Season 3

Dear Friends,

We're provisioning to leave NH again, so will rightly wonder how we got back here.  I had to refer to the blog to remember where we left off...

We left St. Marten after 2 months of work and play, and sailed for Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands where, for the first time we felt we were in familiar territory--before that every port was new.

When in St. Marten, our Swedish friend Nils introduced us to Rob and Natalie on s/v Wilhelm because both vessels were ultimately planning to sail to New England, but we hadn't been in touch with them for a couple of months.  We were now delighted to learn they were just a half-day sail away, and our schedules for heading north were in synch.  We met in Christmas Cove, St. John, waited for appropriate weather to avoid the problem we were hearing on the SSB that current cruisers were having to stand off several hundred miles for a week or so before approaching Bemuda because of high wind and seas.  For the first time we used our SSB radio to chat with another boat--not just listen to weather broadcasts--and arranged a daily radio schedule with Wilhelm.  They departed a day ahead of us on May 14, and reported little or no wind.

We left in light wind, but the second day began a lovely sailing breeze.  Then Bill celebrated the night of his birthday with thunderstorms -- the most horrific lightning he'd ever seen -- continuous many fingered bolts surrounding us making it like four hours of daylight, and thunder that never stopped.  Fortunately, I slept through most of it--hey, it wasn't my watch!  Bill tried to sail around the worst of the squalls, visible and clear on radar, but it was impossible to get away from it.  In the morning, Wilhem reported they had turned south for the night hoping to avoid the weather, but still got slammed.  Fortunately, neither boat was struck. The fine weather returned in the morning and the rest of the 6-day passage was lovely and uneventful.  Half-way to Bermuda we passed Wilhelm and took the opportunity to take photos of each other under full sail and spinnakers at daybreak.  We arrived in St. George's Harbor a day ahead of Wilhelm, thanking Act III once again for her swiftness.

Bermuda has the most outstanding navigation and radio system we've ever seen; Bermuda Radio contacted us when we were still 100 nm out.  We previously had notified them online that we were expecting to arrive, and check-in was a breeze.  The Port official even helped us with dock lines. The island is gorgeous, the people most welcoming, and the eponymous onions and shorts were a treat to see.   It's not an island where cruisers happen upon by chance, so the harbor was full of serious boaters with wonderful stories--many waiting for weather to head for the Azores and Europe.  Natalie and Rob had a time obligation so left ahead of us when conditions were less than ideal; we had no constaints so stayed to enjoy the last snorkeling and swimming we expected for awhile.  (The water was a freezing cold 76 degrees!  We are so spoiled!)

We buddy-boated to Newport, RI with a wonderful Dutch couple, Caspar and Gjerte, on s/v Abel, and maintained the same 2/daily radio sched we had with Wilhelm.  It's a great comfort to hear a friendly voice when you're spending so many days alone on the water, with no other vessels in sight.  It's also valuable to share information about what is/was happening with weather and seas.

Our foreign friends have to jump through hoops to get cruising permits, including face-to-face visits to the American embassy. The one thing we were were sure of was that we'd have no problems coming into the States.  We are Americans, after all.  We picked up a mooring in Newport, RI at 2 a.m., fell fast asleep and called the harbormaster and customs first thing in the morning to arrange our check-in.  The customs officer immediately gave us an official warning for not contacting customs by telephone when were were 100 nm. offshore.  But we checked all the websites and there was no mention of that, we protested.  And we have no working telephone.  Yeah, well, you just have to know these things and now that you're in the system as "officially warned" the next time you make a mistake you'll be fined.   We were embarrassed about the great USA when Abel arrived late that next night and Caspar and Gjerte stood in a deserted  parking lot at 3 a.m. holding a flashlight, filling out their entry papers on the hood of the official's car.

Newport has an unrivaled sailing reputation and we were impressed.  Bill also noted that in most of the Caribbean we've seen charter boats who raise their sails just for show while they motor their customers around.  The Newport captains deftly sail their large classic boats right through the anchorage.

We dawdled a bit in Newport to allow time for our granddaughter, Fionna (7), to meet us in Onset (near the Cape Cod Canal), for the last leg home.  She was a trouper for the 4 days aboard, and absolutely ate up Provincetown, literally and figuratively.  You should have seen her put away a plate of mussels in butter and garlic, then steer our dinghy around the mooring field without help.

We arrived at our mooring in Little Harbor at dawn, in the fog, surrounded by the rich scent of the North Atlantic, and happy to be home.  It felt strange to return to living on land after nearly 2 years, but Josh has done a great job taking care of the house and we settled in quickly to lots of company.  Granddaughters Fionna and Sare (1) spent 3 weeks; Lorenzo (3) was here for a couple of weeks, on and off from NJ (yes, their mom's were around, but they already know us:  we needed to connect with the kids who barely remember us.)

In August we flew to Montana for 3 weeks to see our sons:  Ben with his new awesome lady Rachel, and Jake and Allie (4). (Allie confided to her Aunt Polly that "I'm the cutest girl in the world but I can only tell my family."  We agree, but are clearly prejudiced.  Allie is also the reigning Mutton Busting Champion among the 4-7 year olds at the Missoula State Fair and has a belt-buckle as big as her head to show for it.) We floated, fly-fished, sailed, harvested wheat, and played and played and played.  Polly and MIles came from NC to overlap our last week, so we achieved our goal of seeing all our kids and grandkids.  It was divine.
Bill played a little tennis and drums; I sang some warmups with Sounds of the Seacoast.  We sorely miss our friends as well.  It was terrific to play with you this summer as well.

In between playing and entertaining the kids, Bill built a hard dodger for Act III this summer/fall.  It's a big, complicated project and looking fabulous, but took longer than expected.  Then he took a couple of weeks to upgrade the engine.  We're now facing a slow trip south in the colder weather, but we're much safer and more protected.

We'll stop in Oriental, NC to haul out for a short time, unstep the mast and install some electronics, then proceed to Key West, the Western Caribbean, and, ultimately, Panama.  The current plan is to leave the boat in Panama next hurricane season (summer) and come home to play with the kids again.
Come back here later for pictures from the summer!