Bermuda 1-2 Updates

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TRACKER

http://www.bermuda1-2.org/




4 June 2000 - Team Wichard emailed me. "A good day on the race course. Perfect weather and great sailing. Winds on the beam and just forward. Very variable, and a lot of work, to choose the right sail configurations and trim. There is a lot of sea grass. I'm out of the Gulf Stream. I received email from Trouble No Trouble and 806. Both are well, and in good spirits. I was unable to hail Pocket Rocket on VHF this evening.

4 June 1730 - Baarcanova emailed me. "Barcanova is lonely out here at 36 58 N 068 17 W. I haven't seen or heard from a competitor in over a day except for spotting Solarus on AIS last night. Crossing the Stream was pretty anticlimactic after yesterday's adventures. I saw 16.7 kts of boatspeed and got 15.5 with just a main and staysail. Today has been all light air reaching. Where did everyone go??? Boat is finally cleaned up and I'm getting a bit of rest when the wind steadies out."
Spadefoot - Life onboard is pleasant, so a good time to send a note. Light westerly all day today and bright sunshine. The water is now bright blue as I crossed the Gulf Stream this morning. Great day to dry things out and rest up. Not much rest last night as the waves really kicked up. Yesterday afternoon was good Spadefoot weather, then it got rough and I mostly just tried to keep the boat pointed in the right direction with a double-reef and jib top all night. I can see Dragon on AIS. He is 10.5 directly in front of me. I guess that means I'm Dragon hunting. I heard Concussion and Solarus this morning. They could see each other on AIS, but not me."
Scallywag emailed me on his way back. "I believe I will be going home to Watch Hill unless Ami has some R&R in Newport in mind. Thanks again for everything,
Toothface emailed me. "I just was passed by the 1200 (according to AIS) foot "Anthem Of The Seas" headed for Bermuda. I'm struggling to do 2 knots and they passed me doing 19 knots dead downwind and into 1.5kts of current. Something to be said for that I guess... All is well. If Im not driving to find boat speed I'm starring at the weather files trying to find wind...so pretty tired but good. I can't quite taste the rum swizzles...but Im thinking about them! I hope all is well across the fleet. Cheers, Tristan from Toothface2.

4 June 0930 - No calls into the Duty Desk. I'm in the Philadelphia Airport.
Scallywag emailed me. "Roy, It is with a heavy heart that I have decided to head home. No luck with repairs and with still a long way to go there would have been too many hours of self steering for this cowboy. Thanks for all that you do for this event. I will miss everyone in Bermuda. Thanks again and my best to everyone at STGD&SC."
Windswept emailed me. "No response on VHF 72. I heard Panacea on 4012, but was unable to make contact as the channel was occupied with other traffic. I just passed Scallywag on a reciprocal course at position 38 19 N, 68 54 W. He reports that he is withdrawing due to autopilot failure. I have reached the outer edge of the GS. The water temperature is now at 70 degrees, up from 61 less than half a mile ago. As I approached the stream last night it was ablaze with lightning illuminating the entire height of the thunder heads. Now that I am here, there is a virtually cloudless blue sky and a 10-12 knt. NW breeze. It is by far the most tranquil that I have ever seen it. I hope it remains that way for the next ninety miles!"
Team Wichard emailed me. "Another cold evening, with some lightning way in the distance in front of us. We are into warmer water and favorable current now, so hopefully the nights will be more comfortable. I spoke to Pocket Rocket this morning, he is doing well. I have not heard from 806 or Trouble No trouble yet today. They must be out of VHF range, but hopefully they will respond to my emails."
But later: "Trouble No Trouble sent me an email this morning. "Good morning. All is well. Looking forward to seeing the other side of the stream.""
Halcyon called my cell phone to tell me Scallywag talked to him and said he was returning home due to both autopilots failing. Halcyon is doing fine.
Seriana emailed me. "Hi Roy, went west so have been out of vhf range. All well with Seriana except Im sitting in no air."

4 June 0800 - Bluebird emailed me. "A quiet night after a turbulent afternoon. Now the sun is shining, the spinnaker is up, and we are making good speed. Should be close to the Gulf Stream- getting 1-1.5K Eastwardly current. Water is not yet warm. No radio contact with other boats since yesterday, and none in sight."
Scallywag emailed me. "I will continue on and hopefully fix one of the autopilots. Once done more sail can be set. I have one of the pilots working, but under reduced sail and will continue this way to make sure it is okay. In daylight, I will let out a little more sail and hopefully make better headway. Hopefully,tomorrow will be a better day. Wind and seas are fine, and otherwise the boat and crew in good shape."
Upstart emailed me. "tough conditions when the front went through but am finally in the GS and all is well on Upstart"

3 June 2215 - I guess I forgot to explain this. There are three boats that are not racing to Bermuda (not including Flying Turtle) but will race back. Kiwi Spirit is already in Bermuda after his trip from Germany. Inigo Montoya is sailing double handed per their request and is shadowing the fleet. They did not "start" and will not be scored for this leg. Perseverance decided to delay and also sail double handed down to Bermuda and is catching up to the fleet.

3 June 2200 - Flying Turtle - Murray Danforth called me about 2045 from about 10 nms out. He didn't think he was hit by lighting but was real close to it. Anyways it took out his primary auto pilot, main instruments and sat phone. He is using the backup auto pilot and will be pulling into Little Compton where his wife will pick him up.
Choucas emailed me. "We now have 20kts of breeze and clear skies. A bib change from the 30+ kts we had this afternoon.
Only Concussion reported tonight, all is fine with him. Solarus ( class1) is nearby and was trying to contact Dragon."
Scallywag emailed that "Both autopilots packed up. I will need to hand steer to Bermuda. Could be an extra day or two. Don't be concerned by my slow speed. The boat and skipper are fine, but writing messages will be a chore."

3 June 2000 - Barconova emailed me. "I just took a wave at a bad angle and it deployed my jonbuoy. It will be perhaps five miles north of my current position, n 38 35 w 69 11. Accidental deployment. I haven't seen anyone in hours, but the fun started for me at 1500 with 30+ kts with the kite up. It may now be letting up a bit. All's well here otherwise. "
Cordelia called in. Flying Turtle had a system electrical failure due to an electrical storm and decided to head home. He is fine but disappointed. He talked with several boats as he went through the fleet. Cordelia has talked to Prairie Gold and Aggressive. All doing fine. They keep passing one another. They are a group on the west most part of the fleet. Been in wind 25-30 kts out of 303.
Dragon called in. He has talked to Solarus and J Hawk (having auto pilot issues). Currently 15 kts at 303 for wind.
Team Wichard emailed me. I got a txt Trouble N Trouble, Brian is doing fine, entering the Gulf Stream, and remembering how much he loves it! I was not able to reach 806 or Pocket Rocket on VHF. All good on Team Wichard, wet and wild in the Gulf Stream!
Windswept emailed me. "After a quiet start this morning, we have a real lumpy, bumpy, windy, wet afternoon! The wind is from the NW gusting to 30 kts. in my little patch of ocean. A confused sea state makes going on deck a real adventure. I am running with a double reefed main and a blade jib on the inner forestay. I am still hitting 8-1/2 kts at times. The GS entry point is about 70 miles away. I hope the wind is down by then or things will get very interesting.
I received no response on VHF 72. I was able to reach Peter on Panacea via SSB. He is running under jib alone while he sorts out some minor auto pilot issues. Peter was able to contact Carina and reports that all is well.
I did have an interesting encounter a couple of hours ago. I started getting an AIS alarm and discovered Windswept and two large ships were simultaneously passing within 3/4 of a mile of each other! Both the tanker (Alexandros II) and the freighter (Oranjeborg) were operating at reduced speed due to the sea conditions.

3 June 1500 - If you hadn't noticed Flying Turtle is quickly on his way back. My guess is that he lost his auto pilot since his track shows erratic movement before he started heading home. Since he is going into a NW breeze he probably is motoring. Probably be back during the night. No one has reported anything from Flying Turtle other than Choucas seeing him on AIS heading home.
Upstart emailed me. "no contact with anyone in group two but all is well on upstart"

3 June 1130 - Corvus emailed me. "Just completed 120 miles with the chute up since midnight. NW wind at
12-13 kts. with flat seas and good boat speed makes it a pleasant ride!. Temps just breaking 70 but it feels way cooler. Happy to have dodged the worst of the squalls last night."

3 June 0800 - Perseverance left for Bermuda around 2300 last night and is on his way down; showing up on the tracker map.
Cordelia called in. Heard from all except Prairie Gold however Cordelia can see him on AIS. Halycion was complaining that he forgot some food item for his meal! Cordelia took a knock down with a gust to 40 during the night. Other than loosing his wind readings he is fine. About sunset the wind died down to about 8 kts and boats were passing him.
Prairie Gold emaild me. "All is well. I missed the call in session this morning but just spoke to Cordelia. I had a problem with my genny furler that I identified before the squall hit A 150% genny in the squall as a handful. But in reality uneventful. Overnight I fixed the problem and all is now well. I now have the kite up trying to catch the others."
Windswept emailed me. "After an invigorating sail yesterday, we now have a following breeze of 3-5 kts. I heard From Panacea this morning on SSB. There was no traffic on VHF 72. Peter has heard from Strummer, Corvus, and Bluebird. All is well."
Bluebird emailed me. "All's well on Bluebird. Off of the Continental Shelf just now, sailing gently under spinnaker in light NW winds. No contact with Class 4- most of class 3 seems to be about."

Choucas emailed me. "it is quite calm at the moment wind at 8kts form 327o. But the cold front passing was interesting, rain, lightning and 25-30kts squalls. One took me by surprise and it took me a while to get Choucas back on track. This morning I heard from Spadefoot, Barcanova, Concussion and Seriana, No problem to report. During the night I saw on the AIS flying turtle sailing slowly in the opposite direction. Could not reach him by radio."
Team Wichard emailed me. "All four mini's checked in this morning. We all had a very cold night, and we're really happy to see the sun this morning. Breeze was very light at time, but has filled in nicely from the NW."

Spadefoot emailed me. "Sending an email as I'm doubtful I'll hear anyone on the VHF. Haven't seen another racer on AIS for several hours. 39-46N 69-57W Heading 152 in about 10-12 out of the north. My wind instruments died yesterday evening when the cold front went through. Makes steering with the kite up and little more difficult without the apparent wind mode, but otherwise not much of a deal. Good thing my mast isn't very tall as I'll be spending a fair bit of time staring at the Windex. The cold front was exciting. Put the A5 up when the wind shifted and then saw 20-35 for about an hour. Top speed was 13.5 knots. A few wipe outs as the wind shifted through 50 degrees at times as the front passed. I made up 2nm on Barcanova in 1 hour. After the front passed, the skies cleared again and I put up the A2. It's been up all night in some pretty moderate winds. Winds increasing a little now as the sun is coming up. Waves are small. It's pretty comfortable. Wind is more northerly than I expected, so I've gybed to port and I'm pretty close to the rhumbline."
B
arconova emailed me a rather long one. "...Somewhere during the sail change, Upstart disappeared over the horizon behind me, though the little 28 footer from Austin, Justin Wolfe in Spadefoot, snuck by me. Good times so far! Hopefully I'll have a day of glorious wind before the high moves in and things glass up. I've just crossed the rhumbline again heading back west anticipating a big southerly shift in a couple days time. Yee haw!"
Toothface emailed me. "All is well on board. Beautiful sunrise and morning. A little disappointed with how i sailed last night but going well now. Light and fluky last night. Not Class 40 weather. Clay is about 6 miles to weather of me and obviously sailing well. I need to turn it up a notch..."
J Hawk emailed me. "No luck on radio comms this morning. All good here. Spin up, sailing in 10knot breeze from 325m."

2 June 2000 - Cordelia called in. In 20 kts WSW. Heard from all except Aggressive however he can see Aggressive on AIS.
Dragon called in with light winds but as we were talking the winds suddenly built and had to go topsides. Heard from Toothface, J Hawk, Solarus. Haven't heard from Flying Turtle nor Inigo Montoya however Dragon can physically see Inigo Montoya.
Choucas emailed me. Has heard from Breakaway, Upstart and Seriana.
Upstart emailed me that they are fine.
Team Wichard emailed me. All good on Team Wichard. Thunderstorms this evening, with a rainbow at sunset.
I spoke to Pocket Rocket, and all is good.
I also spoke to 806, all is good on board there to.
I emailed with Trouble No Trouble a little earlier, he is comfortable and happy.

2 June noon - And they are off. The wind started off around 10kts southerly and built into the standard SW before they were all off. Nice sunny day. Michael Schum gave us some excitement when he lost his steering for a while. Fixed it and on he went. 34 boats started with one shadowing the fleet, Inigo Montoya. In Concert lost his steering prestart but was able to fix it and is racing (late start). He came dam close to Goat Island. Aggressive was quite a bit late to the start coming down wind to get to the starting line. Perseverance is planning on leaving late to deliver the boat to Bermuda for the race back.

[Runs_with_sissors]

Wonder If all those single handed sailors know that the Island is sold out?

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Spadefoot Abandoned in Bermuda 1-2



Justin Wolfe's custom Schmacher 28' Spadefoot has been abandoned in the Bermuda 1-2

Here are the details as they are known from Spadefoot:

Keel issues – and abandoning Spadefoot
June 5, 2017 | Filed under: General

1630 – Justin just called me to let me know he is heading towards Solaris, as he is hearing a lot of keel noise and was concerned about sudden failure. Both Solaris and Concussion are in contact with Justin.

1705 – Justin called to say that Solaris is with him. He has gathered items he needs to abandon Spadefoot.

1730 – He entered his liferaft and activated the ePIRB.



1800 – Justin is safe aboard Solaris.

Race committee, and USCG Boston sector were notified of the situation, as it all happened.

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Other updates

5 June 1800 - Justin had to abandon Spadefoot and is safe on Solarus. Justin was very worried about the keel falling off. Very lumpy conditions. Solarus had contacted me earlier saying that Justin was worried about his boat so both Concussion and Solarus were shadowing him then Justin decided to abandon the boat and got in his life raft and was picked up by Solarus. Been a tense few hours.
Team Wichard on another note emailed me that he has discovered a crack on his keel box. He is monitoring it and decreasing his speed but continuing to Bermuda since it is the closest place to go and didn't want to chance the Gulf Stream. I informed him of the boats around him. He feels he can make it to Bermuda.

5 June 1730 - Windswept emailed me. "All is well. wind SW @15-25, lumpy seas. no news from fleet. too rough to type!"

5 June 0800 - Team Wichard emailed me. A tough night beating into bumpy seas, and a 1 knots current against me. All well on board Team Wichard. Trouble No Trouble checked in, to say all is well, and beating into choppy seas. I have not been able to hail Pocket Rocket, or 806.
J Hawk emailed me. "Just spoke to Toothface... about 4 mikes away but he was breaking up.., something wrong with one of our radios. Anyway, all good with him and on board here. Be an interesting day of shifting winds. Right now breeze is 200 at 6 knots. I am steering 130, going 4.5."
Dragon called in. 6-10 kts wind from 184.
Cordelia called in. In good shape, wind 15 kts Spoke with Aggressive and Prairie Gold, both doing well. Spoke with Melantho2, doing fine but can only charge batteries on port, so if you see him on a funny tack, that's why.
In Concert called in. wind 14 kts from SW. Overslept a little and is farther east than planned.
Choucas emailed in. "Heard from Spadefoot, Concussion, Breakaway and Solaris (class1). Nothing technical to report
We all reported seeing dolphins, Portuguese man of war and flying fish on deck. We must be all going to Bermuda!
Yankee Girl emailed in. "I haven't heard from my class 4 competitors for a few days but I have spoken to Halcyon yesterday morning and Cordelia the day before that. Friday night, just before sunset, I was downwind of Concussion when a squall rolled through. I watched him get rounded up and thought I'd be able to avoid that by heading off but the gust peaked at 36kts and I rounded up as well and got my share of flogging sails. That's the same squall that damaged Cordelia and Flying Turtle. It made for some dramatic lighting and I got a few good picks from before and after. Looks like it will be an upwind slog to the finish but the boat is sailing well. I did loose my masthead tri-light and my engine driven refrigeration. But the deck level nav lights are working as is the masthead anchor light and I'll just have to suffer through warm beverages for another 2 days. Hopefully I can repair these small issues in Bermuda.

5 June 0615 - Toothface emailed me. "250 upwind battle in light air vs a 43 foot jboat...this outta be fun... Come on big westerly!!"
Prairie Gold emailed me. "At 11:30 pm EDT Sunday 6/4 my port side genoa car disintegrated. I have fashioned a repair with a sturdy snatch block. I will shorten sail to reduce load and am enthusiastic about the repair. I have called Roy by VHF on Cordelia and have apprised him of the situation. I continue to Bermuda. My current position is 36.30N 68.43W. COG 200M, 5.5Kts SOG. I thought I should make you aware. I will continue to monitor."

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June 6 Update Bermuda 1-2

The East Coast biggie in the shorthanded sailing world, the Bermuda 1-2. 635 nm from Newport to Bermuda single handed
then a break and the double handed back to Newport. The fleet got into some big winds and big sea over the past 48 hours.
16 of the original 37 boats have finished as of this writing. Following are the latest entries @ http://www.bermuda1-2.org/




TRACKER




6 June 2023 - Breakaway finished and is anchoring in the harbor; wiped.

6 June 1836 - J Hawk finished and is inside at the Dinghy Club.

6 June 1900 - J Hawk called in that he is 2 nm from the finish.
Team Wichard emailed me. I heard from Trouble No Trouble via email. He was hove too for a while, to sleep, as his autopilot, could not handle the conditions. Brian is in good spirits as usual. Pocket Rocket called via VHF. He had trouble with both of his autopilots, but has one of them working again. Says he has had a rough time. Team Wichard is doing well. 108nm to go. My cracked keel box, and keel movement, is a constant concern and focus. I spoke to Dan from Halcyon, we are in constant contact. I should arrive in Bermuda in less than 24 hours.

6 June 1500 - Dragon finished but I don't have his time. He came by us and is waiting to get to customs.
Corvus called this morning. He reported problems with his furling as his furling line broke. He is also having engine problems which limit his charging ability. 26 kts from 220 degrees with a double reefed main and staysail.

6 June 1345 - We now have both Toothface and Inigo Montoya here at the Dinghy Club. Dragon isn't far behind.
Bluebird emailed me. "Winds peaked 30 K at noon today, big rolly seas, lots of crashing and bashing. Bluebird secure with staysail, double reefed main, running back stays. ? 115 mm or so to Bermuda-ready to get there! Still 2K opposing current. No radio or visual contact with any boats."
Prairie Gold email. "Prairie Gold checked in. Heavy wind means he's a quart low on sleep, but the jury-rigged genoa cart is holding and all is well."
Gillett Children's Hospital emailed me. "Not as much fun out here as you may be thinking "

6 June 1145 - Team Wichard emailed me. "Just checking in. The crack in my keel box, is a little worse. I'm not taking on water, but I am watching it closely. I have spoken to Dan on Halcyon, we are texting every 30 mins, to stay in touch. Seas and wind are as bad as ever, I'm hoping the forecast is right, that at 4pm, it backs off a bit, and turns more to the west."

6 June 09:39 Toothface - first boat to finish. Came in with full sail flying into the harbor to take down his sails and waited over an hour for customs. Inigo Montoya is the next boat to arrive.
Windswept emailed me. winds SW @ 28-35 kts. I am about 150 miles out. Running with blade jib only into steadily increasing seas. Will be tacking onto Port tack shortly. Hope to finish tomorrow. Had some auto pilot issues which I believe to be resolved. No news from fleet. All is well aboard except that I am running low on meatloaf and chili! This will be my last report unless situations change. I have discovered SSB radio plays hell with my instruments....especially the autopilot."

6 June 0600 - Team Wichard emailed me. "A true battle out here. The conditions are just not getting any easier.
I'm closely watching the crack in the keel. I've made marks, to track it's progression. I heard from Trouble No Trouble via email. He is ok."
Yankee Girl emailed me. "Still pretty punchy out here.Gonna be a long, slow uphill slog to the finish."

6 June 0400 - Team Wichard emailed me. "Just checking in, it's 3:45am.
I have 25-30knots, on the nose. I' m making good headway. The crack in the keel box, has not gotten any worse, which is goods news, but there is still a lot of movement. No water leaking in either. My ETA in Bermuda, should be around noon tomorrow (Wed) I/m 176nm out."

5 June 2000 - Yankee Girl emailed me. I had just informed him that Justin had been picked up by Solarus and fine. "Been a bouncy day out here, even tough on a heavy boat like mine. The waves were steep and choppy because there was 2kts of current headed NW hear and a wind from the west. Wind against current makes it much worse. My laptop with 2/3rd of a working screen appears to be hanging in. Any chance you've heard of good computer repair in bermuda?"
Dragon called in. Doing fine. Talked to J Hawk.
Corvus called in. Fine also. Hadn't talked to anyone.
In Concert called in. Took two hitches to the west which set him back. Wind 14 kts SW with 8-10 ft seas.
Prairie Gold shore crew sent email. "This is Phil’s shore crew checking in. His computer died so he can’t make direct contact but he has his route plotted on his iPad and nav system. His genoa cart fix is holding and all is well."

5 June 1900 - Team Wichard emailed me. "Brian and Tony checked in via email. They are both doing well. Despite my cracked keel box, all is good."

5 June 1800 - Justin had to abandon Spadefoot and is safe on Solarus. Justin was very worried about the keel falling off. Very lumpy conditions. Solarus had contacted me earlier saying that Justin was worried about his boat so both Concussion and Solarus were shadowing him then Justin decided to abandon the boat and got in his life raft and was picked up by Solarus. Been a tense few hours.
Team Wichard on another note emailed me that he has discovered a crack on his keel box. He is monitoring it and decreasing his speed but continuing to Bermuda since it is the closest place to go and didn't want to chance the Gulf Stream. I informed him of the boats around him. He feels he can make it to Bermuda.

5 June 1730 - Windswept emailed me. "All is well. wind SW @15-25, lumpy seas. no news from fleet. too rough to type!"

5 June 0800 - Team Wichard emailed me. A tough night beating into bumpy seas, and a 1 knots current against me. All well on board Team Wichard. Trouble No Trouble checked in, to say all is well, and beating into choppy seas. I have not been able to hail Pocket Rocket, or 806.
J Hawk emailed me. "Just spoke to Toothface... about 4 mikes away but he was breaking up.., something wrong with one of our radios. Anyway, all good with him and on board here. Be an interesting day of shifting winds. Right now breeze is 200 at 6 knots. I am steering 130, going 4.5."
Dragon called in. 6-10 kts wind from 184.
Cordelia called in. In good shape, wind 15 kts Spoke with Aggressive and Prairie Gold, both doing well. Spoke with Melantho2, doing fine but can only charge batteries on port, so if you see him on a funny tack, that's why.

In Concert called in. wind 14 kts from SW. Overslept a little and is farther east than planned.
Choucas emailed in. "Heard from Spadefoot, Concussion, Breakaway and Solaris (class1). Nothing technical to report
We all reported seeing dolphins, Portuguese man of war and flying fish on deck. We must be all going to Bermuda!
Yankee Girl emailed in. "I haven't heard from my class 4 competitors for a few days but I have spoken to Halcyon yesterday morning and Cordelia the day before that. Friday night, just before sunset, I was downwind of Concussion when a squall rolled through. I watched him get rounded up and thought I'd be able to avoid that by heading off but the gust peaked at 36kts and I rounded up as well and got my share of flogging sails. That's the same squall that damaged Cordelia and Flying Turtle. It made for some dramatic lighting and I got a few good picks from before and after. Looks like it will be an upwind slog to the finish but the boat is sailing well. I did loose my masthead tri-light and my engine driven refrigeration. But the deck level nav lights are working as is the masthead anchor light and I'll just have to suffer through warm beverages for another 2 days. Hopefully I can repair these small issues in Bermuda.

[Photoboy]

The Fate of Poor Spadefoot
June 9, 2017 | Filed under: General
Justin here. On dry land, happy to be with Chris.

So… What happened out there? There’s not so much to say, really. After the first 3 days, Spadefoot was in contention, and we were feeling pretty positive about the trip. We had a little over 200 nm to go when the expected changed from light westerlies to stronger southwesterlies arrived early Monday morning. As the new breeze arrived, it was a little frustrating. It was more southerly than forecast, but that wasn’t entirely unexpected. There was also an east flowing current, both making it harder to lay Bermuda. And so it was, a two day beat to the finish in 20 knots, forecast to build to 25 on Tuesday morning. It didn’t take long for concerns to begin. We were quickly down to a 3rd reef, the #4 jib and starting to pound through the waves. Solarus, a J/130, and Concussion, an Olson 30, were nearby, and we were in regular contact via VHF and AIS. I contacted both boats initially to just commiserate and express my concern about the forecast conditions. My main concern being that the waves would get significantly bigger over the next two days. The 3 of us agreed to stay close together and fall off to an ESE’ly course to ease the pounding. Once we made the course change, I still wasn’t comfortable with the situation. Each time the boat went over a wave, the boat would slam, and then the boat would wobble. Every time. It was clear the keel was moving and the lead bulb on the bottom was acting as a counterweight causing the whole boat to move the wrong way. There was no way around Newton’s 3rd law on this trip. Early Monday afternoon I switched down to the storm jib. The goal was to slow the boat down and hopefully head closer to Bermuda without slamming as much. That helped, but the keel movement persisted. I started to consider the consequences of the keel moving every wave for the next 48 hours. I considered the options, too.

For those that don’t know, Spadefoot has a lifting keel. A keel blade inside and keel trunk. A bolt runs through the keel trunk and the head of the keel. In theory, it is secure and not going anywhere. Unfortunately, there were two issues with this design. First, the bolt goes through the aft third of the keel blade. That means the aft part the blade is held securely and squeezed tightly by the keel trunk. The front part of the blade isn’t held at all, and as the boat started to go through bigger waves the front of the head of the keel would slam back and forth between the side of the keel trunk. You could see and feel the keel move as the keel pounded away on the inside. There was also a second consequence of the design. Being pinned in only one place the keel was prevented from rotating about the pin by the interface of the keel going through the bottom of the hull. By necessity that interface wasn’t a super tight fit, otherwise you’d never get the keel up and down. And so, there was some movement fore and aft as the keel ever so slightly rotated around the pin. I think that contributed most to the wobble I could feel.



Spadefoot at the finish of the 2016 PAC Cup photo Lauren Easley


I called Chris on the satellite phone to let her know the situation and my concern about both the weather and the keel movement getting worse. My main concern was that if the keel started to move more either the keel trunk might fail from the pounding or the keel blade might fail from constant shock loads where the blade exited the hull. We talked about what could happen. It’s pretty simple. If the keel failed catastrophically, I would likely die. The boat would capsize quickly, and it would be very unlikely I could deploy the liferaft once the boat was upside down. That’s pretty much when I made the decision. To me, just the fact that I was considering how to survive a keel failure, told me it was time to get off. Keels do fall off, and people do die when it happens. It happened not so long ago aboard on Cheeky Rafiki, not far away from where I was, and that incident was very much on my mind.

I did consider a few alternatives to abandoning ship. I could slow down. Heave to and wait. There were two issues with that plan. First the forecast was not expected to improve for days. It’s now Friday, almost 4 days after I left Spadefoot, and the winds are still blowing strong from the southwest. The second issue was that I was near other boats on Monday. If I slowed way down, eventually all the race boats would pass by, and my options would be greatly reduced. I also considered turning around and heading to Newport, but again I would quickly leave the proximity of other boats and couldn’t guarantee I could make it to Newport without going upwind.

So, while talking to Chris on the sat phone, the decision was made. I called Noel on Solarus via VHF and let him know my full concerns. Concussion was also still close by and following the conversation on the VHF. Chris called the Coast Guard to let them know the situation and ask them if there was something specific I should do with the EPIRB or the boat.

The actual transfer was quite easy and low drama. Solarus and Spadefoot sailed directly towards each other, greatly aided by the AIS transponders on both boats. When Solarus arrived, I doused the sails, launched the liferaft, threw a few bags into the liferaft, closed up Spadefoot, and climbed into the liferaft and turned on the EPIRB. Once I cut the rode to the liferaft, Spadefoot and I quickly separated.

Spadefoot remains afloat. She is now drifting east, likely caught in the Gulf Stream. The AIS transponder is on, and the tri-color is on. There are two 70W solar panels, so it is unlikely she will run out of battery power unless there is damage to the solar panels. It seems unlikely she will be hit and therefore will likely drift eastward across the Atlantic, carried by the Gulf Stream, eventually nearing the Azores, Ireland, or Portugal. With the sails down and speed down, I doubt the loads on the keel will cause a failure now.



Could Spadefoot be rescued? Maybe. Technically she could be towed, but it would require a significant vessel to tow over that kind of distance. Not very promising. I think the best case is that she drifts nearer to land, and then a tow could be a realistic option.

A huge thank you to Noel Starrett, the owner of Solarus, for taking me aboard and getting me safely to Bermuda. I have to say, I probably had the most comfortable ride for the last two days, and it was completely miserable, so my sympathy and congratulations to the Bermuda 1-2 racers that made it to Bermuda this year.

A huge thank you to Jason Seibert, the owner of Concussion, for coordinating communications between the nearby vessels and shore side communications with Chris and the Coast Guard. He had a Delorme InReach on board with texting capability. At times that was a more effective way to communicate than the Satellite phone I had. Sorry I’m not able to complete the adventure we started back in March with our qualifier.

And finally, a special thanks Spadefoot. You are a good little boat. Perfect in many ways. I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you safely home. Maybe the stars will align and we’ll see you again.

Justin Wolfe
Shumacher 28' Spadefoot

[Charlie Tuna]

Bummer to hear about the boat, hopefully she can be recovered.

Justin can sail another day is the most important thing!

[roleur]

We got her! Spadefoot is under tow about 100nm north of Bermuda. Headed to St. George's. A crazy drift pattern made the very unlikely, possible. More later. Probably a 15 hour tow now.

[psycho tiller]

We got her! Spadefoot is under tow about 100nm north of Bermuda. Headed to St. George's. A crazy drift pattern made the very unlikely, possible. More later. Probably a 15 hour tow now.

Curious how you found her? Seems like the ole needle in a haystack kind of thing. Can't imagine the tracker still working, was it?

[roleur]

Curious how you found her? Seems like the ole needle in a haystack kind of thing. Can't imagine the tracker still working, was it?

The YB tracker was still working and they put it on a private web page so only I could see it. Then when we started recovery operations they upped the ping rate to every 15 minutes. Great service from YB and the battery should have / would have lasted about 75 days.

[psycho tiller]

That's amazing, surprised the tracker works for so long. You must have been tracking it on a minute by minute basis! I know I would have, probably would have single handedly crashed the tracker website from overuse. Congrats to what sounds like a good ending to quite a wild and scary adventure!