DIANTHUS

Dianthus is our Canadian Sailcraft 36 sailboat (Merlin version) we purchased in December 2011.



Sunday, November 5, 2017

Double-Handed Back to Newport, or Carol's Big Adventure!

Bermuda.  I've been there probably a dozen times.  I don't need to go to the Swizzle Inn (and stagger out).  Or any of the other sights.  The St. Georges Dinghy and Sports Club is a bit... dingy though and sometimes you need to go do something.  Fortunately the America's Cup races were on island over at the Dockyard.  Several of us took the high speed ferry over and saw the first day of racing for the finals of the challenger series.  New Zealand v. Artemis.



At the Moet Chandon tent!
Roy, Ray, Kristen and me.
New Zealand wins!












Now in 2015 when I did the 1-2, Carol was there for a few days.  She was constantly asked, "so, are you the "2"?"   Well, after doing a bunch of double handed races on Chesapeake Bay the past two years, often in rather rough, windy weather, she decided this time she'd be the "TWO".

Carol flew in a few days prior to the start back to Newport.  I had procured probably the widest plank to walk on to the boat being "Med moored" to the seawall.  At least now we don't have to set and anchor and worry about it dragging as the club has several mooring balls that you tie your bow to and then drift back to the seawall and tie up.  The last couple of days were spent inspecting the boat and prepping for offshore, a weather briefing and discussion about the Gulf Stream.

"Med" moored at the Dinghy Club.  DIANTHUS is number  8


The start for Thursday June 15th had been moved up to 9:00 am from our usual 11:00 Atlantic (Bermuda) start time due to the maxi boats racing in the area we would be transiting.  Feeling a bit rushed we untied from the seawall and needed help untying from the mooring ball due to wind and the proximity of the other boats.  Finally free and clear we headed across the harbor with the idea of getting some fuel and then going to the Custom's House to pick up my flare gun that I had unfortunately admitted to having on board when I cleared in a week earlier.  Should have just left it home.  With Carol as the helm I popped below to turn on the instruments and came topside to find...NOTHING on the displays.  Oh, they were backlit, but no data.  Great.  Meanwhile I'm trying to figure out exactly how to get to the fuel dock and not run aground on a reef that is nearby.   On top of this I see multiple boats arriving at the Custom's House and starting to tie up.   I ended up deciding I wasn't going to get fuel and we'd just go pick up the damn flare gun.  Oh, but there is no room and it's definitely going to be a while.  Just then I see one of the very nice Bermudian Custom's ladies on the dock and I quickly explain that I just need to get my flare gun.  She says to come on in so we raft up to another boat, I hop off and 5 minutes later we're out of there.

The Bermuda 1-2 double handed leg starts at the west end of the harbor.  That means you SAIL out the cut; a narrow  (probably 200 foot wide) entrance blasted through the rock and coral.  At least the wind was out of the west and would be directly behind us so we wouldn't have to tack or motor through the cut as allowed in the rules of the race.  Carol was on the helm as usual when we are racing double handed.  I was directing her where to go and plotting our tactic for the start as well as trying to keep track of all the other boats so we wouldn't get in a tight spot.  Thinking we might be able to fly our spinnaker I rig the sail and get everything set.  First the Class 4 slowest)  boats start and they sail out with most boats flying spinnakers.  Then I realize our course to the cut will be exactly dead downwind.  Not only a slow point of sail, but if it shifts  at all after I hoist the sail, we'll have to gybe and of course that will be when Mr. Murphy shows up...nah, no spinnaker hoist now.  Finally our class goes in to sequence and we come in to the start line on port, round the pin and nail the start leading our class by several seconds.

We head out the cut and there is a crowd of onlookers on the rocks waving and cheering as the boats sail by.  Over all the voices I hear Margo (girlfriend of another racer) yelling to us.  Always good to have a cheering section!  Now that we're clear of the Cut and in deep water we can head for the first mark, Mills Breaker and I'm pondering putting up the spinnaker.  The sky however has gotten dark and gray to the northwest and shortly it's sprinkling rain.  Not sure if heavy air will accompany the rain I elect to stay with the Jib.  A couple of boats pass us but for the most part all of our Class 3 competitors are close at hand.

AGGRESSIVE,  C&C 35
CORDELIA, Valiant 42












Meanwhile, some of our instruments have started working but still no wind data.  Great.  Earlier in the week I had gone to the top of the mast to check the rig after the brutal crossing over and everything looked good.  Now I'm wondering if I overlooked something; is the data cable from the wind wand loose?  Two hours out and Bermuda is getting hazy behind us, the sky is beautiful, the sea the deep, purply blue I've come to love when sailing beyond the Gulf Stream and calm with just 1-2 foot wavelets.  I'm sitting there knowing what I need to do and thinking now is the only time I'm going to have to do it safely.  Carol looks at me and says, you're going up the mast aren't you?  Yep.

I strap myself into the bos'un's chair, put my kayak helmet on and rig a safety line with a prusik knot around another halyard that is fastened off.  Carol starts to grind me up and I'm about 5 feet off the deck when I remember the camera.  STOP!  She hands me the camera because without pics... IT DIDN'T HAPPEN.   She tries to time her turns on the winch handle with the roll of the boat and soon I'm 52' up in the air.  The wind instrument looks good, the cable is secure.  Damn, I was hoping this was the problem.  Then again at least it isn't coming loose.  I take a few pics and soak in the view (damn is it pretty), and then call for Carol to lower me down.  This is probably the 4th time in the past month she's had to grind me up the mast and she is well versed in how to safely lower me down.  Still, I am very glad to have a safety line JUST IN CASE.
View from above, Carol grinding the winch
52' up.  Don't want to get a headache!     










We're making good time and late in the afternoon we overtake Gus on BLUEBIRD, a Morris Justine 36 in Class 4.  We take pictures of him and them of us and later exchange photos. The first night out is pretty mild and the wind eases.  We watch a sunrise come up over a really calm, almost glassy sea. The wind is light and with the slight wave action the sails slat back and forth.  That is really hard on a sail and the noise just grates on me.  In 7 hours we make about 14 miles.  Finally the wind starts to pick up; we see ripples on the water and we start moving.  Listening to the VHF I hear others in our class complaining about not having any wind and asking what conditions the others are experiencing.  I say nothing knowing this is our opportunity to make some headway and try to get a lead.

By early afternoon the wind is up in the high teens and out boat speed is pushing 8 freaking knots! SMOKIN!  I write in the logbook. This continues for all day Friday and into Saturday.  Saturday night as the sun starts to drop I decide to take down the spinnaker we have had up and down during the afternoon as the sky is starting to look stormy.  We're approaching the Gulf Stream and because of the bathtub water temperature of the Stream, thunderstorms are a distinct possibility.  Midnight comes and it's DARK with lightning everywhere around us.  Rain sets in but just a gentle soaking, nothing violent.  We seem to have hit the GS just right.  There was a big "knuckle" that we were aiming for so as not to be sailing directly into the foul current and we are making decent speed.  About this time I get a text message from Dan,  my double handed partner from 2015 saying we have moved into 1st place in our class over CORDELIA!  Wow.  He had texted me earlier saying we were in 3rd, then moved up to 2nd.  Now in first place this lights a fire in us.  We know it will be hard to hang on to first place but if we can cross the line first that's a big deal too.


Hitting the Gulf Stream; boats are getting pushed off to the East.
The straight red line represents the Rhumb Line from Bermuda
to Newport.

The wind is light now that we're out of the GS and I play with various sail combinations trying to get the boat moving better.  Finally with our big Red/White/Blue spinnaker up we start moving and it stays up til the middle of the night.  We're making 8 knots and in just over 4.5 hours we make 34 miles.  The spin comes down in the middle of the night as the wind increases; it's probably blowing 18 or so right on the beam and the spinnaker pole is just barely off the forestay.  I am surprised the chute hasn't blown out by now!  Looking at our log entries we make 25 miles in 3 hours 20 min.  This is getting exciting!


The trailing tails show the effect of the Gulf Stream.
CORDELIA was having some "issues" as evidenced by her
meandering track.
Monday morning I'm on the helm hand steering a little after 0600 when Carol sticks her head out the companionway and says Justin on CONCUSSION (an Olson 30) is calling a PAN-PAN.  I yell at her to grab pen/paper and write down whatever they broadcast. They have a crack in their mast and want to advise everyone of their situation.  They actually are able to reach the Coast Guard, who informs them they will dispatch a cutter out to meet them.  I call Justin to get his exact position and course realizing that we may very well have to rescue them if the mast comes down.  His outboard motor had pretty much crapped out by the time he got to Bermuda so he would have no way to get to Newport if he loses the mast.  We discuss options for him to repair/stabilize the mast and come up with a possible solution.  He ends up wrapping the mast with high modulus line and slathering it with fast setting epoxy that basically made a cast around the mast.   For the next 4 or 5 hours I check in with him hourly to get position updates until we hear the Coast Guard show up.  Still can't see him but we hear all the radio chatter and we're getting closer to him.


Early Monday morning, 124 miles
to go, making almost 9 knots!

Monday morning, last day.



In all this we've been playing tag with YANKEE GIRL, another Morris Justine.  Zach is sailing the hell out of that boat trying to keep far enough ahead of BLUEBIRD to win the second leg to go along with his win on the first leg.   Fog sets in, the wind has increased perceptibly and we're doing almost 9 knots at times.  I get a text from my buddy Dan saying that racing was cancelled at Block Island due to high winds.  Great, we're going to finish in the dark in high wind and rough seas.  By now the wind is blowing consistently over 20 on the beam, or at least I estimate it to be so and a quick radio call to YANKEE GIRL confirms this.  We're in 5,6 sometimes 8 foot seas and doing a solid 7-8  knots.  Late in the afternoon I decide to put up the storm jib and while our speed drops a bit, the boat is more comfortable and we're still making good time.  I hear CORDELIA call YANKEE GIRL and I realize there is no way we'll finish far enough in front of them to win on corrected time but we should finish first on elapsed time.  By now we've caught up to CONCUSSION and their CG escort TIGER SHARK.  Fog sets in again and the Coasties are blowing the fog horn.  Amazingly CONCUSSION is still sailing and making 6+ knots with just a reefed main and no jib!

Coast Guard cutter TIGER SHARK
Just barely visible in the center is the
mast of CONCUSSION.










Carol on watch the last afternoon.

We approach the finish "line", an imaginary line 0.5 mile to the SW of Red 2 outside the entrance to Narragansett Bay.  YANKEE GIRL has passed us in the dark, and it's blowing hard and the waves are up.  Zach finishes, then less than 2 minutes later we cross at 9:45pm, followed a few minutes later by CONCUSSION.  The CG is right behind Jason and there is a small CG vessel coming out to tow him in.  Needless to say it was a bit hairy out there.  We get the storm jib down and then the main and turn a big circle to let the CG and Justin go by.

Finishing all three of us less than 0.4 miles in trail.
YANKEE GIRL,  DIANTHUS,  CONCUSSION

Now the fun begins.  It's dark, no moon, blowing 20+ and we've got to find our way through the harbor with boats anchored or on moorings everywhere, and with the lights on shore it's hard to see what's in front of you.  We hear Zach talking with the race coordinator about a slip at the yacht club and he doesn't want to go where they plan to put him.  I wasn't wild about where they wanted to put us, so when he decides to go to a mooring ball I ask about the slip he turned down.  It actually was in a good location and easy to find in the dark.  After getting all our lines and fenders rigged I head in, aiming right at the seawall on Long Wharf, turn left down the fairway and see Roy and company on the dock.  He's yelling at me to slow down; not happening tonight, I need to keep control in this wind.  I turn into the slip, almost straight into the wind, pull back on the throttle for just a second as Carol tosses the bow line to Roy.  I lean over and toss the stern line to the other dock hand and the boat stops and settles down.  As they say in basketball, nothing but net!  Didn't touch anything and the boat gets tied up safe and sound.  We've made it. It's after 11pm, we're tired, somewhat wet, smelly, sweaty, and hungry.  Oh, and they tell us Customs won't be there until morning and we're supposed to stay on the boat.  Damn, I really wanted a shower.

10 minutes later there's a knock on the hull and we find out that Customs is at the yacht club and want to see us.  We trudge up with passports and documents in hand and get cleared in.  Hot showers are next and then we fix something to eat.






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