Passage to Bermuda

We were ready to leave Norfolk for Bermuda on Thursday May 31, but a last minute check of the weather revealed a tropical low developing off the coast of Florida. It looked as if we could only be guaranteed 3 days of light winds and finish up having to beat into a 40 knot south easterly. This was not what we wanted. A quick check with Herb, the weather expert in Toronto, Canada received a curt "not a good weather window" response. We waited while the low developed into tropical storm "Barry". Being the second named low of the season it had to start with "B". Bonnie thought "Bruce" would have been more appropriate.
We finally got away on Monday June 4. "Barry" had travelled up the gulf stream and was now to the north of us. The barometer was rising. We expected some brisk winds for the first two days but they were forecast from the SW and we hoped to finish with lighter winds.
We cleared customs by phone and were away by 1000h local time. The winds were moderate and we were sailing comfortably with full sail until about 1600h. A "Securite, securite" announcement from the North Carolina Coast Guard shook us into action with an announcement that radar had just shown a thunderstorm moving off shore with winds of around 30 knots. They gave coordinates very close to our position. Looking back revealed a black rain squall only a mile or two away. We quickly reduced sail by putting two reefs in the mainsail, furling our genoa and rolling out the stays'l. We were just in time. The worst of the thunderstorm passed just north of us but the winds piped up to 25-30 knots and stayed there. The sea state was still quite disturbed and we were both feeling sick.
An Encounter With the US Navy.
Earlier we had heard an announcement that a US warship was preparing to leave Norfolk on manouvres. We didn't take a lot of notice as Norfolk is a busy Navy establishment and we would be well off shore and clear of the shipping channels before the warship left. At midnight we were sailing under difficult conditions with rain squalls, winds to 30 knots and ugly seas. Bruce had just gone below to sleep when Bonnie called for help. "I think the warship is calling us". Bruce struggled out in a dazed sleepy, sea sick stupor and peered into the misty night to see if he could see the ship. Neither of us could see anything. Then came the call again. "Vessel in position (our exact coordinates) this is US warship 75, over" "US warship this is sailing vessel Freedom Now". "We are conducting flight and retrieval operations and are limited in our ability to manouvre could you please alter course to give us a three mile clearance?" This was not what we needed. Bruce mumbled something like "It may be difficult because we are also limited in our ability to manouvre and are sailing short handed and under reduced sail. Which direction do you wish us to head?" "Could you head further north?" "Freedom Now will change course towards the north
short of jibing and we hope that will give you enough clearance." We changed course from 133M to 80M. It obviously wasn't enough. We couldn't see much but could hear the scream of a jet taking off and the unmistakable clapping sound of a large helicopter nearby. Added to the rain, thunder and lightening it was quite spectacular. "Sailing Vessel Freedom Now, this is US warship 75. We have temporarily suspended flight operations and will steam away." We thanked the commander profusely, and watched her disappear off the radar screen. We now know that US warship 75 is the Harry S Truman, a Nimitz class, nuclear powered aircraft carrier of 101,000 tons and 1100 feet long. She has a crew of 5600, carries 90 aircraft and enough missiles to blow us out of the water a thousand times. She is one of the mightiest war machines in the naval world, and she had given right of way to two geriatric sailors on a small sail boat with a mast that wouldn't even reach her flight deck. What an adrenalin rush.

It was a rugged first night. We entered the gulf stream, which is really like a mighty 60 nautical mile wide river which flows SW to NE but in spite of the fact that our 25 to 3o knot winds were in the same direction as the stream, the seas were very confused. Bonnie seemed to get the worst of the watches and it was during her watch on Tuesday morning that a rain squall hit. It came out of nowhere with teeming rain and winds of 45 knots. With two reefs in the main and a stays'l the boat handled it well but it was a trying time for the crew. In 15 minutes it disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.

After two days we were able to shake out the reefs and sail with full sail in winds of 15-20 knots. A front took the winds from SW through W, NW, to N and NE and we finished up sailing at good speed all the way to Bermuda never being more than 15 nautical miles off the rhumb line. We covered 640miles in almost exactly 4 days, arrived in Bermuda under beautiful sunny skies and a 10- 15 knot NE breeze. We cleared customs, anchored, ate our first decent meal in 4 days and slept.