Day 1 at sea / leaving day:
Woke to great weather - sun and light wind 10 knots blowing north east - perfect!
Breakfast was great as usual - raisin bran with banana, toast with marmalade and orange slices plus coffee. We went for a quick swim and then showered with the solar showers. We cleaned up the boat and listened for weather updates.
For the record: the Rusee de Jersey is a 1987, 39 foot Kelt (built in Vanne, France). It has an adjustable 7 foot keel and therefore can draft in 3 feet of water. Yves has modified it: adding a sugar scoop (swim platform) and a bowsprit. This brings it to almost 40 feet.
We headed into Hamilton to top up fuel and water. Yves had email and business so Greg and I went to the Tavern by the Sea restaraunt and had greasy burgers as it was the last time we could get food like that for the next few weeks. We all checked Internet and sent the last emails for awhile.
Yves had to fax something for the boat insurance and Greg and I went to the market store to buy a few more items for the trip (we had forgotten to get snacks like chips and chocolate which I had heard are very important for night watches.
We returned to the boat and packed up the dinghy - which we had to redo after Yves told us he still needed to clips that were still on the dinghy. Good practice I tell myself.
Off to Customs - they made us move the boat right to their dock before they would let us leave - and to let Yves have his flare gun back (not allowed in Bermuda - nor are guns - a good policy I think). We return with The Rusee de Jersey and we see the girls from Teepee again (they have Manu's sister with them and we have said goodbye about ten times now today). They cast off our lines for us.
The plan is to head north (and slightly east) and then head east once we hit the 39 or 40th parallel. This will decrease the distance as we use the "great circle" principle of traveling on a globe, combined with potentially better winds and currents. It should be 14-15 days of sailing. The trip is about 1850 nautical miles (a nautical mile is 1.15 miles or about 2 km).
We are motoring out the bay and towards the open sea. I am not sure how I feel. I feel I should be nervous but I am not. I do wonder if I will be sea sick - but so far the 1-2 foot swells are not bothering me. Yves took a couple of anti-emetic pills and I have as well (preventative medicine may be wise I think).
Out at sea we clear the buoys and we prepare the main sail and then the spinnaker (ok - really it is Yves and Greg doing all the work, and I try and help and stay out of their way). We are pulling the sheets (ropes attached to sails as there is nothing called rope on a sailing vessel unless it is attached to a bell) of various colors. I try and keep up and I am also trying to maintain balance as the boat is rocking with each swell.
We are under sail as the main sail is up and the giant blue spinnaker (a large front sail that billows out from the bow of the boat) goes up. It is gorgeous. We settle in and soon have dinner. We eat Greg's Shepherd's Pie topside and watch the sun start to set.
We aren't getting enough wind, so we pull down the sails and start the motor.
The night watches have been decided on 3 hour shifts starting at 9 PM. I am the 3 AM shift so I go to bed early.