The following is the actual captains log from the “Out of Bounds” from Newport, RI to Bermuda. Alex and Jeff had watch from 8:00 to 12:00, Bill and Nick from 12:00 to 4:00, Sergei from 4:00 to 8:00. This is the first experience of sailing together as a crew, and with the exception of Sergei, none of us had ever been offshore in our lives.-wvw
******VERBATIM*****
NEWPORT, RI to BERMUDA
Thursday, 10/31/96
23:55 Left Goat Island dock and powered to mooring.
Friday, 11/1/96
08:30 Cast off from mooring @ 08:30. Tied up to Newport Yachting Center alongside @ 09:00.
10:10 Unfurled jib, raised staysail. Proceeded up the bay under bridge to sort out sheet leads and clean up deck.
10:50 Abeam Inn at Castle Hill.
12:15 Abeam Bell No. 6.
12:25 Abeam “R2” Whistle.
13:00 140º, Wind picking up, gusting to 30 kts. Rolled up jib, put in 2nd reef. Boat settled down considerably. Wind gusting to 35kts++, seas 4’-6’, overcast, raining, gray. Pos 41º18.7n 71º07.7w
17:00 Course 150º, Wind 20-25kts NW, Overcast, seas 4’-6’, 2nd reef main and staysail. Seas getting sorted out, few sprinkles here and there. Pos 40º 52’n 70º42w.
19:00 Course 165º, W 20-25kts, seas 4 - 6’ , overcast 40º40’n 70º 33w.
21:00 Unfurled jib, wind down to 15-18kts. Numerous fishing boats. Seas moderating.
Saturday, 11/2/96
00:30 Winds out of NW ~16kts. Jib, Staysail + 2nd reef in place. Boat performing well. Seas 3-5’. Vis clr. Sky’s cloudy. Several fishing boats seen in the area. Crew sleeping. Nick and I on watch. -wvw Lat n40º 08’98 Lon w70º14.09.
03:30 Winds west NW @ 15kts. Seas fairly calm. Boat bumped fishing mooring (large rubber) about 02:00. No damage. No more fishing boats in sight. Steering 172º. Lat n39º 55.61 Lon n70º 01.64. Jib, staysail, full main.- wvw
14:00 Winds out of NE 18kts. Ran engine 3.5hrs to fill water tanks. Valve was off. Ran addl. 1 hr. Moving jib track forward. Setting sail. Turning off engine. Lat n38º56.04 Lon w69º34.45- wvw
16:00 Lat 38º41.77/ Lon 69º28.50 Engine running, problem with water tanks, watermaker contaminated all four tanks. Speed 8.0kts Course 169º
18:00 Wind increasing to 20-25kts. NW. Put 2nd reef in main. Course 165ºm
20:00 Wind 55+ kts, gusts to 70kts, jib furled, main dropped. Under bare poles making 7.1kts downwind. Storm jib hoisted, smoothed ride out, autopilot off, Sergei driving.
22:00 Wind decreased to 30-35kts. Position Lat 38º10.43/ Lon 68º47.70. Storm jib still up. Course 150º Speed 6.5kts Sea temp 78º.
Sunday, 11/3/96
01:00
Wind 27kts NW, COG 165º. Waves 8-10’ behind us. Nick and Bill on Watch. Nick tired. Lat 37º51.88 Lon 68º22.23. Water temp increased to 79ºF. Crew sleeping.- wvw
02:30 Wind 25kts NE, cold, raining. Large waves. Nick and I on deck. 2 waves have boarded us so far. Both of us are tired. Boat speed 6.2kts. SOG 7.8kts, COG 166º. Lat n37º 41.44 Lon w68º 13.86- wvw
05:00 Unfurled jib, c/c to 185ºm, wind NE 20-30kts. 6’-10’ seas, overcast, some rain, Another interesting night. Crew doing very well.
08:30 Course 140ºm, wind NNW 30-35kts, seas 10’-15’, jib and storm jib, clouds breaking a little.
11:30 COG 193º, 20kts NW, Large beautiful waves. Mozart playing. All is well. Lat n36º49.31 Lon w67º35.58 -wvw
18:00 Course 170º, Wind N30-40kts, overcast, Some sprinkles, seas 10’-15’.surfing up to 10+kts boatspeed at times. Lots of phosphorescence. Rather dark. 36º19’N 66º58W
Monday 11/4/96
00:00
Lat 35º49.58N/Lon 66º27.08W Course 165º, Speed 7.4kts, distance to date 447NM. Cloudy night 4 - 8’ seas.
02:33 Wind 15kts NE, COG 163º Clear night. ½ moon. Quite bright. Wind almost directly behind us. Jib and storm jib up. Moving 7 kts. Seas fairly calm. Lat n35º36.59 Lon w66º13.07- wvw
03:09 Lat n35º33.20 W66º09.34. Nick believes to have seen a red light on horizon ~ 11:00 COG 156º. Nothing visible on radar. Winds NE around 17kts. Sky’s clear. Moon bright.
06:30 Raised full main, Beautiful morning, first indications of a tropical sky. Course 165º Wind N15-20kts, seas 5’-10’, subsiding. 40% cloud cover. 35º14n 65º50w Time for a cup of tea. A visitor, unfortunately deceased. A squid came into the cockpit during the night. Intriguing little creature with huge eyes. Never had one of those before.
20:00 Course 190ºm Wind NE 15-18kts. Seas 6’, 50% cloud cover. Boat riding much smoother. Caught a Mahi this afternoon. Pos 33º57n 64º45w.
22:45 Lat 33º40.43 n/Lon 64º43.14w Wind 12-15kts Speed 7.5kts. Course 200º.
23:30 C/C to 170ºm, Wind veered to E 15kts.
Tuesday, 11/5/96
01:44
Under power/ sails up. 8kts boat speed. 50miles from Bermuda. ETA 09:00 to Waypoint #13 32º30.00 W64º36.00. 15kts wind NE on the beam. Crew sleeping. Autohelm set to waypoint. Monitoring progress regularly. Seas calm, sky clear.-wvw
03:22 Under power/ sails up, boat speed 7.5kts. 40miles to Bermuda. Sky Clear, Seas calm. Autopilot working well. Heading to Waypoint #13. Lat n33º09.86 Lon w64º38.07
08:22 Bermuda sighted off starboard bow! Lat n32º36.95 Lon w64º36.40. Seas calm, sky overcast. Wind 10kts NE.- wvw
10:00 Abeam kitchen shoals light. Approaching St. Georges. Vis 10mi. + Perfect conditions. Crew elated. OOB has arrived 20min. before “Temptress” Swan 51 which left Newport abeam of us! Lat 32º25.18 Lon 64º36.41
11:05 Tied up to Ordinance Island Customs Dock.
12:35 Left dock for RHADC (Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club) Hamilton.
