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Khaleesi - Log Day 2 Leaving Bermuda



Leaving Bermuda

We had an interesting start to our departure day; we needed to get to the local chandlery / hardware store in St Georges first thing in the morning to get a replacement 6 inch bolt for the auto pilot quadrant. We were at the store as they opened and fortunately they had the right size of bolt, sort of, as Bermuda still works with USA imperial sizes whilst we in Europe work with metric sizes. Anyway, the bolt we got was OK and Pete Bennett was soon in the lazerette locker fitting it. Now this all happened because on passage to Bermuda the steering gear was making some unusual noises, so I decided to take a look. Initially we thought it was a loose cable, but then I also noticed the loose bolt that was replaced. On further inspection Pete also found that the top rudder bearing was dangerously loose. The significance of this was that had the top bearing failed, it is possible that the rudder would have torn the bottom bearing out of the hull, leaving a great hole in it!!! We informed the rally organisers that we would not make the start time, and Pete from Jubilate Mare came over to see if he could help. He went off to look in his bag of spares for bolts and luckily had two that were almost perfect. Our Pete then spent an hour contorting himself around the steering assembly replacing and tightening bolts. Needless to say we all appreciated how closely we had avoided a serious disaster. We heard the rally start at 1100hrs, and we completed the work by about 1130hrs. We quickly loaded the lazerette with the usual stores, raised the dinghy and then called Bermuda Radio for clearance through the Town Cut. This was duly given and we motor sailed out into the Atlantic. We immediately hoisted our cruising chute and set off in pursuit of the others. We made good speed and soon caught up with the tail enders, and began to work our way through the field. We are now well into our second day and have not yet taken the cruising chute down...it is sailing of the perfect kind with calm seas and fair winds. It would be great to have one or two more knots of wind and at a better angle, but we have averaged 6 knots an hour and that means we have completed over 200 miles already. Only 1600 more to go! It takes a few days to get into the rhythm of watch keeping and because we are flying the cruising chute we are working 2hrs on, 2hrs on stand-bye, 4hrs off at night time. Allison's work in cooking frozen meals has already started to pay off as it is easy to reheat the meals and cook either potatoes, pasta or rice. The first night was mince and veg with potatoes, tonight was curry with rice and pitta bread. We will not go hungry! The night sky out here is amazing with the
constellations shining brightly in the firmament. Shooting stars complete the almost poster like quality of the black night sky lit up by thousands of twinkling stars. During the day we can still see a few of the other rally yachts in the distance, and keep trying to exact more speed out of our sails. We pass the occasional jelly fish which at first looks like a plastic bag floating on the surface, but then the curved ridged shape becomes clear as a sort of sail which allows the jellyfish to drift with the wind. So now large expanses of empty ocean beckon us on, and we stand our watches, sleep when we can, wash in refreshing Atlantic water and enjoy the benign conditions we are currently experiencing. We hope they continue.
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Khaleesi at 5/21/2018 11:18 AM (utc) our position was 37°27.96'N 053°44.48'W

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