Cindy's chronicles...

Here are some emails sent by Cindy during the passage.

Start of the Atlantic Cup at noon yesterday in Soper's Hole was uneventful with no boats on time for the start, everyone late. We crossed the starting line on starboard and tacked just once then back to starboard where we've faithfully remained. The winds, there are winds!, are out of the ENE between 10-15 so we've been sailing right along. Zero engine hours for the Mary Elizabeth! The organizers won't know what to do with Bill once we make it to Bermuda. We should arrive sometime on Thursday. I'm drowsy from dramamine but I was pretty sick yesterday and question why I agreed to do this. It's better today. Last night Al was not feeling great either and we decided that Bill could form a sideline enterprise: Daisy Bill's Outward Bound Weight-loss Program. I'll spare you the details.

It's Monday afternoon and we are still sailing. Winds are kind of squirrelly now but we are still doing about 6 knots/hour. We are just shy of 500 miles from Bermuda. I'm still a little queasy but much better than Saturday night. It's beautiful, sunny, and blue. Not bad. Still planned on arrival on Thursday morning. Nothing else to report....

we motored today for about 6 hours and now we are under sail with just a spinnaker doing about 4.5 kn, which is slow but bill is trying to be competitive and there's a complicated equation for penalty for engine use etc. we haven't seen any other boats today. it's beautiful bright blue sky, indigo water, hot and sunny. enjoy it while we can. we are still aiming for thursday arrival in bermuda. i've been so sick that i have been thinking that i will just come home from bermuda and bill and i discussed this last night. he agreed that if i still didn't feel better by arrival, i should leave. i stopped taking dramamine yesterday afternoon, that stuff really made me very drowsy, and so far so good, but we've had nice calm seas. i'm not sure what will happen when the ocean gets mixed up again. it may be time to admit that i am person who gets seasick. tix out of bermuda might be very expensive and i really do want to see this through but i don't want to be as sick as i was for the first 2 days into this. not good. so, nothing else to report. there are a few birds out here and flying fish. have you been watching the satellite tracking thing? can you tell how we're doing? i'll call when i get to bermuda.

i have been officially relieved of my duties and bill is going to send me home from bermuda. we agree that the second part of the journey will likely be unpleasant weatherwise. it's one thing to be sick when it's sunny and warm and another in cold gray new england pea soup. we still hope to arrive in bermuda tomorrow (thurs) but we might not make it until friday. we are 180 nautical miles away and motoring at 7 kn right into the wind. we're done sailing: we've chafed the top of the foresail on the spinnaker halyard and suspect that the fix is a project for a sailmaker. bill is likely going to stay in bermuda to have that repair and others resolved. al is going to fly back to bermuda in week or so to bring the boat to cape cod.

Bill and Wick and I brought the boat safely to Bermuda. It was a great trip. The boat was covered in puke at the beginning (mine) but we hit some rain on Day 3 and cleaned it off. Bill is going to stay in Bermuda to wait out some weather and have some repairs done. He should turn up at Kingman in time for the Chart Room opening. Clever Bill.

SECOND PLACE!

Bill was notified last night at the awards ceremony that Mary Elizabeth came in Second Place in rally class 2. Congratulations to Bill, Cindy, and Al!!!! The full breakdown of results for the 2008 Atlantic Cup can be found here. (LINK IS NOW FIXED)

Al left for Boston this afternoon. Before he left, however, he and Bill were able to get the sail back up and replace the bolts on the traveler, which would have been a lot of work for one person. Mary Elizabeth is still on the cruise ship dock, but the rumor is that a ship will be coming in on Tuesday so the fleet will have to move again. No word on when any of the boats will begin the passage north - the weather is still too rough.

I enjoyed my first Nationals Game today with Sara, Mark, and Pam. The new stadium is fabulous, and even though they lost, it was a great afternoon.

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.

Almost there....

According to the Atlantic Cup site, Mary Elizabeth should land in Bermuda sometime today....They are about 50 nautical miles from shore. For now, however, there is no 'news'.


I had a fabulous time with Kerry, Trent, Abigail, and Phil the dog. On Tuesday Kerry took me on an amazing tour of the rest of St. Croix. We went to the rain forest, fed a pig beer, stopped and had lunch, saw a bunch of turtles and really had a nice time. Tuesday night Trent watched Abigail while Kerry and I had a nice dinner.

Abigail is absolutely amazingly cute, and I really loved Phil the dog.


I am so glad that I was able to visit the Waldo's and St. Croix. I really like the island and hope that we are able to go back soon.

Turtles....

Kerry, Abigail, and a very large pig....

Phil the dog....

Half way there...

I received a short phone call from Bill last night. Besides a few things that have been broken during the passage, and a few bouts of sea sickness, Mary Elizabeth and her crew are holding up well. They have been sailing the whole time and are averaging between 6 and 7 knots. You can see their positions via Google Maps here. They passed the 1/2 way point last night. They should arrive in Bermuda on Thursday.

St. Croix continues to be amazing. Yesterday Kerry, Abigail and I did some errands and saw more of this beautiful island. Last night we went to dinner for Cinco de Mayo and had a nice evening with Kerry and Trent's friends.

Here is a picture of Ms. Abigail, 11 weeks old.

Kerry and Lauren at Point Udal, which is the Eastern most part of the United States.

Message from sea:

Bill is able to send and receive brief emails from the boat. Below is part of an email update that I received this afternoon. Mary Elizabeth is actually right in the middle of the pack according to the rally website.

...Anyway, so much for the light winds! We've had over 20 knot winds since the start of the race and have been sailing the whole time! So far I
figure we're averaging about 7 knots. Last night we decided to reduce sail since it was dark and to flatten out the boat...

St. Croix is fabulous. I have been enjoying Kerry and Trent's hospitality, getting to know Abigail (who is now 11 weeks old) and having fun with Phil the dog. Last night we had a great sushi dinner and today, after a delicious breakfast, we walked downtown with their neighbors Ann and David to watch the St. Croix Triathlon. St. Croix is green and lush and beautiful.

They're (almost) off!

A few last minute things to do this morning (customs and immigration, secure a few final things on the boat, etc.) and then they're off!