Annapolis

We arrived about 10:30 this morning at Len's house in Annapolis. Our
spouses are here to greet us, and we aren enjoying a nice long lunch
and a drink or two. This has been an excellent adventure! Thanks to
all of you who have followed our voyage. Ask us for a sea story the
next time you see us.

Chesapeake Beach

Indian Summer presently has Chesapeake Beach abeam, and is sailing at 5 knots. It is a pleasant morning on the Bay. Your author just enjoyed his first hot shower since Bermuda, making this a doubly pleasant day. We look forward to sighting Thomas Point, and making our approach to Annapolis, later this morning.

Patuxent

We are motoring through the night, just off the Patuxent River now.
There are a lot of sailboats heading south, probably the Annapolis to
Bermuda race fleet. All is quiet now that they are past.

Heading North

We have finished refueling and we have repaired our jib halyard. We
are now heading north, motorsailing our way to Annapolis.

Little Creek

We just entered the Bay through the Bridge-Tunnel. We are going to
Little Creek for fuel, and to retrieve our jib halyard from the top of
the mast. On our approach we were passed by a submarine and a
helicopter carrier. Indian Summer is pleased to be back in her home
waters.

Chesapeake

We have sighted Chesapeake Lighthouse, the marker for our entrance to
the Chesapeake. We are sailing at 7 knots, enjoying a sunny morning.

One last time

Hello all bloggers!

 

Tonight we could hear each other pretty well.  One thing I know for sure is that Emerson has converted the crew and me into SSB believers.  I was the most dubious but I am thrilled to have made contact with the crew when they are as far as 600 miles off shore!

 

So, here is the report from the crew on Indian Summer. All is well with the crew.  They had a beautiful night's sail with winds from the SW at 10-15 knots.  Early in the morning something happened and they lost a ring or pin or something (could not hear what) that held the Jib at the top of the mast.  They had to strike the jib and do not have use of it until they can get some help in Norfolk.  They are motor sailing until then.  They are about 110 miles away from Norfolk. Their Lat. is 36 N and Long.73 W.  Their plan, as it stands now, is that they will stop in Norfolk Friday sometime to see if they can fix the jib and then continue.  They do not plan to spend the night as was discussed earlier.  Emerson talked about some rough seas as they entered the jet stream but nothing Indian Summer couldn't handle.

 

Tomorrow they will be within cell phone range so this is my last contact via SSB.  Emerson described their nightly contact with me like boys around a camp fire. They gather and wait.  It is wonderful how the simplest of things entertain, when you are in the middle of the deep blue sea.

 

Thanks for reading

Suzan

success

Greetings Family and Friends,

 

Tonight I was able to make contact with Indian Summer.  I could hear Emerson and he could here me.  So here is the scoop.  They are currently 34degrees N and 71 degrees W.  They are approximately at the half way point. If all goes according to plan, they will enter the Bay on Friday afternoon.  They reported that they will arrive back at Indian Summer's slip sometime on Saturday.  All is going very well except they are motoring.  Emerson said that a very large cruise ship passed pretty close to them so the guys decided to call them on the radio to find out their destination.  It turns out they were returning from Bermuda and heading home to Baltimore.  These kind of events are very exciting when you are out in the ocean without any visual stimulation for days!  I guess that exchange gave them lots to talk about.  That is about all from Indian Summer tonight.  I will make one more attempt on Thursday night so stay tuned.

 

Suzan

 

PS Denise, could you please contact Dale if you are monitoring the blog? 703- 615-1091

June 1

Greetings everyone. This evening I attempted to contact Indian Summer as promised. However, I did not have much luck.  On the 3rd frequency I was able to hear some of what Emerson said but he could not hear me.  This is what I think I heard.  Their Lat at the time was 33 N and Longitude 68 W.  They had traveled 200 miles so far and I think they may be under motor at this point but all is well.

Len had contacted Dale by satellite phone this morning and reported that they were having a beautiful sail cruising at about 8 knots and enjoying life.  I will try again tomorrow and again on Thursday.  Hope I have better luck then!

Smooth sailing Indian Summer.....

Suzan

Leaving Bermuda

...Right now!

departure

At 8:00am Sunday morning Emerson and I took the return crew to BWI.  Everyone was in great spirits.  Len has certainly assembled a great group of sailors for this journey.  They had dinner aboard Indian Summer last night and spent the day (Monday) touring St. George and getting to know each other.  They are departing this evening in light winds.  The forecast for the return trip is for the light winds to continue.  They worry they may have to spend too much time (more than any sailor would like) motoring .  The water maker will not be working for this return leg so they will be conserving water.  I will be trying each night to contact Indian Summer by SSB and will post their progress on the blog.

Until tomorrow.....

Cheers

Suzan

Preparing for Departure

We are preparing to go to the dock for water, then we will go to the
customs dock. The dinghy is stowed and ready to go to sea. Dan will
join us at the Customs dock.

Nightfall

The sun has gone down, and the crew of Indian Summer is well fed (on
Chicken Tetrazini; kudos to Susan for that). The temperature is
pleasant and there is a gentle breeze blowing from the northeast. The
weather charts show mostly light winds for the next few days, so we
are crossing our fingers for enough breeze to propel the boat without
the engine. We are planning to depart in the late afternoon tomorrow.

In Bermuda

We just arrived!

On the Plane

Mladen, Robert and I just boarded our flight. Let the journey begin!

My Bags are Packed

The crew for the return of Indian Summer will rendezvous in the morning and ride with Suzan to the airport. We are all looking forward to a great sail. The forecast conditions for the early part of this week look good, winds 10-15 knots. By Thursday we could see a cold front coming off the US coast, so we'll keep an eye on that. Our current plan is to depart Bermuda either Monday evening, or Tuesday morning.

Week in Bermuda

Len and his family and crew will be touring Bermuda this week. We will resume updating this blog when Indian Summer departs from Bermuda, around June 1st. I will be joining the boat just before departure, and my wife, Suzan, will be doing the radio work shoreside. Thanks for following the voyage here!

Bermuda

Indian Summer arrived in St. George at 11:30 this morning. They had an
excellent sail, and the crew is well. Some of the crew began touring
the island by scooter this afternoon. They will all rendezvous for
dinner at 7:00 this evening. Congratulations to Len and his crew on a
very successful voyage!

Bermuda Weather Today

Indian Summer should arrive in Bermuda today. Below is the weather that they should find there:

Winds west-northwesterly 5 to 10 knots, veering northwesterly 8 to 12 knots this afternoon... Isolated early afternoon showers with mainly fair visibility, clearing east... Seas inside the reef 0 to 1 ft... Outside the reef 2 to 4 ft.

Getting Close

Indian Summer is about 99 miles out from Bermuda. They have had a
great sail, making 7-9 knots with a good breeze. They expect to arrive
tomorrow, mid-day.