North Atlantic Crossing 2008
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25 June to 15 July 2008 |
We left Jim's dock at 14h00 on 25 June, intending to go to visit Andy and his Dolphins in the Bahamas. The weather, and a small voice told us to belay that idea, and turn left to ride the Gulf Stream, heading directly for the Azores. It turns out that it was a good decision, as Hurricane Bertha formed and if we had stayed in the Bahamas, we would certainly have had to put in to Bermuda to ride out the storm there. We are sorry that we did not stop, but glad we missed Bertha.
We motored when there was no wind, we could not afford to linger in the path of a Hurricane. Usually, the wind dies as a hurricane approaches, the proverbial "Lull before the storm"
Sunrise on Laura's watch 30th June.
| Daily position reports tabulated from our Log. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Latitude/longitude | Speed | DMG | Wind | Comment | |
| 25 June | 26-48.88N 80-02.41W | - | 0 | 15 E | Left Jim's Dock @ 14h00 heading to Bahamas. | |
| 26 June | 28-29.66N 79-37.421W | 6.25 | 150 | 8 E | Skipped Bah. Heading N in Gulf Stream. | |
| 27 June | 30-47.15N 78-85.470W | 6.00 | 144 | 11 SW | Motored all night. T/Storms. Variable wind. | |
| 28 June | 31-34.74N 76-33.70W | 5.75 | 138 | 15 SSW | Fair winds, bumpy road. | |
| 29 June | 31-48.74N 73-23.90W | 6.33 | 152 | 16 S | Rolly. All well onboard. | |
| 30 June | 31-50.19N 70-31.73W | 6.58 | 158 | 12 S | Squally night. Conditions normal. | |
| 01 July | 32-15.32N 67-47.46W | 6.00 | 144 | 12 SSE | Creeping North now. Got to top the high. | |
| 02 July | 33-26.90N 65-22.12W | 5.96 | 143 | 12 SSE | Still favouring North. Seek wind N of High ridge. | |
| 03 July | 34-55.29N 63-27.56W | 5.88 | 141 | 03 SE | Heading North to top Ridge, must miss Trof and Low. | |
| 04 July | 35-44.14N 61-15.00W | 5.46 | 131 | 02 SW | Change course to find current,then to 39N, then right. | |
| 05 July | 36-31.69N 58-05.34W | 6.17 | 148 | 0 | Heading North. | |
| 06 July | 37-57.02N 56-08.66W | 5.75 | 138 | 07 SW | Wind just starting to fill in, | |
| 07 July | 38-49.84N 54-09.04W | 5.21 | 125 | 14 NW | Good run last night, but losing wind now. Hmmmm Bertha..... | |
| 08 July | 39-27.50N 49-54.27W | 7.04 | 169 | 8 NNW | Rough night! Squall line. | |
| 09 July | 39-21.41N 47-38.19W | 6.29 | 151 | 8WNW | Rough night. | |
| 10 July | 39-16.48N 44-40.79W | 5.58 | 135 | 0 | Motoring in dead calm. | |
| 11 July | 39-09.24N 41-55.36W | 5.79 | 139 | 05 ESE | Motoring in headwinds. | |
| 12 July | 39-01.30N 39-02.40W | 5.71 | 137 | 10 ESE | Full sail in ESE winds. Some bad weather coming. | |
| 13 July | 38-48.19N 36-21.22W | 5.25 | 126 | 12 SE | Waiting for better wind. Going to be on the head. | |
| 14 July | 38-44.13N 34-13.45W | 4.54 | 109 | 18 SSE | Next 100 miles is hard going. | |
| 15 July | 39-27.71N 31-15.81W | 5.42 | 130 | 15 SE | Anchored Isla Flores, Acores. Beautiful! |