What is so fun about this, I ask.

Monday, June 21. 1800

D Day. Here, drifting under the influence of scant wind, the first D stands for Debacle.

Spotty winds gradually filled in, mostly behind us, allowing us to follow our strategy. The frightening new and concentrated low was to be ahead with the west side the preferred side with decreased winds. Since the low was somewhat coincident with a large cold eddy to the south of the Stream, we could also get on its positive or west side and have just heavy wind and positive current. Having encountered the Gulf Stream much further north than the models predicted, and of much shorter duration with rather mannerly currents and waves, we made a mistake in placing too much stock in the predictions.

There came a time late this morning when the wind favored flying out spinnaker, which we did after difficulty sorting out all the lines as we attempted to hoist it. Finally, we were flying along at about 6 to 7 knots for a few minutes when with a great crash, the spinnaker had fallen completely in the water. John yelled that the halyard broke. But what we found was that the lashing of the spinnaker head to the head of the furling line had broken. It took 3 hours to get it dismantled, and fixed but by that time the wind had died and we had to proceed mostly downwind at too large an angle to carry the asymmetric spinnaker.

First, no low. No big winds. no big waves.
Second, we had a precise spot planned for entering the cold eddy in its region of southerly changing to easterly flow. We did in fact find prolonged flow of more than 3 knots for many hours, but it was against us. . So, the eddy, with its countercurrent flow, must have moved west since the predictions and hence we were too far east to get into the southern flow. The winds during during this time were depressingly low, and made more so in the apparent wind by which boats sail.

We are now on a course in the vague vicinity of Bermuda at about 2 to 3 knots.

US Sailing constructs boat specific polars. These are charts predicting boats speeds at various wind angles and wind speeds. And upon these, the handicapping system is derived. The problem is that the polars are not always accurate and hence the handicapping suffers. We particularly suffer. The boat was in very good racing form and still, boats to whom we owe time ( we have a faster handicap) sail right through us because this boat, while nice, pretty, and a very good, stable ocean boat, is not fast, and will not point close to the wind well. We are screwed before we start.

With all that happened today, we expect to get to Bermuda Thursday night for our slowest race ever. Oh, despite being under no load, a shackle on a mizzen halyard broke and the halyard was found in the cockpit.


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