Marion-Bermuda race
Greetings from the crew of "Tucana"!
The Winter is a long last a memory and the time for the cold weather
projects is over. We are about to embark on the adventure of sailing the
Marion-Bermuda race. A dream of a life time for all of us that we want
to share will you. You are on a distribution list of people that we'll
send regular e-mails to as the trip progresses. If you have been placed
on this list in error please let me know by e-mail reply and I will
remove your name from the list. If you know of someone that would be
interested that you don't think is getting this to begin with please pass it
on.
Now for some background, first the race.....
The start of the race is in Buzzards Bay near Marion Massachusetts and
it ends in Bermuda. The official distance is 675 miles and we
anticipate sailing for approximately 5 days (and nights). The start is
12:00 June 17. Each yacht entered will be carrying a GPS transponder so
that you can follow the fleet throughout the race. You can get more
information at the following web site........ (marionabermuda.com)
The boat......
Tucana is a Vindo 65 which is a 38' ketch built in Sweden. The hull is
fiberglass but the rest of the boat is wood from the deck up with teak
decks and mahogany cabin house. She has a modified full keel displaces
22,000 lbs and draws 6 feet. I found her under cover in a boat yard in
Essex CT neglected and forgotten by an owner who loved the boat since
new but found life's responsibilities consuming all he had and there was
nothing left for the boat. As soon as I went aboard I could feel the
dedication and craftsmanship of her builders and immediately fell in
love with her. I've spent thousands of hours myself, along with the
help of others, making up for the neglect and trying to catch up with
repairs to restore her to her former pride and beauty. It's an ongoing
process but the joy is in the journey.
The crew......
Frank Bava....Frank is a long time sailing buddy that is a regular on
our October midnight runs to Block Island ("The Hunters' Moon Run). Has
spent many, many hours working on Tucana to help with the repairs and
upgrades. Famous quote "Yea right a fifteen minute job!". Without Frank's
dedication to preparation none of us would be making this trip, a well
deserved rest!.
Tim Myers....Is from Ohio and we've worked together and found great
pleasure in sailing his Catalina on Lake Eire together. Last October on
our annual "Hunters' Moon Run" to block Island we had a bit of a faux
pas and tangled the dinghy painter around the prop shaft. Without any
prodding from anyone Tim got up first thing in the morning and jumped
into the icy cold water to untangle the mess! Of course the rest of us
helped out by standing on deck with hot coffee in hand supervising
making sure he didn't screw it all up!
Bill Wilkinson.....Is from Great Britain and currently resides in
Halifax Nova Scotia. Bill has become a good friend through numerous
meetings in a professional capacity over the years and was also on last
years' "Hunters Moon Run". Of course to make the dinghy event more
challenging the windlass decided to doze off on us and we had to pull in
200' of chain about 50% by hand. Bill was right there lending a hand
never missing a beat. Famous quote when asked "Do you have any idea how
much force is on this!?" "Yes as a matter of fact I do." (he's in the red)
Steve Thomas was brought to the team by introduction through a mutual
friend and has extensive sail racing experience. His in depth knowledge
of all things sailing is proving to be a valuable asset to the team
already, and we haven't even started the race yet. Our hope is that he
stays patient with us neophytes and doesn't fire us all!
Atis is not going to be making it with us this time due to some injuries, but
his spirit has inspired us all to go forward and make this a reality!
So the long list of preparations is nearing an end and we will soon be
lining up at the start line anticipating the cannon's fire indicating
the start. We have a computer and Iridium phone proving us with a link
to those that are ashore. Each day we will send out an update along
with a photograph trying to share with you what we see out there. We
will also be down loading e-mail messages once daily, but please don't
sent large files!
Joe Murli
SV "Tucana"
JoeM129@aol.com
860-916-3030
Hello!
Well at 12:45 yesterday the cannon went off for the class “E” boats (Monohull,
electronic navigation, with asymmetrical spinnaker) and our first time crew
learned more about racing starts under Steve’s patient coaching than we ever
knew existed! Now to give you an idea of how exciting this was I’ll relate the
following. Normally up until yesterday if the boat was healing more than 30
degrees we would all get a bit tense and start spilling air out of the sails
and reefing down what was left. Yesterday our clinometers repeatedly pegged at
45 degrees and we weren’t letting up! The decks were underwater and the jib
was scooping up water when a wave would come by! Winds were strong at 20-23
right on the nose and it took us most of the day just to get out of the
harbor.
At night we had the most beautiful ride you could ever imagine. Just to be
safe we reefed down the main to the first position in hopes that it would
prevent our having to do it during the night. Winds were moderate right off
the beam as we made our way around the southern shores of the Elizabethan
islands and Martha’s Vineyard. Finally the heel of the boat took on a more
sane 30 degrees and our boat speed increased to about 7 knots. When we
completely lost sight of land the moon hung low, large, and bronze in the
horizon. When it set the most spectacular view of the Milky Way came out of
the black sky. The stars were so plentiful they lost their individual identity
and looked like some cosmic cloud.
This morning the wind subsided a bit but we were still making decent headway.
To keep moving as the sun was rising we put up our spinnaker made of bright
blue, yellow, and lime green material. You just help but smile when that sail
flies right, and then….we heard this blast of air followed by heavy breathing
it was a whale right next to the boat about 30’ away! In the afternoon the
wind just completely died and we are bobbing around the water searching for
the proper side of a swirl of water coming off the North wall of the Gulf
stream. They’re called eddies and the warm ones swirl clockwise and the cold
ones counter clockwise. Catch the correct side and it can push you along your
course at up to 3 additional knots, get caught in the wrong side and you are
fighting those same three knots. In a world where 7 knots is fast those three
knots are really important!
Currently we are bobbing around the Atlantic ocean totally becalmed. To add
insult to injury a seagull landed in the water next to us and started just
casually paddling around with his little feat and passed us!!!! So we’re
taking advantage of the slow time to charge the batteries on the boat, catch
up on showers, and write letters.
While writing this letter I was interrupted three times to come up above
immediately. There are families of Dolphins swimming around the boat putting
on a great show jumping out of the water for us!
Best wishes from the crew!
Bll
Frank
Steve
Tim
Joe
SV Tucana
Maron-Bermuda 2005
Hello!
Sunday:
Each day of this adventure continues to prove to have its own distinct
character and today is no exception. Those of you tracking our progress (or
lack of) on the website (MarionBermuda.com) you would have noticed that we
were in 13th position for our class in view of the fact that there are only 14
boats in our class. All day today we have been on the most incredible24 hours
of sailing you could ever imagine. We were able to find the eddy I told you
about yesterday and we enjoyed being pushed along with its favorable current
for most of the day. The current combined with winds that were consistently at
19-21 knots had Tucana galloping through 10 foot swells at speeds between 9
and 12 knots! Down below it felt and sounded like the inside of train, has
never sailed like this before. Through the night we maintained this pace in
heavy fog using the radar to make sure no ships were in our path. The bow of
the boat cut through the fog like a plow and it looked like red and green
smoke coming down both sides! The last time we checked the web site we had
improved our position to 8th in class picking up picking up 5 positions
through the night.
So far we’ve had two mechanical malfunctions. The pump that empties the
holding tank for one of the heads stopped working, so….we stopped using that
head(smart huh?). Good thing there are two heads aboard or we would have to
get really creative on possible solutions. The “Traveler” which is a device
that controls the boom on the mainsail came apart on us as we all watched
parts fly into the ocean. We were able to jury rig a temporary fix with what
we had on board which will hold us until we get to the island.
Monday:
It’s Monday morning now and I wanted to update you on last night. at 12:30 we
entered the Gulf Stream and all hell broke loose in the space of about
100yards. Bill and I were on watch enjoying this wonderful night time seascape
brightly lit by an almost full moon. We arrived at our waypoint and didn’t see
anything different except that off in the distance there was a line of clouds
indicated some kind of front. We continued on our course taking frequent water
temperature readings looking for a sharp rise and we got it! The water
temperature went up to about 79 degrees from about 72 in the space of about
500 yards and the moon disappeared behind those clouds, and then in another
100 yards waves came at us from all directions at once. Taking us a bit by
surprise a couple of them spun the boat before we could react and turned it
around completely disorienting us. The electronic compass on our GPS unit was
giving us false information due to the fact that we were not making any
forward head way. The boat jibed repeatedly (got the wrong end of the sail
into the wind causing the boom to swing wildly from on side to another) and it
seemed that every correction we made only made the situation worst. Finally we
just stopped for a moment and took stock in the true wind direction and the
magnetic compass at the wheel and got ourselves back on track. For the next 5
hours we battled waves and kept driving forward until daybreak. Steve and
Frank took over before day break as my arms were so tired I couldn’t hold the
wheel any longer. Learning more and more about Tucana and what she is capable
of. She carves her way through the sea never giving us any indication that she
couldn’t handle it. With each mile building respect and trust for what she is
capable of.
Steve took the helm and further galvanized his stature as the “Wizard” as he
continued to negotiate the rough seas with almost perfect skill. Meanwhile I
was so tired down below that my arms felt like they were going to snap off, I
was contemplating going to sleep fully suited up in fowlies and my PFD on.
Convincing myself that I really needed to use the bathroom I got up to undress
and the boat heeled to port sharply causing my to slide across the cabin
hitting the locker on that side of the aft bunk. After a moment I recovered
from that and the boat heeled to starboard and I slid backwards and hit the
hanging locker on that side so now I had matching bumps on both the front and
back of my head! Well after having this much invested in getting undressed to
use the head I felt I just had to continue the process so eventually got all
my gear off and made my way to the head, slowly, one step at a time…I will
leave out the what is at this time a comical experience in the head that
followed but eventually I did get to sleep. The next morning speaking to Tim
related to us that he knew something was up when he started bouncing off all
the surfaces in his bunk. His chosen course of action was to go back to sleep
and get the rest he knew he would need for his watch! In the morning the wind
continued but the seas were more regular and we settled in to a broad reach
heading south toward Bermunda!
Tuesday:
Tucana continues to gallop along in strong wind and interesting seas
throughout the day, We’ve cleared the Gulf Stream for some time now and all of
us feel good that we had the experience. Sounds a bit perverse but I think we
would have been disappointed if we had a calm sail across it. We came out here
to experience it and we got all we could handle and no more. I don’t’ think
there is anything in Long Island Sound that will concern me again after that.
As the day progresses we find ourselves working against a bit of current but
otherwise having a pleasant sail. Bermuda is within striking distance now and
we are trying to find the best angle to the first marker off the island. It’s
not just a trip anymore, there is a destination, and it’s not far off.
The most beautiful night time seascape is before us. We have a full bright
moon lighting a silvery path to Bermuda. The seas are flat and the breeze is
light but we are making good headway.
Unfortunately we really needed to tack over to starboard and doing so in this
light air we lost all our momentum and started bobbing around aimlessly trying
to catch the illusive wind. Eventually The Wizzard wakes up, takes pity on us
mere mortals, and magically fills the sails with wind! I swear all he had to
do was wet the tip of his finger and touch the sail and suddenly we were
making four knots in six knots of apparent wind! Reminds me of the song
“Pinball Wizzard” except on a sail boat. Frank is at the helm holding the
delicate balance at the wheel required to keep us moving forward
Wednesday
We watch the morning sun rise to light winds and clear skies. There is
excitement on board as we approach the island. Should we put the asymmetrical
up? I decide to put it off, a mistake on my part as it turns out. Later in the
day we put up that beautiful, powerful sail and Tucana wakes up again and
starts moving well in the light air. We are heeled way over and the sail is
touching the water so we call for the crew to sit on the windward side of the
boat to act as ballast. The battle cry for those of us on “rail meat” duty was
to “think fat”. So we sat out on the starboard rail eating provisions from the
port cupboards. I don’t remember reading about this technique in any of the
sailing texts!
Tucana approaches Bermuda in all her glory with her bright blue, yellow, and
green headsail pulling her for every ounce that the wind is worth. Can’t help
but feel overwhelmed as the island comes into sight and we round Kitchen
Shoals. She has taken good care of us and is bringing us in in grand style. As
we make the final turn to line up with St. Georges we douse the asymmetrical
and put out the Genoa. I ask Frank to take the helm as we cross the finish
line at 2:41 EDT, we radio the finish line committee to announce our arrival
on 72 “This is the sailing vessel Tucana, we have crossed the finish line”,
“Congratulations Tucana welcome to Bermuda, please switch to 16 and monitor.
Fair winds,
Bll
Frank
Tim
Joe
SV Tucana
Maron-Bermuda 2005