S/Y Visions of Johanna
43 miles east of St. Augustine
Wind SE, 6 kn
Hello everyone. All is well on board Visions of Johanna; Tom and I are nearly half way through the passage to West Palm Beach. Yesterday started with better sailing than expected, finding NE 12-16 kn, but engine went on at 3 PM as wind has slowly clocked and eased, now SE 6-8 kn.
Great burgers and (oven baked) fries for dinner last night, with a big salad. There were quiet watches overnight except for calls for exclusion zones around military vessels doing live fire operations. "Sailing yacht" is one thing, "motor vessel" or "cargo ship" are others, but these guys say "War Ship" 61, or 55 or something...and the war part kind of gets your attention. One call was for unlit night time "helo" procedures. At one point I jumped out as I heard what I though was a ship nearby, one that I could hear but some how not see. Turns out it was a helocopter stealthily approaching us. I figured it out when their spotlight lit us up like a Christmas tree.
193 mile to go. Hope for arrival late morning or so tomorrow.
Best,
Bill and Tom
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Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Saturday Update, 10/31
S/Y Visions of Johanna
1 November, 2015
10:30 AM
32 46.3/78 41.8 North Atlantic
60 miles east of Charleston
Bar 1022 mb
Hello everyone. Sorry for the tardy mail...we were preoccupied landing a small tuna...about 8-10 pounds, a skip jack or bonito. Unfortunately, not a yellow fin. But we are not complaining. Yes, all is well on board Visions of Johanna. It was nice that everyone was awake this morning and we enjoyed eggs and bagels together for breakfast, all the while reminding Jack that the change to EST was why he had to take an extra watch last night.
As anticipated, wind veered to the east by 6 PM and SE by 10 PM last night, and finally was south by 0500. What we did not expect was 12-15 knots wind speed throughout, and we had good sailing through most of the night. Tom made the call to get more sail up and shut down engine about 1 AM, and we sailed nearly to 6 AM when wind finally came all the way to the SSW. By 6 AM it was SSW, and now veered more to WSW, speed 10-12 knots. We are motor sailing on a rhumb line to Hilton Head, just cracked off from head on wind to keep the main sail filled. GRIBS suggest winds will ease slightly and perhaps even back to the south or even SE by 6 to 8 PM tonight, which would be nice and more favorable than the SW we are seeing now.
Yesterday was another enjoyable day on board. Malcolm and Jack prepared egg/tuna salad sandwiches and we ate lunch (and dinner) al fresco in the cockpit. Jack prepared superb smoked salmon appetizers, and the crew celebrated Visions of Johanna's birthday with a toast as I made the proper offering. And, as for dinner, you know we are eating well when the crew is whining about how much food is served, as we enjoyed eggplant parmigiana (thanks again, MOM!!), pasta, and a large green salad with pumpkin muffins for desert - thanks, Jo, (who is always here in spirit).
No trick-or-treaters last night.
And, I suspect tuna loins will be on the menu for tonight!
About 100 nm to go to our waypoint at the entry to Port Royal Sound - and then 20 miles or so into the bay. A pre-dawn entry is in the works in current conditions. If wind/sea conditions remain reasonable, we will head in on approach, as the channel is very well marked and lit, the bay inside is wide open, and I have been there before. There's even been some crew talk about pushing on, which I guess is a good thing for a captain to hear (from a happy, fun, and sated crew point of view).
Next check in will be tomorrow morning...from Hilton Head.
Sailing smoothly,
Bill and crew
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1 November, 2015
10:30 AM
32 46.3/78 41.8 North Atlantic
60 miles east of Charleston
Bar 1022 mb
Hello everyone. Sorry for the tardy mail...we were preoccupied landing a small tuna...about 8-10 pounds, a skip jack or bonito. Unfortunately, not a yellow fin. But we are not complaining. Yes, all is well on board Visions of Johanna. It was nice that everyone was awake this morning and we enjoyed eggs and bagels together for breakfast, all the while reminding Jack that the change to EST was why he had to take an extra watch last night.
As anticipated, wind veered to the east by 6 PM and SE by 10 PM last night, and finally was south by 0500. What we did not expect was 12-15 knots wind speed throughout, and we had good sailing through most of the night. Tom made the call to get more sail up and shut down engine about 1 AM, and we sailed nearly to 6 AM when wind finally came all the way to the SSW. By 6 AM it was SSW, and now veered more to WSW, speed 10-12 knots. We are motor sailing on a rhumb line to Hilton Head, just cracked off from head on wind to keep the main sail filled. GRIBS suggest winds will ease slightly and perhaps even back to the south or even SE by 6 to 8 PM tonight, which would be nice and more favorable than the SW we are seeing now.
Yesterday was another enjoyable day on board. Malcolm and Jack prepared egg/tuna salad sandwiches and we ate lunch (and dinner) al fresco in the cockpit. Jack prepared superb smoked salmon appetizers, and the crew celebrated Visions of Johanna's birthday with a toast as I made the proper offering. And, as for dinner, you know we are eating well when the crew is whining about how much food is served, as we enjoyed eggplant parmigiana (thanks again, MOM!!), pasta, and a large green salad with pumpkin muffins for desert - thanks, Jo, (who is always here in spirit).
No trick-or-treaters last night.
And, I suspect tuna loins will be on the menu for tonight!
About 100 nm to go to our waypoint at the entry to Port Royal Sound - and then 20 miles or so into the bay. A pre-dawn entry is in the works in current conditions. If wind/sea conditions remain reasonable, we will head in on approach, as the channel is very well marked and lit, the bay inside is wide open, and I have been there before. There's even been some crew talk about pushing on, which I guess is a good thing for a captain to hear (from a happy, fun, and sated crew point of view).
Next check in will be tomorrow morning...from Hilton Head.
Sailing smoothly,
Bill and crew
----
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Please be kind and keep your replies short.
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