Martin van Breems, Ally Whelehan (the SSC marketing director) and Scott Whelehan (Ally’s Dad) had a super fast and enjoyable passage from St Thomas to Bermuda. We turned the motor off 30 minutes after leaving the dock in Red Hook, and never turned it back on till the last 24 hours, when we closed in on the center of the Bermuda High with very light air. We had 4 great days of sailing, averaging 160-180 miles a day.
The second leg looks less pleasant, with a series of lows or cold fronts and considerably winds on the nose. Monday to Tuesday shows winds in the 35 knot range. Weds looks like the best day to cross the Gulf Stream, before the next cold front bears down on Thursday. Your can track the progress of Valanta here, note that we are using the Spare InReach; InReach Link
Valanta in St George after the first leg of the passage North from St Thomas.
First, seasons greetings to all our members, students, other customers and friends. We thank you very very much for your support, and wish you the best for the coming year.
As usual, the passage from CT to Bermuda was challenging at times. We left as one of a series of strong low’s pulled out to sea, and the NW winds, which in the morning were close to 30 knots, soon died off to under 15 knots that evening. The forecast called for 2 more days of light winds followed by another intense low tracking to our north. Of course, we want the calmest possible conditions in the Gulf Stream region, so we motor-sail all the way to past the Gulf Stream.
We enjoyed lots of dolphin antics in the first 2 days out.
This Saturday afternoon and Sunday look good for bringing the Hanse 400 back from Mystic to Norwalk. We will head up Saturday afternoon, leaving around noon from SSC. Transportation will be arranged. Wind forecast start out of the south, shifting to the SW and west by the evening (and building to 15-20). Temps will be in the 60’s. Ebb begins at 8:30 am, max ebb 11:30 am on Saturday, so getting under way around 2 pm will give us 6 hours of a nice flood.
Of course, dark by around 6:40 pm. Saturday night it will probably be best to stop in Westbrook (about 25 nm – 5:30 eta) or Clinton (6:30 eta), where we can plug in for heat. Could also go to the Thimbles and grab a mooring.
We will get an early start Sunday, underway by 7 am. 2 hrs of flood, then bucking the tide, but not too much in the Sound at that point. Sunday afternoon we will arrive in Norwalk around 2-3 pm. Sunday will be a beautiful day, cool clear NW winds with a high of 53 degrees. The Long Island Sound is still quite warm, which makes fall cruising much more pleasant. Please email us about space availability if you are a member or recent student.
We had another great Advanced Class with 5 students, starting out on the Var 37 from Norwalk to Mystic, where we then switched to the Hanse 400 for the rest of the class. Wim and I put a huge amount of effort and experience into making this course interesting, challenging and very worthwhile.
The following quote is from Todd C, a lifelong sailor who currently races a 21′ high performance sport boat in upstate NY;
“As a veteran dinghy sailor with some big boat experience I was wanted to leverage these skills into big boat cruising skills and a formal US Sailing Bareboating Certificate to be ready to bareboat extensively in the Mediterranean the following summer. Martin and his team delivered beyond my wildest dreams! I am a former college sailor who grew up sailing lasers, 420’s and ultimately campaigned a J/24 before having kids. I got back into sailing recently and sail / race a Viper 640. I wanted an efficient way to convert my extensive dinghy knowledge into coastal cruising experience and to be confidently ready to captain a bareboat in the Mediterranean with family and friends with less experience than I as crew. The Sound Sailing Advanced Cruising course was perfect. In just six days I gained extensive experience with big boat systems, from diesel engines to heads, docking, including the infamous Mediterranean mooring technique, navigation and passage making. The sail from Norwalk, CT to Rockland, ME was a journey to remember and the perfect way to constantly apply and test my new skills. Immediately after the course my girlfriend and I chartered a boat from Martin’s team for the next six days and I applied my new skills sailing from Mystic to Block Island, Montauk, and Gardeners Island, making an idyllic vacation that we will both remember for a lifetime – in fact, we are now seriously considering our own boat! Thank you Martin and Wim!”
A beautiful sunset as we work our way up the coast of NE.
