Day Two at Spot Two

Well, yes, the Committee doesn't think that we are a Classic, despite being a Plank on Frame Schooner from Nova Scotia.

In any case, we have some interesting people to race with. The wind is great, a nice 10-15 knot Trade Wind Sea Breeze. But, of course, lots of variations.

Today, we really ran in our groove. Did most everything perfectly, though we were about 30 seconds late for the start. So hard to time. If you are early, it is a five minute penalty. But we sailed almost a perfect race and were _ONE_SECOND_ out of first plane. You all know that I don't race to race, etc., etc., but I was....regretful. So, two days of #2.

Lots of neat people came by today to ask how F/F works and compliment on how fast. It is marvelous to be "part of the crowd" when "the crowd" is Dorade, Tuiga, Lone Fox, Bolero, Lara, etc., etc.

So, two days of second to Aurelius. Second is fine. We are the boat that goes places, rather than being shipped from regatta to regatta, like Tuiga.

So far so good. Hot. Also Hannah and Michael left today to return to the frozen North. They will be missed.

All is well.

Frank Blair
Captain, Schooner FARFARER

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Sensory Overload in Antigua

It is hard to express or communicate the sensory overload for sailors to be at the Antigua Classic Race Week. We arrived yesterday in a little rain squall, which gave locals the chance to watch us make our docking. This is the Olympics of docking and we did OK.

But to wander not far, one can see the most famous and beautiful boats on the planet. Literally. Even the most jaundiced sailor strolls down the dock with one's jaw at half mast, like a rube from the country seeing NYC the first time. Yours included.

Should I mention that the boat one away to starboard is the yacht of the Prince of Monaco. Tuiga. Shipped here expressly for this race. Really.

Today was the single handed race. One must have a safety crew aboard. Michael Higgens and I tried it. It was blustery and we reefed the main just before the start. The two of us, or mostly Michael as I had to be sure we didn't run down too many other contestants. Somehow I misunderstood the signals from the Committee Boat and planned the start five minutes late. We would have been great, but we were late. FARFARER in 20-25 knots of wind is a handful tacking to windward.

But we nailed the first mark and then we somewhat wise heading outside downwind, and apparently were second at the finish. But the ratings were crazy and we had to give up time even to 75 foot Fife's (big and fast). So it was fun but very, very tensioning.

Tomorrow is the first of the "real" races. I have a big, good crew, who hopefully will train up fast. We will have fun.

For weather, we have wind, so the rest doesn't matter too much, though it is raining on and off. Hannah and Michael rowed Ruthie to the marvelous Pigeon Beach, but I had to attend the Skipper's Meeting, which was mostly about how to be nice and share...

All is well.

Frank Blair
Captain, Schooner FARFARER

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All In Good Company
18 April 2012

I'm pleased to report that the Schooner FARFARER arrived in Falmouth, Antigua at 10:30 on Wednesday, April 18th. We successfully did a 180 turn and slid into a tight spot between....wait for the drum roll.... Lone Fox (won everything last year) and Dorade (see - winner Bermuda Race forever and inventor of the Dorade Vent). Definitely a high rent district.

We did the 1445 NM from Charleston to Antigua in just under eight days, without using any propulsion except the wind, save for leaving Charleston and entering Falmouth.

All is well.

Frank Blair
Captain, Schooner FARFARER

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The Run Up to Falmouth
17 April 2012

At Noon on Tuesday, 17 April, the Schooner FARFARER was at 19°16N, 62°29W. We were making 8.5 knots directly for Barbuda in a gradually decreasing Easterly. The sky is bright with about half coverage of fair-weather clouds. We should arrive in Falmouth by dawn tomorrow.

The ship was fully dressed out and all crew were present, clean and sober, to celebrate Hannah's 28th birthday. There has been serious talk of a chocolate cake.

The nearest land is Scrub Island, about 65 NM to the Southwest. It is just off Anguilla and the chic St. Martin and St. Barts.

There is one serious matter, which I hesitated to mention earlier for fear of alarming friends and relatives. I can now disclose that we are transporting the prizes for the Lunenburg Shipyard Alliance's Concours d'Elegance. We were chosen because it was believed that we would be the fastest, safest and most discrete way to escort the prizes to Antigua. They have very significant value on the secondary market, for reasons that I don't need to discuss here.

We had thought that their loading on the FARFARER was carried out with the utmost care and discretion. But word has somehow leaked out. I now suspect a rather well-tended dockyard cat that seemed to take an inordinate interest in the loading, while pretending to be caging for food scraps. In any case, a few days ago, off the Mona Passage, we spotted a large, dark sloop at about sunset. A Portuguese, by the cut of her jib. Just before dark, we saw her alter course in our direction and pile on topgallents despite the freshening breeze. I, of course, appeared to be making for the Virgins, but then altered course to seaward once it was full dark.

In the last few days we have seen hints of topsails at dawn and faint radar signatures behind rain showers. This morning with the first rays of the sun, as I suspected, we spotted her again, patrolling off of Sombrero Island in the Anegada Passage. You could almost smell the frustration and fury across the waters as we passed well to windward.

So we have only tonight to worry, and he has the conundrum as to how we will approach Falmouth - leave Saba, Nevis and Monserrat to port? The Redonda/Antigua passage? Between Antigua and Barbuda? Or outside all in deep, blue water? I think the prizes are safe.

All is well.

Frank Blair
Captain, Schooner FARFARER

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Smooth Sailing ‘Against’ the Trades
16 April 2012

At noon on Monday, 16 April, the Schooner FARFARER was at 21° 52N, 64° 19W. We were making 7 knots directly for the passage between Antigua and her sister island, Barbuda. The skies are clearing and we have a nice 12-15 knot breeze from East by South. We are on a close reach with a full fore and two reefs in the main (soon to be shaken out).

The closest land is Anegada Island, near Virgin Gorda and Tortola, which is about 170 NM to the SSW. We are about 325 NM from Falmouth Harbour in Antigua, which would mean an arrival sometime in the morning of the 18th.

Since clearing the Sea Buoy off Charleston six days ago, we have made about 1100 NM, at an average speed of 7.6 knots without any propulsion except for the wind. Very, very satisfactory headed "against" the Trades.

As any Captain with a crew straight down from the frozen North (Maine and Nova Scotia - though not too frozen this year) - I have been very attentive that all have adequate sun block on their pale blue bodies. Hannah invented a new definition: "Nova Scotia Sun Screen," which is full fouls.

Getting ready for landfall, we have broken out the paper charts to double check everything. The British chart for Antigua has the charming directions for the West Channel entrance to Saint John's Harbour: "Keeping the twin spires of the cathedral in line with Fort James clears Warrington Bank well to the South." Whew.

All is well.

Frank Blair
Captain, Schooner FARFARER

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See Southern Stars Rising
15 April 2012

At Noon on Sunday, 15 April, the Schooner FARFARER was at 23°57N, 66°05W. Puerto Rico is the nearest land, at about 325 NM to the south. We are making about 8 knots on a course of 155 degrees, still about 10 degrees "left" of the rhumb line to Antigua. Antigua is about 480 NM away, or perhaps 2 1/2 days.

The wind has been steady from East by North, at 15-20 knots. We are at a close reach with three reefs in the main and one in the fore. She is well balanced with essentially neutral rudder. The day is just sparkling. It is a delight to be on deck, at least until the next big splash comes on board, always perfectly aimed at the person with the least protection. The waves have made up to 5-8 feet, and rather lumpy.

Last night at Midnight, the Watch stood to and read the 23 Psalm and sang the Sailor's Hymn (Eternal Father, strong to save...) in honor of the Titanic's Hundredth.

As we work South, it is great to see some of the Southern stars rising, giving memories of the Schooner Maggie B. Last night was fairly clear and it was marvelous to see Scorpio rising, perhaps the most expressive constellation in the heavens. Many favorites were out: Orion, the Pleiades, the Dolphin, the Swan, the Twins, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and rising at about 0300, the last quarter of the moon.

The high pressure is up to 31.05 inches, almost off the scale of FARFARER's Chelsea barometer. We feel quite sure that this is going to settle in for several days.

So, current estimate for arrival in Antigua is late on the 17th. We will probably anchor out in Falmouth Harbour.

All is well.

Frank Blair Captain, Schooner FARFARER

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1.15 Leagues to the Bottom of the Sea
14 April 2012

At Noon on Saturday, 14 April the Schooner FARFARER was at 26°01N, 68°35W. Cockburn Town in the Turks and Caicos is the closest land, at about 300 NM range. We were headed Southeeast at 8.1 knots. There is bright sun with small puffy clouds. The barometer is extremely high at almost 31 inches.

Antigua is about 660 NM away at a heading of about 20 degrees right. We are still saving up some Easting for the anticipated wind shift.

We are now in 18208 feet of water (1.15 leagues), according to the chart.

Today's fun was crossing ahead of the 1000 foot cruise ship "Carnival Miracle," bound for San Juan, Puerto Rico. An officer with a thick Italian accent answered our call and kept his behemoth clear astern. The Italian accent on a cruise ship reminded me of a great Winston Churchill quote. After he was out of power, he went cruising in the Mediterranean on an Italian ship. When asked by an English reporter why he chose an Italian vessel, he replied, "The food is better, the service is better, and there's no foolishness about 'Women and Children First.'"

At the time of this writing (1530), we have two reefs in the main and one in the fore. We are on a close reach making 9.5 knots with the wind from the Northeast at 15-18 knots.

Hannah reminded us that about Midnight tonight a hundred years ago, the Titanic hit her fatal iceberg. We will briefly muster all hands to remember that tragedy and all other loss of life at sea.

All is well.

Frank Blair Captain, Schooner FARFARER

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Making Passage in the Trades
13 April 2012

At noon on, gulp, Friday the Thirteenth, the Schooner FARFARER was at 27°25N, 71°22W, or about 275 NM off of San Salvador Island, near Rum Cay in the Exumas. We were making 7.6 knots on a course of 120 degrees, still holding a bit North or left of the rhumb line to Antigua. The wind is from the NNE at 10-12 knots, but fairly variable as to speed and direction. It is a bright, sunny day, a bit cooler and drier than yesterday. We have only little, puffy cumulus clouds of very little vertical development. Just a lovely day.

The excitement today, or what passes for excitement on a well-run schooner making a passage in the Trades, was that we passed close aboard a ODAS (Oceanographic Data Acquisition System) buoy anchored out here in the middle of nowhere. It was close to its charted position at 27°30N, 71°30W, anchored in over 5000 feet of water! Its serial number was 41047. It was a small platform about 30 feet by 40 feet with a tower perhaps 20 feet tall. It collects data from multiple sensors: wind, waves, temperature, rainfall, etc. and transmits the data to land for collection and dissemination. It was a great image of tax-payer dollars at work, studying the ocean planet and adding to real scientific data for the forecasting of hurricanes and the such. A great image except that I called up the data and it was TOTALLY inaccurate in every parameter. Sigh.

We are just being passed astern by a 119 meter "Motor Transport" called the Clipper Lancer. She is headed for Puerto Cabello. By her course, perhaps in the Dominican Republic, or through the Mona Passage between the DR and Puerto Rico to Venezuela. Every passing boat seems to have a story.

Yesterday, towards the end of the day we spotted spouts passing behind us. It appeared to be two humpback whales, one adult and a juvenile, working north at full speed. There was no feeding behavior, just motoring along on a passage, just like us.

The Long Tailed Tropic Birds are back. Another (the same?) pair today. They must be nesting on one of the Bahamian islands. The book says that they fish like Gannets, diving for small fish. We have also seen and interesting dark gray medium sized Shearwater-like bird with a strange tail. It was relatively long and quite narrow, but conspicuously flared at the end. Unfortunately nothing seemed to match in the bird book.

The High pressure is building to interesting readings. 30.90 inches. Commanders Weather cautions that when the high fills in towards the end of tomorrow, that we can expect some significant NE Trades, perhaps in the 20-30 knot range with higher gusts. We hope we will have invested enough Easting that we will be able to reef down and ride it the last leg to Antigua. We have about 800 NM to go.

All is well.

Frank Blair
Captain, Schooner FARFARER

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The Perfect Day Sailing
12 April 2012

At Noon on Thursday, 12 April, the Schooner FARFARER was at 28°58N, 73°56W, about 225 nautical miles NW of Great Abaco in the Bahamas, the nearest land. We were making 6.1 knots to the Southeast in a 12 knot Northerly breeze.

We made some Southing in yesterday's Westerly and then gybed about midnight as the Northerly came in. We are now holding a bit East of the direct route to Antigua. We expect two or three days of this nice Northerly, and if we hold "left" or East, we will have a great angle when the Bermuda High sets in and gives us the ESE Trades.

Today is perfect. It is hard to believe that we are just two days out of Charleston (and 415 NM!). It was as if Lord Neptune saw us approaching and set to determine if there was any weakness in ship or crew. Literally a rite of passage. And he found the boat and crew fitting and let us pass into this almost dreamlike travel - a steady rocking, comforting rather than alarming, enough breeze to move us but not beat us, bathing suit temperature and light overcast so the sun not too hot.

We are seeing big boats regularly. One of the pleasures of the Automatic Information System (AIS) that communicates between bigger boats (and us) is that you get the name and other details of the other boat, such as Next Port. We saw a little steamer headed up to Sydney in Nova Scotia (for coal? And carrying what North?). Another big container ship was off to Tyne in Great Britain. We spoke to that one as they were crossing us from the Starboard and I wanted to be sure they knew we were a sailboat. A very organized East Asian person had it all well in control.

My brother Ed wrote yesterday that the strange red tassels on some of the porpoise we saw are a barnacle like growth. He has been working many years with a marvelous Brookfield Zoo long term research project studying several families of dolphin in Florida. He reports that a number of animals in their study group have similar growths.

Today it feels as if we are well into the tropics. We are beginning to see a lot of Sargassum weed in the water. The first pair of Long Tailed Tropic birds have circled the boat for a while. We occasionally see whole squadrons of Flying Fish fly from wave to wave. One Olympic Class Flying Fish was seen by Don to go from one side of the boat to the other, just over Michael's head, and make a perfect landing. We wonder if his mates dared him to try.

We are doing the usual sailors "good weather" chores of cleaning and oiling and mending and tightening. It is a fine day. Don is reading Farley Mowat's "Farfarer" and Michael is studying the Bowditch American Practical Navigator as a fine (sleep inducing) introduction to Celestial Navigation.

Frank Blair
Captain, Schooner FARFARER

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Crossing the Gulf Stream with a Squall Line
11 April 2012

At noon on Wednesday, April 11th, the schooner FARFARER was at 31°18N, 75°55W. We made 220 NM since noon yesterday. They were hard miles. We crossed the Gulf Stream with a squall line with winds to the mid-30's. The Stream, as always, was very confused and turbulent. We reefed the main twice as steering was hard because we were carrying a lot of windward helm. Jorge, the Autopilot, gave up. We regularly saw 12 knots of boat speed and 14-15 knots of speed over the ground, with the help of the favorable current.

Towards dawn the front itself came through with considerable rain and thunder and lightning in all quadrants. Foul weather gear only efficiently channeled the combined rain and spray into every nook and cranny of one's body. FARFARER was generally steady and safe, while it assumed many unusual attitudes.

We are now clear of the Stream and the Front, moving south at 8.5 knots, using the fine NW wind that followed the squalls. Our plan is to run south until about midnight and then gybe over onto port tack with the anticipated wind shift to Northerly as this system plays out.

The boat and crew are sturdy and able, if a bit battered by this recent meteorological gesture.

Hannah is a bit more battered as she had a small flying fish hit her in the head last night before the fun began. Both Hannah and (we think) the fish are doing well.

Frank Blair
Captain, Schooner FARFARER

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