sy Timoneer

Noon Position 32deg 01N 81deg  03W

Course -  Degrees   Speed -    Knots        Day’s Run -   Miles

Weather -  Overcast and drizzle

Wind - 12 knots from E

The final 15 miles of the trip up the Wilmington River on Monday went smoothly once we establish a critical channel marker was missing. On the voyage we passed several dolphins and some incredible houses shaded by the massive Living Oaks draped in Spanish moss. We tied up at 6pm and customs and immigration were there and waiting for us and we were processed pretty quickly.

Three days later, the engine room is padded up for protection and the engine dismantling has begun. We will be here for nearly 8 weeks and will be out of the water for half of that time.

I have posted on the websitesome photos of the 2 marlin we caught. Look at reports from Day 1 and Day 6 of this trip.

JC

Noon Position 31deg 51N 80deg  53W

Course -  Degrees   Speed -  0  Knots        Day’s Run - 199  Miles

Weather -   Sunny and 3 foot swell

Wind - 5 knots from 210 degrees

We eventually reached the Gulf Stream yesterday afternoon which was pushing us North at 2 knots. The Gulf Stream’s legendary fishing status didn’t fail us. Unfortunately all we caught was another marlin which we got to the boat and set it free after removing the hook. So the only fresh fish we had on the trip up was flying fish. We had a pretty rolly crossing of the Gulf Stream but nowhere near as nasty as it can be. Once across, the swells settled making for a much more relaxing night.

We arrived at the mouth of the Wilmington River at 08:30 and dropped anchor to wait for the high tide this afternoon. We will then complete the last 15 miles to Thunderbolt.

JC

Not easy getting the hook out!

Noon Position 29deg 25N 78deg  23W

Course - 275 Degrees   Speed -  9.7  Knots        Day’s Run -  255 Miles

Weather -   Overcast with confused seas of 6 feet (2m)

Wind - 18 knots from 133 degrees

We ran out of wind just after sunset when it turned behind us and died in strength. We put the main and genoa away and have been rolling ever since. To make matters worse we have also had 1-2 knots of current against us most of today. Soon we will be reaching the Gulf Stream which is flowing North at 2 knots where we will be crossing it. No luck with the fishing this morning.

Still on schedule for a 6pm arrival at TMI tomorrow.

JC

Noon Position 26deg 42N 74deg  40W

Course - 313 Degrees   Speed -  13  Knots        Day’s Run -  297 Miles

Weather -   Sunny with 3-6 foot (1-2m) swells from NE

Wind - 20 knots from NE

The engine is off and we are doing 11-14 knots with 1 reef in the main, full genoa and staysail. We have had some great sailing in the last 24 hours although we put the genoa away  and had the engine running through the night. The winds have been a bit shifty but on average keeping us going at a good pace. We have not had the fishing lines out but tomorrow we will arrive at the Gulf Stream and have time to slow to 10 knots to fish the whole way across. I did get a good haul of flying fish off the deck today. Looking forward to having them for lunch.

We are on schedule to arrive off the Wilmington River Monday morning and wait until 4pm to enter the river and continue up to Thunderbolt.

Can’t believe we got so close to breaking the 300mile day. Top speed 14.5 knots.

JC

Noon Position 23deg 21N 70deg 48 W

Course -313  Degrees   Speed -  12.5  Knots        Day’s Run -  273 Miles

Weather -   Sunny with 6-9 foot (2-3m) swells from NE

Wind - 22 knots from NE

We have been flying along since about midnight when the wind swung and picked up some. Since daylight we have been maintaining 12-13.5  knots but at the cost of comfort as we launch off some of the swells. We have not bothered to put the fishing lines out today as we are going too fast to keep the lures in the water. It looks like we will have these conditions for at least another 24 hours, news that some of the crew with weaker stomachs are not so thrilled about. The good news is that we are knocking off the miles which takes the pressure off arriving in time for the tide to get up the river to Thunderbolt.

We have another 5 minutes of latitude left before we cross the Tropic of Cancer and leave the tropics behind.

JC

Noon Position 20deg 13N 67deg  13W

Course - 313 Degrees   Speed -  11.5  Knots        Day’s Run - 265  Miles

Weather -  Rain squalls  and 3-6 foot swells (1-2m)

Wind - 10 knots from 245 degrees

We failed to catch a fish along the Saba Bank and have had no luck today either. Last night we passed between the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico and are now back into the Atlantic. With light winds from behind we have been motoring with just the staysail up to try and slow the rolling. This morning the wind has slowing been clocking around and we hope to be sailing again by tonight.

Noon Position 17deg 18N 63deg  45W

Course - 334 Degrees   Speed -  10  Knots        Day’s Run - 252  Miles

Weather -   Sunny and warm

Wind - 15 knots from 110 degrees

Yesterday we cast the lines off to leave Rodney Bay Marina and got about a boat length from the dock before we ran out of water. There we sat stuck in the mud while waiting 30 minutes for the tide to come in enough for us to continue out the channel. There is only a tide of 1 foot but that makes all the difference getting in and out of this marina. At least we cleaned all the barnacles off the bottom of the keel! The rest of the afternoon went smoothly and we knocked off some miles with great motor sailing. It was a bit of a rolly night with light winds from behind.

At 6.30am I put out the fishing lines. An hour later I was regretting doing that after fighting a marlin for the previous 30 minutes. Penny and I saw some great tail walking before it dived. Eventually other crew came on deck to see why we had been stopped for so long and I passed over the fight to Chan to bring it in so that we could release it. We pulled in the lines after that and waited until we got to  the Saba Bank to try our luck at something a bit smaller. No luck yet after an hour of sailing along the edge of it.

The total trip to Thunderbolt is about 1550nm which should take us about 6 days.

JC

Removing the hook

Timoneer has just completed 2 and a half weeks of cruising with Boo and her guests from Bequia to Grenada and Richard and guests from Grenada to St Lucia. The weather was very kind to us allowing us to see a turtle hatchery and model boat builders in Bequia. Exploring and dining ashore at the exclusive, private island of Mustique. Snorkeling with turtles in the beautiful Tobago Cays. Hiking the hills of Union Island and swimming ashore to its neighboring  private island, Palm Is. Grenada has so much to offer from old forts, spice plantations, hikes through the jungle to waterfalls and one of the favorites, the cocoa plantations and their chocolate samples. The beach restaurants are hard to beat as well.

Fishing was a bit sparse but we managed to catch and release a Barracuda and keep a big Wahoo on the trip down island. On the way back up we caught a tuna, which Penny created some great sushi and sashimi from, and lost another bringing it in. Last but not least, we had plenty of great sailing between the islands taking us from one stunning beach to the next.

JC

It seemed quite obvious that we were not going to win anything with the handicap that we had been given, even after a small adjustment to allow for the fact that we would be sailing without spinnakers. We were relaxed about it and went out in the brightest shirts we could find and intent on having fun. The wind was up again and especially at the start when a squall came through and the wind shifted right and increased. We made a great start at the windward end of the line so we were one of only a few boats that laid the first mark without having to tack. At the later prize giving we were awarded a Magnum of Champagne for having the best start of the whole regatta and the race committee said that we crossed under full power with one second to spare so we were pretty happy with that.

Without the spinnakers we lagged the whole fleet and by the time we got to the leeward mark most boats were way ahead of us. We had put out the fishing lines right at the start line and on the beat back to the finish we had a strike but lost the fish unfortunately. It would have been funny to arrive at the finish with a fish hanging on the backstay!

We finished in 8th place which was out best result so far but that was only because 3 boats had retired with breakages.

We all had a great time and were just sorry that the “boss” could not be on board for a really fun regatta.

Next we head down to St Lucia and the Grenadines for a cruise with guests on board.

Everyone is well and having fun.

Phil

Today there were two shorter races, each about 15 miles. Again we were having a few problems and unfortunately tore our good spinnaker during a gybe down wind. We continued with the race but ended up in 10th place again and then between races Munch was on the sewing machine with Tomac frantically sewing the spinnaker while the rest of us ate a fast sandwich or two. They were still sewing as we crossed the start line for race two but managed to get it finished and packed back into our snuffer for hoisting. Again we had a problem and half way down the leg the spinnaker tore again and was not usable so again we were passed by most of the fleet. Windrose had a few problems at the leeward mark so we managed to squeeze past her and kept her behind us up to the finish so we got a 9th in that race.

After discussions with the sailmakers and crew we decided that repairing the spinnaker overnight was not an option so for the last day we will be racing without one.

The wind was again much the same boisterous trade winds and everyone had a great sail and the photographers had lots of opportunities with spray and water flying in all directions and boats sailing to their maximum.

Roll on tomorrow!

Phil