Adventure Travel Blog

Log entry for Friday May 5th, 2006
A Slice of Life Aboard “Sophisticated Lady” At Sea!
By: Rick Moore & Terri Trickett aboard S/V “Sophisticated Lady”

Current Position at 12pm: 28° 25.6N 64° 27.8W

Cumulative Miles since Tortola: 795. 5

Distance to Bermuda: Approx 240nm

He Said:

You guys are spectacular! I must say we feel privileged to have so many great people on our list sending so many supportive emails. We really appreciate it, especially Terri who’s starting to feel a little “land-sick” the last day or so… your emails really help pick up her spirits… and I like them too!

We’ve been making great progress… the wind finally filled in and so far it’s been 15-20K just forward of the beam… good job everyone! “Sophisticated Lady” has become like a freight train, just plowing through the waves and smoothly gliding us towards Bermuda at a speedy 8 knots on average. The sun has been out every day, we had a little sprinkle of rain Wednesday afternoon, just enough to wash the sails and deck for us, and on we go!

The weather has been great… definitely cooled off a little with the temp now in the mid-70’s… we’re not in the Caribbean anymore! Our trend of great meals at sea has continued and everyone is in very good spirits… even Ashley! ‘Lucky’, the parrot, is still swinging away in her cage and still calls out for her share of whatever we happen to be eating at the time… no seasickness there! Lol

Dinner Time!

Last night the wind really picked up for us… we had 20-25 knots on the beam, straight out of the West! We thought “Sophisticated Lady” was a freight train yesterday… you should’ve seen her last night! Anyone who thinks sailing is boring hasn’t been on the ocean in a 50 footer doing 11 knots! Lol “Sophisticated Lady” definitely likes her wind and it was really helping us pick up our place in the Rally.

The weather dropped off around midnight and we slowed down to about 5 knots… that feels awful slow after the speeds we’ve been getting! It was a nice quiet night, everyone had a shift and Terri & I were on watch for the sunrise. Terri took some fantastic shots of the sunrise this morning… I think she has a sample for you later on! ;o)

Today started off fairly calmly with “Sophisticated Lady” still slicing along at about 5-6 knots and then the wind started to pick up again. It was only about 16-18 knots, but of course it was right on our nose so we were trimmed in real tight to try and stay on course for Bermuda. It wasn’t long after, in fact just before roll call with the Rally, that we heard an unnervingly loud “BANG” and then the telltale sound of sail cloth rustling loosely in the wind… this is a sound that no one likes to hear on a sailboat EVER!

Within seconds we were all hanging out of the cockpit looking up trying to see what had happened. Very clearly we could see that the jib had detached from the masthead and the top of the sail was now flogging madly in the wind. Talk about Deja Vu… this exact same thing had happened on the trip down in November! That time the shackle that fastens the halyard to the head of the sail had let go, but it was completely missing so we never established if it broke or just unscrewed. I remembered immediately from the last time that we had only a few minutes before the entire sail slid down the track and into the ocean, so I quickly asked John to man the furler and wind it in a few turns. This at least bought us some time while we figured out our options. I couldn’t believe we experienced the same failure twice in a row as I had gone out of my way to make sure to replace the shackle with an oversized one and seized it so it couldn’t come undone on it’s own.

John & Dwight went up on deck and prepared everything to drop the sail while I manned the helm to slow us down and head upwind and then the guys pulled it down. We quickly realized that the shackle wasn’t the problem at all… the shackle was still at the masthead with the halyard. We had a new problem… the nylon webbing that takes the load at the head of the sail had completely sheared… not good, I think I would have preferred the shackle problem, at least then we could have replaced it and hoisted the sail with the spare halyard. Now we had no way of attaching the sail, thus no way to hoist the sail, thus no sail… not looking good for keeping up in the Rally at this point!

Dwight pulling the jib down on deck

We all put our heads together and starting coming up with options we could manage with spare parts I had onboard. We decided the best fix would be to drill through the head of the sail and install a couple of carabineer hooks that we could attach the halyard to. It took us a while, but with a little drilling, tapping, filing and a bit of brute force, we got the assembly together and it looked like it may actually work!

Improvising a new attachment point at the head of the sail

With everyone on deck, we had the sail ready to hoist… John was threading it into the track and Dwight was on the halyard pulling it up. My job was back at the helm taking us slowly upwind while not drowning John on the foredeck in the big swells coming at as head-on.

Threading the sail back into the track

Finally re-hoisting the sail!

With the sail back up we all gathered back in the cockpit to trim the lines and get back on course. Everything looked good so we were back underway, and back in the Rally! We had lost a couple hours, but such is life. We were all congratulating each other on a job well done when John asked if we should put a reef in the main since the wind had increased again. I was just looking up at the sails to see how everything was handling our course when there was another loud “BANG” and then more sail luffing again…

All done finally… or were we!

We couldn’t believe it, all our jaws hit the floor… the clew at the back of the mainsail had just let go and now that sail was just flogging in the wind. I looked at John and said, “yeah, now might be a good time for that reef!” Lol Upon closer examination, it turned out to be the exact same problem… a piece of 1″ nylon webbing that is clearly not strong enough to handle the forces exerted on an offshore sail by a 50 foot boat! It’s amazing how you can take a boat worth several hundred thousand dollars and stop it dead in its tracks when a 50 cent piece of nylon shreds! Needless to say, there will be some replacements on both sails happening when we arrive in Bermuda!

Oh well… like they say… all in a days work! For now, we’re still making way, babying our modified headsail and running on a reefed mainsail in 14-15 knots of wind out of the NW and it’s forecast to drop to 5 knots tomorrow. Will make for a bit longer trip, but we’re still making 6-7 knots of boatspeed and hope to arrive in Bermuda sometime late Saturday night or early Sunday morning… touch wood! A lot of the fleet behind us spent too much of their diesel fuel reserves motoring the first few days, now they’re all sitting back there in light airs waiting for the wind to come to them because they don’t have enough fuel to be motor the rest of the way. Luckily we chose to sail early on, even though it wasn’t directly on course it still got us here… now we just have to finish! Never a dull moment!!

Cheers, Rick

She Said:

Since our last email things have been going well. Up until today that is! (more on this shortly). We were all settling into a trance-like routine of eating, sleeping, reading, staring into the wild blue yonder and watching for things that go bump in the night ( or day actually). People often ask what we do “on watch” and what is a watch anyway??. Well, let me fill you in. As we travel non stop on an offshore passage we need to have extra crew to work in shifts around the clock. Who ever is on watch stays in the cockpit manning the helm and constantly searching all horizons for signs of other boats, freighters, tankers, lost floating containers, anything that we might hit or might hit us. This is a vital and very important job as anything light that appears on the horizon could potentially be upon us in less then 15 minutes. This is not a lot of time to determine if you are on a collision path or not! We try to vary the watches and have them go for 2-3 hours so in the wee hours of the night you are not too exhausted to function. It is a different existence and you tend to get a bit wonky because of it.

I guess you are wondering what happened this morning. I knew this was eventually coming, Rick kept saying “relax, we are having an easy sail” but I knew. Actually since Rick goes before me you know what happened already! We were all in the cockpit together and it was about 8am when it happened. Me and Rick were nicely napping in the early morning light, John was on the helm and Dwight was watching the horizon. I had earlier been thinking what a great day as I snapped pictures of a fiery sunrise and the winds were good.

We had been going along amazingly fast and stood a good chance to place in this rally. We heard a strange sound and John said “I think we just blew the foresail!” Rick and I leapt up shouting “what , what , there is no way!!”. We all lurched over to the side of the boat peering up front. Sure enough the front sail was starting to fall down and sag from the head or top of the sail. Rick and I looked at each other is sheer disbelief , this is exactly what happened on our way down and we had seconds before the whole sail fell straight into the ocean!! John and Rick quickly furled in the sail till it seemed secure and we got out the binoculars and looked at the top. It was definitely off.

I seriously couldn’t believe this was happening to us again. And just when everything was going so well. That’s the thing about sailing, its great till the **** hits the fan. Which it always does. And tell me again why we like this?! The men folk were in their glory I must say. There was something to save, a battle of the elements, a mission to accomplish. They all strung into action and scrambled out on deck ( in full safety gear of course). Ashley, Lucky and I manned the helm and took tons of pictures. They managed to pull the sail down with no mishaps and then the tedious and tricky job of trying to “McIver” a new shackle and webbing began. It took a lot longer then we thought but with all three guys lending a hand it was done and the jib was hoisted again!! We have no way of furling the Genoa any more because the turny thing is still stuck at the top of the mast but we have a working sail again. We all sat in the cockpit smiling and celebrating with Zucchini bread. Ashley and Lucky are both happily chewing stuff and oblivious to all problems! Oh to be a dog!! Or a parrot.

Less then 5 minutes later we all heard a very loud “pop” and the main sail started to flap and crumple. A picture of all our faces at this point would be priceless. What now, can we not have a small window to enjoy our victory?! Apparently the webbing on the clew, the little cloth piece that attaches the bottom of the sail to the lines ripped in half. We were going to have put in our first reef. This is were you pull the sail down, shortening it so when the winds are strong you have less sail out. This again sounds straight forward but involves going out on deck with big waves crashing, the boat is heeled over to one side and lines always seem to become tangled at these moments. The sail was fixed but we are severely hampered in our progress and going much slower. None of us are happy about that. It means losing our place in the race and worst of all could mean 3 more days out here!!! Yikes. I may lose my mind.

We all ate some well deserved lunch and napped and now the repairs to the sails continue. We are still hoping to pick up speed but the winds are dying earlier then predicted. Never, never trust the weather forecasts, they are always wrong. As I sit here typing the men are pulling on their life vests and heading out on deck to continue fixing the main sail and nursing us along. Their enthusiasm is waning but still there in spirit. Way to go guys, you all did an amazing job. I am so impressed by how well they worked together, their ingenuity, skill and sheer drive to make it work.

I will leave you with the most amazing photo of the million I took of the morning sunrise. Enjoy and think of us and send healing energy to our poor sails!

Mid-Atlantic Sunrise Friday Morning

Cheers, Terri

PS… thanks again for all the great emails, feel free to keep them coming, just remember to delete our original message from your reply. Thanks!

Sophisticated Lady Sailing Charter

We made it!! We arrived in Bermuda just before midnight on Saturday night, and under a beautiful clear sky with the help of a bright moon, we guided ‘Sophisticated Lady’ safely through the Town Cut into St George’s Harbor in Bermuda. Our sails held up great with the repairs we had improvised at sea… even the new mainsail clew! The wind had all but died so we ended up motorsailing the last 100 miles or so… once Ashley smelled shore, it was time to go!! It was a perfectly calm night as we made our approach to Bermuda… at about 10 miles out we contacted Bermuda Radio and they were most helpful in assisting us with identifying the navigation aids and making a smooth and safe passage into the harbor in the dark. Once inside we were asked to go into the Powder Hole anchorage, which is the quarantine anchorage where arriving yachts stay until customs opens the next day to clear them in.

John & Dwight on deck at first light

We all celebrated with a drink and some zucchini cake as we gazed out at the lights of Georgetown, Bermuda. It was a beautiful sight after only open water for so long. The anchorage was very calm and quiet and we all quickly crawled into our beds. Early next morning we were awakened to a knocking on our hull telling us the customs office was now open. Off we went to check in. Ashley unfortunately was put into boat quarantine until the vet can check her out. She is most unhappy because she has been smelling land for 100 miles and now she can see it and she can’t go ashore. It’s pure torture for her and I feel so bad for her.

‘Sophisticated Lady’ proudly at anchor in Bermuda

After check in we ran into our next crew member Gary, he had been here for a couple days waiting for us to arrive. We all (except poor Ashley) headed to shore for a much deserved breakfast. It feels so good to step onto land and take a walk! We found a little place right down town in the old village square where we had an expensive but yummy breakfast. Bermuda is very beautiful but rather expensive. The downtown area of St George is very quaint with an old fashioned big open town square right in the center. There are scooters everywhere and tiny cars, in models we have never seen before, zipping down the narrow curving streets.

Breakfast at the White Horse Restaurant in George Town

We took a short walk around town to take some pictures and could not stop commenting on how pristine and beautiful Bermuda is. Everything is bright, well kept and beautiful to look at. All the cars seem new and every house has a well tended garden busting with colors and incredible blossoms. As you walk down the street the fragrance from all the flowers wafts down the street and the colors flow all around you and your senses are alive with wonderful delights.

Overlooking St George’s Harbor

Every house is a different bright pastel color and seem to be almost carved out of clay. They all have perfectly white roofs and rounded edges and it gives them the appearance of delicious wedding cakes decorated with brilliant flowers. Nothing seems out of place or imperfect in Bermuda and it feels like you landed in some idyllic paradise of beautiful yummy houses tucked amongst perfect tropical gardens overlooking the sparkling aqua blue ocean. Every so often a bright and shiny scooter zips by and disappears just as fast. All sorts of tropical birds sing and lend their own touches of sunny yellows and perfect reds to the landscape. You can’t help but feel very happy and content as you walk the streets of Bermuda. Of all the islands we have seen, this one is by far the most gorgeous. It really feels like the perfect reward for all those days at sea!!

Beautiful flowers of Bermuda in full bloom

We decided to hop on a bus and take a quick tour of the island. It is about 14 miles long and has a bunch of different parishes as you travel along. It was incredible to sit at the back of the bus and stare out the huge windows at the wonderful villages and rainbow of homes as they flowed by. Every corner revealed a more beautiful home or coastline and I couldn’t stop exclaiming with delight at each new sight.

Lush foliage present everywhere on Bermuda

It was a great way to see the island and we ended up in Hamilton, the city of the island. Even this was pretty, shiny and lovely to walk through. This island really has the best of both worlds, you could live on the quiet lush island side and still hop over to a cool and modern city when the urge came up.

Tropical colored houses everywhere

When our stomachs started to complain we popped into a traditional English pub called The Hog Penny for a bite. It felt like we stepped back in time and space and suddenly we were in rainy, damp England. The guys had ales and we ordered a typical English fare of Sheppard pie and chicken pot pies. The food was hot, delicious and very filling. We hopped back on the bus with happy hearts, tired feet and full tummies.

St George’s Harbor from our masthead

Up until this morning it looked like our weather window for our departure was going to be Tuesday morning, which sucked because it gave us no time on land, no time to properly provision, do laundry and get the webbing on our sails replaced. Now it appears that the weather pattern has shifted and we will likely leave Wednesday. That makes us all happier and allows us to relax a little on land and get ourselves and the boat recharged. This last picture was taken yesterday from the top of the mast by John. He gamely volunteered to be hoisted up 65 feet in the air to fix and fluff a few things! Look at that water color!!! All in all I love Bermuda and could spend great amounts of time here happily. But NY is calling!

Cheers,
Terri (& Rick)
‘Sophisticated Lady’