March crossing to Bermuda

Kevin Kaldenbach · Post by **Kevin Kaldenbach** » Mar 27th, '10, 09:24

On March 6th 2010 I left Annapolis Maryland on a 6 day sail to Bermuda as crew on a boat delivery. Having watched the weather in the North Atlantic for weeks prior to my trip I was apprehensive about what I was getting into. Winds often blew 50 miles per hour in those days leading up to the crossing but this will not be a story about high winds and big seas. The term weather window fit our trip perfectly. The day we left Annapolis winds calmed and stayed that way until we were safely in the cut leading into St. Georges Bermuda. This trip was a lesson in cold weather sailing and conforming to fit into the lifestyles of those I sail with.

Cold! Air temperatures in the 20â€™s cold! cold bay temperatures cold! and I had a cold. When I stepped onto the boat at 6:30 am that Saturday the air temperature was in the 20â€™s and I had a rather bad cold. I was miserable from the lack of sleep for the past four days, two of which were on a Greyhound bus, never will I do that again, and two were from fighting a cold at my father in laws house in Maryland. Norm the captain greeted me with â€œYou must be Kevin, I am Norm, grab these groceries as I hand them to you.â€

chase · Post by **chase** » Mar 28th, '10, 23:15

Great story, sounds like an early passage but I'm no expert. So, luckily you're not as mutinous as me, I would have suggested we practice MOB drills with Norm going over and Angie at the helm.

Do you have plans to take your CD on similar passages? Does the "Island Piglet" warrant that nickname I've heard so often?

Chase

Kevin Kaldenbach · Post by **Kevin Kaldenbach** » Mar 29th, '10, 07:57

Donâ€™t get me wrong, Norm was a great guy, and I hope I can sail with him again. I have plans to sail from Texas to Maryland or Long Island in March 2011 on my CD31 then south from there. From what I could gather the Island Packet does deserve its name. There was a lot of concern that if we did not get into Bermuda before the wind shifted in the direction we needed to go we would have big problems, because it did not point well. Also I was led to believe that it was not a well balanced boat. I found myself saying more than once â€œI love my Cape Doryâ€

Como No Cruising · Post by **Como No Cruising** » Apr 16th, '10, 11:17

Kevin: Good story. Keep writing. I am glad that I was not on that delivery. I hate cold weather. Although, I will have to say that it has been rather warmer than I like it here in Jamaica.

We just pulled up our weather sources and it looks like Light and variable conditions between here and Isla Mujeres for the next several days. Not our preference, but we are ready to keep moving. Grand Cayman is right on the way but we prefer to make it a straight thru passage. All will depend on winds. If we have to motor then we will likely stop at Cayman and wait for more wind.

It has been 10 years since we left Isla Mujeres on our trip and we are really looking forward to returning there.

One thing about doing deliveries is that you get experiance on quite a number of different boats---some good and some not so good. If I could write as well as you I would send you an account of a delivery I did from Texas to Florida of a 38 foot ketch. It was a winter time trip and one that was very interesting.

I look forward to seeing you.

Will & Annie
Como No
Port Antonio, Jamaica

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