Location: 34° 11 8 N, 63° 51 W
Friday 12:00, 03.31.2006

Schooner Maggie B’s noon position on Friday 31 March was 34° 11.8 North, 63° 51 West .

We were about 120 miles from St Georges.

We motored from about 0330 to 10am. Wind still light NE, with no sign of backing to NW. About 10am we realized that there was no reason to go fast (we cruise with 70% power or 2500 rpm at about 8 knots)and arrive at St. Georges at 3am Saturday morning. We played with The Bird (the G2 gennaker)until about 5pm in lovely conditions, but Bermuda is right downwind of us so we started a slow motor (2000 rpm or 6.5 knots) to arrive at 8am. Talked to Bermuda Harbor Radio on SSB and they are ready (?) for us.

How the Autopilot got its Name. The Furuno autopilot has been working hard for us. It is adaptive, meaning it learns from experience (unlike we humans), and does a great job. Autopilots have names on many boats. It caused serious discussion among the crew. John Steele voted for George, in honor of a long time friend. Frank favored Oscar, the name of George “Peobo” Gardner’s professional captain, who was skilled at bringing the boat back from far flung places. A standoff ensued until Gail suggested naming it after the mythical “contrabandista” who steered the Spray for Joshua Slocum when he was ill on his famous solo voyage. We whipped out the ship’s copy of “Alone Around the World” and found a picture of the illusion, but, alas, no name was mentioned. So we agreed on Jorge, a reasonable contrabandista helmsman’s name.

How the Storm Staysail got its Name.We tried out the storm staysail today. It was made in the North Sails loft in Lunenburg, as you can see from the photos on the web site. It is always good to try these things before you really need them. I got tired of saying “storm staysail” a lot, so we agreed on calling it “Cathy” after the person who made it. Right now Cathy is flying as a handsome stabilizer. No storms are in sight. The smaller storm trysail is “Susan,” who works with Cathy at North Sails.

We expect to experience Bermuda customs at about 9am tomorrow, April 1st.

Location: 36° 43 N, 64° 07 W
Thursday 12:00, 03.30.2006

Schooner Maggie B’s noon position on Thursday 30 March was 36° 43 North, 65° 7 West . Our course was 180 at 6.4 knots. 255 miles to Bermuda, 465 from Lunenburg. We have averaged 6.9 knots VMG since leaving Nova Scotia.

Velocity Made Good is not speed through the water (STW) or speed over the ground (SOG). VMG is how fast you are going towards your destination. We ran west of our Rhumb Line (shortest route) somewhat for the first half of the voyage, trading speed in the Nor’westerly for angle. Now we are heading East of the Rhumb Line in a fresh NE by East breeze.

Our passage through the Gulf Stream took place during the midnight-6 AM watch. We regularly hit 10 knots with about half a knot assist southerly and some easterly set from the Stream.

Our estimated time of arrival at St. Georges, Bermuda is about midnight on Friday, March 31. We hope for a relatively fast turnaround (one week?) to depart for Antigua to participate in Race Week.

John Steele was first crew member on deck in shorts and many were barefoot. John was disqualified, however, because he put his “took” (toque — French Canadian for knit hat) back on within 1/2 hour.

Lovely sailing. All is well.

Location: 39° 8 9 N, 65° 36 7 W
Wednesday 12:00, 03.29.2006

The Schooner Maggie B’s noon position on Wednesday, 29 March was 39° 08.9 North, 65° 36.07 West or 408 miles to Bermuda and 312 from Lunenburg. Course is 220, speed 6 knots under light Easterly. Main with one reef (see yesterday’s post) and the North Sails G2 gennaker, AKA “The Bird.” Seas smoothing out with just long NE swell.

The water has warmed up from 36° F to 57.9° since yesterday noon. We expect to enter the Gulf Stream around midnight tonight.

Saw many VLS’s last night (Very Large Ships). They seem to appear only after full dark. A large pod of pilot whales passed by us but didn’t stop to play.

All is well.

Location: 41° 45 59 N, 64° 58 12 W
Tuesday 12:00, 03.28.2006

The Schooner Maggie B left Lunenburg, Nova Scotia on route for Bermuda on March 27 at 1320. At noon on March 28 she was at 41° 45.59 North, 64° 58.12 West or 162 miles from Lunenburg and 558 miles to Bermuda. In her first 24 hours run, she went 168 NM, an average of 7 knots.

Weather is fair and plus 4 C. Wind NNW at 15-20. Sea state is swells of 3 meters with chop of 1 meter. Course is 220 degrees at 8 knots. All is well.

No sooner I typed the last sentence than the main peak halyard let go due to chafe at the saddle (we had been under full main and working jib). Within an hour we had the fore up with one reef and the main halyard repaired and rehoisted with one reef and were back doing 7-8 knots. Did I also mention that last night the oil filter of the engine came off during charging and blew out all the oil before it was shut down in 10 seconds? All repaired also. And there is something caught in the prop and it will not feather (better than not unfeathering).

We had a big troop of dolphin playing around us as we were fixing the main and a tired Junco aboard for an hour.

All is well.

Crewing on the First Leg

Frank Blair is the owner, Master and Captain of the Maggie B. He is a former US Navy fighter pilot, USCG Master, Senior instructor in the Hurricane Island Outward Bound Sea School, and knows every rock in the Bay of Fundy, many personally.

Bori Kiss, 27, Hungarian, BA in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic and Masters in European Politics from Strasbourg. She is a long time sailor in Maine and Hungary, speaks eight languages, loves to meet people, learn new languages and cultures, and is on her first journey around the world.

John Steele is President of Covey Island, the builder of the Maggie B.

Gail Atkinson is the former Second Mate on the Bluenose II and a successful lobster fisherman from Cape Sable, Nova Scotia.

Anne Louise Dauphinee is the Mate on the Peer’s Fancy and a resident of Halifax.

Paul Baskett is an accomplished master shipwright and a former member of the Canadian National Sailing Team. He is a former bike messanger in London and journalist in Bangkok.

We set sail from Nova Scotia

Our departure from Lunenburg is set for tomorrow, March 27th at high noon. We hope to show off our “Bird” — the Toucan Gennaker with a sailing departure and pop her out of her tube. We’ll see. We have a great crew and a perfect NW’erly forcast. We’ll see.