0800 EDT – 21’05″N – 62’56″W. We’ve been running before a S quadrant wind since leaving St. Martin, jibing on the shifts. Not the fastest way to sail, but very comfortable. With the breeze in the 11-13 knot range, we are averaging 10 to 11, while jibing through 65 degrees. Beowulf is wearing her easy cruising rig – two big reachers – one on the bowsprit which is canted to weather, and the second in front of the mizzen, tacked to the windward edge of the main traveler.

Having Dave Wyman aboard for the passage introduces a new element into our watches – more sleep! It is hard to know how to handle three hours on and six off when you are used to three hour sleep periods – what luxury!

Our trusty Furuno weather fax is giving us trouble, so we are using the Globalstar phone to connect to the internet for weather data. It works surprisingly well for this purpose. I just finished downloading 10 500mb and surface fax charts, one infrared cloud cover image, and a GRIB file to use with the routing feature of MaxSea in just 15 minutes. Considering that this includes logging on, and that it would be much faster to have the charts sent from NOAA via e-mail, this is really cool. Cost-wise, this equates to about $20.00 worth of time. If we were using our Sat C receiver for the GRIB files, the cost of one GRIB alone would be $50. to $75.

The Globalstar phone seems easy enough to use. There is a pretty simple installation routine to use for the PC, and then when you are in the e-mail or internet function the computer asks if you want to connect. Tell it yes, and a few seconds later you are connected. We do not have the permanent installation – something you would want if you were serious about this service. We are simple placing the phone on top of the pilot house, where it will just reach with an extension cable (RS232 serial type cable). You do have to get the antenna so it has a clear view. We’ve had a couple of periods where we could not connect – so we assume this was due to satellite positioning.

And the weather…

The running conditions are brought to us courtesy of a frontal boundary which is bending the high pressure isobars. The satellite image shows a large cloud mass a couple of hundred miles ahead – probably with lots of embedded thunderstorms and squalls. Once through the front, winds will go back to a more reaching angle.

The tricky part – there always is a tricky part this time of year as you approach the coast – is with the compact, relatively intense, high pressure system now building up over the Midwest. As this moves to the east over the next three days, it will be in a good position to generate northeast winds. While this would give us a one-tack fetch to the Chesapeake, it would also mean crossing the Gulf Stream in very difficult conditions – wind against current with lots of intense gusts – something we prefer not to do.

There are two options: one is to heave to well away from the Gulf Stream. The second is to heave to in the lovely harbor of St. David’s on Bermuda. It is a little early to decide, but we are keeping our options open.