Re: Passage to Bermuda

Well wow! Bermuda triangle BAD! Jimmy Kim GOOD! Deb SMART! Snowing in NY. Glad you are out safe!!! Love you / love JIm and I'm becoming very fond of Kim :) T
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 28, 2011, at 4:17 PM, Deb Gregory <deb@jdgregory.com> wrote:
> Hi All.
>
> Jim, Kim and I are safely in Bermuda. It was an interesting/scary passage.
>
> As soon as you get casual about the ocean, she reaches up to remind you just how inconsequential we are in the scheme of things.
>
> Our friend Kim Comfort from Newport, RI joined us for the passage from Newport to Bermuda. She's the daughter of the Amazing Potato friends, and a good sailor. We left Newport with a good weather window. We use a service call Commanders Weather that helps us plan when to go. Only 4 days and nothing bad between us and Bermuda.
>
> The 1st day was cool, calm and easy. Day 2 the weather was suppossed to get up to 20 knots as we crossed the gulf stream, but not too bad. It definitely got warmer and nicer. By the time we got 1/2 way to Bermuda, it was 30k with gusts to 35. But we were going down wind, so it really wasn't that bad. We had taken down the main sail, and only had this tiny part of it up we couldnt reach to pull down. Waves were huge, about 30 feet, but we were surfing down the front of them. Jim hit 18 knots surfing down the waves. Yucky, but ok. Then we got hit with a gust of 46 knots out of no where. The Auto pilot was steering. Auto handeleld it well, but as Jim was running on deck to make sure all was well, we heard a huge "sproing" noise. Jim didn't tell Kim and I until we reached Bermuda, but the Auto pilot had ripped free of the boat with the force of trying to steer the boat through that gust. Jim reached the tiller before we rounded up or down and started steering or we would have been in big trouble.
>
> That left us in the middle of that big storm with no Auto pilot. Auto counts as at least 2 crew, so with him out, we had to hand steer for 2 days.
>
> So we started steering by hand in 30 knots of wind and 30 foot waves. We had to line the waves up right, or they would butt slap the boat, making it spin out. Sucked. This was during the day. At night you couldn't see the waves, because of course, it's a new moon. We would hear them coming, but you just had to stear by the compass and trust you didnt get butt slapped by a rouge wave.
>
> Kim and Jim steared all night. 1 hour on, 1 off. Somehow I got taken off the rotation. I definitely was scared doing it, and somehow those guys got the impression I didn't want to stear. I didn't correct their assumption.
>
> We got through the night without crashing the boat. The next day was more of the same, but every hour was better. Smaller waves, lower wind. By Thursday am the waves were small, wind was light and it was warm and sunny to finish the passage.
>
> So, long story short, we are good. We need to tell Commanders that they suck, and we need the auto pilot repaired. No worries.
>
> Love to you All,
>
> Deb
>
> On Oct 28, 2011, at 12:04 PM, Deb Gregory <deb@jdgregory.com> wrote:
>
>> In Bermuda. Trip SUCKED.
>>
>> All good now. Phone and texts out of commission for next 6 mos but email works great!
>>
>> Love you all. I am fine, but you were closer to -1 sister than ever before.
>>
>> Deb
>>