Daily Update

Thursday, November 12

Caribbean 1500 Sponsor and Host, Nanny Cay Resort and Marina, issued the following press release to local media about tomorrow's Prize-Giving Ceremony:

Fifty-six yachts are on the docks at Nanny Cay after departing Hampton, VA, on Monday, November 2nd with the Caribbean 1500 Rally. The 2009 Caribbean 1500 Rally is 20th anniversary of this event making it the largest and longest-running offshore cruising event in the Americas.  You are invited to attend the Prize Giving and Awards Ceremony on Friday, November 13, at 3:00pm, at Nanny Cay (by the pool), where you can meet participants and event organizer Steve Black.  Over 1300 boats with 5000 ralliers aboard have met the challenge of the Caribbean 1500 and its companion events during its 20 year history. That's more than two million rally miles! Tens of thousands of armchair sailors from over 50 countries visit www.carib1500.com each year to watch the satellite-tracked event in progress. The diverse fleet that completed the 7-10 day passage in this year's rally included ralliers from all over the United States and Canada, along with sailors from Europe and Asia.  The crews came in all shapes and sizes - from double-handing couples to families with children to serious and not-so-serious racing contingents. 

Nanny Cay is the official host port and sponsor of the Caribbean 1500.

From Special Delivery:  We finished in record time early Monday morning, it’s now Thursday and the crew has their “land legs” again. Elizabeth found out that the first shower ashore can be a challenge when one closes their eyes and feels the walls moving. Some people even get “land sick” during this early adjustment, but not so our crew, they are all fine and adapting to the beach, the rum and the sun.

"Family of four has embarked on a sailing trip around the world." Click here to read about Discovery.

More blogs:  Ohana's Voyage, Habits of Health

Wednesday, November 11

All boats except for Moonlight Fantasy are in. Cocktail parties, boat repairs, and island explorations are in full swing.  Italian night at Peglegs was a hit after the cocktail hour.

Veteran crew member and Salty Dog Gail Bowdish chronicles Joy for All's passage for Boating Blog.

Tuesday, November 10

From Sweetest Thing, one of the boats in the Bahamas Cruising Rally that left Hampton with the Caribbean 1500 fleet and headed for Marsh Harbor in the Abacos:

Our trip when fairly smoothly and quickly. We finished in 4 days, 3 hours and 11 minutes, and did so in pretty good comfort. Caught a small Mahi Mahi along the way and dined on it. Had pancakes for breakfast, enjoyed the moonlit nights, and kept up a steady pace all the way. The seas were rarely smooth, but they were functional despite being on our tail the last two days. Sweetest Thing is like a luxury apartment on rails, so even when it was a little bouncy she moved swiftly and easily (we had a reef in the main almost the entire way). Bill Baum and Tom Farley, who were fairly new to big cats, were simply stunned at how comfortable it was.

Monday, November 9

This evening finds many boats in the front of the fleet arrived at their destination and getting ready for a Party in Nanny Cay.  We'll try to have a more complete list of "who's in" tomorrow.

From Special Delivery: FINISHED AT 04:59:  SIX DAYS AND 16 HRS...OUR VERY BEST BY 10 HOURS.
SAFELY AT MOORING IN SOPER'S HOLE, SUN IS COMING UP, WE'RE TOASTING OURSELVES WITH COCKTAILS

We did receive this late-afternoon report from Jenny McNamara on Lady:

The wind is a little forward of the beam here at 19 28.67N 65 30.46W. We are going about 7.5 to 8 kts. We think we have a gulf stream eddy against us...we wanted to be further east, but had to head s yesterday for weather.

Sunny day. Seen a lot of flying fish. Sooty our cat finally ate a few treats and drank a little water. We have a bet going as to when we will finish - Jim at 0230 tomorrow, Charlie at 0300, me at 0400, Steve at 0500

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We received this report from Sam and Marilyn on Catharpin Blue:

Catharpin Blue is doing well. All are healthy. Winds have been strong every day. Today they were accompanied by swells. For us, we have been making good time. We are one of the smallest boats and not a racing boat.

Crew member Stan's wife Susan made some wonderful meals that we are enjoying. Tonight it was chicken and dumplings. Marilyn has been trying out her new oven, so we have had brownies and blueberry muffins. We have been fishing using a hand reel. So far we have eaten one mahi mahi and put one in the freezer. There were three more that got away. Mahi are amazing to look at -- bright yellow. Very good eating too.

Winds have been mostly from the north -- allowing us to sail south easily. That is good, since the gooseneck holding up the mast fractured Tuesday. Sailing downwind, using our headsails has been the order of the day. It seems to work OK. The boom is on the deck lashed down. we were able to fly the spinnaker three times. Beautiful. Tonight we are just 470 miles from Tortola -- and we are all looking forward to a real shower. The chart plotter estimates that to take somewhere between 68 and 78 hours.

Over on Altair Rick and Julie Palm are getting ready to make landfall:

Yee Haw! What a terrific way to finish up the passage. We just completed a 200.6 mile day from noon to noon. For a boat like ours, a 200 mile day is the equivalent of a four-minute mile (in 1975).

We are charging along under blue skies and puffy white clouds going 8-10 knots, beam reaching in 18-20 knots of wind. It seems that every time we do this passage, we get a day like this as we near the islands. Makes you forget any discomfort that may have happened in the days before. We'll sail over the finish line in an hour or so... seven days at sea. Can't wait to hear all the stories at the bar in Nanny Cay.

Sunday, November 8

EVENING ROLL CALL:  As the boats reach this far South, copying information from them directly by SSB radio gets increasingly difficult on the 4MHz frequency we use for the Rally.  We generally do better during the evening chat than we do in the morning on this end -- we offer this to explain the lack of a "MORNING ROLL CALL" section on this and subsequent Daily Updates.   Instead, from now on we'll be relying on Emails and direct phone calls we receive from boats in the fleet.

So this evening finds the gang still speeding along, with those in the back of the group experiencing more breezy conditions in the 25-30 knot range.  They can look forward to the moderating but still favorable East-NorthEast winds in the 15-20 knot range the boats up front are enjoying as they approach Tortola.

For those watching closely at home, Ocean Jasper's satellite tracker does not seem to be reporting accurately.  Fret not, this happens from time-to-time, most often from a life jacket or boat cushion being inadvertently placed over the transponder and muffling it's signal.  OJ checked in just fine in this evening's roll call, and we were able to pass a message to them to check their position-reporter.

Just an observation on this end -- the number of engine hours reported by boats in the fleet this year is exceptionally low when compared to years in the past.  But why run the engine when you have so much favorable breeze?

Today's report from Rick Palm on Altair kinda sums it all up:

Some early AM squalls had all three of us up at 4 dealing with rain and heavy seas. But the seas settled as the day went on and we've enjoyed a wonderful day of tradewinds sailing. We all took showers this afternoon to remove several days' worth of crusty salt. If we can keep up our 8 knot pace, we should reach Tortola sometime Monday afternoon and finish the trip with less than 10 engine hours.

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We just (9:30 AM EST) spoke with Steve Black aboard Clover III via satellite phone.  They are about 60 miles out, with winds out of the East around 18, and expect to arrive later today.  How they edged ahead of Crazy Horse to take a slight lead remains unknown. 

Steve did note that Clover III completed the entire 1500-some mile rally on port tack, from the start to approaching the finish line. A good portion of the fleet should be making landfall today/tomorrow.

Spoke with Steve again around 3PM EST, and provided him with updates on boats closest to Clover III who are also likely to arrive late this evening.  Clover III anticipates being tied up at the dock in Nanny Cay around 10PM (EST) this evening...

Saturday, November 7

EVENING ROLL CALL: Our gang continues to barrel-roll towards the BVI, with most reporting East to North-East winds in the low to mid twenties.  If anyone ran their engine today, it was strictly to recharge the batteries!

But first, taking a glance at our Bahamas Fleet, Sweetest Thing is destinated in Marsh Harbour, and Corrinna Corrinna is within sight of land and should be docking shortly. 

Moving back to those Caribbean-bound, around mid-afternoon, we received this report from Peter on Stolen Hour:

It's blowing hard out here. 25-35 gusting 40 in squalls. It's a sleigh-ride for sure. All aboard Stolen Hour are doing well as we are in awe of the ocean's power. Hopefully it eases a bit so we can get fishing again!

There's a great photo of Stolen Hour clocking away the minutes under the Photos link, above (scroll down to the bottom).

We also heard from the crew of Winsome:

The crew on Winsome is having a great rally. Smoking along at a consistent 8 plus. Caught one mahi so far. Enjoying nostalgic lunches. Best to all family and friends following our progress.

Our daily correspondent David Grove, on Joy For All had this to say about the day:

Hate to repeat myself, but the sailing has been great! Except for a little time when the winds backed on Thursday to the N/NW, and a little calm period on Thursday, the entire fleet should have enjoyed brisk winds out the NE for most of the trip. We are still seeing NE winds in the low twenties and expect that to continue all the way through our arrival. Waves are little more forceful now that they have reached the 8'+ level. I would expect the same for the rest of the fleet. Most of the boats have been traveling at or near their hull speeds for most of the trip. This has resulted in fast and an enjoyable trip down to the islands, and probably record runs for the alumni who have returned to enjoy the 20th anniversary of the Caribbean 1500. We all could not have asked for a better way to enjoy this trip, and for many of us, reunions with long time friends.

Also, Rick Palm sent some photos from sailing aboard Altair today.  They're also under the link to Photos, above.

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We received this Email overnight from John & Bonnie Swift on Kalista:

We are plotting our progress against the rest of the fleet and making sure we know where those closest to us are. We have seen some nice sunrises and sunsets. Got a flying fish on the deck so we flew him back to the sea.

And here's a mid-morning update from Rick Palm on Altair:

When I went up on watch at 2am, the three-quarter moon was giving the world around us a silvery glow. A few of the brighter constellations were clearly visible and our old friend Orion was positioned in his familiar place between the second and third spreaders, leading us to the Caribbean. A heavy cloud cover obscured the stars and the moon before the end of my watch. And with it came the predicted increase in wind from 20-25 to 25-30. So, we put in the third reef and rolled up the jib a bit. Altair is handling things just fine and we're still maintaining our 8 knot average. The swells are 8 feet with occasional 10-12 foot peaks, so it's not all that comfortable down below. It's a good time to hunker down and take a nap or read a book when not on watch. No fishing today. The boats at the head of the pack are only getting 15-20 knots so we can look forward to that by the end of the day.

Friday, November 6

EVENING ROLL CALL: This evening finds the 20th Anniversary Caribbean 1500 fleet sailing along in winds out of the North-Northeast in the high teens to low twenties.  We may be wrong (heck, we're talking about the weather, here) but winds should be clocking around more to the East over the next few days, at about the same speed -- perfect for reaching towards the BVI!

Yesterday we put out a request to the fleet for reports from more boats, and boy did they respond!   Jenny McNamara on Lady sent us this:

The crew of Lady is enjoying this lovely day. We are skating along at over 7 knots in sunshine and deep blue water. We celebrated Guy Fawkes Day and Jim Culver's birthday yesterday, with a batch of brownies. No fireworks though. I am very envious of all the people who are catching fish. We don't have any gear aboard, other than a book - Fishing for Dummies, that we don't seem to have read far enough to tell us the direction to the place to purchase the gear. Charlie thinks that if we were to catch something, it would make too much mess before it got to the pan.

Last night I thought I saw another yacht off our starboard bow. It got closer really quickly, and had lots of lights and seemed to be heading directly towards us. Steve Ormond and I were on watch; we turned to starboard, and woke Charlie, who was able to raise them on VHF. Turns out it was Explorer of the Seas, a cruise ship from Puerto Rico and St. Thomas. The officer he spoke to told us that all the sailing vessels out there were keeping him hopping - he'd already passed about fifteen. Charlie advised him that there were about fifty more of us spread over about a hundred miles. Steve is making a movie of this trip for his grand-children. Everyone we have talked to seems to be doing well. Even those that have gear failures seem to be in good spirits.

The Kilgour Family aboard Bojangles IV also chimed-in, with comments submitted by mom Kathleen who describes her role as "chef" (we think it's more!):

"I saw a flying fish and yesterday we caught a big, honk'n King Mackerel!" - Mitchell (11)

"The mackerel was a beautiful blue colour and looked like a parrot fish when we were reeling it in. We also saw phosphoresence in the water last night. The ocean is dark blue, the same colour as blue jello." - Gillian (9)

"We have been sleeping OK except it is really hot at night. I am sweating!" - Clare (9)

"We are at the half way point and the kids and crew are all in great spirits.   Apart from a very lumpy Gulf Stream crossing, the winds have been great and the boat has been performing well. To pass the time the kids have been watching lots of TV and playing video games till the cows come home. I forced them to crack a book last night just so they don't think their mother has gone soft.

I am pleased to report they have risen to the occasion more than once so far on this journey. For example, last night the boat lurched during dinner and Gillian's water spilled all over her dinner. Like a true sailor, she sopped it up and kept eating."

And finally, what would a day be without yet another eloquent post from Dave on Joy For All:

The fleet is now four days in to the trip. By now the crews, including Joy for All's crew, are pretty much into the routine of things. The only time is the time of the day. The day of the week is only determined after looking at a watch or something. The day is divided just into morning, mid-day and evening. Night watches are just that, night watches and are more dependent on the moon. The early watches no longer have a moon, the late night watches still do. With the partly cloudy skies the moon comes out and the sea becomes a mixture of black and silver.

Today we started the morning with coffee, fried eggs, bacon, toast and 22 knots out of the NNE; and a weather briefing calling for the same all the way to the BVI. The wind gets a bigger "kewl" than the breakfast.   Brisk north-easterlies are great. Boat is flat and fast. Waves, currently in the 3' to 6' range, provide a little extra surfing for the boat and exhilarating boost of COG speed. Add to the rush of the extra water going by the hulls and it's so easy to just get lost in the rhythm; and then there goes the day and it is time for supper.

This should be one of the fastest 1500s in a long time.

On Dave's last point, I have to agree.  I've been working with this group for almost 10 years, and never before have I seen such rapid progress or such low engine hours at this stage in the Rally.  But we'll let Steve Black, official Keeper Of The Records, weigh in with the final judgement on all that...

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MORNING ROLL CALL: Tough radio conditions this AM, but the fleet appear to be doing well. 

Overnight, we received this interesting report from Peter Van Alstine on Stolen Hour:

On the night of 11/2 we discovered that we had no engine as it was stuck in the reverse gear. We figured we had either destroyed the transmission or had something caught in the prop. We were hopeful it was a prop issue as we had heard some banging on the hull around the prop area. Thankfully we had wind to keep the batteries up, etc. with the wind generator. Finally, when the wind eased up earlier this morning, I spent over an hour scuba diving on the boat in 20,000 feet of water cutting away a crab trap assembly (2 buoys included) wrapped around the keel and prop that we had been dragging for 2.5 days...

Hey, stuff happens and you deal with it.  Way to go, Stolen Hour!  There's a pic of Peter with his "prize" under the Photos link, above...

Here's a recap of yesterday, again courtesy of Rick and Julie Palm on Altair:

We can't remember a Caribbean 1500 when we have had such good sailing conditions in the first half of the trip! But alas, the wind died about 11AM this morning and we had to turn on the engine for the first time. Even our attempts to run under the chute this afternoon were futile. The forecasts are calling for wind tonight so hopefully we won't have to listen to the engine all night.

It was a great fishing day for the fleet. We caught a second mahi-mahi; Stolen Hour brought in four fish. Myananda, Brown-Eyed Girl, Kia Orana, Ocean Pearl, Ohana, Pelekan, and Romany Life were also successful with their fishing efforts. On Discovery, 10 year old Wesley reported that the mahi-mahi they caught yesterday was better than the fish they caught in Nova Scotia and he didn't even have to smother it with ketchup! Ohana is doing a study to see if lots of beer poured into a fish's gill will kill it faster that a shot of rum.

Rick and Julie also sent additional pics from the start, and you'll find them under the link to Photos...

Thursday, November 5

EVENING ROLL CALL:  The faster boats who are further south reported lighter winds (and hours spent running their engines!) today, while those further back are still seeing a North-Northwest breeze in the range of 15-20.  As of this evening, Crazy Horse leads the pack, with a position down around 27 degrees North by 70 West.   Those Sundeer 60's are light on their feet!  Winds are still expected to increase from the North-Northwest tonight into tomorrow, giving all a nice firm push towards the BVI. 

Ohana, Peleken, Archangel and Stolen Hour all reported fresh fish on their plates this evening.

Earlier today we received another Email update from Dave Grove on Joy For All:

Joy for All is about 600nm east of Daytona, 420nm NE of Eleuthera Island, Bahamas and about 300nm SW of the Bahamas. So right now we are about as far away as we get during this trip from land. Weather is warm and sunny. The wind has died this morning, but up until now we have had a pretty fast run. ETA in the BVI is around Monday at current rate, late Sunday if the wind blesses us by returning... From the sounds of the radio chat the fishing has been great on quite a few boats. Once again though, it sounds like Bill on Sapphire is in the running for the fishing trophy.

Also, Rick and Julie Palm sent us a dramatic picture of Altair chasing down Stolen Hour back at the start.  To see this, click on the Photos link above and scroll to the bottom.

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MORNING ROLL CALL: The breeze has shifted to the East and lightened, with most reporting winds in the 10-15 knot range.  Glancing at the weather forecast, winds should fill in from the North/Northwest later tonight as a low pressure system tracks north of the fleet.

Overnight, we received this Email from Rick and Julie Palm aboard Altair:

What a terrific day of sailing! The seas settled, the white caps disappeared, and we charged along at 8 knot on a beam reach all day long. The blue sky with its puffy white clouds cast its reflection to create that blue-purple color of the deep deep ocean water. Flying fish were everywhere including one that managed to board Lady. No sea mammals or tropic birds yet. We're continuing to discard clothing as the air and the water warm up. We're down to long-sleeved shirts and jeans, but I bet those folks with full enclosed cockpits are in shorts and t-shirts already. Successful fisherpeople for the day were on Ocean Pearl, Sapphire, Seven Strong, Summer Love, Winsome, Andante, Billy Ruff'n, Moonlight Fantasy, North Star, and One World. (It might have been easier to list those you didn't catch anything!)

Over on Joy For All, David Grove contributed this late-night report:

Wind has shift around to the east. I would imagine most of the fleet has seen the same shift. All on board Joy for All are just enjoying the favorable wind strength and direction (E18). The full moon continues to wane. As such the first night shift is starting to get a really good look at the stars. Being about 530nm east of Georgia really cuts down on the light pollution. The rest of the night shifts continue to enjoy the bright moon. Either way, it is just good to be out here with the rest of the fleet enjoying this wonderful weather and sail.

The only lack of "joy for all" this morning came when we had to inform our fellow Pennsylvanians on Archangel that the Yankees took the World Series...

Wednesday, November 4

EVENING ROLL CALL: As predicted, the fleet continues to experience pretty much the same conditions reported this morning -- which makes for grand sailing!  Remarks overheard on the radio during chatter before the official "Roll Call" this evening were generally along the lines of "it doesn't get much better than this"!

Moonlight Fantasy hooked a Mahi-Mahi, Joy For All reported two fish, and Shay La Mer had trouble getting a 100-pound tuna aboard (we're not sure if they even did !).   Sorry, Charlie!

Charlie The Tuna

The boats in the Rally/Racing Classes in the Caribbean 1500 must report the number of hours they use their engines -- this gets factored in to determine the overall winners.  What's striking this year is the number of boats reporting zero engine hours so far -- only one has used the motor, and it was for a very short length of time.  Presumably (and I'm generalizing here) that's true for the entire fleet -- and it's great news from a fuel-management standpoint!

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MORNING ROLL CALL: The fleet is rollicking along towards Tortola this Wednesday morning, with most reporting winds out of the NNE in the mid to upper teens -- some even reporting the low twenties.  The forecast is essentially "more of the same" right through the weekend -- this may be the fastest Caribbean 1500 ever!

How sweet is it?  Here's another report from Dave Grove on Joy For All:

The great sailing just keeps getting better and better. I am sure most of the fleet is in the same kind of wind and wave pattern that we are. North to Northeast winds in the low 20 knot range. The winds have been working to the east this morning, but still in the low 20 knot ranges. Even the heavy boats love that kind of wind and they are showing it by their positions during the chat. The wind angle makes for great broad reaches. Skies remain filled with cumulus clouds, and not a towering one in sight!

The crew on Archangel was enjoying what sounded like a rather luxurious breakfast of Starbucks coffee, muffins, bacon and eggs. 

Bill Loring (sv Rigel), a former Caribbean 1500 participant, passed along some great pictures from the departure.  See the Photos link above, and scroll down...

Tuesday, November 3

TUESDAY ROLL-CALL:  Reports tonight find the fleet enjoying a speedy downhill run.  Winds are generally out of the NNE in the mid to upper teens.  Engine use has been minimal, with only one boat reporting engine hours tonight -- which is great for fuel consumption!  All is good!

Here's an evening report from Rick and Julie Palm aboard Altair:

It was a rockin' and rollin' ride through the Gulf Stream last night. Big rolling seas and swells mixed with a few squalls. Wind was 30-35 knots, so we were very content to run under our genoa alone with no main. In the morning as we left the Gulf Stream. We put up our wing-on-wing rig with the two front sails; still no main... it's the equivalent of front-wheel drive on a sailboat. Probably not the way to win a race, but it's comfortable and very balanced for the autopilot. We all caught up on sleep and, more importantly caught a mahi-mahi for dinner. Sounds like Sapphire and Brown-Eyed Girl have also caught fish.

Earlier, we received this mid-day report from Dave Grove sailing aboard Joy For All:

Today is why we are out here doing this. The winds are aft of the beam at 20 knots. Steady and strong, under a sky filled with cumulus clouds. On the horizon are several of the other boats in the fleet. Archangel and Romany Life's white sails are over the horizon to our port. Even though they are in the cruising class, its still a race.... There are couple of more out there too, but we will have to wait until this nights chat to find who they are. In the mean time it is just full sails and sunshine.

Monday, November 2

And they're off!  The 20th annual Caribbean 1500 rally departed Hampton, VA around noon today -- destination: Tortola, BVI.  Listening in on tonight's roll call over SSB radio, the boats in the fleet are experiencing following winds with windspeeds in the mid-twenties.   See the Photo's link (above) for new pictures from the pre-departure preparation and Skipper's Meeting yesterday...

Sunday, November 1

A deary, rainy day in Hampton has not deterred the ralliers as they do their final provisioning and boat projects. A cold front went through last night and has stalled off the coast this morning. It's definitely time to get south and find those sunny Caribbean islands.

Saturday, October 31

Today was a big day for the kids participating in the Rally.  In the afternoon, former rallier Daniel Cunningham, age 12, spoke to the group telling them about his family's two year cruising adventure on Kikuyu, a Hallberg-Rassey 37. The Cunninghams were part of the 2007 Caribbean 1500 and spent two years visiting Colombia and both the western and eastern Caribbean islands. The rally tent was filled with ghosts and goblins when the kids dressed for Halloween and mingled with other rally participants before heading out for an evening of Halloweening in Hampton.

Friday, October 30

Caribbean 1500 sponsor Davenport & Company hosted rally skippers to a breakfast at the Hampton Yacht Club. Briefings on seasickness, engine troubleshooting, and safety equipment followed.  The docks are abuzz with last minute boat projects and the final inspections, but participants took time out for a rollicking cocktail hours and lasagna dinner in the tent.

Thursday, October 29

Excitement is building at Bluewater Yachting Center in Hampton VA as the Caribbean 1500 participants start their pre-event activities.  Inspections are in full gear. The skippers have gathered to hear last minute passage planning tips.  Tonight, our own Davis Murray will entertain at Marker 20, one of the restaurants that welcome the ralliers in downtown Hampton. Steve Black expressed cautious optimism that The Start will happen on Monday as scheduled.