The Cruising Log of S/Y Maritime Express

By Gail K Soucoup

It is often the misconception that women are on cruising boats because that was what the man wanted to do.

Gail was the instigator, but it didn't take much effort to convince Henry to at least give it a try.

They left Canada's East Coast telling family and friends that they would probably not be home for about two years if they did not like this life. Why so long? Passage time back to Canada would be limited by weather, like hurricanes, etc.

They experienced excitement, adventure, and boat projects, and explored new places they never thought they would see, learning to navigate the bureaucracy that changed with each country.

Ten years later they ended their cruising adventure in Australia when they got an offer they couldn't refuse for S/Y Maritime Express. Be sure to read the upcoming Pacific Log.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Jun 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9780228856948

Gail K Soucoup

After purchasing our small boat and discovering we really did like this as a hobby, we started to crew for various larger racing boats on the Northumberland Strait between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. It is amazing to see how different captains handle a situation.We both took various courses presented by the Canadian Power & Sail Squadron and served many positions on "The Bridge." We were taught how to read a chart, navigate, how to read the weather, boat safety, maintenance and many other useful skills.

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Copyright © 2021 by G.K. (Gail) Soucoup

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-0-2288-5695-5 (Paperback)

978-0-2288-5694-8 (eBook)

LAND AND WATER

Grain fields, cattle, barns;

In gum rubber boots

He walked and dreamed,

Feeling part of the land he worked.

A soldier clad in khaki

The boy became a man

Defending the lands -

Dreams replaced by destruction.

Many years later the soldier

Found himself owner of a boat,

And a change was made as he learned

The ways of the water.

How is it that I became a soldier?

He inquired of no one in particular.

Then the motor became a sail

And he dreamed again - of the seas.

The wind in the sails

The call of the water

came too late

For this would-be sailor.

Kathleen G. Soucoup¹

Table of Contents

Prologue

Acknowledgements

In the Beginning

The Adventure Begins 1996

The Caribbean Years 1997

The Caribbean Years 1998

The Caribbean Years 1999

The Caribbean Years 2000

The Caribbean Years 2001

Specifications On

Waypoints

Prologue

What makes a person love sailing? It could be anything or it could be in your genes. Gail’s maternal grandfather she has been told had worked a ship to China in his youth. Henry’s father was born in Montreal and had sailed on Lake Saint Clare until an extremely bad storm came up and after taking Henry’s mother ashore, he proceeded to save a number of people, we have the Montreal Gazette newspaper article. Well, Gertie put an end to sailing and never was happy when her son took it up. And Gail’s father, well his first experience was on a troop ship to war and in later years bought a fourteen-foot Mahone Bay power boat. He told his wife if he had of known how much he like the sea he would have been in the navy and not the army.

When we started on our preparations to go cruising and the voyage itself, we kept notes and whenever we had time beefed them up to create this log.

Our intentions were to have a permanent record of just what we did and what we saw. That is the reason this log is a sailing log as well as a travel log. That is also the reason the information on, say The British Virgin Islands shows up under different dates and that the dates do not fully represent the actual sailing days.

Along with this we kept a detailed log while underway which included the date, time, latitude and longitude and the wind and sea conditions on a two-hourly schedule, day and night.

Since we left family back home, we sent off excerpts of the travel log by email whenever we had the details filled in. Along the way many acquaintances asked for a copy so there are many who have this in its rough state.

Here is the final, cleaned up version that we hope will bring back our memories when we reach that armchair stage of life.

Advice we received from experienced cruisers who said do not give those at home a definite sounding date of return. Therefore, we said that we would be gone at least two years and who knew, it could be ten. Little did we know how fast the time would go.

In this log the latitudes and longitudes at the end are general waypoints to get us to the appropriate harbour. When navigating before and after this point we could have had twenty or more waypoints to make a safe passage.

Gail & Henry

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge all the help and encouragement from my husband, Henry Blakney Drew. Without him this trip would never have been as exciting.

We would like to thank all those people, both boaters and islanders who without you, this journey would not have been so memorial.

Help was given by people back home, taking care of our essential business needs. Giving us a place to stay when we came home on vacation. And the late evening pick-up from the airport.

The confidence to begin this journey came from many classes given by the Shediac Power and Sail Squadron.

Of course, thanks must to go to the many people we met along the way. Everyone made this an experience of a lifetime. And those people we received so much encouragement from to publish this log once we arrived home.

We would also like to thank a good friend, Alice Theoret Bourque, who with her knowledge of sailing and whose father and his father who drummed grammar and spelling into her.

In the Beginning

So, how do you get ready to go on an extended cruise? Well, let us go back to the beginning.

About twenty-five years ago, I received a phone call at work from Henry saying, guess what I just bought, that is if you agree!. That was our first boat. It was a fourteen-foot Enterprise Sailing Dinghy. The price was right, the trailer included, and it had a suit of sails. What it didn’t have, which we were to quickly learn, was flotation.

The Little One

This purchase was in September 1973, and we took it to the Main River that first weekend, where Gail’s parents had a cottage, and launched it. Although we had not sailed before we decided to name it Little One, maybe instinctively knowing it would not be our last boat.

Now, neither one of us had ever sailed. Henry’s father had, before Henry’s birth, and my father had purchased a fourteen-foot Mahone Bay runabout, after I had left home.

We launched the boat, sailed it for a bit, then Henry had me try it on my own. Well, it capsized and the rules in the books on how to right it did not work. Where upon I swam back over to the other side of the river and told Henry what to do with his boat!

Henry then proceeded to take out my youngest sister, Trudy who at the time was about eight. He told her that when they tacked, she would have to move very quickly to the other side and make sure that she did not get her head hit. He also mentioned that since balance was important, she must move when he said. When he was ready to tack, he told her to jump, which she did. Right over the side. At that moment Henry realized that there were proper words for what you are doing on a boat and there was a good reason for using them.

After modifications to the structure and a few years of day sailing in Shediac Bay, we were invited to become the crew on a twenty-eight foot, 1948 built wooden sailing boat. Required reading before ever seeing the boat was Farley Mowett’s The Boat That Wouldn’t Float. That should have been our warning. S/Y Mystic was a wooden boat build in about 1948 and leaked at every opportunity. As time went on, we crewed for several people, learning a lot, including that we liked sailing enough to put up with the bad to get to the good.

S/Y Maritime Express

In 1985 we bought our first big boat. Every available moment was spent at the boat, even on those cold wet weekends when everyone else stayed away.

I started thinking in long terms about cruising while reading all those sailing magazines. Whenever I questioned Henry, it seemed that he had not thought about this and was not about to think about it although he loved sailing no matter what the weather.

Our first big boat

As luck would have it, a couple from Ottawa purchased a boat in our marina upon their retirement to take them into the cruising life style. Henry helped on several occasions with things needing to be done and in return, during the winter of 1993 they invited us to visit them in the Virgin Islands for two weeks. Much to my surprise, Henry came away from that encounter talking about cruising upon our retirement in ten years. The seed had been planted and was now growing.

For the next two years we met Guy and Anita Comeau, aboard "S/Y Mallard Colvert" for a two-week vacation. We refused other vacation offers just for the opportunity to visit them and their boat. We spent these six weeks picking their minds for all information that they had learned the hard way and also getting to meet other full-time cruisers and getting their opinions and listening to their stories.

Life took an unexpected turn with the Canadian Federal Government’s March 1995 budget. We returned home from our visit with "S/Y Mallard Colvert" (in the Windward Islands) to learn that forty-five thousand Federal employees would be declared surplus, immediately. Henry’s department was going to be sold off to private industry.

By June 15, 1995, Henry was declared surplus, retired on a full pension, consequently I gave my notice that I was retiring also by June 19, 1995.

We then set in motion a sped-up plan to sell the present boat (30’ Albin Ballad, the first Maritime Express) and find a new boat. Shortly after the Ballad was sold, we found and purchased our new boat, a C&C Landfall 39, center cockpit (1 August 1995).

S/Y Maritime Express

(The Cruising Yacht)

The next two months were spent assessing what we felt would have to be done to make this boat our new home. We created a work list and a three-to-four-year plan in which to implement the renovating.

As it always seems to be happening with our life, our circumstances changed again in late 1995 when Henry’s mother died.

Our plans then took on an immediate nature, with a desire to go south in the fall of 1996.

We are often asked what we had to do to prepare for a journey of this scope.

The first and foremost preparation is to spend time in advance of your departure learning all you can. One of the ways we did this was over the previous years we took Canadian Power & Sail Squadron courses. We took basic boating, weather, advanced piloting, and advanced seamanship. We read literature from all the sources we could get our hands on and listened to anything anyone wanted to tell us.

With this information we formulated an idea of what our basic ideal boat would be. Then, we looked for the one we could afford. As well as having a seaworthy boat, for us, having a boat that afforded comfort was important. Both of us suffer periodic back problems, and the constantly hitting your head on low deckheads (ceiling) was out of the question and would ruin the whole experience of living permanently on a boat. Henry at six foot four inches requested some place in the boat where I could stand up and put my pants on without having to open the hatch.

All these requirements were met when we finally found the C&C Landfall 39 in Arichat, Nova Scotia.

The next step was to make a list of what we felt we really needed and what we wanted. We then started on the first list, saying that if the other items did not get completed, we could still go away.

The first project was to strip the boat of any teak that could come loose. We removed all doors, drawers, screwed on trim strips and the floors. These we took home as a winter project. Each piece of wood was given six coats of varnish, sanding between each varnishing. Most projects took twelve days to complete as there were two sides to contend with.

Next, we gathered all the supply catalogues available, and started to check out where we could buy all the item’s we felt that were needed and at the best price. While doing this, we were disposing of Henry’s mother’s possessions, her house, etc. and packing our home preparing for house sitters. We made several trips all over (United States, Halifax, Nova Scotia and Montreal, Quebec) to get supplies, dole out Gertie’s possessions to relatives and to get things repaired.

Henry had seen a boat in Little Harbour, Peter Island in the British Virgin Islands that had an arch on it. He took careful notes and next on our list was designing an arch for the stern, finding someone to make it, consult with them, and, after taking off the tarp in the spring, shipping the present stern pulpit to them to be incorporated in the new arch. Although it sounds simple, we had to make a template, send angles for the backstay, determine just what we wanted on the arch and determine how many cable accesses we should have.

Once the tarp came off, it was full out work. From that time, until we left, it was 15-hour days at the least, sometimes 18 hours. I will list items under some major headings that broke down our To-Do List:

ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY (for safety)

We know that people go out there in a bath tub, but for our own peace of mind, and that of my sister-in-law, we felt the following should be put on the boat, or fixed before we could consider leaving:

-re-install radar, a wind generator, SSB radio, VHF radio, and a TV antenna on the arch. The radar was on the mast and was being beat up by the jib, and vice versa. Because of our desire for toys, and not wanting to run the engine constantly, we felt a Fourwinds II wind generator would be wise. The TV antenna was pure luxury, although we have never watched TV on the boat before, we felt that this might be appreciated when spending a long time in the rain. This required a complete rewiring for all radios, TV, antennas, etc. from their current location to the arch.

-remove all fittings that go through the deck and caulk. It had been our experience that C&Cs had a reputation for leaking, so the major leaks on this boat were not a surprise, just a major challenge. Most seemed to come down the mast or where items were bolted through the deck.

-strip old caulking on hull deck joint and recalk. After the through deck was sealed, we still had major leaks, we discovered the deck/hull joint was oozing out and not properly bonded. This we cleaned out from the inside and fixed, we hoped with 3M’s 5200.

-purchased new anchors. The boat came with a Bruce anchor, we purchased a CQR and Danforth.

-purchase dinghy and outboard. We had a set of davits incorporated in the arch to hold the dinghy and a derrick system, then we created a set of slings for the dinghy and make lifting straps for the outboard to allow us to raise them for safety and sailing.

-install a watermaker. Because we plan to be at anchor all the time, we would have to jerry can water to the boat. With back problems, we thought this would be inviting trouble.

-install macerator pump and re-plumbed the holding tank. The area of the country we are in had just installed a pump-out station, but we realize that not having a holding tank could limit our cruising area especially in American waters.

-replace sheet metal screws holding the life raft with nuts and bolts. The life raft came with the boat, but on inspection we discovered it was held on with sheet metal screws, one bad wave could have taken it away also moving it back closer to the mast would allow us to refit the original dodger which had been removed some time ago.

-purchase and install an Epirb. Although we feel anyone going offshore should expect to be self-sufficient, it would be foolish not to take advantage of help if it were needed and available.

-purchase GPS and hand-held radio. The boat came with a Loran C with a plotter, but we wanted to enhance our navigation with GPS. I received a hand-held radio for a Christmas present; it will go in the abandon ship bag. Hopefully this would help that someone find me in that very large ocean.

-repair VHF radio and get a hand held. The VHF had an intermittent capacitor in the transmitter, that was fixed, and I also received the hand held for Christmas for the abandon ship bag, and it will be used when someone is on shore and needs the dinghy to pick them up.

-get life raft serviced. This entailed going to Levi, Quebec, the authorized service agent for the raft that came with the boat. We personally delivered it as we wanted to see what it looked like when opened …. so there would not be any surprises in case we had to use it.

-raise the quadrant, was too low and was hanging up on the travel limiter for the rudder.

-fix autohelm. The mount would not let it swivel correctly; a new mount took care of that problem.

-bilge pumps. When we serviced one of the bilge pumps, we found the inside totally rusted, so a new one was purchased.

-fix leak in strut. The strut is what holds prop shaft below the water line. This area allowed quite a bit of water to come into the boat. This was fixed in the fall by John Townsend grinding out the glass from the outside and re-glassing the area. The job was done so that, after new bottom paint was applied the patch was impossible to find.

IMPORTANT

-remove existing radios, etc. at the navigation station and create a new mounting box and install a new radio/CD player, VHF radio, SSB radio, GPS, sailing monitors, wind generator monitor, speaker control panel. The design of the navigation station was awkward for us, therefore we redesigned it, creating what we hope is a more convenient working space and allowed the chart table to function better.

-remove all doors, and screwed down hardware and put on six coats of varnish. There was indication from the original sales brochure that the boat had been varnished inside at the factory. One of the previous survey reports spoke of re-varnishing because of water damage. We felt the interior, on close look, needed redoing from age and water damage. This entailed putting six coats on all surfaces, front and back, on a boat that is 39’ of teak everywhere.

-cut pin rail for shelves. We had removed a pin rail from another area of the boat and installed it on the shelf that would have books on it. Hopefully this would prevent them from falling off when in rough weather.

-install dripless seal on propellor shaft, replacing the stuffing box. Henry believes that all water belongs outside the boat and was not happy having a wet bilge.

-install engine monitoring gauges. For ease of maintaining the engine we installed temperature, run-time and oil pressure gauges.

-get fire extinguishers serviced. The boat came with four fire extinguishers, only two could be serviced as the other two had plastic connectors.

-install signal halyards. When in the waters of other countries, it is mandatory to carry their country flag as a courtesy on your starboard signal halyard.

-get first aid kit together. We have always had a first aid kit on board, but felt a more extensive one should be on board. Therefore, we enlisted the help of a friend who is an emergency room doctor. The feeling is that she has probably seen all the dumb things that we people do to themselves.

-get survival bag ready. One of those things on a boat that you should have ready, especially when crossing the Atlantic, but hope never to need. If you have to ditch the boat and get into the life raft you could be there for a while until rescue arrives.

-install lee cloths. We were given one lee cloth, and we made one so both settees could be rigged with a lee cloth to make a safe sea berth. If the crossing to Bermuda is rough, the crew may want to sleep in the center of the boat. These cloths prevent you from falling out of the bunks

-hung spare anchor on stern.

WOULD MAKE LIFE MORE COMFORTABLE

-clean forward water tank. We found that the three water tanks were pretty slimy, one even still had the plastic pieces from when the cap was cut into the top.

-paint under sinks in heads. Probably because of the constant leaking, under the sinks in the heads smelled - probably mildew. It seemed to help, at least physiologically to change the dark gray floors and walls to a nice clean white.

-remove existing sinks and install new counter and new sinks in the galley. The sinks in the galley were quite deep and long, but very narrow. It was impossible to lay a dish down to wash it. We went to Hinkley, in Southwest Harbour, Maine and purchased a new sink. This installation entailed taking out the counter and putting on a new counter top. This was done by our brother-in-law Kenneth McBeath.

-remove back plate behind the stove and ice box and install new top, replacing teak dividers, insulate the ice box.

-remove stove and completely strip and clean. Cooking grease from three previous owners made the whole thing look unhealthy.

-frame and make louvered doors for shelves in master stateroom. A previous owner had placed sliding doors on the open shelf and although the top open shelf looked nice in pictures, it made the space useless while at sea.

-create new shelf, frame and make louvered door for port salon shelves

-remove seat back panel, alter screwed on inspection holes to hinged doors. To get access to the chain plates one had to unscrew the inspection plate. Hinging it allowed us to keep a check on leaks.

-cut new access plates in floor and put safety hinges on.

-widen forward end of both settees to make sitting easier.

-install secretaries chair at chart table.

-make access for storage under stateroom bed.

-get life lines re cut.

-install new furler and new jib

-clean out and re caulk all water tanks

-repair dodger/bimini and frames

-spare parts

-auto helm vane

-get gate life lines

-installed screens over dorade openings between the deck and the inner liner. When we get south, there are a lot of undesirable flying things that we do not want in the boat, like cockroaches.

NICE TO HAVE/DO

-install stern speakers so we could listen to the radio outside

-fix light covers and install new lights

-sand exterior teak

-create base for computer monitor and printer and cut hole in wall to get monitor recessed

-create base for CPU under chart table

-make covers for items that will be sun weakened

-have cupboard for dishes custom made and installed. This was done by Carl VanIderstine, a work mate of Henry’s.

-strip all outside teak and re Cetol

-create storage shelf for V berth

-make bedspreads, pillow shams, etc.

-order Sunbrella, new cushions and fabric

-ballast stove

-screw down floors

-make outboard motor slings

-make cover for dinghy

-replace exterior instrument panel

-complete menu planning

-make list for guys who would be sailing to Bermuda as crew

-bring in supplies

-finish cleaning out our house

-stock boat with food

-fix barbecue cover

-fix life sling bag

-redo man overboard pole

-install speakers inside

-install cabin courtesy light switch

-touch up paint on pedestal

-find a convenient place for the flare gun and install

HOUSEKEEPING

-for William (brother who is backup) copy of will, etc.

-labels for sending mail

-check on Federal Express, Purolator, UPS, etc.

-get money for trip. We wanted some American money in small denominations as it is accepted everywhere.

-clean up house (having house sitters who will want to bring their own things so we were trying to get our stuff stored into boxes and into our attic)

-clean brass bell, clock, barometer and install

-install shelf in chart table locker to make space more useable

-adjust settee front after removing sleeping platform that would not be useable after adjustments to seats.

-install pictures we wanted to take with us

-get plaque made for tonnage plate and varnish

-engrave registration number in main beam of boat which is required by law

Route Shediac Bay to BVI

The Adventure Begins 1996

So, you want to go to Bermuda.

Air Canada flies there on a regular schedule.

After all the effort spent in getting the boat ready for sea and the cruising life, the day finally came, October 12, 1996, my nephew Jesse’s birthday. The morning dawned very cold, six degrees Celsius with a dangerous covering of frost all over the boat and the docks.

We got up early, got our last hot shower for some time and went to the local restaurant to have breakfast. A few of our friends met us there, especially Lori and Gillis who are going to house sit for us. I believe that Lori wanted to make sure that we left! Returning to the boat, we found a large group of friends and family there to see us off. It was quite overwhelming.

Our intended departure was 0900, and we considered ourselves very on time to get away by 0945 with Roger Legere and Chris Bennet as crew. This was also the last haul out day at our marina, so we received a loud send off.

Leaving Shediac Bay with Gail on helm, Henry retrieving lines, while Roger and Chris stood on the bow

Once we got the boat underway, I informed the guys that because of my inability to function in the cold, I would not be taking watch during the first few nights. I don’t think they really believed me. If I was needed that was a different story.

At this time, having been up and down the Strait numerous times, I went below to have a nap saying please wake me up in time to get one last look at the new bridge under construction. This is a magnificent sight, and whether or not it is a wise decision, it is a true feat of engineering.

It was a great sail and we could not get Chris off the wheel, he was thoroughly enjoying himself. We also discovered today that we have to turn off the auto pilot before using the single side band or the boat starts going to starboard and will not correct. This caused some very interesting few minutes until we realized what was happening! Henry and Roger decided that they were hungry and a lasagna made by Lori looked very tempting. Chris and I were having trouble getting our sea legs and declined. Hearing how good it was did nothing to entice us to eat. I then retired to my bunk, completely dressed in my one-piece floater suit for warmth.

The winds were fluky overnight and at times we motor sailed. When I woke up around 0530 it was a picture-perfect morning. We rounded Cape George at 0800 and saw a large fleet of fishing boats out of Ballantynes Cove, Nova Scotia. It was a sight to see, the sun shining, the white boats glistening and a nice steady wind. Chris and I really enjoyed the sunrise.

We locked through the Canso Canal, Chris’s first experience down east and arrived at Port Hawkesbury at 1400, stopping to top up fuel and larder and have a hot meal. We left at 1600, and while under way through the Chedabucto Bay received a call from Bob Martel, the previous owner of this boat who lives in Arichat, Nova Scotia, (Cape Breton) wishing us good luck.

Atlantic Crossing

At 1700 we checked in with Herb, Southbound II a world known weather-router who helps boats all over the North Atlantic and Caribbean. He informed us that there a developing low in the St. Lawrence Valley which should not be of too great of concern to us. At this time, I went back to bed, fully dressed but not in the floater suit, I had given it to Henry to wear.

The Storm

Monday morning (Oct. 14th), I awoke to SSW (south south west) winds, 20 knots with a forecast of north west gales tonight. The low system had developed into a storm over the Gulf of St. Lawrence. With the value of hind sight, we should have headed to Liscombe, on the Nova Scotia coast which at day break could be seen in the distance. The winds swung to WNW (west north west) about midnight and our new course is now south 185 degrees.

Our intentions had been to keep running west for a couple of more days, but mother nature had other plans for us. We talked to Herb Southbound II and he apologized for under estimating the intensity of the storm that had caught everyone off guard. He suggested that we should try to make as much distance to the west as possible.

Unless you have been there, it is hard to describe the pounding the boat seemed to be taking. From inside our stern cabin, I would feel a huge wave slam the boat sideways, the stern starts to swing out, then the boat rights itself and keeps on sailing. As I was laying there, I felt that the analogy was as if you had taken the boat and slammed it against a wall.

I was quite worried about the stresses this was putting on the boat. Henry assured me that it seemed worst down below, that on deck it was quite exhilarating. Normally I am on deck during bad weather, but felt that I should keep out of the way so the guys could handle the situation. This was my first offshore passage and I was not enjoying it.

Tuesday (October 15, 1996) we passed Sable Island, (The Graveyard of the Atlantic) after dawn and came abeam of the oil platform, Roan Gorilla 3, at 0945. Their stand-by rescue boat came over to take a look at us. At the time we were hard pressed to see him in the enormous waves. We thought we were rolling until we watched him in the high seas.

Henry fed the crew hot soup for lunch and Roger was the only one who was able to ask for seconds. Henry wondered if it was his cooking! A loaf of bread been left on the back of the counter and was saturated when the soup took a lunge and was spilled. I washed up soup for over a week. It is amazing the places it can get into! I had mine in bed as I had got up earlier, came out to the main cabin and was immediately sent flying across the room. I landed hard enough on the floor to break the floor, hitting the grab rail on the ice box and twisting my ankle.

For a dazed minute I was not sure if I had broken bones. The bruises were to last two weeks. When we finally arrived in Bermuda and people noticed, Roger told them that they had to keep me in line and hidden were worst bruises.

Half a dozen dolphins came to visit so Henry got me to come out and see them before we went below to fix the floor.

I was bruised, and really scared about how close I came to being badly hurt. If you can imagine, the boat is being continually battered by high seas and Henry and I are on our hands and knees trying to unscrew and repair the floor.

It was truly a great day, with winds gusting to fifty knots, hail, snow and ice pellets and seas to five meters. I am again in bed, feeling safer there when Henry comes in to suggest I come take a look at the great sight.

During the night Chris was unable to answer his watch due to sea sickness, leaving Henry and Roger to handle the night. When Chris started to feel apprehensive, my spirits fell. If the guys could not handle this, what was I going to do?

By morning Chris seemed better. Herb gave us the same forecast, but we were still unable to make any westing due to wind conditions. It was gratifying to hear him come back to us immediately, before talking to other boaters. He was becoming our guardian angel.

Wednesday (Oct. 16th) Still running south and Chris now told us that on Tuesday night, when Roger fell into him, he must have bruised his kidneys. He had passed some blood during the night. He was down playing it, but Henry thought it was important to get a medical opinion so contacted the United States Coast Guard in Virginia.

They suggested we get him to the nearest port as quickly as possible. He was in no immediate danger, but should see a doctor. We had difficulty explaining to the USCG that we were a sailboat and six days from a port, the closest being Halifax, but unreachable as it was dead up wind with a major storm still affecting our weather.

Another problem was that we were heading to Bermuda, but Hurricane Lili was also trying to get there and we would not be able to beat her.

They also suggested we return to the drill rig but it was now two days north of us and if we tried that it would definitely be dangerous for crew and boat. Our only alternative was to keep going. We really were at a point of no return. It was a scary feeling.

Wednesday night Chris’s condition continued to deteriorate. He was disorientated, unable to keep down food, drink or medication and very depressed as to our ability to survive these circumstances. At times he would be almost comatose with pain and at others insisting that he come on deck and stand watch.

This put a great strain on the rest of the crew and really sent my moral to a new low. I was now extremely hyper and when Henry went to rinse some dishes with salt water, the rotten egg smell that came out of the tap sent me rushing to the head. Now I was worried that I was now going to be seasick continually.

Luckily, that one time was the only time. I spent quite a bit of time trying to keep my nerves under control as not to give Henry anything else to worry about. He knows me too well, and was continually trying to assure me nothing had happened yet that we and the boat could not handle.

Thursday morning Henry asked the US Coast Guard if they would arrange a medical evacuation for Chris and after sometime, they advised that the vessel "M/V Northern Enterprise" heading to Nova Scotia would be able to connect with us late Thursday night.

This was not as comforting as it would seem since the seas were three to four metres in height,