[PUP] Bluewater Noon Report - May 31, 2007

[Georgs Kolesnikovs]

Position 30-31.95N 74-04-36W as of 12:00 EDT Thursday, May 31, 2007
Course 089 deg M
Speed 7.0 kts @ 2050 RPM
517 NM to go Hamilton, Bermuda
Distance made good last 24 hours 165 NM, average speed 7.0 kts
Distance from Fort Lauderdale 511 NM
Total fuel consumed 475 gals, average 6.7 GPH (including genset 
time), fuel remaining 1005 gals
Conditions: Wind 090 deg M @ 20 kts., swells 3-5 ft with 1-2 foot 
chop from 090 deg. partly cloudy, visibility excellent.
Barometer 1023.0 mb and steady.
Sea water temp 76 deg F, air temp 79 deg F.
ETA RBYC Hamilton, Bermuda, mid-day Sunday, June 3


The eight-yacht Med Bound fleet continues on course for Bermuda and 
we are now almost to the halfway point.  Yesterday afternoon we had a 
terrific example of the best kind of cruising weather-light winds, 
flat seas, and happy crew all around.  Overnight, the wind increased 
to 20 knots and the seas built back to 3-5 feet with chop on top. 
While most of us have regained our sea legs and find these conditions 
on the good side of tolerable, there's a little more motion than we'd 
call for if we were placing our order.  Weather router Bob Jones of 
Ocean Marine Navigation Inc. calls for improving conditions-up until 
Sunday, when he forecasts winds to 15-25 knots with higher gusts and 
seas 4-6 feet occasionally higher.  The bottom line from his morning 
advisory reads: "If there is anything you can do to increase your 
speed to arrive in Bermuda as early as possible on Sunday, it will 
help you avoid the increasing winds that develop in Bermuda during 
the day. The earlier the arrival, the easier the wind/seas."

Med Bound's "pull back" boat is Beso, the sturdy Nordhavn 40 Chip and 
Kay Marsh have brought around through the Panama Canal from Dana 
Point, and her top passagemaking speed over the long haul is just 
over 7 knots.  For the past half day, the Med Bound fleet has had .5 
to 1.0 knot of current on the nose (so what's new?), reducing our 
daily average to about 6.5 knots.  We've added as much speed as Beso 
will allow, and we're up a 6.9 knot speed of advance to try to comply 
with "Weather Bob's" recommendation.  If we can average that speed, 
we should arrive at RBYC in Hamilton at midafternoon Sunday.  With a 
little luck, flat seas and some decline in the current against us, 
we'll get there hours earlier.

Yesterday afternoon two fish, both mahi-mahi, were brought aboard Med 
Bound yachts.  New Frontier reported a 38-inch specimen, while the 
Grey Pearl crew said size was very important but for some unspecified 
reason somehow never managed to measure length overall of their 
catch-there's some speculation that it could possibly be on the small 
side. Nevertheless, we definitely will have plenty of fish for what 
is evolving into a Med Bound potluck-on-the-pier at the Royal Bermuda 
Yacht Club.  David and Lowie Bock will provide the grill, crewmember 
Dennis Bruckel is responsible for most of the fish, and the rest of 
us will bring go-withs.

Bluewater now holds the fleet record for the longest catch: a 60-foot 
shellfish-encrusted length of polypropylene line with two or three 
nine-inch styrofoam floats attached.  As we motored over it, it 
attached itself to our starboard stabilizer shaft, the bitter end 
trailing in the yacht's wake.  George Howerton, taking a smoking 
break in the cockpit, spotted what appeared to be a long white line. 
After a quick meeting to discuss strategy, we broke out a 
deadly-sharp "hooknife" given to us last summer in Maine by our 
friend Charles Starke. (See the Hooknife at 
www.sailorssolutions.com.)  I donned a harness in case I had to work 
from the swim platform, then we slowed the boat to 1-2 knots.   All 
it took was using our nine-foot boat hook to reach down and bring up 
the polypropylene line and haul it onboard.  We then cut it close to 
amidships (where the stabilizer fin is) and-to our surprise-the 
as-yet unseen floats bobbed up in our wake.  We were back up at speed 
in less than five minutes.

Joey Boothby, crewmember on the Nordhavn 47 Imagine, called to offer 
his services in case we needed someone in the water.  Joey served as 
a rescue swimmer in the Navy and is eager to get into the water. 
Some of his crewmates are eager too because Joey has sworn off 
showers until he lands a fish on Med Bound, and so far he is 
fish-less.  Joey works with James Knight of Yacht Tech, is a former 
Nordhavn 57 captain, and an all-around great guy to have around a 
boat.  He can fix anything . . . except maybe a fish-less yacht.

We've had a few questions about how our Schipperke Katy is doing on 
this trip.  In a word, GREAT.  Like the rest of us, she has gotten 
her sea legs, has a good appetite, and is her usual happy self. 
We've never met a seasick-prone Schipperke, so Katy is true to her 
breed.  She has taken well to crewmember George Howerton; a few 
minutes ago George was snoozing in his cabin and Katy went as asked 
to get into bed with him.  She does sleep around!

This morning we heard from Downtime, the yacht that had to leave the 
rally because of stabilizer probems.  Crewmember Dan Topp reported 
via e-mail that are proceeding to Charleston in flat seas using a 
single stabilizer.  They hope to arrive tomorrow, Friday.  We wish 
them godspeed.

Other then Downtime's deal-breaker with the stabilizers, mechanical 
problems on Med Bound have been minimal, the equivalent of a few 
aches and pains but nothing significant.  On our 8 o'clock roll 
calls, all captains are reporting their machinery in good condition 
and doing the job.  We all make small repairs underway, to be sure, 
but by and large this Med Bound group seems very sound and the 
crewmembers are more than up to the task of keeping things running.

I'll close with an observation about the true fishermen.  David Bock 
mentioned that he had Salty Dawg's back door open all the time so 
Danforth, their Labradoodle, the only other dog on the rally, can 
come and go as she pleases.  The door is open so the crew can hear 
the reel sing when a fish takes the lure and runs.   Not being true 
fishermen aboard Bluewater, we take the easier route-let the 
generator and air conditioners run, keep the salt air on the outside, 
and enjoy what comfort we can muster.  We get a lot of miles out of 
every fish and will be eating the 51-inch mahi-mahi we caught in the 
Bahamas in April all the way across the Atlantic.  We catch 'em to 
eat!

We're hoping the real weather will soon catch up with Weather Bob's 
forecast for today: ENE-E 05-10kts, waves 1-2ft. Swells, ENE-E 1-3ft, 
7-8sec.  At the moment it's due E 20 with seas 3-5 building to 4-6. 
Our fingers are crossed!

--Milt, Judy, George and Schipperke Katy

Aboard the Nordhavn 47 Bluewater, bound for the Med