The following entries were taken from the ship's log for the trip
By Robin Taylor – Alias: "The Admiral"
OUTBOUND FOR BERMUDA
Official Contessa Crewmembers: Roy and Robin Taylor (Captain/Admiral), Bud
and Jeannie Starr (All around good guy/galley wench), and Tracy Smart
(Australian doc and photo/PR queen)
18 Jun 01
Left Hampton docks at 0930, refueled at Sunset Harbor Docks and then headed
out to the bay for the start of the race. 1100--the Race is on…and we quickly
must admit Contessa is not a "speed queen" lady…ah well…all those
other boats look real pretty with their sterns across our bow. By using Captn
Navigator (computer program) and hugging the shore, we were able to catch most
of the pack while they tacked to deep water. All was looking good until we got
to the Hampton roads tunnel and Roy back-winded the boat (in front of God and
all the other crews!)…those boats sure did look pretty sailing by…we quickly
were alone. Jeannie and Bud made Sub sandwiches for lunch and shrimp fajitas for
dinner…my kind of crew! They took the 2200-0200 shift and Tracy and I took the
0200-0600 shift (…and Roy slept…). Night was gorgeous and uneventful.
Music/talk/sleep…pretty great first day at sea. Oh yea…Bud and I did not get
sick at all – God love Dramamine! No fish today (sigh).
19 Jun 01
Bud, Jeannie and Tracy now all have officially logged their
1st 24 hours at sea! Breakfast of fruit and pastries…naps…lunch of chicken
sandwiches/leftover shrimp fajitas…reading/sunning/bird watching/chatting/more
naps and meatball sandwiches for dinner (are you catching a common theme here?)
Boy are we relaxed. The major excitement for the day was entering the Gulf
Stream at about 1100; warm air, lots of floating grass, and a current moving us
20 degrees off course. Wind died and moved to "right on the nose" in
the evening (yuk). Ah well – we made popcorn, put Castaway in the DVD player
and kicked back for "movies on the low seas". The night was beautiful
(despite the fact we had to motor all night). Still no boats to be seen…just
us, lots of blue water, the hum of the engine and an occasional flying fish…"lovely".
Note: Roy reeled in our first fish around 5 PM, only a 15" Bonita, but at
least it was a fish!!!
20 Jun 01
Roy took Tracy’s and my watch so I popped up at 0530 to
witness seas of glass and a glorious sunrise and feel gentle warm breezes on my
skin. We’re trying to be "mad" that the wind is on our nose and we’re
moving slowly under motor…but it is just too pretty! Caught our second fish
last night…well OK, a flying fish impaled himself into our foredeck. Wind
stayed on our nose all day and we got into a reverse current – only made about
3 knots/hour. On the brighter side, Roy and I had now clocked our first 48 hrs
continuous at sea (YEA!). Roy and Tracy both caught their first dolphin of the
trip (27 & 21 inches respectively) and Robin grilled up the "best fish
ever eaten" (per Tracy) for dinner!!! We also took our first real shower
and washed our hair (nothing like the "little things" to put a smile
on your face). Some good reading/chatting on the stern while watching yet
another spectacular sunset and off for a nap until our turn for night watch.
21 Jun 01
Tracy and I started our watch with Tim Tams (Aussie cookies
– GREAT) and coffee. Winds still on the nose but we now are in a positive
current so we’re getting about 6 knots under motor. Sunrise was "picture
perfect"…warm breeze, calm seas, and just enough clouds in front of the
sun to add color and texture. We were able to shut the engine down for 4 hours
today and have been blessed with positive currents…we’re beginning to have
serious concerns about having sufficient fuel to reach Bermuda if we have to
continue motoring as we have been doing. We found a dead squid on deck (go
figure), caught and successfully released a puffer fish without it (or us) dying…fought
another fish that was big enough to unreel almost all our line and then
"just keep going" with our lure. Fishless (sigh) stir-fry for dinner,
another magnificent sunset and chatting on the aft deck…pretty good third day
at sea. Note: Today, Jeannie announced she is REALLY ready to get to land…the
rest of us couldn’t care less.
22 Jun 01
Day 5 at sea…LOVING IT!!! (OK – Jeannie is liking it…but
READY for land) Roy woke up at 0200 "wide awake" and took Tracy’s
and my watch. Motored ’till 0400 and those SW winds FINALLY arrived!!! First
starboard tack of the trip…we put the toe rail in the water and were
"ripping" between 7 & 8 knots for hours. "We be SAILING"
today!! The day was glorious…a couple of tiny showers and lots of wind. We
trolled all day again, but alas, no fish for dinner. No worries…Jeannie and
Bud stir fried some fresh veggies and Roy grilled chicken outside. "They
who could drink" (not me) sipped a lovely glass of white wine as we all
watched the sun go to bed and the crescent moon rise…Tracy and Roy even saw
the infamous "green flash" as the sun went down!! Don’t want to go
to bed but 0200 is coming fast.
23 Jun 01
Day 6 at sea. Winds back directly on our nose (geesh!)…now
we KNOW we don’t have enough fuel to motor to Bermuda so we’re having to
sail and tack. Roy and I are really stressing that we can’t get Tracy to
Bermuda in time for her flight back. Tracy, on the other hand is fine…"anyway--whatever".
Wind remained on the nose all day…at about 4 PM Jeannie had her first beer and
then she finally let loose----"let me out of here"!!! We filmed her as
she ranted and raved about "this is TOTALLY unnecessary--NOBODY needs to
take 6 days to get anywhere!!"-- and laughed ’till our sides hurt.
Decided to charge the refrigerator at about 2000…pump had lost its prime and
it wouldn’t work…then we ran out of fuel and stalled the engine. Well, 30
minutes of observing Roy in "high stress mode" and he had everything
fixed and we were back on our way. We saw a single ship and some birds today…but
no fish again. We’re hoping we’ll be able to see the lights of Bermuda late
tonight (35 miles of "back and forth" tacking ’till we reach the
northern point and then only 20 miles into harbor!) We’ve concluded Tracy is
almost certainly missing her plane tomorrow and we’re all missing the once a
year dinghy races in St. George’s bay. Ah well – the sunset is magnificent
and I haven’t been sea sick in days…don’t worry—be happy!
24 Jun 01
Day 7 at sea. Winds are hard on the nose and the seas are
rough…but it doesn’t matter to any of us because we can see the
"glow" of Bermuda!!! Tracy and I volunteered to take the 2000 to 0200
watch and sent everybody else to bed. It was awesome…we clocked the wind at 25
knots directly from our next waypoint. We used the computer, autopilot and some
creative tacking to optimize our VMG (velocity made good)…7 Knots with 4.5
knots VMG…YEA!! We called the Steve Black (Rally organizer) and got him to
change Tracy’s plane tickets to tomorrow—YEA Steve! I got a little sea sick
in the morning and took a Dramamine…next thing I knew we were sailing into
sailing into St George’s Harbor!! Bermuda is more beautiful than we even
expected. We processed easily through customs and then undertook the adventure
of docking "Bermuda (Med Mooring) Style" (you throw out an anchor and
back into a dock with no piers)…MANY tense moments (…and several ugly words)
later we were safe and sound at the St George’s Sport and Dingy Club. The crew
"bailed" immediately and we all (even me) had a Bermuda Rum Swizzler (YUMM!).
Met up with Rick and Dana Neff (they flew over and stayed in a big fancy hotel
called Gratto Bay—those new GS-15s have SOOO much money to blow!!) and had
some more Bermuda Rum Swizzlers at the famous White Horse Bar. I’d say about a
perfect day. LIFE MAY GET BETTER THAN THIS…BUT I CAN’T IMAGINE HOW!!!!!
The Ship's Log continues below:
Also check out:
