the same as in the UK, etc, although with the American twist of a dollar based currency and US power sockets and fittings. Nice place to visit, but I can't see why anyone wants to live here... an island the size of the Isle of Wight, 5 hours flight away from the nearest civilization!

 

Spent the evening at the yacht club, chatting to the crews from the other boats taking part in the ARC. Decided to move my flight from Saturday to Sunday evening to spend a bit more time here looking around... I'd be surprised if I ever come back, so seems like a missed opportunity if I don't.

Bermuda at last!

As of 0025 local time this morning we are anchored in the harbor at St. George's Town, Bermuda. We've got our yellow quarantine flag up and are waiting the local customs office to open at 8am so that we can clear immigration. Quite frustrating... we're a couple of hundred meters off the quayside, and a band at a bar kept us up to 3am last night, but we can't go ashore for a shower or a drink until HM Gov have their toast!

 

Last few days sailing have been tough on us. 20-30 knot winds and 5-10 foot swells have meant some lumpy and wet conditions, but by the sound of it we got off lightly compared with some of the ARC fleet. Seems strange to think I'll be on my way home tomorrow... this yacht's been like home to us for 3 weeks, but I can't say I don't miss my real home. Looking forward to sleeping in a real bed that isn't at a 30 degree angle, being able to venture more than 42.7 feet in any direction, and not having to wake at 2am in the cold and dark because I'm on watch for the next 4 hours (and then getting pelted with cold sea water for those next 4 hours)!

Weather

Not much let up on the weather... still pretty awful - hence lack of postings. But, we should be in Bermuda in the next day or two if all goes well.

Catch of the day

Another quiet day yesterday, the highlight of which was Greg catching an 11 pound yellowfin tuna with his line off the back. He filletted it and cooked it up for lunch... great bit of fresh fish! Wind has got up over night, so looks like we're in for a heavy 24 hours.

Slow progress

We haven't been making too much progress on the last 24 hours. Wind dropped down to less that 10 knots in  the morning, and hasn't picked up much since. Sea is also fairly calm. Motored for a couple of hours to keep our progress up. On the plus side, it's calm enough for me to go down below for reasonable periods of time and not feel sea sick. We even had a crew meal round the table in the saloon, something unthinkable on the 1st leg!

Gulf Stream

After a fine night sailing North up the Gulf Stream West of the Bahamas we've now changed course due East heading for Bermuda. Clear, starry night, and now a beautiful sunrise!

Goodbye America!

Left Fort Lauderdale at 1900 today (Friday) with a fixed propeller! Wind and weather looks good at the moment, and we expect to arrive in Bermuda by Thursday. Confused US Customs and Immigration by leaving America on a Yacht (trip to the Airport to hand in our Visa Waiver forms), but we're now on our way and feeling good for it!

More adventures

Sailed into Fort Lauderdale at 1500 yesterday (Thursday) as planned after a pleasant sail up here. Winds were great, sea not too choppy, and we caught the Gulf Stream so the pace was good, (the Speed Over Ground read 10.4 knots at one point!). The autopilot is also now working great, steering for most of the trip.

 

Unfortunately as we reached the main turning circle at the Fort Lauderdale harbor, (the place where all the cruise ships come in, turn round and moor up) we discovered we had no engine power... engine was working, but it was not pushing us through the water. Tried to get to the nearest quay to tie up under sail, to be told by the US Coast Guard (waving guns!) that we'd entered a federally restricted zone and had to move! So under sail power we had to negotiate two departing cruise liners, and get across the turning circle against the wind, then South down the ICW canal, all the time being shouted at by various Pilots, Coast Guards and Sheriffs boats telling us to get out the way. None of the authorities offered to help tow us, which really puts into perspective how much more friendly the UK waters are!

 

After making it a few hundred meters up the ICW against tide and wind we tied off at another deserted looking industrial quay, (where I very nearly fell in after a knot slipped on one of the mooring lines!). We called Sea Tow (US water based version of the AA) who said they were busy and might be able to get someone out in a couple of hours. Another boat was moored off at the quay next door, which turned out to be a divers boat. Anna walked over and managed to sweet talk one of the divers on board to come and check the propeller. While this was happening another Sheriff pulled up in a car and told us we were in another Federally Restricted Area, having tied up at an unmarked US Navy fuel depot! Luckily this Sheriff was a boat owner and didn't force us to leave straight away.

 

The Diver had a look at the bottom of the boat, and told us the Propeller was completely missing... must have fallen off when we left Key West! This was quite a surprise, as this almost never happens, and wasn't something that had been worked on while in Key West. We didn't have the spare parts on board, so Sea Tow were called again, and eventually came out to tow us to the Hyatt Hotel Marina, finally getting there at about 2000.

 

Another exciting day aboard Eclipse! We're now going to spend the day in Fort Lauderdale, getting the propeller fixed, and doing some other bits of maintenance. Hopefully leaving Saturday morning for Bermuda.

Next Leg

Left Key West at 1400 after stocking up on provisions and waving off the shore support (Gary and Casey - The maintenance guys from Houston) and the last of the crew not coming with us on this leg (Rick). Sky is blue, and the wind is good, so we should be in Fort Lauderdale tomorrow afternoon.

Successful Sea Trials

We've spent a long, hot day working on the boat, but it's finally
looking like a yacht! Everything that needed fixing has been fixed,
plus a couple of other issues discovered when the wiring was checked,
and it's all looking good. Gary and Casey have done an absoultely
fantastic job... total dedication driving here from houston, then
spending the last 3 days working non stop. If you need work done on a
boat in the Houston araa, they come thoroughly recommended!

Hopefully we'll leave Key West around midday tomorrow, stop on
Thursday at Fort Lauderdale for the night to pick up Alastair, then
next stop Bermuda!

Kemah Portal

If you haven't done so already, check out the Kemah Portal link to the right. Kemah, Texas was the Yacht's home before we left, and Mel Davis at KemahPortal.com has been doing a great job posting information on the site with updates from the yacht phoned in by sat phone when the weather's been too rough to email. There's also the GPS tracks from the yacht's transmitter, so you can see where we are on a daily basis.
Thanks Mel!

Dry Land

We're now on dry land for some much needed r&r. pulled into Safe
Harbour in Key West early this afternoon, and discovered the marina
has the only bar I've found so far in the US to have Strongbow Cider
on their 'imported beers' list. 2 refreshing pints later and we're
checked into a local motel. now showered, shaved and getting a taxi
into Key West central to get some food and drinks.

land ahoy!

Land sighted at 9.30am this morning... the first sight of land for
over 7 days. currently motoring past Key West round to the marina
where the shore crew (Casey and Gary driven over from Houston) are
waiting to strip down and fix the malfunctioning electronics and seal
the leaks.
Hoping my sea legs won't reverse on me and make me shore sick before I
hit the showers!

Cool night sailing, and slow progress

Despite the lack of main sail due to the broken traveler, we had a great
night sail last night. Stars were out and the wind was good.
Bio-luminescence was bright in our wake, and every so often a flying fish
would bounce off the sail!

This morning we got the main sail rigged up to the racing traveler. This
means the biminy cover has to come down from the cockpit, so we're getting a
lot more sun, but we have a full set of sails to play with. That didn't last
too long though, as the wind died this afternoon, so we're motoring towards
Florida. Means that the boat is level down below for a change, so it's not
as much of a challenge going to the head!

Seeing a lot more wildlife as we get closer to land. Schools of flying fish
shooting over the water like small blue birds, seagulls, and even a pigeon
followed us for about an hour at one point! Looks like we'll pull into Key
West on Monday morning now, sooner the better!

Change of plan

We're making slow progress, having broken the main sheet traveler, along
with a number of other bits of equipment, and the weather's not been kind,
so we are going to need to stop before St Aug to make repairs. The current
plan is to stop at Key West for at least one night, (hopefully Sunday) see
what there is, then either stay there, or head up to Fort Lauderdale. The
probability is that we stay at Key West though, and head straight to
Bermuda from there.

Looking forward to getting on some dry land and having a shower, (one that
is not a surprise, and does not taste of sea water!)