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Quetzal Log -- August 1, 2004

The good ship Quetzal has had a busy spring and summer.  She completed two one- week training passages out of Ft. Lauderdale, crossed the Atlantic, and cruised the Western Mediterranean. She logged a total of 6,500 miles.  By the way, it has now been just 14 months since I finished refitting and launched Quetzal at Spring Cove Marina in Solomons Maryland.  In her first year she logged 11,000 offshore miles and completed 7 blue water passages.  Thanks to all of you who sailed aboard, you made it a great year.  Here is a brief recap of the spring and summer training voyages.

Ft. Lauderdale to San Salvador March 20 – 27

Crew: Charlie, John C, Marsha, Tom and Fran

A surprisingly boisterous passage, this 700-mile trip included the bonus experience of going aground while approaching San Salvador.  This trip was action packed.  The crew performed brilliantly, especially on the return leg when we encountered legitimate 20’ seas and thirty-knot winds.  No additional charges were levied for the optional mainsail repair lessons. 

Ft. Lauderdale to the Dry Tortugas, April 17 – 23

Crew: Marti, Warren, Walter, and Ron

After the troubles in Sal Salvador, the crew agreed to alter course and head for the Dry Tortugas instead.  We had a pleasant sail just off the reef to Key West and then a famous reach at 8 plus knots out to the Dry Tortugas.   It was a beat home and we had a few close encounters with freighters.  Anchoring off Ft. Jefferson is a wonderful experience, this landfall is one of the treasure of sailing in Florida waters.

Ft. Lauderdale to Portugal – Transatlantic, May 10 – June 8

Crew, Ed, Jim, Pat, and John C

Quetzal’s departure was hectic as last minute preparations were undertaken and provisions stored aboard.  We finally made our way into the Gulf Stream and enjoyed a 232-mile run the second day out.  Unfortunately, we slowed down after that, averaging just less than 150 miles a day on the nearly 3000-mile leg to Horta in the Azores.  If there was a theme to the voyage it was a lack of wind offset by consistently great food. Ed, our chef, turned out one extraordinary meal after another. The crew performed superbly. After just a few days, we shifted to single person watches and enjoyed a leisurely night watch routine of 2 hours on and 8 hours off.  The Global Star sat phone kept us connected to the world, although all attempts at sending email failed.  We caught a few fish, lost a few more, and observed a wide array of sea life ranging from humpback whales to thousands, no make that millions, of man-of-war. Despite recent development, Horta is one of the world’s great landfalls.  We enjoyed a couple of meals ashore, a few beers in famous Café Sport and then pressed on for Portugal.  Leaving Horta just before we twilight we enjoyed a magical sail in the lee of the island of Pico.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t much wind on leg two either and we ghosted into the marina a Vilamoura a week later.  We dealt with several annoying mechanical issues underway, including the fuel system, which at last count, we bled 27 times.  All in all however, the boat and crew  were outstanding. I can’t thank my shipmates enough for helping to deliver Quetzal across the pond!

Newport, RI to Bermuda -- October 22-29, 2003

My sincere thanks to Dirk, Mark, Mike and Ron for crewing on this passage.

See the photos here.

Annapolis, MD to Bermuda -- June 12-16, 2003

Quetzal's first offshore passage is complete, and it was an interesting voyage.  I want to thank my terrific crew for their work before, during and after the trip.  We left Solomon's Maryland on June 12th and powered down the Chesapeake Bay to Little Creek, Virginia.  We took on fuel and water and shoved off bound for Bermuda on June 13th.

A fresh southwest wind filled in and we screamed east.  Luckily we found an east eddy of the Gulf Stream and at times we touched 16 knots on the GPS surfing down waves.  I was pleased with the soft, seaworthy motion although deck leaks were an annoying problem.  Hopefully those have been taken care of in Bermuda!  We average 180 miles a day for the first two days, and managed 170 on day three. The wind shifted to the northeast and then the southeast as we approached from the south.  We ended up making our way into Town Cut Channel exactly four days out of the Chesapeake.  The last twelve hours were breezy and rainy, making landfall a challenge.

My sincere thanks to Charlie, Lou, Otto, and Bruce for crewing on this passage.  Check out the pictures of Quetzal's launch and maiden voyage.  Cheers.