Hi All,
Mark Gearhart here, s/v Godspeed. Made contact with John Churchill
yesterday as he crossed into the eastern hemisphere. By permission,
the following is a forwarded email from him to the BCC group:
i am writing from the north sea, 60-05N, 00-02E, just crossed the
Greenwich Meridian. i up/download my email thru payphones, this will
be via norway. left the shetland islands this am. Weather forecast
ok for the crossing (180nm) but foggy. close reaching at 5 kts in
2-3 ft seas on a gentle SSE breaze. anything less than a gale is
welcome this time of year. have seen one other american yacht this
summer since leaving the azores. there was another BCC in the azores
as well as a Taleisen sistership.
next evening-
had a fair crossing. wind petered out in the afternoon, so i tried
the chute for a while, then even that would not fill, so i motored
in the late afternoon. my tillerpilot was acting up after i had
used it in the phenomenal tide races at Orkney and Shetland (12
knot winds against tide produces 6 foot waves that break like surf
on the beach), and it eventually went hard over, breaking the pin
on the tab arm. so there i was at dusk with my brass rod, file, and
tap and die set making a new one, finally finished, got the pilot
recalibrated and motored all night thru thick black fog, could not
even see the horizon. lots of traffic on the VHF, but i only saw
2 ships. no oil rigs along my path fortunately, as thay have a lot
of unlit mooring buoys around them. around daybreak, the fog started
to clear and the wind kicked up out of the north, (finally a perfect
beam reach) and increased thru the day til they were broadcasting
gale warnings by afternoon. clouds broke up in the late afternoon
and it was sunny by the time i made landfall at 5 PM. average
speed for the last 6 hours was 6.8 kts. ducked into the first little
harbor I saw on the chart, encouraged by the pilot boat that went
ahead of me.
it looks like something out of disney, it is just a little too
perfect. sixty foot wide entrance between granite walls 30 feet
high, 40 foot depth. harbor opens up, great 360 degrees Chesapeake
style protection, uniform 15 ft depth, good holding, not filled with
lobster floats or moorings. picturesque little rocky islet in the
middle, just enough room for one boat to anchor. surrounded by
gaily painted clapboard houses, flags flying everywhere, against
a rugged granite and pine tree backgound. small craft, mostly wood,
line the rock seawalls in front of every house, even a miniature
Viking longboat. like Disney, everything is just a little too neat
and tidy, even the fish boats look clean and freshly painted. it is
kind of magical. i expect to see Mickey and the families dragging
exhausted kids in strollers any moment.
have to figure out how to get ashore and contact customs
tomorrow, just anchor and stay aboard tonight, to bed early.
john