Sunday 19 May 2013

susan hood race

so now that i have a crew for the last section of the delivery home...
there will be some rushed work in the few days before the big race to get the mast up.

who's in for the susan hood race?
Start is friday evening May 31st, start is 7:45pm
finish is approximately noon Saturday  June 1st.

we would leave ABYC about 4 or 5pm to get to the start line at PCYC in time.

we ned 5 people min if we are to fly spinnaker.

this is one of two long distances races I will do.
This is the warm up for the Lake Ontario 300 which is in mid July.



Wednesday 8 May 2013

new york city

We are here!
we just had a brew at a pub on 9th avenue.
we arrived in New York about 3pm after an exciting night.
At round 2pm the heavens opened up and the rain fell.
For 4 solid hours it fell.
At one point my instruments told me there was a giant freighter passing us 0.6 miles to our right and I could not see it. Visibility in the rain was about 1/8 mile.
Oh yes, there was constant lightning and big ocean swell and we were running late to get to new york.
So i kept up the full main, turned on the engine and motor sailed and surfed waves in the rain and lightening. It was awesome. Made up a few hours and got to new york just before the customs office closed. Thankyou paul for the floater jacket. its the warmest coat around.
pics to come.

Tuesday 7 May 2013

morning

giant freighter going by this morning.
snapped a series of good shots.
its fun being alone on watch as the sun rises.

Monday 6 May 2013

gulf stream

well that was an experience.
we had 3 knots of current against the 18 knot winds and the result was 15 to 20 foot waves
that were maybe 30 to 50 feet apart. There was a prevailing wave direction kinda but it was mostly a washing machine of waves. It was terrible. We were beam to the big waves and they knocked us so far over on every wave that the boom hit the water.
We called our weather router guy and he told us how to change direction to leave the stream within 1 hour.
It was amazing. It was like a line in the water where the crazy waves just stopped.

We are enjoying pleasant winds and normal lumpy atlantic seas right now.
We should arrive in NY city by wed midday sometime.

Sunday 5 May 2013

24 hours, look no hands

so for the past 24 hours we have had 6 foot waves and broad reaching to deep broad reaching conditions
and most of the driving has been done by otto. The new autopilot has proven itself to be well worth the money.
Thanks to the people who installed it, Rob, Ericks, Pierre, Chris and Almir.

we are approaching the gulf stream and possible scary conditions in there.
i hear there are sea monsters of the deep, or maybe just steep crazy waves.

Saturday 4 May 2013

current plan and status

ok so last night was .... interesting.
25 to 30 knots with chaotic seas and also very cold with a north wind.
we took short shifts and made it through with moral mostly intact.
Almir made us a nice pasta late lunch which was most appreciated as everyone was too beat to even think about eating.
The current weather predictions are mostly benign and we should arrive in NY city wed morning to wed afternoon.
We will stay one night in NY and early thursday morning motor up to Haverstraw and leave the boat there for a week or two while i rest and look for crew to do the canal system.

Friday 3 May 2013

happy birthday

Happy birthday to Chris.
Chris was on board for the delivery down and is also on board for the delivery north.
He just turned 59 on board a boat in the middle of the atlantic.
I just made him a proper brewed coffee (first real coffee of this trip) and he is having it with his birthday muffin. What luxury :-)

Thursday 2 May 2013

this just in.....

we just saw a whale.
About 30 feet long and less than a boat length off our port beam.
It blew some water out its spout and then took a look at us and then submerged.
We have no pictures. I rushed to grab my camera but it was too late.
So, what kind of whale was it?
It was grey/brown, 30 feet long and had a bull head.
I think we came a little too close to hitting it. Made us all nervous. and excited to see it.

and the ansswer is....

first, can anyone tell me if the posts to the facebook group are working?
just send me an email to the hammertimetoronto address.

We have an answer to that most pressing question, "what kind of tuna was that?"
The expert answer came from Patrick,
"It's a Skipjack Tuna
Katsuwonus pelamis
Skipjack can be distinguished from other tunas by the presence of stripes on the
belly. Usually 4-6 prominent, dark longitudinal stripes from the lower belly and
sides toward the tail. The top of the fish is a dark purplish-blue, and the lower
flanks and belly are silvery.
The pectoral and ventral fins are short, and the two dorsal fins are separated at the
base by a small interspace. The teeth are small and conical. No swimbladder is
present. There are 53-63 gill rakers on the first gill arch, more than any other tuna."

Wednesday 1 May 2013

big fish

so finally as promised here is the picture of almir's catch.
so far we have had two dinners out of it and probably will get 2 or 3 more.
If anyone can identify what kind of tuna this is please email me at the hammertimetoronto email address. we cannot get our regular gmail emails out here.