Starting Atlantic crossing today

We are leaving today for the Azores, a leg of about 1800 nm. If we choose a more northerly route, it will be about 1900 nm, but also more wind and a faster passage. We will decide when we see how it looks like out there. We think we will use about 18 days, an average of about 100nm a day. Our computer passage planner says 13 days, but we don't believe him. We will keep you updated with satellite messages as usual.

We had to order the rigging parts, four shroud exit plates, from USA, but it took only three days with FedEx. We are very happy that we could do this repair now and that we have a rigg we can trust. The old plates were cracked and it felt very bad to set sail with them not changed.

We had a uncomfortable night when the cold front passed us on Wednesday. We had wind of 25-30 knots, gusting 35 knots, and the rain was very heavy. It was impossible to take the dinghy ashore without getting soaked because of the spray. But anyway, better to be in harbour than at sea when the weather is bad.

Now everything is ready, we only have to check out, buy some fruits and vegetables, stow the dinghy on deck and fill diesel and water. We will now bring about 250 liters of diesel, more than ever before. But this is also the longest passage so far on our trip. But we look forward to go to sea now, and we are well prepared.

PS! We bought ourselves some new DVD's, among them the complete "24 hours" TV-series. That means it is no problem if the passage take us up to 24 days...., we will still have one episode a day!

Bermuda

Who can sail without wind? Yes, Bonanza can! The leg from Cuba to Bermuda took us no less than 13 days, and we had expected about 8 days. With little or no wind except the last day, we averaged about 70 nm a day. We don't have big fuel tanks on Bonanza, only 70 liters and about the same on jerry cans, so motoring the whole way was not an option. But we are sailing, aren't we? And then, we arrive when we arrive, impossible to plan the wind.



Quiet days on the sea is not bad at all, and the days passed very quickly. We read many of our books and saw all of our new DVD movies that should last to the Azores! All the way, we had company of sailing jellyfish, called Portugese Man of War. They have a sail and we have heard that they can even sail against the wind. The are also very dangerous, so you don't want to touch them. In the middle of our passage, we could hear stations from Florida on our VHF. That amazed us, it was a distance of about 500nm, and far above normal VHF range of about 40 nm. Also, approaching Bermuda, we could listen to Bermuda Radio several days before we arrived.



Harald, Arild's brother did a great job sending us weatherforecasts every day on the sat-phone. In addition we downloaded weatherfaxes from USA on our SSB receiver. Together we could make up our mind about the weather situation. On this leg we had nothing to fear. The next leg will be worse, with greater probability of strong winds.



Bermuda is nothing like the Caribbean, it is more like Europe, but with some very special houses with white roofs. It seems like a wealthy island(s), but the bad thing is the prices here, it is worse than in Norway. St. Georges, where we stay, is a small town, but very nice. Many boats are anchored in the harbour, many of them are bound for Europe. Many norwegian boats have left for Azores already, and some left yesterday. We will stay here on Bermuda until Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the weather. A deep low is moving in from the west, and we want to wait until it has passed. We will use the time to fix a minor problem in the rigging and buy more jerry cans. If we have the time, we want to go to the Maritime Museum. Bermuda is a british crown colony with alot of maritime history.

Iridium messages Cuba - Bermuda

(5.14.2006) 3223N 6440W Finally on Bermuda after 13 days at sea! Plan to be here only a couple of days to prepair for next leg.

(5.13.2006) 3124N 6553W 82nm last 24h, STILL NOT HARMED BY FRIGHTENING PORTUGUESE MAN OF WAR THAT HAS SURROUNDED US FOR MANY DAYS NOW!

(5.12.2006) 3020N 6655W, 77NM LAST 24HR. 172NM LEFT. JE JE ITS CLOSING DOWN!

(5.11.2006) 2918N 6748W 41nm last 24h, 249nm left. Last night no wind at all, better now but NE, wrong direction. But weather is nice, not so hot anymore.

(5.10.2006) 2842N 6811W 95NM LAST 24H. 290NM TO GO.

(5.09.2006) 2730N 6924W 76nm last 24h, 385 left. Good wind right now, making 4.5kt. Almost finished all our DVD movies, but have plenty of food and water.

(5.08.2006) 2629N 7013W 79nm last 24h, 461 left. Still light and variable vinds, but we make progress. We understand that sailships feared the Sargasso sea.

(5.07.2006) 2519N 7056W 68NM LAST 24H. 540NM TO GO. NO WIND, DRIFTING WITH CURRENT IN THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE...

(5.06.2006) 2427N 7145W. 41NM LAST 24H, 608NM TO GO. ALMOST NO WIND, USED MOST OF THE DIESEL.

(5.05.2006) 2359N 7219W 84NM LAST 24H. FINALLY BETTER WIND!9 DOLPHINS AROUND THE BOAT TODAY.

(5.04.2006) 2251N 7313W 57nm last 24h, 733 left. Slow sailing, but very comfortable. Enjoying DVD movies and a lot of new books. Sun is shining today also.

(5.03.2006) 2214N 7402W STILL AGAINST NE WIND.82 NM LAST 24H. 790NM TO GO. GOOD WORK WITH THE FORECAST, HARALD,SO FAR VERY ACCURATE!

(5.02.2006) 2133N 7516W LIGHT WINDS FROM WRONG DIRECTION:-( 45 NM LAST 24H, 900 TO GO

(5.01.2006) 2104N 7557W Customs cleared, leaving Cuba for Bermuda. Nice weather and forecast. 926nm to go, estimated time 8 days.