Falmouth to the Azores – Day 2, Tuesday June 8, 2010
41 35N, 68 40W
Departed Falmouth a bit late: 1202 instead of projected 1200 but chose, in my infinite wisdom, not take it up as a significant issue with the crew. Had a great send off from a dockload of people including parents, friends, wives, and curious on-lookers. A quick try at the list: Sally and Bill Stoops, Leslie van Breen, Seb Milardo, Charlie and Merrie Woodworth, the entire Norris family, Jean and Laura Wilkinson, boat partners Alex Agnew and John O’Meara (both of whom deserve medals for the work they put into various parts of Chase before she left), Bob Stewart, Ed Leary, Sunny and Hank Fuller. And, the weather could not have cooperated more; the low pressure area of Sunday moved off shore, leaving in its place what all of us in New England come to expect: a bright, clear day with good winds from the northwest. All in all, a great day to go to sea.
Barreled out the Portland ship channel after getting a bon voyage call from Tom Woodruff (watching us from Mackworth Island), and Jeff Aumuller (watching us from Portland Head). The forecast from Commander’s Weather has forced us to move more south than I might normally. Generally, since the Azores lie almost due east of us (and a few degrees south), one just heads southeast until intersecting the 40 degree latitude line, after which you hook a left and go east. However, the prediction is for a low pressure system to hit the coast at about 40 degrees; being north of the gale could create easterly winds for us, whereas keeping south of it might keep them with a more southerly flow, and with less duration. So, we reached the tip of Cape Cod early this morning , and are angling a bit to the east while still making a southerly course. We’ll probably get a weather update later today.
In the meantime, glorious sailing: running down wind under wing-and-wind with a pole-out genny, doing about 6 knots. Not fast, but also not very bumpy – by far and away the best early-trip sailing that I’ve encountered in a long time, and the best prescription for the crew getting their sea legs under them. It is my hope that by the time the weather hits on Wednesday night/Thursday morning, they’ll be acclimated – there is always a price to pay for this kind of comfort!
Since no one was “feeding the fish” on the way down last night, we jumped right into the frozen food selection – dinner was chicken cordon bleu, accompanied by fresh butternut squash and rice pilaf. Anyone who has sailed with John Pollis will see his culinary hand in this menu.
A beautiful sunset at 2030, an incredible moonrise at 0200, dolphins at 0430, and a spectacular sunrise at 0500… it’s wonderful to be at sea again, with friends, on a boat I’m so comfortable with and have so much faith in. Things will go wrong (in fact, we’ve already wrestled with the engine shutting down at 0300), but that’s the nature of the beast. In the meantime, all of us enjoy Chase’s sure motion as we move downwind and the water gurgles by the hull. I’m reminded of Slocum’s words on Spray in the same conditions: “The wind was still southwest, but it had moderated, and roaring seas had turned to gossiping waves that rippled and pattered against her sides as she rolled among them, delighted in their story.”
Day’s run: 130 miles
On Board S/V Chase