Bob, bob, bobbing along

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Fri 11 May 2012 11:38
29:44.75N 73:21.77W

Friday morning 11th May

Well the weather system has obviously decided to teach forecasters that this
is nature and it will do what it wants.

After sailing south for two days we finally set off north west again early
morning yesterday heading for a collision with the cold front around
midnight last night. In reality we met it in the afternoon, further south
than predicted and a good deal more benign. The steady winds were merely 15
or so knots and the squalls topped out at 25 knots. There was a lot of rain
but none of the horrific stuff we were told to expect. (We gather satellite
images show all the big 40+ knot gusts were north and west of us.) There
were some impressive lightening shows - mainly firing up out of the clouds
rather than aiming downwards (good news!) and no thunder; in fact the
thunder clouds seemed to be barely moving. I also spotted some amazing
shooting stars, so vivid I expected them to hiss into the sea nearby.

As we emerged from under the front the wind veered from SW to north and died
away leaving us to motor sail again for several hours before finally we were
able to start sailing again. But the bad news today is that the wind is
coming almost exactly from where are trying to go, which means in theory a
600 mile beat to windward. We have been advised though that this will drop
away tonight to nil and that we will be motoring for at least two days
including the crossing the Gulf Stream assuming we have even reached that
far north by then. Given that we have limited fuel, these will leave things
quite tight for when we reach the Chesapeake and still have 6 hours to motor
up the Elizabeth river.

Sarah had a fun visit from 6 Atlantic Spotted dolphins around 7pm last night
(still light) and the pack was 5 adults and a very energetic juvenile which
was doing all the leaping and showing off. We also had a pair of Tropic
birds visit us on different occasions through the day and again the game
seemed to be all about attempting to land on our mast head. Now you will
understand that this is a near impossibility as the top of the mast is some
60 feet above the deck and the boat was pitching and rolling in the main
swell with 10ft waves and we were sailing at 6 knots with an 18 knot wind
coming at right angles. One of them was very persistent and very nearly made
it, but sadly at the crucial moment, Serafina bucked and the poor bird got
smacked by the VHF aerial array. He made a very disgruntled squawk and
abandoned all further attempts.

So we have around 640 miles to run still (as a crow might, wishfully, fly)
and it sounds like Wednesday might now be our arrival date (Sorry Greta!!)
but the only bad weather currently thought possible, would actually be a
benefit as it would give us stronger southerly wind as we approach
Chesapeake. We will just have to wait and see and wonder how we can eke out
the remaining fuel. (we brought Henry's rudder back on board at 0300 hrs as
it presents a big drag when not in use which will help a bit.)