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Timoneer is on passage again!
Most of our summer has been spent in Nantucket Island with occassional visits to Newport and the Labor Day weekend anchored off Fisher’s Island at the mouth of Long Island Sound. The past few days we have been in Stamford, Connecticut where we hosted a few cocktail parties.
We left Stamford at 0930 this morning and at noon we had travelled 21 miles to the east. It is a beautiful day and the forecast looks excellent for our trip south to Savannah, Georgia where we will be going into the shipyard for about two months. At the Thunderbolt Marine we will pull both masts out for painting and inspection and the boat will be hauled out of the water and put into a shed. The coachhouse and surrounding white areas will all be painted and the hull antifouled. We hope to be finished in November and will then head south to the Caribbean.
John is currently in France on honeymoon after getting married to Michelle on September 9th.
All is well on board. PHil.
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Timoneer has now left Nantucket and is anchored off Fisher’s Island, at the mouth of Long Island Sound. We will go from here to Newport next week so that some of the crew can fly out for John’s wedding in Wisconsin on the 9th September. After that we have a few more parties to do in Connecticut and then we head down for Savannah, Georgia on September 18th.
In Savannah we will take both masts out of the boat for inspection and service, as well as a fresh coat of paint. We will also have the boat out of the water for antifouling and painting of the deckhouse and surrounding areas. We also do our Bi-annual survey with ABS, the classification society that we were built under.
All of this work is expected to take until November and then we will head down to the Caribbean in time for Christmas. We intend to be there several months before heading again for the San Blas Islands in Panama.
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Wednesday June 29th
Docked in the shipyard Bridgeport ,CT 41′ 10.4 N 73′ 10.7 W
Days run: 231 miles (19.5 hours)
Weather: Overcast threatening rain Wind: 15 kts 197′ T
News
The weather deteriorated during the afternoon hours and Timoneer spent the remainder of the trip motoring in dense fog. We decided that we had our fill of tuna and changed the lures in hope of attracting something else. Sure enough right as the fog started to become really thick we caught a 15lb blue fish, but after that we didn’t have a single nibble. There was a fair amount of traffic out of New York along with some nervous radio talk as the big ships moved around in the fog. We crossed between the eastern end of Long Island and Block Island at about 0100. Were abeam of Race Rock by 0300 and arrived at the boat yard in Bridgeport at 0730 this morning. Have a great 4th of July.
John
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Tuesday June 28th
Noon position: 39’06.9 N 73′ 28.9W
Course: 034’T Speed: 11.5 kts Days run: 308 miles (28 hours)
Weather: Sunny with slight haze Wind: 10kts 210’T
News
Timoneer is at sea again departing Baltimore at 0725 Monday morning for the journey to the shipyard in Bridgeport, CT. The plan was to navigate the Chesapeake in daylight and we accomplished that exiting the bay at 2100 into the open ocean. Turning North Timoneer motor sailed uneventfully throughout the evening in a light Southerly. This morning as I was putting the fishing lines out we caught our first fish of the trip an 18lb big eye tuna. Before noon we landed another 5 tunas in the 16-18lb range which Bevan and I spent a few hours cleaning and Penny vacuum packed for the freezer. Weather permitting we should arrive by noon Wednesday, everyone onboard is well.
John
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Friday May 27th
Docked Baltimore Marine Center: 39’16.5 N 76′ 34.6 W
Weather: Clear & Sunny Wind: 5 kts 210’T
News
Timoneer arrived safe and sound at Baltimore Marine Center at 22:30 local time Friday evening. We spent 14 hours motoring up the flat calm Chesapeake today occasionally unrolling the genoa for a little extra speed. The bridges into Baltimore have a vertical clearance of 185ft and Timoneer easy clears them with a mast height of 167, but it still always looks like your not going to make it and gets your heart beating. Everyone on board is well.
John
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Friday May 27th
Noon position: 37’19.7 N 76′ 07.1W
Course: 356’T Speed: 11 kts Days run: 266 miles (noon – noon)
Weather: Clear & Sunny Wind: 10kts 210’T
News
The weather finally started to improve during the afternoon Thursday as Timoneer crossed the gulf stream off Cape Hatteras. The Westerly breeze and the North Easterly flowing current worked in our favor for once and the seas calmed as we entered the stream 60 miles off the Cape. The breeze continued to lighten and by the time we reached the Southern Chesapeake channel at 0815 in the morning it was flat calm. There was heavy traffic in the shipping lanes including a parade of Navy vessels consisting of 2 US aircraft carriers and 3 other ships. The French were there with a carrier and submarine and even the Canadians had a warship on maneuvers. Currently we are 30 miles North of the Chesapeake Bay bridge/tunnel and should arrive in Baltimore around 21:00.
John
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Thursday 26th May 2005
Noon position: 34′ 33.8 N 72′ 42.3W
Course: 320′ T Speed: 8 kts Days run: 247 miles (noon – noon)
Weather: Overcast & Grey Wind: 26kts 280’T
News
Wednesday afternoon Timoneer continued almost due West in the rain as we approached the Southern center of the low pressure system between us and the coast of the states. The wind continued to die out throughout the afternoon dropping to 4 knots as we caught our first fish of the trip a 15lb Wahoo. Then as the sun set we passed through a wall of clouds and rain with the wind instantly back at 25kts out of the West. We fell off a bit to the North and motor sailed with the staysail for the rest of the evening in 25-35kts of breeze.
John
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Wednesday 25th May 2005
Noon position: 32’47.2 N 68′ 26.0W
Course: 281′ T Speed: 12.5 kts Days run: 216 miles (19 hours from departure)
Weather: Overcast & Grey Wind: 15kts 220’T
News
Timoneer departed St. Georges, Bermuda at 17:00 after a six week stay at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club with guests aboard for half that time. Baltimore is our next destination and rumb line for the trip to the mouth of the Chesapeake is 296′ True with a distance of 620 miles, then another 120 miles North to the city. We left through the channel on the North East end of Bermuda and went around the North side of the reef that encircles the island in the choppy seas. Once clear of the reef we headed due West, trying to stay South of the developing low off the coast of the states. The wind was out of the South and peaked at 30kts during the evening and slowly tapered down to the 15kts we have at noon today. We were moving along well in the conditions averaging 11kts although it was not very comfortable and whether coincidence or not the motion managed to break the filaments in both running lights over the course of the evening, which we quickly replaced. Weather permitting are hoping to arrive in Baltimore on Friday evening or Saturday morning.
John
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Monday 18th April 2005
15:30 Local time
Docked Ordinance Cay, St. George’s Bermuda
position: 32’22.8 N 64′ 40.6W
Days run: 269 miles (noon – noon)
News
Timoneer arrived in St. George’s Bermuda at 15:30 Local time docking at Ordinance Island to clear customs and immigration. We completed the journey from the BVI in 78.5 hours sailing for 43 hours out of that time and averaging 10.6 knots over a distance of 836 miles. Sunday afternoon the breeze filled in from the West and we had a beautiful sail bombing along at 13+kts in 25kts of breeze. We shortened sail a bit as the wind approached 30 kts but had another nice stretch of 13 hours of engine off. Unfortunately our luck ran out about 110 miles south of Bermuda as a weather front passed over the boat and the breeze abruptly went straight on the nose. We spend the last twelve hours pounding into 25kts until we reached the lee of Bermuda. Everyone is glad to be out of the Caribbean heat and looking forward to seeing a bit of the island.
John
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Sunday 17th April 2005
Noon position: 27’26.4 N 64′ 01.1W
Course: 353′ T Speed: 12.3 kts Days run: 269 miles (noon – noon)
Weather: 50% clear skies Wind: 15kts 270’T
News
Timoneer sailed through the afternoon yesterday as the breeze continued to veer until it finally went West of South and we were forced to Jibe over to port on the closest course to Bermuda. By nightfall we were forced to motor sail as the wind continued to abate throughout the evening leaving us with a confused swell that would toss you from your bunk without the leeboard. This morning Timoneer was 400 miles from Bermuda with light headwinds slowing us slightly but still making good progress towards a Monday afternoon arrival.
John
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