They made it....

Mary Elizabeth arrived in Bermuda on Thursday afternoon. They were the 8th boat in the fleet to arrive in St. Georges. Bill estimates that they sailed 80% of the time and averaged between 7 and 8 knots. When they arrived in Bermuda, they had to med moor, which basically means that they put out the anchor and tie the lines off the stern.

The weather is not cooperating. The fleet expects to remain in Bermuda through the beginning of next week (at least) since there are two storms (a "weather event" to quote Bill.) Unfortunately another rally is arriving today so the Atlantic Cup fleet was forced to move from their current location. This morning Bill and Al moved the boat to the cruise ship dock. There are 10 boats from the Atlantic Cup rally at the cruise ship dock - they tied off two deep. According to the weather service, the winds are expected to increase even more in the next few days.

Since the fleet won't be leaving anytime soon, Cindy left on Friday for Florida. Al will be leaving tomorrow but will return the 19th to help Bill continue moving the boat to Cape Cod. It will take another 4 or 5 days to get from Bermuda to the Cape.

Yesterday Bill went up the mast to inspect the sails. There is a 4 inch rip in the jib, so he and Al took the sail down to have it repaired. It should be ready on Monday or Tuesday. In addition to the sail, the windlass isn't functioning correctly, the sump pump in the aft cabin was acting up and the bolts on the roller furling need to be replaced. Bill has a busy week in front of him.

So things are going OK at the moment. Since all the boats in the fleet are in the same situation, everyone is helping everyone else out - which I for one am thankful for since Bill will be solo starting tomorrow.