2002 Ship's Log

June 14, 2002: Today is the big day. The docks are alive with activity as crews arrive for the maxi boats. Its cloudy and we are worried about the weather - we will be sailing into a developing storm offshore. Our start is at 12:55 pm and Jack Renirie gets us a good start across the line. Just after the start the wind builds to over 30 knots from the NE and we are soon under double reefed main in a cold rain. The entire night is stormy. Its hard to stay warm sitting on the rail.

June 15, 2002: Morning finds the wind dropping and shifting to the South. We are still in the low pressure area and the barometer is now 1000 mb. In retrospect this will turn out to be the pivotal day of the race for us. The leaders go more easterly and find better winds. In the morning we are in a washing machine of seas. We put the spinnaker up to try and get some boat speed.

June 16, 2002: Early morning finds us in an area just north of the Gulf Stream with low to no winds. At the 8am check-in, Song of Joy has only covered 85 nm in 24 hours. The leader has covered 180 nm in the same time period! Click here to see our daily positions. A few other boats are near us and we are all slowly drifting at the edge of the Gulf Stream. We can tell this because sea water temperatures have risen from 67 to 78 degrees. It is always hard to believe that the ocean can be near flat but it is. At mid day we find the boat being carried due East by the stream. We try various sail combinations in an attempt to get some boat speed and a better heading. It is 3 pm when the wind picks us from the SW and we are able to get back on course. In the late afternoon we start experiencing strong squalls in the GS. Winds build into the evening hours and we see peak winds of around 30 knots,. The waves are very steep and at one point the entire boat falls 5, 10, 20 feet off a wave - its hard to tell in the dark, but the impact shakes the head door off its hinges. We all now have just a little taste of what really heavy sailing is all about. We will later learn that all of the top boats are racing through this weather with full spinnakers up. Between late evening and early morning the boat covers 80 NM in 8 hours aided by the strong GS current!!

June 17, 2002: The strong winds start to drop in early morning and but at 4 am are back in the low teens. When we are able, we fly the spinnaker to improve boat speed. At 3pm we finally leave the Gulf Stream. From our daily check-in and position reports we realize that we are now behind the fleet. We have not seen much ship traffic on the trip, but two cruise ships pass late at night all lit up. By evening the winds and seas pick-up to 19 knots.

June 18, 2002: Morning finds us with two reefs in the main, 20 knots of wind doing 8 knots over the ground. The afternoon is line after line of squalls, but it clears toward sunset and we enjoy the ride, on a 156 degree heading to Bermuda. About 150 miles out we see our first Bermuda long tail bird, always a welcome sight. The evening watch is magic with warm temperatures and clear skys. We are now concerned about winds which are due to diminish early Wednesday.

June 19, 2002: Morning finds us doing 5-6 knots over the ground. We approach the reefs of Bermuda and make two tacks to cross the finish line at St David's Head at 7:10 am EDT.


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