Sunday, June 29, 2008

Expected departure and arrival dates

Hi all - hope that you are all enjoying a nice weekend - long one in Canada! (Happy Birthday, Canada)

Anyway, got a call from Dad this morning. He is a bit frustrated that the island's infrastructure has not allowed him to get online and respond to some of the comments and check his e-mail. He was able to get a connection on the first day, but since was not on the 'net. Too bad too, he says he has some good picts to liven up the blog, all in due time. He also mentioned that all the interac machines were down on the island yesterday too!

So - on to the update. he has received and installed the radar, and some seals for the stabilizer (although he thinks they are not the correct ones), but is waiting on a potentiometer (position sensor) for the stabilizer. He hopes to have that today and installed allowing them to leave first thing tomorrow. He will be shoving off very early our time, so I won't be posting a real time departure if he goes. The trip is estimated to take 8 days, so if he leaves tomorrow he figures next Tue he should be in England.

I'll let you know when I do!
MGBWU

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Happy Anniversary

Just wanted to take a few minutes to wish my folks a happy anniversary. They are unfortunately spending this one apart, but Dad is suppose to be on the water again soon and they will meet again in Holland in a few weeks. They can celebrate then! To anyone else that shares this day as a special one, have a wonderful day!

Brad

Monday, June 23, 2008

Stay in Horta

Hi all - got an update from Dad this afternoon. He reported that they will be docked in Horta until later this week depending upon the arrival of parts. The new radar and stabilizer are not there yet, and when they arrive they will need to be installed. Dad's internet connection is not as good as he had hoped, so unless he finds another "hot spot" to connect to, I will continue the updates.

Brad

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Made it to Horta

I'm not sure when Dad will get to posting on his blog as he has some repairs and such to attend to so I thought I would let everyone know he arrived at 15:00 as planned. Mom said he waited out side the harbour and timed his arrival so if anyone watching on the live webcam could see him. Apparently a few people did see him (could you post a comment here if you did see him).
MGBWU

Arrival time update

Got a message early this morning that the new eta for Horta is 15:00 or 3:00pm. Dad figures that he will be walking funny for a while after such a long time on the water. I'm sure he will recover! Dad will probably be the next to post to this Blog, and I wll take over again once he is at sea.
Brad

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Web Cam

I found a site for a webcam that my show le Reve coming in, if you're watching at the right time and the webcam is actually live, real time. Try this link and use the drop down menu in the middle to choose Horta, Azores
It doens't look live to me, but I'm blogging from a borrowed (old) computer which is a bit on the slow side...
good luck
Brad

New arrival time Horta

Hi all - I just got some news from Dad that he figures on arrival in Horta at 17:00 Sunday June 22. There was a bit of a miscomunication in one of his txt messages 22 hrs was actually June 22nd. Sorry to anyone who was concerned that they should have been in harbour by now, but are still on route!
The map is updated, but I was having some tech. difficulty, so the blue line was not updated. The actual spot they are is here
I will post tomorrow the updated ETA at Horta.
MGBWU

Friday, June 20, 2008

Getting close to Horta

Hi everyone - here is the most recent location of le Reve. (map is also updated) According to the captain they should be there 22hr from when they sent the txt message, at 14:00 today.

Dad also sent a report about the stabilizer situation. They are reusing the oil that is leaking out of the stabilizer to help get to Horta more comfortably. The company for the stabilizer have been A1 for service guarenteeing the part in Horta when Dad arrives. The radar that has been out since the start of the trip also needs to be replaced in order to safely navigate the busy English Channel, Dad is wondering if Raymarine will be as good for service as the stabilizer people. Any rep from Raymarine want to comment??

Happy Sailing - MGBWU

Thursday, June 19, 2008

New Update

Sorry for the delay in getting to the blogging (that's a relatively new verb to the English language!)
I have had a number of txt messages and two findmespot locations since I last posted. Dad was here on Wednesday and here on Thursday. The map has also been updated.

There is lots happening aboard le Reve. Tuesday at some point they noticed something of their port bow. As there is not much to see and you can see for quite a way when the water is calm, I imagine the crew was trying to figure out for some time what the object floating in the distance happened to be. Turns out it was a 38 foot sailboat with a broken mast. After contacting the coast guard to let them know, they were informed that the crew was all safe and had been rescued several days earlier. I guess the morning paper didn't cover that bit of news!

Eugene has asked that I put greetings to his wife Elke, family and friends - he says miss you and love you all!

Dad's latest report says that they still have had lots of overcast skies, and little sun. They are 350 nautical miles from Horta and expect landfall in 2 1/2 days.

Happy Sailing

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Location update

Hi all - I have received another of the findmespot locations from Dad. click here. The map is also updated for those who want an overall picture. I spoke with him shortly last night and he informed me that they have enough fuel on board at the current speed and location to go twice as far as they actually need to to get to Horta. That is a good thing for all the Significant Others (SO) out there!

Dad also told me about the minor equipment failure that they had. It seems that one of the two stabilizers had a cylinder malfunction (he said it actually came apart!) The repairs were done during some rolling waves and the location of the repair and the closed in space gave Dad a bit of a queasy feeling, but all was repaired. The cylinder is leaking a bit, but they have a new part on order and will be able to complete the repair while in Horta.

By the captain's calculations, le Reve should be to Horta by later Sunday, but they may delay the arrival to coincide with daylight Monday.

They have had a fair bit of bad weather - one day not going out on deck at all. Dad thought that the skies would have been more fair but with a succession of lows out there that hasn't been the case.

He also mentioned about the route he is taking for all those interested. To stop in Bermuda would have taken le Reve much further south adding 450 miles to the trip (or 450 miles out of the way, not sure which). Bermuda is a frequent stop for those leaving from Florida or farther south. He also said that it would have been a bit shorter trip over open water if they left from St. John's Newfoundland. But that would have put him in the North Atlantic and he figures the weather would have been much worse for him going that way.

Happy sailing

Monday, June 16, 2008

Quick position update

Got a findmespot location that you can see on the updated main map, or you can click here for just the single spot. (remember to scroll out to see land on the east and west to get a better idea of where le Reve is currently sailing)
Happy sailing.
Brad

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Second crew member to be introduced


Hi all, I received a findmespot location from Dad this afternoon at about 3:00, you can see it here. There was never any doubt that they were in the middle of nowhere, but the findmespot location description includes "nearest location: not known"!

I thought I would take a moment to let you know about Clyde. Of the four crew members that I am not related to I have had the most contact with Clyde's wife Pat from their home base in Georgia. The two of them were once in the poultry business and have enjoyed many interesting trips aboard a few different size boats, all getting larger than the last! They have tried a few times to do the Great Loop finally completing the trip in 04-05. They also manage to charter once in a while with trips to Alaska on the inside passage as well as in the warmer climes of the British Virgin Isles, St. Martin, Puerto Rico and St. Vincent. With over 6200 hours of cruising documented to me Dad was very happy to have such an experienced sailor on board. With all that sailing experience Clyde knows his way around the galley and has been keeping the crew happy and full with great meals and baking to boot! They may even be a bit heavier than when they sailed!

You can bookmark this map to see progress if you like, I have included a pink line for the first leg of the trip to Horta and an orange line for the trip to England.

Happy sailing and remember Don't let the urgent displace the important things in life!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Le reve 1/2 way to Horta


The crew is half way to Horta and things still sound like they are going well. Dad reported that it has been rainy and windy for the last 2 days. This morning they saw a beautiful double rainbow.

I have referred to doing bios on the crew, and I have had one request from an anonymous commenter to talk about the crew. The hansom fellow posted here is Bern. He has a long list of accomplishments which made him a natural choice to come along for the Big Ride. Born in Maryland he had certificates in archery, skeet shooting, motor cycle safety, first aid instructor and ski patrol. He has served in the Military '67 - 75 as an Aircraft Weapons Mechanic. Graduating from Perdu '83 with B.Sc in Accounting, Computer Science and Industrial Management he has the background to fix pretty much anything that goes wrong on the boat. And if there should need to be some work below the water line on the hull of le Reve, he has is scuba ticket to boot! I know Dad was very excited when Bern agreed to become part of the crew. Bern's US Coast Guard Captain's License and his sailing experience on his own Hans Christian Christina sailboat named "Chinook" just added to the all around package that Bern brought aboard.

The most recent location of le Reve is here remember to scroll out to see where the boat is relative to NA and Europe
Link to the map from previous post.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

New Myspot location

If you click on the second link in the previous post I have updated the map that shows where le Reve is as of today at 11:00 am

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Quick update

Got a SAT call and a text message saying that all is going well aboard le Reve. They are here
You can also see the line of progress by clicking here
The information that I have so far is that rough seas forced them a little farther south than they wanted, but that the wind is expected to shift to the west which should get them some better speed, that is suppose to happen in about 2 days. The call I got tonight said that they had a great day, only low rolling waves and that they caught (and ate) a Mahi mahi. It was nice to have some fresh fish! Dad made the comment that the crew were wondering when they might be getting bored, because so far no one has! Everyone is doing well on board and Dad apologized for not sending a location update yesterday, but poor weather forced him inside before the findmespot device could get a good link to the satellites. Look for more updates soon!
B~

Monday, June 9, 2008

Belated departure picture

I have updated the map with the latest findmespot location sent from le Reve. Click here (you can bookmark this map if you want to)

I received a call from Dad on the sat this evening. We had a short talk - and then he had to call back as the call was dropped. The second connection was much better. Dad's numbers indicate that they are about 540 miles of shore and about 1/4 of the way to Horta and expects to arrive in 10 days. He reports speeds of up to 10 knots on occasion since entering the Gulf Stream - previously topping out at about 6 knots.

They have had a few minor issues only this far into the trip, but sounds like everyone is enjoying the challenges that are presenting themselves. First off the watermaker wasn't working properly. With a call into the manufacturer and all the smart guys on board they corrected the problem. The other thing that is not working is the radar. They have a backup system AIS which is working very well. He mentioned they have seen a few ships using the AIS and are comfortable with it's abilities even though they have been experiencing thick fog in the am and pm. Seas are calm right now, but they had some rough seas this am causing difficulty in moving around on the ship without holding on to something.

More information to follow as I receive updates.

The picture here is courtesy of Gary & Pat Marchenia Aboard PrimeTime in New York. I didn't get it in time for the first post and I thought I would put it in here.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Location Update


I received a location from dad yesterday June 7th at about 4:00. He also says that things are going well, they have seen many dolphins, mola mola (pictured here) and a whale. They are approaching the Gulf Stream and I will get another message when that happens. Stay tuned for small bios on the crew members.
Happy Sailing! Click here for a map showing line of progress.

Friday, June 6, 2008

The Big Ride


Well, all the preparation has been accomplished. The supplies laid in and the course decided upon. The crew has assembled and the trip has begun. Dad and the rest of the crew set off for the far shores of Europe this morning at about 8 am. You can see the location of their ship as they left the harbour by clicking here.
I will be your host in this blog for the duration of the voyage as Dad will not have any internet access for a few weeks. He will be sending me updates and I will pass them along. I should introduce myself. I'm Bill's oldest son Brad. I will pass on the location of le Reve so you can track their progress. The locations will be links to maps.google and if you scroll out you can get an idea of where the ship is in the ocean. I received an update on Dad's location at 3:30 today and they had made it to here
The weather looks to be good for about the next 8 days. After that there may be a bit of wind to deal with. Stay tuned for all the developments. A quick explanation of the title- Luke (my oldest son) prayed for his Opa while he was on "the Big Ride" and it stuck at our place for the name of this expedition.