Seven days, 12 hours and 13 minutes!!!! We passed by Red Buoy 2 at the entrance to Narragansett Bay, R.I., at 2:27 a.m. today, completing – entirely under sail – the return leg of the Bermuda One-Two! What a terrific three weeks it has been. (Read More…)

What an incredible night it is. A long, smooth swell comes at Robin’s stern, dark except where it reflects the light of a 99-percent full moon that shines down  from above the cockpit. About an hour ago, we saw the first lights of Block Island to the northwest. And then the city of Newport began setting off some spectacular fireworks, announcing our approach.

Or maybe it was for the tall ships. (Read More…)

Before the Bermuda One-Two sailboat race started nearly three weeks ago in Newport, R.I., Peter McCrea told me I would return with an amazing amount of confidence in my seamanship. Even before that, Peter had told me I’d better get a light-air sail lest Monica and I get caught in calms on the return trip.The Prophet Peter! Now Monica says we will have a spinnaker before we do this the next time. (Read More…)

If the Gulf Stream was cake, passing through the front from 1 a.m. until about 4 a.m. was the worst meal your mother made you eat. The wind had increased through the evening, and we were fully reefed — two reefs in the main and one in the staysail. Still, we kept going at about 5 knots with that substantial sea on our port quarter. (Read More…)

The wind instrument has begun showing gusts over 20 knots at 3 o’clock on Thursday afternoon. The forecast seems to be on schedule. In a half hour, we’ll try to listen once more to Herb Hilgenberg for an update. If yesterday’s forecast of winds reaching 35 knots proves correct, we have a plan. Heave to. (Read More…)

The Gulf Stream is behind us. Piece of cake. Monica slept until 6 a.m. I napped in the cockpit and kept watch. We went through the night with shortened sail and settled for that 4.5 knots of boat speed, a conservative approach taken so we couldn’t be surprised with too much sail if the wind suddenly increased, as it can, especially when you are napping.
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We struggled in vain during the night to sail toward the first of three waypoints Herb Hilgenberg had given out yesterday afternoon. Robin was fighting two evils. The wind was coming from the west-northwest and the course required us to sail northwest, too close to the wind. So we were steadily falling off the pace, although early in the evening we were consistently making over 6 knots, enough to consider reefing.
But then the boat speed dropped, even though the wind remained at 10 to 12 knots. And when I say dropped, I mean like it was chained, along with Wiley Coyote, to a falling anvil. (Read More…)

The wind came up about 10:30 this morning, and we’ve been sailing ever since. At first, the wind was light – 3 to 5 knots from the west – and we relied on the autopilot to steer Robin. We weren’t going fast enough to actually hope to catch fish, but the line was out. (Read More…)

Personal hygiene is a must on a small boat occupied by two people. Surrounded by water, however, one’s approach to bathing is not limitless. Robin carries a nautical tank-truck of fresh water, with two 50 gallon tanks. But if you are lavish with it, you won’t be lathering for long. (Read More…)

I feel like I’ve killed an albatross.

The sea has gone from flat calm to oily, although right now it appears stippled. So what are we both smiling about?
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Tranquil seas stretching from horizon to horizon and Robin’s gentle rocking leave little to do but to think. It’s so calm right now that we’re thinking of playing dominoes. But for the moment, I’m thinking about why I am here. (Read More…)

Competitive juices are a poisonous punch. We are creeping along at 1.5 knots at noon on Monday in about 3 to 5 knots of following wind. For a while this morning, we had 7 knots on the beam and were making 4 knots. At anything less than hull speed, we are visited by thoughts of our competitors. These are not happy thoughts at under 2 knots of progress, be sure of that. How much ahead are the rest? Do they have better conditions? Will we fall farther and farther behind? (Read More…)

It is 4:30 on Sunday afternoon. We are well-rested finally. Last night we endured 12 to 14 hours (it’s hard to be precise) of zero wind. We were actually drifting east, away from the rhumb line and Newport, for most of that time. But the lull afforded us some good long sleep.
Monica and I have always been a good team. We’re both hard workers. That helps out here. Each of us is looking for something to do, so in the end we’re helping each other. (Read More…)

It is 3:40 on Saturday afternoon. Monica is sleeping in the port berth, taking a well-earned break from single-handing all morning while I slept off the effects of some mild seasickness. If you have been checking iboatTrack, you will have seen that we have veered east and west, away from the course to Newport. (Read More…)

I could not send this blog on the way to Bermuda because I feared what folks on shore might suspect. But now it can be shared. I’ll explain that part later.

There are stowaways aboard Robin. I see them out of the corner of my eye. (Read More…)