Sixth Day in Bermuda

Today is our sixth day in Bermuda.

We enjoyed showing Brian what we knew of the island, even if some of it was during one of the most wild rainstorms we've been through in many years. After we saw him to the airport Wednesday morning, Dawn and I carried on the the Bermuda Aquarium and Zoo. For $10 each, we got to review some fish, shark, and octopi, and also got to see both local and Australian wildlife. We followed that with a 2 hour hike along a part of the abandoned Bermuda railway. It was nice, but so much of it has been taken
over, and other parts require detouring on these dangerous roads. Much of the road here is without sidewalks or pedestrian ways, and the traffic is quick. The stores sell tee shirts that say "I survived a Bermuda bus trip" for good reason. The trip is absolutely wild.

Yesterday it blew like stink, and we stayed aboard. Finally, some of the chores got done. We wiped up all the floors, under cushions, and once more through the cockpit, cleaned the doormat, and soaked salt out of some footwear. I got a haircut, as well - a nice, low maintenance #4. We had already had our "happy hour" before supper, when a couple from the sloop "Sayonarra" dropped by for a drink. We exchanged histories and stories of the crossing, over a little more "happy hour" soup. They had
started the crossing from the New York area before us, but arrived on Saturday. Just the two of them, and although they didn't like the crossing much, they are none the worse for the wear.

With the wind a lot more reasonable, we're at the Dinghy Club now, doing our laundry, and catching up on email. We hope to spend some more time working on Cat Tales, giving her systems a good inspection. It is better to find any problems now, so that we might have a chance at repair or replacement before the day of departure. Specific chores are to check around all bulkheads and floor reninforcements for cracks, and a trip up the mast. Engines shouldn't be a problem - they didn't get much use
on the way over. We have to find some bushings for our tiller connectors - these had trouble, and at one time I had to disconnect them, running down those waves with only one rudder, while I jury-rigged them with pieces of whittled hose. We also have some trouble with our fresh water. The violence caused material to find its way to the filter, which clogged completely 3 times during the crossing. I may have to pump the tank dry to get rid of debris that is at the bottom of the tank. I suspect
it got there from either reactions with different water sources, or from on-the-ocean deliveries of water in Bequia before I bought the boat.

We're still intending to find a weather window a week before the end of the month. So far Grant Sinclair has committed to join us for the next crossing.

Happy Halloween everybody.

Laurie

Thoughts from Kent Ross, crew for Cat Tales

The following was just received by us from Kent Ross, crew member who is now back at work:

Laurie And Dawn asked me to write a guest blog for their site, so here are a few thoughts. To be asked to help sail Cat Tales to Bermuda was pretty exciting for me, for those who don't know me, I've sailed extensively along the coasts of NB, NS, ME etc, but no major blue water excursions, and for the last 3 1/2 years I've been pretty much land bound, I work in Ft Mac, and have a long commute home to NB, doesn't leave much time for sailing, only being home aprx 12 weeks per year. So when I was contacted
and it looked like our schedules might mesh I was looking forward to a new experience.

When the time came, I was driven to Rhode Island by John Fallon, and John Sinclair, thanks to John and John for the drive and entertainment along the way. I met Cat Tales in East Greenwich where we waited a few days, looking to "Herb" and the internet, looking for an appropriate weather window. It finally looked like we might get it on Monday, so we sailed down to Newport to wait for our schedule with Herb on HF radio. At the appointed time we had our talk with Herb, and he confirmed that this might
be the only window to get to Bermuda for awhile. He told us to expect 20 knots gusting 25 for the first 2 days, followed by 10-15 knots NE wind, almost perfect for sailing to Bermuda, however the first couple of days might be a little lumpy...... we left Newport immediately to take advantage of the remaining daylight to get out past the many inshore fish pots before darkness fell. Winds were light and we actually had to motor to maintain our optimal speed.

After darkness fell, I retired to my berth, mine was to be one of the later watches in the night. When I got up to do my 2 hr watch the sea conditions had increased somewhat, with a fairly heavy swell, and the winds were stronger, about 15 knots from astern during my watch. Although I had applied a "patch" (transderm Scop - motion sickness meds) I started to feel the Mal de Mer symptoms.... over the next day, first myself, then Brian Jeffrey (the other hired gun, and Dawn's brother in law) felt
the effects of sea sickness, as the conditions got rougher. After the second day we were expecting news from Herb that conditions would get a little better, however conditions were changing and he reported that it was about to get worse, at this point Laurie fell victim to sea sickness. I suspect that this was a combination of the very rough conditions we were experiencing (approx 20-25 knots of wind, and swells were growing, as well as breaking waves that were traveling on top of the swells, often
in a different direction as the wind direction changed.) and nerves, as we know the skipper has the added responsibility of being responsible for the ship's crew as well as the safety of the ship. The only one not affected to any great degree by the motion was Dawn who kept up our spirits with offerings of food,(often refused) meds, and words of encouragement, Thanks Dawn!

By the third night we were in approx 30 foot seas, this consisted of maybe 20 foot swells and approx 10' wind driven waves riding over top. His estimate of wave height varies depending who you are talking to, but other boats that were in the same conditions reported 40' waves, I don't think we saw any quite that big, Thank God.... during the third night we had to fall off 20-30 degrees and run down wind as Cat Tales was starting to slide sideways at the bottom of the waves after surfing down them
at up to 13 knots, this is a dangerous situation and holds the possibility of "broaching" (getting rolled when a wave hits the boat on the beam) The Skipper wisely decided to take action, and helped smooth the motion as well. Sea and wind conditions stayed pretty much the same during the fourth day as we were approaching Bermuda except that now we were running through almost a constant succession of squalls with winds pushing 30 knots and gusting higher. After the second day the sea sickness had
progressed from the initial messy stage to the stage were you are very tired, and other than doing my watches all I wanted to do was sleep, a side effect of taking several different meds.

During the night of the fourth day we made the approach to Bermuda, its lights and flashing Lighthouse beacons were certainly a welcome site when they appeared during my night watch. Laurie and Dawn navigated us into St George Harbor through the Town Cut about midnight, by 1 am we had the anchor down, and Dawn prepared a feast, for sailors who had not eaten much for several days, it was a welcome meal. Funny part is that sometime during the approach to Bermuda the Sea Sickness had disappeared, and
my appetite was back with a vengeance. After a sound sleep we cleared into Bermuda the next morning. I had only one day to tour Bermuda as I had to get back to Fredericton so I could fly back to work in Ft Mac (I'm actually writing this in Toronto between flights) We did a little site seeing, had a few good meals, a few liquid refreshments at the Whitehorse, a local watering hole, and that evening entertained a British couple who had arrived in Bermuda a few hours before us on a Hylas 44 that they
had just purchased in USA, also on their way to BVI's. Hi to Tim and Sam if they read this. The next morning Laurie delivered me to the dock, and I caught a Taxi to the Airport.

On an interesting side note, Richard Branson arrived in St George a few hours before us on his 30m maxi sled, they had been trying to set a new trans Atlantic record, one would have to assume they were in much the same conditions we were in, although they departed from New York, south of our departure point. On the Virgin website he states that they had their spinnaker blown out, and were boarded by a 40' wave that blew out the mainsail, and tore a 10 man liferaft off the deck so they abandoned their
challenge and put into St George.

Thanks goes out to those who helped us along the way, Herb Hilgenburg, with timely weather info, John Fallon with transportation for me to the boat and home from the airport in Saint John as well for daily communications and advice, many Hams who helped out with contacts on the Missisauga Maritime Net, the skipper and "Admiral" for getting us there safely, Brian for sharing the trip and being a good watchmate, and Lastly Cat Tales for getting us there in one piece. Would I do it again? Surely, although
next time I might look for a little better weather window, but that is not an exact science as we all know, and we had done our homework the conditions just changed and maybe need to try a different remedy for sea sickness...
Best of luck on the next leg, I'll be following your adventures from the great Frozen North...

Fair Winds, Kent Ross

Sitting out a Gale

We've rented a mooring just 1000' to the east of Ordinance Island that is supposedly strong enough to hold a cruise ship, according to our buddy at Ocean Sails, who owns it. We had a weather report that suggested a gale last night and today, and right now wind is between 23 and 30 knots. A gale is 33 knots. Brian and Dawn and I went to the Dockyards yesterday, and enjoyed the museums and even the ferry rides. Lunch at the site was a bit steep, but that's Bermuda.

Our recent posts resulted in some questions, and we'll try to cover some of them.

There is definitely some discrepancy in the way various people measure waves. I have tended to measure them from how they affect the boat, and the worst we really felt on the crossing from Newport were the 10 footers with sharp or breaking tops. However, these did occur with the 4 foot cross waves, and both the 4 footers and 10 footers were occurring overtop a base of large ocean swells, which by themselves and even with the others didn't really cause us trouble - probably because of the large
distance between them. I considered the resultant monsters as mountains complete with foothills, when they all got together. We went up, then up, then uupp, as we would get lifted to the top. So, yes, some could say that there were 30 footers, but they didn't result in damage or trouble to a little 35' cat. The little buggers were shaking the stuffing out of us, however. Somebody on Branson's boat was quoted in the news as saying they saw 40 footers, but it may just be interpretation. Dawn
agrees with Branson's take on it.

Yes, we have encountered Richard Branson's racing sled: "Virgin Speedboat". If you haven't seen how beautiful it is, then you should google it. They checked in and arrived 3 hours before us. They were trying to break an Atlantic crossing record, but stove into a wave that trashed their giant spinnaker, and checked in here instead, with the effort blown with the sail. Branson flew out, and the big 98' red machine moved to dockside at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club in Hamilton. We assume that the
crew will move it back to NY for another try later. The storm has also chased some other boats into harbour, including a giant 3-masted Norwegian square rigged tall ship. The name of it is just a mess of letters to us, with little previous exposure to the Norse language.

We also met a nice British couple who have recently bought a Hylis 42, "White Winds", in the Chesapeake, and are heading to the BVI's shortly. They were using Herb, and arrived about the same time as Branson, just before us. They had a difficult time navigating the way into the harbour in the darkness, big waves and so many similar navigational aids. They succeeded only to get hung up inside the harbour on flat water on a little island. All is well now, and I'm sure we'll be spending some time
with them.

We're packing up to catch the bus into Hamilton to shop and snoop. We're not looking forward to the dinghy ride because of the huge chop here today in the harbour, but we've all put on yesterday's salty clothes, so it won't really matter.

Those of you who have questions, go ahead and send. We have intermittent wireless right now, and it isn't the problem we normally have trying to answer and receive by ham email.

Brian, Dawn, & Laurie

2nd Day in Bermuda

Well, it's time you heard from us.

Laurie here. I just dinghied Kent to the dock, and saw him into a taxi to the airport. He will be picked up in Saint John by John Fallon, and will travel in his truck back to Fredericton. He was somewhat lamenting that he is leaving 34 degree Celsius weather and palm trees to catch a flight from Fredericton back to Fort McMurray, -10 C and snow. He was also a bit concerned that little of his time on leave from his job would be spent with Michelle. Well, our gain, for sure. We certainly would
have had a worse trip without his assistance. Time was short, and we didn't have time for him to send a "guest blog", but he promises to send one to us at the first opportunity. As this was his first major passage, and a rather "interesting" one, I'm sure he can describe some of it in an entertaining way.

I returned from the dock and, with Dawn and Brian's help, set a second anchor just before we had a sprinkling of rain and an increase in wind. I have made arrangements for tomorrow to meet an employee of Bermuda Radio (the people who use their far-reaching radios to control traffic near their dangerous little island) who has a couple of moorings for rent. Hopefully, before the peak of the building storm, we'll be securely tied to something substantial.

So, the passage. Dawn says the 2004 trip was about as scary as she could stand, so if that was an 8, she says this was a 9 and 10 would be an airlift for her. For me, I'd say that the true enemy was motion and fatigue. The wind stayed almost continually between 20 and 32 knots (that equals 23-37 miles per hour or 37-59 kilometres per hour). However, the problem was the sea state. As the wind clocked around from NE through to E over the 4 days, and as it reacted with the gulf stream and other
waves from far disturbances, the seastate was confused. It had waves commonly over 8 feet, with other waves at other angles roaring through them, making some peaks well over 10 feet, and some instantaneous and deep potholes. Cat Tales rattled, rocked, roared down some waves, and often banged to a half-halt at the bottom as solid water came up to slam the forward crossmember or the bridgedeck. The steep, square, smaller waves would miss one bow and slam into the inside of the other bow, throwing
great volumes of water onto the top of us, after a scary and significant jerk.

Watches were informally apportioned, with whoever was willing and healthy enough stepping up and taking them on. Most of the time the person on watch would lie on the salon seat, braced behind the table, and jump up every 10-15 minutes to look around for boats that might run us down. A cheap windup timer helped the watchman stay sharp. All others would stay in their bunks; the safest place if not the most comfortable. The slamming of the boat lifted the prostate crewmember at least once per minute,
and readjusted any rhythm in his/her breathing. Eating was a problem, and we may have missed a few meals. Counting the ones we gave back to the sea soon after eating, and it amounts to quite a significant diet. Dawn, who was the only one who stayed on the recommended cycle of Stugeron, was the only one who kept it all down. She was extremely nervous when I became the third one to succumb, and initially was the most incapacitated. It was just as Herb was telling me that the worst was about to
happen, that I said "all heard and understood" into the microphone, turned green, opened the cockpit door, and let fly into the cockpit sump.

Kent was the first to be ill, with Brian a very quick second. Brian was also the first to recover. He probably had the best appetite during the trip, as well. Kent relied on the "patch" for the first part of the trip, and supplemented it near the end of the voyage with gravol. The combination left him less sick but not in an enjoyable state. He had the most stark diet during the passage. Dawn helped clean up after us, as not all our little mishaps made it over the side.

The cockpit was off limits for almost all of the voyage, and the sail changes were miserable. Luckily there were few sail changes. The vast majority of the sail was done with 3 reefs in the main and less than a third of the jib. At times we were underpowered, but squalls and quick wind changes would bring us back to 30+ knots. One only has to run out into the dark and wrestle a reef in the sail in the blinding saltwater once or twice before one decides to live with a little less optimization.
(Although most of you know how that would bug me) As we were doing our best to keep the interior areas and our clothing dry and salt-free, I took on the bits of foredeck work during the worst of it.

Was it all bad? We were optimistic and apprehensive when we started, and even annoyed when the winds Herb told us would propel us forward during the first day subsided and we were forced to motor with both engines to try to stay on the schedule he had set for us. We were told we had to make near 7 knots to stay ahead of real gales forecasted for Wednesday in one area and Saturday for Bermuda. The middle of the trip was all bad. Even I, who should have had the most confidence in Cat Tales, started
getting nervous about the violence by late Wednesday. I blame it as much on the lack of sleep as the violence, however. Dawn and Kent enjoyed very little of it. Brian and I spent most of Friday in the salon, used to the violence and reasonably sure the boat was going to survive, and started to get some fun out of the "sledding", as the boat jostled up down and over the waves.

Last night, we had our "arrival party", actually starting it mid-afternoon in the White Horse Tavern. We toasted Cat Tales, Herb, the journey, the team, and especially "Otto". Without the autohelm, it would have been a truly grueling voyage. We may have toasted a bit too many times, but today's hangover seems to be a fine way to go through life compared to the previous days.

Well, that's enough reading for you for now. We have more to tell, but we'll save it for you.

Dawn here: Well, I have to add a comment to the end of this piece. I will call it: "My Moment of Dispair". At the end of the second day, I was getting pretty scared. Both Brian and Kent were sick and were starting to spend almost all their time in bed. I kept telling myself to calm down, and that Laurie and I were doing fine and the drug "stugeron" was working really well. I didn't feel even the slightest nausea. Brian pulled himself out of bed and visited me in the salon and managed to get
a bit of water into him along with 2 crackers. I thought he was on the mend, but he went below to change his clothes in order to go outside to help Laurie, when a teeny cough snuck up on him and he tossed his water and crackers. I helped him get cleaned up again and we settled down to talk to Herb on the Ham Radio. I was taking notes on his comments and was becoming very shocked by what he said. He said that the easy day we just had was coming to an end as nasty weather would hit us between the
hours of 6 and 10:00 that night. He said that if we could manage to get through the next 24 hours, we'd have an easy 2 days after that! Now, I have to tell you that the "easy day" he was referring to was absolutely horrible. We had wind on the nose as we headed directly south, and the boat was bucking like a wild stallion! Just at the end of the conversation with Herb, I could see Laurie clawing on his face and I wondered what was up, other than receiving the bad news about the upcoming weather.
Laurie laid the mic down and headed for the door and as you know already he joined the boys in their state. I had been taking the recommended dose of stugeron, while Laurie, being Laurie was taking half doses because he thought that too many meds would be hard on the system. I rushed over to hand Laurie kleenex and he looked up at me and said, "I'm so sorry Dawn, I'll be able to make this work...don't worry". I could have cried! He threw up 4 more times, pulled on his wet weather gear and went
outside to reduce sail for the upcoming storm. He then sat in the cockpit staring into the salon through the closed door while the waves crashed down on him. While he was outside, I managed to plot the course on our Garmin GPS that Herb had suggested to cross the Gulf Stream. I then drew it out on paper, showed Laurie the plan and asked him to dial up the course change on the autohelm while he was outside. Changing course at that moment immediately calmed the boat down and we were in a much better
state to handle the wind that came that night. From that point on, the crew started to come around and I felt a little less lonely. So there you have it...just one of the experiences of the crossing my my point of view.

We're in Bermuda!!

Hi everyone!! What a rough crossing!! We're here now and happy to say we can now hold down a meal and quite possibly drink a beer or two today. I'm standing outside the customs office and can hardly see the screen in the sun! We'll write much more later when we get settled.

It's around 22 degrees here and sunny. The water is the most beautiful shade of turquoise!

Will be in touch ater!

In Bermuda St Georges All Well Aboard Midnight Friday

Not a nice day after all 45 nm from Customs at Bermuda

Aproximate Location as Laurie only gave Herb a lomgitude W 65 09 but
he said he was 45 nm from Customs at St Georges . That would put them at
about N33 00 . For some reason I don't have propagation with them at
5:00P even when I hear them talking to Herb on 12.359 loud and clear.
Laurie indicated he was starting the trip end routine of checking leaks
and counting bruses. In spite of how long a day it has been he hasn't
lost his humour. ( Posted by John )

95 Miles from Bermuda a very uncomfortable night

This AM Laurie and Gang on Cat Tales were at N 33 15 W 065 55 with a lumpy confused sea. Laurie asked for a wind report from passage weather for next 10 to 12 hours. I told him to expect 15 to 20 kts from the NNE for the next 3 hours diminishing to 15 kts NE all the way to midnight. As they are travelling from NW to SE that will be a favourable wind speed and direction. I suspect the MDM came back last night. ( posted
by John )

N 34 23 W 067 21 186 nm from Bermuda St. Georges

Laurie was loud and clear on the weather net with Herb . Unable to get him on our frequency later. The info was what he gave Herb. I calculate he has averaged 8.5kts since 10:00 asdst this AM. If he maintains his current speed he will be in St Georges around 5:00 PM tomorrow. ( posted
by John )

N 35 01 W 067 58 233 nm from Bermuda

At Radio net time 9:36 local time they were speeding along toward Friday night in Bermuda all well aboard Wind was 18 kts on the port stern quarter. They were surfing down steep waves...I believe all of the MDM has cleared up. ( posted by John )

Cat Tales out of the Gulfstream at N 36 22 W 069 28

As of 5:20 PM asdst I spoke to Laurie , Dawn , Kent and Brian they were speeding along toward Bermuda I calculate they have made an average speed of 8.5 kts since 10:00 this AM . The objective now is to reach Bermuda by late Friday.They have 340NM to go. ( posted by John )

In The Gulf Stream

Cat Tales had a more comfortable evening when they headed 30 degrees to the East. This Morning they were making good time at 37 09 N and 70 09W Making 7 to 10 kts to the SSE . They expect Bermuda on Saturday.

N 38 52 W 71 52 80 NM from the Gulfstream

At 5:30 I talked to Dawn on the radio. Conditions uncomfortable but not dangerous. Wind 20 kts from SW. They are heading for a way point of N 37 30 and W 070 to prepare for crossing the Stream. They are expecting a wind shift backing to the NW later this Evening. They have another sked with Herb in the AM on 8.294 MHZ to further assess the situation. ( Posted by John )

N39 46.6 W71 21.8

The Crew this AM were 120 miles ESE of New York City . Sea conditions were 10 ft swells and wind 19 Kts from the SW. They were making 6.9 to 8 Kts. All well aboard..I Talked to Kent as Laurie was asleep having finished his watch. I will speak to them this afternoon after they speak to the weather man HERB on 12.359 MHZ. (posted by John).

New Port Cat Tales leaving shortly for Bermuda

The word from Herb was leave now and cross the Gulf Stream onWednesday. They will be heading directly south today and tomorrow and await further instructions from Herb tomorrow afternoon. ( posted by John)

"Should We Stay or Should We Go?"

We have a tune running around in our heads! "Should We Stay, or Should We Go?"

We just talked to Herb and he suggests that it may be a possibility that we could leave East Greenwich tomorrow late in the afternoon (Monday), but only after we talk to him at 5:30 NB time on Monday. What we may do is slip down to Newport tomorrow, a 3 hour sail, and then talk to Herb. Depending on what he has to say, we will either head out into open water, or we may find a nice pub and have a dinner and wait patiently as good sailors should.

Failing that Tuesday morning may look even better, but again, we'll keep you posted.

Herb did mention to have our long johns on, but Laurie didn't tell him that he's already been wearing his ALL day!! It was 5 degrees this morning and is 8 at the present and dropping. We're cozy inside though with 3 candles and a propane heater.

Dawn
(& Kent and Brian and Laurie)

We're Delayed!!

Well, folks, don't be looking for a change in location any time soon. The disturbance coming up from Hatteras is not moving quickly enough.

We had trouble communicating with Herb, our weather guru, but he was kind enough to respond to a quickly-sent email. We will be staying put one more night, and checking in with Herb tomorrow. Please cross your fingers for us.

In a sad, sorry attempt to make good news out of this, we determined that if we can't go to sea, it might be safe to have a "sundowner cocktail". Aren't we pathetic?

Cheers,

Laurie and the Cat Tales Crew

Aligning Waterfoul

Although we have to talk to Mr. Hilgenberg in a few minutes, it looks like we're getting our ducks in a row for the crossing. Dawn and I taxied around town getting provisions and filling our propane tank. We got a lift back to the boat with all our stuff from the nice people at West Marine.

Our crew will also be arriving shortly. Brian Jeffrey is about to land at the airport, ~3 miles away, and John Fallon and John Sinclair are about to arrive with our other volunteer, Kent Ross (ham operator VE9KAR); so we are stowing materials, preparing the weblog, getting ready for Herb, and watching the dock for arrivals.

A third volunteer, Garry Brinson, was slated to come if the weather window was later in the week. We have to mention how much his offer means to us, even if we do not use him. The various volunteers had their own windows of opportunity. Volunteering to go offshore at this time of year is a big deal by itself, but few of us can volunteer for an event and sit around in a prepared state, without knowing when the event will occur. If this window falls through, we may still need him. Then of course,
there is always another leg of our journey.

So, we'll catch the "Herb Show", get the crews' gear stowed, and go to supper. We'll let you know tomorrow whether we're still tied to a mooring or out in the deep stuff.

Laurie (& Dawn)

Slide Show

Hi everyone. We had a nice chat with Herb last night and he sees the potential of us leaving for Bermuda either late on Saturday or early on Sunday morning. Regardless, our crew is packing and will both be here sometime tomorrow.

Because not much has been happening here to report on, I put together a little slide show of some of the pictures I have taken along the way. I don't see any real works of art in the collection, but it will give you a feeling for where we've been.

http://www.flowers-cove.ca/CatTales/NBtoRIphotos/index.html


Enjoy,
Dawn

Waiting for Good Weather in Rhode Island

Our weatherman, Herb Hilgenberg, says we may not yet have a weather window. A disturbance is expected to fill the area between here and Bermuda with "gale-force" winds on Saturday. We're doing our best to figure out when to call for our supplementary crew. Who we call depends on when we call; and if we're wrong, we might even be sending crew home because we miss their window of opportunity. It is a little tense, especially for the present crew-member assigned to worry about things. We wait on
Herb's advice, and he doesn't want to hear our troubles. From his point of view, we better darn-well be ready when he says go. If you want to enjoy the planning process, you can go to www.passageweather.com to see prediction simulations on our proposed track. You can see wind, waves, and Gulf Stream simulations for 6 days in advance. I note that the 5th and 6th day forecasts change a lot before they become today's weather.

We're not doing well making new friends here at East Greenwich. Not the fault of the locals - they're all working and showing up only to get boats hauled. It could be we're not trying as hard. We've been to the Club bar, but just didn't get into the right clique, I guess.

We have enjoyed the company of some nice people earlier on our voyage. In Portland, the next slip was soon occupied by a sloop from Lubec, Maine, with a couple about our age. He had worked at numerous jobs and she was a former Llama farmer. They were getting the boat ready for a trip down the ICW and ultimately to Belize. We shared our ICW experience with them, and enjoyed a nice cocktail party with them and members of their extended family in Cat Tales' salon. It was very nice. He was excited
about a large and distinct statue of Jesus in the downtown. Apparently, "By The Jesus" is a common statement in Lubec (as in most places), and he discovered many ways to use the statement in Portland: "I'll be downtown having lunch, and you should meet me there "by the Jesus"; or By the Jesus, there's a great bookstore in Portland.

We also enjoyed the company of a 70-year old black Sociology Professor (still teaching), the son of a Methodist Minister, at the public laundromat in Onset. He had lived both in Halifax and in Louisiana. He had many amazing stories. A favourite is when his 97-year-old mother was showing how to cook something last summer, when the Professor spilled coffee on his shirt. Without thinking, he said 'Oh shit', and was immediately slapped in the face. Still a mother-son relationship. His great grandfather
was white, and when he died, the hospital wouldn't release the white man's body to a black family, so it was buried in a paupers' graveyard by the officials. Many other stories talked about his own history as a learned black man, and of college class discussions on sociology. It seemed our laundry didn't take long enough!

Well, all for now - back to chores - before the "Herb" show, I intend to get some complete engine and battery checks behind me.

Laurie (& Dawn)

Movie of trip from Portland to Cape Cod

Here is a little movie I put together to help you see what we're up to:
(only click on this if you have high speed!)

http://www.flowers-cove.ca/CatTales/gloucester.wmv

Dawn

Cat Tales is in East Greenwich Rhode Island

After roaming the streets of Onset for a couple of days, eating famous Marc Anthony's Pizza, and enjoying the jazz band at a local watering hole, we headed out into Buzzard's Bay for an unbelievable day. The wind was light, but in the right direction, the current was also in our favour. We effortlessly made our way past Newport and right on up the East Passage and the Narragansett Bay and into shallow, sheltered Grenwich Bay where we are tied up to a mooring.

We made ice, water and each had a shower along the way as the trip did require a fair bit of motoring. We'll put the ice to use right away after sending this note out! After all, a celebratory drink is in order. We have made the journey this far through cold rain, a hurricane, uncountable amounts of fishing traps, and many cold, damp nights.

Tomorrow's efforts include doing all we can to make solid contact with Herb Hilgenberg, our weather guru, topping up diesel, gas, and propane, and making all checks in anticipation of extra crew and the future passage across the gulf stream to Bermuda.

Cheers

N41 38.3 W070 41.7 Near Cleveland East Ledge Light

Laurie and Dawn are under way in Buzzards Bay this morning. Winds are lite 4kts on the Beam . They were motor sailing. All well aboard.(posted by John)

Onset

It is a beautiful, sunny day in Onset, with little wind. Temperature is already near 19 degrees Celsius at 10:00 local time. We'll be going ashore for laundry and supplies, and will be planning our trip to Newport. Tonight, however, we intend to go to a little bar to hear a 50s band.

Cheers,
Laurie & Dawn

Cat Tales in Onset Mass.

We had a quick trip down the canal with a great current pushing us along. The wind was wild and still is as we sit here on our mooring ball owned by the town. We have decided to head into town with our dinghy and revisit the great pizza place where we ate a couple of years ago along with a great jazz bar for the evening.

We'll stay here for a few days and then head out into Buzzard's Bay towards Newport Rhode Island, an 8 hour trip from here. Buzzards Bay can get pretty wild with wind and current, so we'll be watching for good weather before heading out.

Take care all,

Dawn (& Laurie)

Heading Through the Canal

It's pouring rain this morning with gusty winds on the nose, however, the current is with us, so we'll head down the canal and tie up at Onset, a small community at the end of the Canal. There will be no sailing outside in the "big waters" today!

Dawn

Reasons we like Skidoo Suit Sailing!

We crossed the Cape Cod Bay this morning and are overnighting in Sandwich, a small marina at the mouth of the canal and are tied up to the dock for 2 bucks a foot. We had no choice because the tide was against us to get through the canal to get to Onset at the far end. We'll head there tomorrow. We had a great walk, lunch at a local pub and a trip through their local museum.

We made this list today to entertain ourselves! Today hasn't been one of those cold days, but instead has been beautiful with lots of sunshine!

Reasons We like Skidoo Suit Sailing:

1. The fridge works the very best...with cooling from sea water, we can freeze lettuce in less than 1/2 hour, and chill beer at the same rate.
2. If there's no room for beer in the fridge, bilge temperature beer is just fine.
3. When doing an overnight crossing, one can sleep in one's clothes and not have to get dressed for his/her shift.
4. Boiling hot coffee becomes drinkable in a very short space of time.
5. Dawn's hot flashes are at a minimum...and when Dawn's happy, everyone is happy.
6. No pesky boat boys looking to do chores for money.
7. Nobody is in a rush to come out to our boat to collect mooring ball fees.
8. No crowded harbours.
9. Much lower need for sunscreen, especially since it does nothing for wind burn or frostbite.
10. No salty wet bathing suits to contend with.
11. Ice seems to last forever in our drinks.
12. When you take a tumble while out in the high seas, your survival suit has enough padding to protect you from injury.
13. A constantly fogged mirror saves time by not promoting shaving or applying makeup.
14. No sunbathers to step over to make a sail change.
15. No dog flies, horse flies, deer flies, moose flies, black flies, no-see-ums, or mosquitoes.

N 41 56.17 W 070 17.39

At 9:30 asdst Laurie and Dawn were sailing in the middle of Cape Cod Bay on their way to the Cape Cod Canal. They had 8Kts from the WNW and had about 14 nm to go. All well aboard with 19 degrees C in the cabin. Breakfast this AM was cereal...Posted by John

Touring on a Tandem Bike

Yesterday, Dawn and I went into Provincetown and rented a tandem bike for two hours. They are tricky to get going on, trying to coordinate two people starting from zero at the same time. I took the steering wheel only because Dawn refused. We did a pretty big loop around Provincetown and the whole end of the Cape. Fantastic views of the dunes and of the rough scrub, hills, kettle-ponds, and salt flats. All in all it is a pretty neat place. We investigated a little museum for shipwreck life
saving, and got a quick education regarding the number of ships that have come to grief on this little coast. The numbers are amazing!

Dawn here: The back seat of a tandem bike is a real experience! I thought I'd be able to NOT peddle all the time, however, if the front peddles go, then so do the back, so, I had to do my share on the hills! At one point, I jumped off on a nice steep climb and ran to the top, leaving Laurie to go it alone. I think he was happy with the extra weight off the back! We enjoyed a hearty bowl of Portuguese Kale soup at a local restaurant, packed full of vegetables and sausage. We might go back for
a second bowl today!

With the sending of this note, we will request some weather data to decide if we will take the 4 hour crossing to the Cape Cod Canal. There, we can either investigate a little town called Sandwich, or travel the Canal 2 hours to Onset. The trip down the canal has to be timed with the tides and they're not lined up well on this date. You either have to be at the canal early in the morning (and it's 4 hours from here to get to that spot), or you have to go through after dark on the next tide. You
can see the dilemma.

As we're a little early to this part of the journey, we have extra time to use up. However, we're still glad to have the cold New England, 2-handed overnighters behind us for a while.

We're in Provincetown Ma

Hi Folks:

We left Portland yesterday at 10:40 a.m. local time intending to sail overnight and arrive here on the Cape around 9 a.m. today. However, winds were strong, and with two reefs in our main and a small hankie of a jib, we could not slow down. After a very spirited sail, and even after going less than 3 knots for the last 2-3 hours, we had made it into the harbour and tied to a mooring by 5:00 a.m. It was pitch dark, and we putted around lobster buoys at dead slow.

Not much sleep last night, but we did sleep from 6 to 9:30 this morning. It was quite a sail, and the boat is crusted with salt. We saw dolphins, and large whales, and neither of us really felt seasick. That is the last overnighter until we leave Rhode Island for the 4-6 day trip to Bermuda. Yaay.

A special thanks to John Fallon, who has helped us so much over the last 6 years in this dream. If you see him today, remember that it is his birthday! (a milestone, at that). Of course, we're also indepted to Herb Hilgenberg, who, with good weather predictions, has kept us out of trouble.

We're intending to stay two nights here, and look around before moving on to Onset via the Cape Cod Canal. If we're lucky, we'll get a sprinkle of rain to get all the salt off. We'll write to tell you about Provincetown. We know it to be a very interesting place. Maybe we can post some pictures at the next internet site.

We should tell you about the couple we met in Portland. Jimmie and Renee are fixing up a 36' monohull to take down the ICW and ultimately to Belize. With our bit of experience of the ICW, we were able to inject some info into their planning process. It works a lot like that, along these voyages. We meet people and pump them for useful information. Of course, we had a warm get-together with them and their extended family in Cat Tale's salon, during the process. Warm, because by then we had purchased
a heater and run a cord to shore.

Cheers,
Laurie

Cape Cod Provincetown

This morning Laurie and Dawn are anchored in Provincetown on Cape Cod all well aboard. They arrived this morning at 6:oo adt . I have another radio sked with them at 11:00 adt. Posted by John

N 43 12 W 70 09 Gulf of Maine Off shore Cape Neddiclk 19nm...

Cat Tales is underway heading for Cape Cod with 70nm to go. Currently they have good winds off shore at 20-25 Kts. They are making 8 kts plus. If conditions remain unchanged they would be in Prvince Town in less than 10 hours. Weather for the area is expected to moderate to 10 to 15 kts west. Posted by John...All well aboard.

Leaving Portland

Hi Folks:

Cold night last night - even now at 0900 local time it is only 7 Celsius. We're starting another jump in an hour or so, this time to Provincetown on the Cape. We hope to be at sea only 22 hours or less, and are expecting 15-20 knots of wind off the land until darkness, when it is supposed to lighten up. With the wind off the land, seas should be low, and except for the cold and lack of sleep, we ought to be fine. We believe we're away from the worst of the lobster fishery problem, but will go
well offshore to be sure.

Cheers,
Laurie

Cat Tales Still waiting for weather in Portland

Laurie and I listened to the rain constantly overnight and woke up to a very damp boat. After a quick cup of coffee we headed out for showers and breakfast at a cute little granola type hole in the wall where they make their own bagels and sprouts and stuff. After that, we headed back out the road to the little strip mall to buy an electric heater (wish we hadn't returned Ken Ward's back at the RKYC!) and we purchased a trickle charger since we weren't keeping the batteries up on the boat because
of the lack of sun, and wind here at the dock. Most people are able to connect to shore power, however, since our boat was made in France, the connections are all wrong here on this continent. We also purchased another 6 pack of propane canisters for heating and drying out the boat while away from electricity.

We have another boat tied up beside us on the dock. They're a nice couple from northern Maine heading for Belize. They have a bit of work to do to the boat while underway, but then again who hasn't!

Ruth Giberson and her husband Ian, from home (owner of the Tannaghtyn B&B in Florenceville) are booked on a cruise on the Queen Mary 2 sometime early in October, so we feel that any day now, we will look out and see Ruth and Ian as little specks on the deck of that big ship. The last time we headed south on Cat Tales, we saw the Queen Mary 2 on three different occasions, one of them right here in Portland!

We talked to Herb Hilgenberg this afternoon and he told us to stay put for yet another day. He suggested that the winds will be favourable on Sat, Sun and even into Monday. So, I guess we're here, connected to electricity, and staying warm and cozy for another day or two!

Dawn

"Grib" Weather Files

Hi folks: Just a posting of old news to keep people interested. This is called a "grib file". We get it from appropriate sources via the ham radio. The arrows show the wind direction, with the number of feathers depicting the average strength of the wind. A few days ago, we were on a mooring, hoping we were safe from a hurricane forecasted for the region. This is the estimated readout of the storm Kyle which was provided to us on the day of the storm, showing the projected landfall pretty much directly on top of us. Of course, Kyle hit more than 50 nautical miles to the east of us, and was rather weak. Still, you can imagine Dawn's concerns when this appeared on her screen.

Wednesday had us sitting in Portland under overcast and drizzly skies, and running errands to keep the boat going. We've been advised to stay put tomorrow, by Herb Hilgenberg, our weather guru. Instead of travelling, we'll get propane for the heaters, parts, fuel, and maybe some local Sam Adams. Downtown Portland was pretty neat 4 years ago. Maybe we'll go again. Beats crawling through the damp boat running the new GPS antenna.

Cheers, Laurie and Dawn