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Brizo - Bermuda to USA Day 4 (Tuesday) – The massive glow of civilisation ahead grows like a rising moon in the distance.



Day 4 Tuesday was a busy day, we had 24 hours of good winds and had sailed all of it mostly over 8 knots. During the daylight hours winds reached 27 knots and were pretty much Force 6 all day. The seas became messy so it became more difficult to do much in the galley, in the end we just sailed on the Genoa headsail. We were now just over 100nm off the USA coastline. As we ran into the Gulf Stream the sea temperature we were monitoring rose from 38F to 54F in the center of the stream and with a Northerly current (lift) of around 3.5 knots at one point. We emerged the other side a fraction more North than we had calculated but pretty much on track. As we come out of the stream the sea floor raises from 3000m to less than 50m in what must be an amazing underwater ‘cliff’ but luckily the winds are from the South so we notice little difference at the surface.

By the evening things had calmed down, it had rained on and off all day and we now have to keep watch for the numerous ships and fishing vessels we are starting to see. We are using several electronic systems to monitor the track of vessels and on occasions have to call the vessels ‘on watch officer’ to confirm intentions. A visual watch is still important as its easy to be surprised by small fishing vessels both day and night.

I am now on the 12:00 to 03:00 night watch as I write this, the others are asleep, its relatively warm still the stars are out but on ¾ of the horizon there is distant spectacular sheet  lightning flashes regularly. We have intentionally slowed up to enter Chesapeake bay at around 06:00 just as day breaks – to give you some idea of the size of just the width it will take us until midday to reach our Marina destination and Hampton News and the Blue Water Marina. The massive glow of civilisation ahead grows like a rising moon in the distance, something we are simply not used to after the 3 months we have lived and worked in the Leeward islands of the Caribbean – its going to be a bit of a culture shock – I will have to dig my shoes out from somewhere, it will all seem very odd.

Stu

 


Entering USA


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