Bermuda to Portsmouth

This is Part II of a two-part blog.  This blog describes the leg of the ARC USA Rally from Bermuda to Portsmouth, VA.  Part I detailed the beginning of our trip and the first leg from Tortola BVI to Bermuda. If you want to learn about that leg, who we sailed with and a bit about Bermuda, you’ve gotta read it.

We’d planned to stay in Bermuda just three days: until midday Tuesday, May 7th. However, at the ARC skippers’ briefing on May 6th, we learned that a large-scale storm was schedule to hit the east cost of the U.S. (at Virginia) the evening of the day we hoped to arrive. Because not all of us felt confident that we could reach the U.S. before the storm hit, we opted to delay our departure from Bermuda. I suppose it wouldn’t be a stretch to claim that being “stuck in Bermuda” wasn’t the worst experience of our lives. Certainly none of our co-workers appeared to be sympathetic.

In any event, we explored Bermuda until we detected a favorable sailing forecast.

Colorful homes in Bermuda

View from Railway Trail

Another view from the Railway Trail

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2016 ARC USA Rally Part I: Tortola BVI to Bermuda

This is Part I of a two-part blog. Part II details our trip from Bermuda to Portsmouth.

We returned May 27, 2016 from our longest offshore journey to date. A total of approximately 1500 nautical miles, we traveled from Tortola to Bermuda, then Bermuda to Portsmouth, VA. Each leg took six days (seven calendar days, six 24-hour periods). This was not expected, because the second leg is nearly 200 nautical miles shorter than the first. But as all sailors know, Mother Nature, not nautical miles, determines the length of the journey.

Michael and I were fortunate to participate in this journey as crew members on a Southerly 42RST named Dawn Chorus, captained by Martin Whitfield of Bristol, England. Martin was participating in the 2016 ARC USA rally and needed crew. “ARC” stands for Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. ARC is part of the World Cruising Club, which organizes ocean sailing events around the world. The rallies are devised for the ‘average’ cruising boat and crew; helping people to realize their dream of making a long offshore passage. Jason Kyriakou, a trained chef from Toronto, was the third crew member. We were also very happy to have a four legged crew member on board: Buzz, Martin’s Welsh Collie.

“Dawn Chorus” a Southerly 42RST

Captain Buzz

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