Captain's Log Apr-May 2007

April 17, 2007.  Departed Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, for Simpson Bay, St. Martin. Distance 272 miles.

Dane Wagner joined Dream Catcher for the passages from St. Lucia to St. Martin and St. Martin to Bermuda.  Although I had not met him until he arrived in St. Lucia, we had a lot of common interests.  He owned a Tanzer 7.5, the same model boat I owned prior to purchasing Dream Catcher, had just completed the first of two courses on celestial navigation conducted by the Shrewsbury Power Squadron, and had a goal of sailing around the world.  He had excellent sailing skills and a wonderful attitude.  During the first two days of the passage to St. Martin he had a case of sea sickness, but always insisted on standing his watch, despite his feeling badly.  He eventually got his sea legs and we had a great time on the passages and in port.

For the most part, the passage to St. Martin was made in light winds and relative calm seas.  While under way I discovered the alternator was overcharging the starter battery so I disengaged the cable to the house batteries and starter battery to avoid “cooking” them.  In order to preserve the power in the house batteries for running lights at night I shut down the GPS and auto pilot, which we were using instead of the Monitor and hand steered the boat because much of the time we didn’t have sufficient wind for the Monitor to steer the boat.  When I opened my hand held GPS that I had checked a month earlier to determine that it was in good operating condition I now discovered that it was not working.  Now, without the GPS I would have to rely on taking sun shots with the sextant and creating celestial fixes – which I had not done during the entire trip.  Fortunately, Dane brought his own hand held GPS – which we used for the remainder of the passage.

Becoming so dependent on the GPS and so rusty on celestial navigation was foolish and short sighted on my part.  Despite their reliability, electronic equipment does breakdown and I was angry with myself to have become so dependent on the GPS for navigation.  During the remainder of the passage I thought about the consequences of the problem occurring on a long passage to a small island and promised myself I would renew my celestial skills when I got to St. Martin.

We arrived at St. Martin and entered Simpson Bay at 1630 hours on April 20.

April 24, 2009.  Departed St. Martin for Bermuda.  Distance 876 miles.

Dane and I had a great time in St. Martin and it would have been nice to have more time to spend on the island.  But I was eager to get home to New Jersey.  The food was good and the owner of the neighboring boat was a local resident who had some helpful suggestions on interesting places to visit.  While I waited for the mechanic to come on board to repair the alternator, Dane helped me work on my celestial navigation skills.  I may never have to use those skills again, but I will be prepared to do so if the need arises.
Culturally and politically, St. Martin is an interesting island. Part of the island is governed by France the other governed by the Netherlands.  The people are very friendly with a good sense of humor and lots of energy to have a good time.  Departing Simpson Bay we had to pass under a draw bridge along with seven other boats that wanted to depart on the only afternoon scheduled opening at 1630 hours - or they would have to wait until the following morning when the bridge would again be raised.  As we passed under the raised bridge a group of young people standing by the draw bridge “mooned” us – along with the other seven boats.  Dane and I wondered who was being honored by the “mooning.”  It was good fun and we sounded our horns in a responsive salute.

The passage to Bermuda was relatively easy and without any serious problems.  The winds were mostly steady out of the northeast at about 15 knots and we averaged
138 miles per day.  We arrived off St. George’s Harbor, Bermuda at 0330 hours on May 1. I called St. George’s Harbor Master on the radio requesting permission to enter the harbor.  We were told that we could enter the harbor and anchor in the bay -- but could not dock at the custom’s dock until sunrise.  Both Dane and I were tired and decided that anchoring was more strenuous than standing off and waiting for sunrise.  At 0500 hours we received permission to enter the harbor.

The two passages with Dane was great fun.  He is an excellent sailor and was a great help for the two passages.  I was sorry to see him go. It would have been a great pleasure to have him on board for the passage to New Jersey.  We had spent more time than anticipated in St. Martin making repairs and he had to return to work.

May 4, 2007 Departed St. George’s Harbor for Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. Distance - 681 miles.

On board for the passage were John Henderson, George Swede and his son Jeff.  I met John Henderson in 1983 when we raced from Marion, Mass to Bermuda on Dr. Jasper’s sailboat, Vee-Jay III.  We have been sailing together since then.   George was a retired corporate pilot who had a lot of experience in weather and navigation and was looking for some blue water sailing experience – along with his son Jeff.  I was delighted to have them as crew.  We had a great time on the passage.

I was eager to make the passage and get home to New Jersey.  With only 681 miles to go, and three others to share the watches, I thought it would be an easy passage.  Despite the relatively short distance it was a challenging passage with a wide variety of weather conditions. 

For the first two days following our departure we encountered light and variable winds and motor sailed a good portion of the two days.  To avoid areas of severe weather during all of my passages in the Atlantic Ocean I checked in by radio with Herb Hilgenberg for his weather forecasts and routing recommendations.  Herb is an extraordinary sailor who devotes a great deal of his time and energy to providing, pro bona, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year, weather forecasts and routing recommendations to recreational and commercial vessels sailing in the Atlantic Ocean within range of his high frequency radio located in Ontario, Canada.  His forecasts are extraordinarily accurate and he has saved many lives and prevented sailors from sailing into dangerous weather conditions.

On the first day out of Bermuda Herb reported that a subtropical depression named ANDREA was moving in our direction and recommended we take a course directly north of our position for the next 100 miles before crossing the Gulf Stream in order to avoid the depression – which I did.  For the next two days we had heavy winds that required we reef sails to the third reef point.  While we never encountered the hurricane or gale force winds that were predicted for our area, sadly, the sailboat FLYING COLORS with four people on board were lost off the coast of North Carolina.  No traces of the boat or crew were ever found. 

While I had some challenging moments during the 3 ½ years of making passage, they were never life threatening.  Pursuing our dreams with a well thought out plan seldom results in life threatening situations.

On May 9, and for most of the next two days, until we were within 50 miles of the New Jersey coast, we encountered heavy fog that restricted visibility, at times to less than 100 feet.  Despite the heavy weather and rough passage through the Gulf Stream we had a great time.  It was a great pleasure to have John, George and Jeff on board.  Jeff made a short video of our passage. 

May 11, 2007, 0200 hours. Arrived Atlantic Highlands.

After sailing in heavy fog for almost two days, we entered Raritan Bay under clear skies and docked at Atlantic Highlands Yacht Club at 0200 hours on May 11, 2007.  It was great to be home.   Hank Keller had planned a wonderful reception.  At 0900 hours Kirk Moore from the Asbury Park Press came to do a story about the circumnavigation.  Shortly after that, Peter Donoghue, Mayor of the Borough of Atlantic Highlands, came on board Dream Catcher and presented me with a key to the city.   Later, members of the Shrewsbury Power Squadron escorted Dream Catcher across Raritan Bay to Raritan Yacht Club and a reunion with family and friends at the club.  It was a wonderful day and I am grateful to all those who helped me for the past 29 years achieve my dream.   

Reflections.

As I complete the 31,000 mile sailing adventure, I have been thinking if there was one experience that would highlight my circumnavigating of the world. The fact is, there is no single event or experience I can point to that represents the highlight of the 3 ½ years sailing around the world. It is the sum total of all the experiences that makes the 3 ½ years so rewarding. It has also been the realization that I can dream outrageous dreams, create a plan to pursue them and then, working through the plan, achieve them. In conversations with other yachtees, they expressed much the same feeling. It was what they discovered about themselves that was the most rewarding. And so it will be with you when you pursue your dreams.

Dreams define who we are. They are the skeleton of our life's mission. The pursuit of our dreams determines the quality of our lives. If we are to be true to ourselves we must pursue our dreams. Turning our dreams to missions that we can pursue will lead to discovering our uniqueness, give us the feeling of self fulfillment and define success in our own terms. Why then do we not pursue our dreams? Why do we admire the success of others or try to follow the path society defines as success rather than to travel the path that is uniquely ours?

A fellow, living in Alaska, who is a commercial fisherman and sailor and who is preparing to sail his boat around the world sent me the following.

"In an age when mass society has rendered obsolete the qualities of individual courage and independent thought, the oceans of the world still remain vast and uncluttered, beautiful and unforgiving awaiting those who will not submit. Their voyages are not an escape but a fulfillment."

Permit me to encourage you to dream big and to pursue your dreams - even if they appear outrageous or to exceed your grasp at this moment. Here are five steps that will help you get started to achieving your dreams.

1. Write your dream or goal down on paper and put it where you can see it daily.
2. Make a list of books and articles you can read and people you can talk with who have pursued a similar goal.
3. Make a list of supplies, equipment, skills and physical conditioning you will need to pursue your goal.
4. Develop a list of expenses you will incur and a plan for financing the pursuit of your goal.
5. Set a launch date. Then, just do it.

It takes courage to believe your dreams can come true. If you have the courage to believe you can realize your dreams and create specific plans for pursuing them, you will achieve those dreams. You will find the pursuit of your dreams will give you great personal satisfaction, provide a richness to your life experience and an opportunity for self discovery that would not have been possible had you not pursued your dreams. Dreams are golden and time is the thief. Don't let the passage of time steal your dreams from you.

Thank you for your interest in the voyage of Dream Catcher. May all of your dreams come true.