s/v Field Trip

Seriously!  Did you know that one of the ships that was sailing to the "New World" from England shipwrecked on the reefs of Bermuda and survived??  The crew of the Sea Venture were separated from the other ships that were headed to what would become Jamestown by a horrible storm and ended up literally crashing in to Bermuda.  The name comes from the first visitor to the island in 1505, Juan de Bermudez, from Spain.  Legend tells us that he and his crew were too scared of the "isle of devils" to hang around long.  The calls of the cahow bird that they heard sounded to them like evil spirits, and they got the heck out of dodge.  Likely, they also heard the whistling frogs that make quite the chorus when dark comes.  Check out a youtube video here . The same birds that scared away the Spaniards, became good eatin’ for the English of the Sea Venture.   They also feasted upon sea turtles, fish, and wild hogs that the Spaniards had left behind....

Grunts.  Growls.  Groans.  Chest beating.  Fishing.  Limited showers.  Just add hot water cooking.  It's was guy time on Field Trip during the Atlantic Cup from Tortola, BVI to Bermuda - and it was a good time! I was fortunate to have a great crew for our trip.  All boys, playing with toys.  It was a blast.  Bryan Suthard was my long time business partner and colleague for the past 15+ years.  Carlos Diaz was invaluable crew from Buenos Aires to Brazil - and wanted to sail some more.  Eric Maynard, another Antares owner, self professed techie and gourmet cook on land (grin) joined for the trip.  All of us in our mid 40's and ready to rumble (or tumble). Crew striking a pose We were obsessive compulsive on sail trim, ballast (yes, we actually filled water on one side of boat to 'help us point'), and overall strategy aboard Field Trip.  Sure, it wasn't a 'formal' race.  But competition of any sort is ...

Upon our arrival in Bermuda, I quickly realized that I had not thought to look at the weather forecast.  I started to shiver when I found out that, unlike the Caribbean, Bermuda seems to follow the weather patterns of South Carolina, it's US neighbor, based on the latitude lines.  So, rather than beaches and pools, it was obvious that we'd have to find other things to do here in the 68-70 degree weather.  My visions of Rum Swizzle s or Dark 'n Stormies by the pool/beach while the kids were entertained for hours (fully slathered in sunscreen, mind you) were not to come to realization.  This momma had to kick into tour guide mode... right after buying a few jackets and pairs of pants for my little Caribs. Crystal Caves in our new pants... You've already heard about our fun-filled trip to the aquarium and zoo from our very own Elizabeth, but the tour didn't stop there!  Once I figured out where the bus terminal was and that the bus stops were color-...

Since we are staying longer in Bermuda, we were able to see our friends in the ARC Europe leave on Wednesday for the Azores and then Portugal.  It was bittersweet. We've made a lot of friends over the past couple of weeks with the rally.  Some are heading to New England, others Virginia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, etc, etc.  It has been a very rich and rewarding group of sailors.  All from different backgrounds sharing one thing in common - passion for adventure and sailing.  It's been great! For us, we're still planning our details for this summer.  Most likely we'll spend some time with new friends from the rally in Cape Cod for 4th of July.  We need to be back in Denver at some point and figure out our long term next steps.  LOTS of options right now.  We are looking into everything.......grin. I know some of you are rooting for us to continue the 'Field Trip'.  Stay tuned this summer. OK, enough words, back to pictures and vi...

While Daddy was sailing, we rode a bus to the Bermuda Aquarium and Zoo.  First, we paid.  Then, we went in the aquarium part before the zoo.  We saw lion fish that sting.  Did you know that lion fish are eating all the reef fish?  In St. Croix, there were signs that said they want to get rid of the lion fish, so people could kill them if they found them in the water.  Here is a picture of the lion fish we saw. Then we saw seals.  One of the seals got up on the patio in its cage.  I went to go take pictures of it because it was right there by the window!  I could see his ears.  The ears were little holes on his head.  The picture that you're going to see is the one I took.  After I took this picture, we got to watch them get fed.  And "Ariel", the name of the seal, kissed the zookeeper on his head!  She also twirled around in a circle! In the zoo, I liked seeing the Scarlet Ibis bird.  As they get old...

The Atlantic Cup officially starts today at 1600GMT.  Crew is here safely, and we are preparing for a Parasailor start - weather permitting. We'll have lots more in the next week, including a video documentary of our preparations and sailing. Most of our updates will be on Facebook.  The other area will be on the Atlantic Cup website, here . Finally, if you are really interested, you can track us daily via the Rally satellite trackers we have on our boat.   This link is here .  This should be working later today. Stay tuned.  We are excited and will keep you as up to date as possible. View from atop Field Trip in Nanny Cay Marina