The end would be in sight if only.....

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Mon 14 May 2012 15:04
36:16.63N 75:20.86W

Monday 14th May

A much more eventful day (sorry readers!): around 0700 hrs we started
heading across what we thought was the Gulf Stream as the current north
began to increase. You may wonder why we have been going on at such length
about this occurrence. One would think that if there is a nice north-ward
going current it would be a good idea to join it as early as possible and
take the sleigh ride (a bit like the turtles in Finding Nemo!) but as we
have found to our cost, the nearer you are to the continent of America the
more extreme weather changes you may experience, and you would NOT want a
northerly wind blowing against the current which kicks up huge seas.
Subsequently the perceived wisdom is to cut across it at 90 degrees which is
harder than you would imagine. Eventually we ended up with a 4+ knot
current and as we are also trying to slow down our speed at the moment (to
enable a dawn entry into the Chesapeake on Tuesday), we weren't carrying as
much sail as we might wish, so we were actually heading south but being
carried due west with the ferry gliding motion - for the best part of 40
miles! Quite what the ships bearing down on us made of it all we not sure.
The sea temperature rose by 3 degrees to 31.5 while we were within the Gulf
Stream.

We ambitiously both had showers wedged on the back deck in the very rolly
seas (another day without a good wash was beyond the pale) - and jolly
chilly it was to expose bare wet bodies to a 20 knot wind. On the western
side of the GS the sea depths go from over 4000m to about 40m! So with the
Atlantic swell rolling in beam on and, guess what, another change to the
weather forecast (no, not the nice benign southerly with small seas we have
an easterly of 20k gusting 25k and a ESE wind chop - we weren't stupid
enough to really believe our luck had changed!) the seas are 8'with a short
interval. And together with our reduced sail makes for another
uncomfortable day and night. It is also very noisy down below as every
item in the boat tries to throw itself from one side of the boat to the
other - every tea towel is employed padding something! As the weather
forecast has changed and we may expect squalls, we also wrestled the bimini
cover back onto its frame so that we have some shelter from the rain. We
really do find things to do at sea....

My friend Jo and I have previously had long discussions on flat feet (I am
sure your ears weren't burning, Ewan) and balance; and she tells me that
the constant re-positioning on a boat is very good to strengthen feet as you
get older and makes it less likely that you will experience falls in real
old age. So after this passage my Donald Duck flippers are going to be
positive stabilisers!

The GS took all day to cross and in the evening Rob had another attempt at
fishing and actually caught a Little Tunney, (that's what they are called -
not a reference to its size, it is sufficient for 3 meals at least so not so
little), great celebrations and a relieved cook who can put the emergency
Fray Bentos tins back in the bilge..... So we quickly sorted it out and
Rob went off watch. As dusk fell I was joined in the cockpit by a very
large flying fish flapping all over the place - luckily there was enough
light to be able to scoop it into a bucket and lob it (well a small bounce
on the deck!) overboard. I had just finished scrubbing my hands from the
Tunney and really didn't need this - flying fish have huge scales and shed
them copiously. Why is it that some fish have scales and the tuna, for
instance don't? In fact the evening was very entertaining regarding live
stock: a few dolphin joined us momentarily (our slow wallow did not engage
their interest) and I could watch the flying fish off the starboard bow in
our new, replacement, incredibly bright Lopo navigation light (no 4 in the
series, all replaced under warranty which is astonishing). During the day
these fish set off to avoid predators in very elegant flights just above the
waves and can go for several hundreds of metres (despite what the books
say). At night it is apparent (do they need eyesight to achieve accurate
flight?) they just take off vertically like Polaris missiles, so it is no
wonder we end up with a crop on deck - and they were firing off all over the
place. I now realise that most of them most get washed/flapped off
overboard again - I could even hear them bouncing off the aluminium dinghy
bottom on deck!

During the night there were a few ships to watch going up and down past us,
and one tug with a very long tow (quarter of a mile) to avoid. We could
also see the sodium glow in the sky of various of the towns ashore. The
navigation lights are also impressive (after several years of the Med and
the Caribbean where there are hardly any and those may have dragged out of
position, have disappeared, or worse be there, but unlit so become a hazard;
or some kind soul has decided to add their own uncharted buoy and light);
those that I could see last night had listed visible distances of, for
instance, 3 miles but I could see it 25 miles away!

This morning Rob is very disappointed: we are 8 miles away from land having
travelled all this way (in a timescale comparable with that of our Atlantic
crossing which is twice the distance!) and can't see anything yet except for
the buoy and tower we went between at Cape Hatteras. Yes, we rounded this
other potential nasty at 0915 this morning. The day is greyish and
obviously rolly (!) but the end is in sight (well it would be if the east
coast was quite so flat!) - we hope to enter Hampton Roads, the entry into
Chesapeake at dawn tomorrow so don't expect too much news, as we will be
making our way the 30 miles to our destination up the Elizabeth River and
then doing customs etc.

And just to set off a very positive day we have just been joined by about 10
huge dolphins (Common Bottlenose) diving under the bow, jumping and slapping
down alongside.

Just need a whale to show itself now.