Atlantic Crossing - Bermuda to the Azores #1

Woke up at 2:30 am snoozed it twice, finally got into the shower at 2:45 and realized dad was up sitting at the kitchen table.  Asked him what he was doing up?  He’d only slept an hour but wanted to tell me bye and see me off.  Got dressed grabbed my two backpacks that looked like I put an air hose in them and blew them up.  Gave dad a hug cranked the truck and honked as I drove away watching him wave me off.  It was 3:00am. Made the hour and ten minute drive to the airport.  Only to find that the spot two on Will Clayton was reservations only, so I headed over to Ecopark on JFK and punched the button for a ticket.  Followed the signs around, parked and hopped on the shuttle to terminal E.  Waited for a few others to get on the bus who weren’t sure what terminal they were flying out of, I knew it was going to be a long day.  Two and a half hours wasn’t going to cut it.  I’d have to sleep on the plane.

      Made it through security and to gate E18 and checked my Pass-rider app  to see if I could get on...no-way.  I was number 44 on the standby list and there were only 22 available seats to EWR (Newark). So I cancelled the flight and paid out of pocket $562.00.  So much for flying free.  Went ahead and booked the connection from Newark to St. Georges airport jn Bermuda.  I was just ready to get there and I knew Dan was ready, so I didn’t want to keep him wandering if I was actually going to show up.

     Slept a couple of hours even though the kid next to me kicked me every five minutes, at least her dad apologized about it as we were exiting the plane.  Hopped on as a passrider to Bermuda with ease.  Got off the plane and there was Dan saying hello with his thick Swedish accent and bright eyed smile ear to ear.  Shook his hand, he took one of my two backpacks and off we went to the bus stop.  I really didn’t know him at all.  Seemed like a nice guy and we made small talk as we waited for the bus.  He paid the fee and we hopped on.  Got off ten minutes up the road, walked across the street as I was almost ran over by a car.  Forget they drive on the opposite side here.  So look right first not left. Dan grabbed the dingy, rowed over and I made my way down the concrete stairs and stepped in.  No motor on the dinghy??? Wow.  Rowed to the 38’ Nauticat.  A 1979 ketch rigged pilot house motor yacht.  With no major refit in the last fifteen years.  Stepped aboard and I put my stuff in the v-birth forward of the galley.  It’s one sturdy looking boat.  Made in Sweden and known for their detailed wood work and hefty structural design and a 120 horse diesel to back up all the sail power.  This boat had seen better days but it felt solid and it was built the same year as my Southern Cross and that was when they built them like tanks.  This boat has potential I thought.  Had a long chat with Dan ad we discussed the fate of our third crew member who was currently M.I.A. after Dan bought him a flight from Barbados to Bermuda.  So we discussed all the boat features, good bad and ugly.  He installed two extra diesel tanks for an extra 94 liters of fuel.  The  good - AIS, VHF, Sos hand held gps, EPIRB, sat phone, self steering, a dtrong motor and good rigging.  The bad, non working toilet,  use bucket method, no shower, and very little refigeration.  The ugly.  The boat leaked like a sieve when it rained as that night I struggled to find enough bowls to lay on my bed to catch the drips.  

     But I was here and determined to cheer up my new buddy Dan and keep a positive attitude.  

    Then as I was standing on the deck a dinghy was heading right for the boat with two men aboard.  They shook our hands and introduced themselves as Zoloft and Pascal from France. I got a strange feeling that something was not kosher between the two.  Zoloft was asking if we needed another crew member as he was getting another friend as crew and didn’t need Pascal anymore who had sailed with him for a month from the Bahamas.  Dan said he had a guy coming but he’d let him know tomorrow for sure.  So they exchanged numbers and motored away.  Dan agreed there was something not right.  So we texted Zoloft to try to get the truth.  He responded to the text and said he would visit us privately later on.  When he arrived he said I have crew for you as his girlfriend  was who he was referring to who was a stunning french girl with a golden tan and blondish red hair.  Zoloft admitted that Pascal was a chain smoker who ate all their groceries and made his girlfriend feel uncomfortable.  So we said thanks but no thanks to Pascal as crew.  And very much appreciated Zolofts honesty.  

So early the next morning we set to work.  I watched and helped as much as I could as Dan replaced the fuel filter and added a new bulb pump to the fuel line.  Next we tackled the not so lovely task of tuning and tensioning all the rigging.  It was a slow process but I got it done, and didn’t break any chain plates or stays.   While I was working on the rigging Dan was replacing the $135.00 LPG solenoid for the stove that I had brought him from the Kemah West Marine.  Got all the work done and who shows up again but Zoloft and his beautiful girlfriend.  They were asking if Pascal could stay the night on our boat and would pay us.  Dan said for $100 he could.  Zoloft promised us Pascal had booked a ticket and was processed out of customs and definitely leaving on a flight the next morning.  I didn’t want him on the boat but Dan was smart and being diplomatic about it as there was a chance that Zoloft could be a help in coordinating a caravan for us that we wanted to be a part of in a few days as we set out to cross the Atlantic to the Azores, a 2000 nautical mile three week passage.  And by letting Pascal stay with us for one night was pleasing Zoloft.  So Zoloft said he would bring Pascal at 9pm to the boat.  

Dan and I got dressed and rowed to shore for some shopping and ran into Zoloft and his girlfriend and they informed us that Pascal didn’t want to pay to stay on our boat and said one of the customs officials arranged a room for him since he couldn’t afford the cheapest room in Bermuda at $400 per night.  Shew.  Glad that dram was over.  Then out of nowhere Dan got a whatsapp message from Aleks.  He was still in Barbados.  His sail from Trinidad was a disaster.  They lost both engines and had blown out the main sail. So he wasn’t M.I.A. Anymore, he was on his way to Bermuda.  Woohoo.  This was all finally coming together.  Had a great walk around town.  Had a coffee and wifi.  But got shocked by the stickers at the grocery store.  $16.00 for five pounds of potatoes.  $5.00 for a bag of sugar.  Geez.  $8.00 for a bag of flour.  Lol.  

Headed back to the boat.  Over all a great day.  Ate sandwiches and $10.00 cheese and went to bed.