Bermuda 2009; Cruise #4 Departs

On Monday afternoon, June 29th 2009, our fourth and final 2009 Bermuda Training Cruise departed St. Georges Harbor, bound for Mystic, Connecticut via a non-stop ocean route. The cruise has an estimated distance of 670 miles, and will take approximately 6 days, sailing both day and night. Aboard CELESTIAL are: Captain David Appleton (PA), First Mate David Gifford (PA), and crew members Bill Walther (NY), Bob Hickey (NJ), Charles Perrell (MD), and Gerald Wall (NY).

On Sunday, Captain Appleton reported the following by e-mail:

"Update: Crew arrived en mass @ 1600 on Saturday. We got them aboard and stowed. Installed Genoa, it looks fine. We worked our buns off today getting most work in. We also calibrated the knot meter which thinks we only went 588 nm, which is inaccurate, unless they moved Bermuda closer to Little Creek while I wasn't looking........."

Plan to set sail about noon tomorrow. We've gone through all the general emergency gear and below and above decks orientation. Crew is currently working on presail check lists. We'll move to shell station dock after close, then fuel first thing in the morning and go on the hook to finish presail business.

WX (weather) looks good, a lot of SW winds, possible W to NW when we cross a cold front Wednesday..... but that remains to be seen.

So far all is well, and crew in good spirits. Should be fun. Will email from Skymate Wed or Thurs."

On Monday afternoon, Captain Appleton called by cell phone to say they were underway. They had put the sails up in the harbor and sailed out. Winds were from the southwest at 15-18 knots, and good weather is expected for the trip with favorable winds at least through Tuesday. They have a strategy for the gulf stream and are underway and in good shape! In his usual good humor, Captain Appleton also reported that "we've all had showers and no one is puking yet!"

Please read the COMMENTS to this post where we will follow their ocean cruise with reports from the crew, discussions on weather and reports on actual progress. You can follow CELESTIALS progress on our google map by clicking here.

Bermuda 2009; Cruise #3 Departs

Captain David Appleton call this afternoon to report that Bermuda 2009 Cruise #3 has departed. His message is as follow:

"Hello, David Appleton here. It's about 4:00 PM... we're approaching Thimble Shoal Tunnel. We got underway at 3:15. We only motored far enough to get the sails up. We sailed out of Little Creek and we're sailing in southerly winds 12-15 knots or so, and moving along swimmingly. Nobody's seasick yet... everybody's got their patches on and they're raring to go. They're excited!

We had a good briefing from our safety coordinator, who is Sabrina, and she got us all straightened out on our safety gear and our safety assignments. Our engineer Paul Cargill did a great job of telling us where everything is. Everybody did a great job on preparations... a good time was had by all. Talk to you later!"

Aboard CELESTIAL are: Captain David Appleton (PA), First Mate David Gifford (PA), and crew members Sabrina Nichols (KS), Tom Nichols (KS), Paul Cargill (TX), and Paul Hurley (VA). CELESTIAL will make the passage to Bermuda via a planned non-stop ocean route. The cruise has an estimated distance of 670 miles, and will take approximately 6 days, sailing both day and night. Please read the COMMENTS to this post where we will follow their ocean cruise with reports from the crew, discussions on weather and reports on actual progress. You can follow CELESTIALS progress on our google map by clicking here.

Bermuda 2009; Cruise #2 Departs

Captain Jochen Hoffmann called me by cell phone saying that CELESTIAL, our IP440 departed Bermuda at 1700 EDT bound for Norfolk. Winds are moderate from the south which will allow them to sail off wind and possibly fly the cruising chute. Winds are expected to remain from the south and moderate further over the next two days. The weather map to the left shows conditions at departure.

Aboard CELESTIAL are: Captain Jochen Hoffmann (VA), First Mate Jim Bortnem (MN), and crewmembers Kevin Malloy (NJ), Rick Lane (NC), Edana Long (NC), and Chris Flemming (ME). CELESTIAL will make the passage to Norfolk via a planned non-stop ocean route. The cruise has an estimated distance of 670 miles, and will take approximately 6 days, sailing both day and night. Please read the COMMENTS to this post where we will follow their ocean cruise with reports from the crew, discussions on weather and reports on actual progress.